Producers: Albert Broccoli
Director Lewis Gilbert
Scriptwriter: Christopher Wood
Score: John Barry
Title Song: Shirley Bassey
Awards: Academy Award nomination for Special Effects
Locations: Brazil, Italy, Guatemala, USA, Boulogne/Eclair/Paris Studios, Pinewood Studios, and outer space!
Running Time: 2 hours, 6 minutes

     Moonraker was produced by Eon Productions in 1979. This movie is arguably the most ambitious Bond movie ever made. Broccoli set the bar higher for this movie than any previous Bond. The budget for this movie was an unheard of $32 million. This is more than the first six Bond movies combined. Broccoli loved the idea of taking Bond into space. When some Bond fans complained that the movie was too much science fiction, Broccoli retorted that his movies were, "not science fiction, but science fact" claiming that the plot was not that unbelievable.
     In this movie, Hugo Drax wants to use a newly found toxin to kill all living humans on planet earth, to start a new, "improved" civilization. Bond is sent to stop Drax.
A NOTE ON THE TITLE SONG: John Barry returns to score the movie, while Hald David wrote the theme song, which was sung by veteran Bond singer Shirley Bassey. It was not as big a hit as Nobody Does it Better".
MY GRADE: C This movie is sort of a paradox with me. It is good and bad at the same time. It is bad because the plot is basically the same as The Spy Who Loved Me, with a mad man trying to start a new civilization. Also, I don't like the idea of Bond in space. It seems out of place. On the other hand, the movie is almost over packed with action, and is by far the most original Bond. Since I can't decide which side wins out, I give it an average "C" grade.
BEST MOMENT: This scene is my favorite because it is so subtle that only true Bond fans know of it. In the scene where Bond's gondola turns into a hovercraft, there is a man who does a double take and looks at his alcoholic drink in disbelief. This man is Victor Tourjansky. He is not even an actor, yet he has been in three Bond films. He is the same man who does the double take when Bond's Lotus car comes out of the sea in The Spy Who Loved Me. He also does a double take in For Your Eyes Only when Bond skis over the restaurant. I think these brief cameos are the best running gag in all of the Bond movies. Most people don't even know about this.
ALSO NOTABLE: *Jaws speaks in this movie, after almost two whole movies of silence.
*When Bond takes M and the Minister of Defence to where Drax's lab, it is gone. I think that it was finally time that a joke was finally on Bond.
*The opening scene where Bond catches up with the guy and takes his parachute was pretty cool.
DID YOU KNOW...*This is the last movie with Bernard Lee as M.
*The scene where gravity goes out on the station was the largest weightless simulated scene ever.
*It took five attempts to get the gondola/hovercraft to work. Moore was flipped into the water four times. (He actually drove the thing.)*For Your Eyes Only was supposed to be the next Bond movie after The Spy Who Loved Me, but was changed to Moonraker to compete with Star Wars' release.
*The Drax station being blown up was really done by shooting a large model apart with shotguns.