Review of Moonraker (1979) by Marcmifsud — 11 Feb 2019

BREAKDOWN:

Writing (Christopher Wood): I don't even know where to begin with the writing of this film. Either 'Moonraker' is a hilariously bad film or it is the most self-aware James Bond movie that embraces the ridiculousness. I will assume the latter just based on how ridiculous it gets in some points. Fights just happen out of nowhere for no reason and some happen in ridiculous ways, such as the coffin knife-thrower or the glass museum samurai. Jaws also appears out of nowhere in each fight and is hilariously defeated each time. My favorite part of the script is that although James Bond does not change as a character, Jaws changes significantly and so does Bond's relationship with Jaws. Overall, this script is great if it is thought of like a James Bond parody. My only complaint is that the story does not start to develop large stakes until Bond and Goodhead are on the space station and Drax's plan really starts to become the primary subject in the story. But from that point on, it's actually very thrilling. Also, the movie introduces so many characters that we only hear from once and never again or just have no significance to the story overall. 7/10.

Performances: Roger Moore does a great job as Bond and really brings the hilarious personality to life with his delivery of quips during inappropriate times. The supporting cast, however, is nothing special with exception of Lois Chiles as Goodhead and Richard Kiel as Jaws. 5/10.

Cinematography (Jean Tournier): The cinematography is actually fantastic in this flick and one of the more impressive parts. The shots of the space station really come to mind and the scene where the dogs are running after the woman is also well-shot. 8/10.

Editing (John Glen): The editing of this film is iffy. There are some scenes where the amount of cuts is clearly to make up for lack of choreography. In addition, most fight scenes have no music to them and seem incredibly awkward most especially the glass museum samurai fight. 4/10.

Visual Effects: The VFX in this film are actually very impressive for the most part. The space station looks very cool and the space battle was fun to look at. The only effect I thought needed a lot of work was the space station falling apart. It was clear that PAs were just on the side of the walls pushing them in. 7/10.

Enjoyment: Moonraker is an incredibly enjoyable movie that is best watched with friends at a movie night. It's hilarious and action-packed and will bring a good time, especially with some drinks in hand. 9/10.

Musical Score (John Barry): The music is just classic James Bond with some calmer tracks thrown in for the space scenes. There isn't much to analyze here because of how little the score was used. 5/10.

Sound Mixing (Daniel Brisseau): The sound in this movie is pretty good. There was definitely an overuse of the bullet whoosh sound effects for when bullets fly past bond, but it's decent for the late 70s. It also helps that the film was kind of reliant on the sound design for fights because of the lack of music. 8/10.

Production Design (Ken Adam): The production design is beautiful in 'Moonraker,' albeit underused. Some sets are absolutely stunning, but they serve no significance to the plot and we only see them for 2 minutes, but that isn't the fault of the production designer. The best use of production design is the space station by far. 8/10.

Overall: 'Moonraker' is a hilariously good time that makes you laugh at James Bond movies as a whole. Unfortunately, if you were expecting to find another Skyfall, you're not gonna find it here due to awkward fight scenes and useless characters and moments.