Review of Moonraker (1979) by Jw M — 05 Dec 2009

Moonraker is, from start to finish, a ridiculous and baffling film being so far removed from the rest of the series that it is difficult to understand just how it was made in the first place. The story is utterly absurd, the characters are so 2 dimensional that when they turn sideways you can no longer see them, and some of the set pieces and action scenes look more like a spoof than a genuine spy movie.

However, past all of this, and past the flaws in almost every aspect of the film, it is impossible not to be entertained whilst watching it. It is a bizarre fantasy world with James Bond in space fighting a laser battle against a super villain hell bent on humanities extinction.

It has some fantastic comedy moments, and Richard Kiel's Jaws steals the show entirely, taking it up a level in bizarre-o-metre. For James Bond purists and fans of the books, this is a departure too far, and it is hard to disagree with them, and on that level Moonraker has to be a real low point in the franchise, but in terms of cinema going fun, and the ability to keep you entertained throughout it has to be seen as a decent attempt to inject something new into the franchise.