Moonraker (1979)

ReelViews 8 of 10
Moonraker is a sort of James Bond meets Star Wars. Released in 1979, the year that saw the arrival of Star Trek on the big screen, Moonraker was the latest film to latch onto the science fiction revival started by George Lucas' 1977 picture. Audiences flocked to see Moonraker, making it the highest grossing 007 movie before Goldeneye. The mixture of escapist action and space shoot-outs found favor with the American public. Indeed, while parts of Moonraker are rather silly (a trend during Roger Moore's tenure), solid special effects, well-executed action sequences, and a strict reliance upon the "Bond Formula" keep this film among Moore's better entries as the British superspy...Special note should be made of John Barry's score, his best since On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Barry weaves the familiar "James Bond theme" and "007 theme" into a rich musical tapestry whose main thread is the Moonraker title track. In addition, Barry uses an unusually diverse selection of musical cues, including the familiar theme from The Magnificent Seven and the five-note greeting from Close Encounters of the Third Kind...Moonraker marked Bernard Lee's final appearance as M. The actor died while preparing for the next Bond film, For Your Eyes Only. No M since has matched Lee's interpretation, and only with his passing did it become apparent how important this minor character is to the 007 adventures...As Roger Moore's fourth Bond outing, and the eleventh film in the series, Moonraker is a satisfying followup to The Spy Who Loved Me. Science fiction fans may be offended by some of the liberties taken here, but tolerance is necessary. The film is, after all, geared towards a specific audience. Accent the "fiction" in science fiction, and recognize that with Bond, realism is the last thing anyone expects -- or wants. - James Berardinelli
 
Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
"Moonraker" is the 11th installment in the most successful film series in history. It is also, of course, in the grand Bond tradition. The basic form of the James Bond thrillers has been firmly established since the beginning; they're as predictable in style as the kabuki theater. The first shot of Bond must show him in a bizarre predicament that brings him within inches of his life. Surviving it, he must immediately be seen by a sexy girl...This Bond arrives in the midst of the post-"Star Wars" sci-fi boom, and was right on time. The press releases promised there had never before been a set as large as the one built to contain "Moonraker"'s city in outer space. The space station, inspired (as they all are) by Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey," is a masterpiece of art direction. One moment among many: When the station's artificial gravity is shut off, it appears to us that 50 or 100 men are floating in free-fall in the command area. It's hard enough to make one man appear to be floating, but "Moonraker" doesn't spare the cash...Bond is played by Roger Moore again. Moore had grown into the role by this time, but Moore was, alas, simply not Connery. He lacked the gift of combining the comic with the sexy; he didn't have Connery's sophisticated smile with just a hint of a drool...To which I suppose we should say, so what? The stars of this movie are Ken Adam, the art director, and Derek Meddings, in charge of special effects. In addition to the gigantic space station, they provide lots of little touches, like 007's gondola in Venice, which turns into a speedboat and then miraculously grows wheels. "Moonraker" is a movie by gadgeteers, for gadgeteers, about gadgeteers. Our age may be losing its faith in technology, but James Bond sure hasn't. - Roger Ebert