Post by ©DURANMANIA Board Team on Jun 23, 2004 22:26:31 GMT -5
Date of Release
World Premiere 26th June 1979, the Odeon Leicester Square, London
the story
When a U.S. space shuttle is stolen in a midair abduction, only Bond can find the evil genius responsible. The clues point to billionaire Hugo Drax, who has devised a scheme to destroy all human life on earth! As Bond races against time to stop Drax's evil plot, he joins forces with Dr. Holly Goodhead, a NASA scientist who is as beautiful as she is brilliant. And 007 needs all the help he can get, for Drax's henchman is none other than Bond's old nemesis Jaws, the indestructible steel-toothed giant. Their adventure leads all the way to a gigantic orbiting space station, where the stage is set for an epic battle for the fate of all mankind.
Bond’s Women
Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles)
Corinne Dufour (Corinne Clery)
Manuela (Emily Bolton)
Bond’s Enemies
Hugo Drax (Michael [Michel] Lonsdale)
Jaws (Richard Kiel)
Chang (Toshiro Suga)
Bond’s Allies
Jaws (Richard Kiel) [he finds love and changes sides in the climax of the movie]
Frederick Gray (Geoffrey Keen)
General Anatol Gogol (Walter Gotell)
‘M’ (Bernard Lee) [Lee’s last appearance]
Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell)
‘Q’ (Desmond Llewelyn)
Bond's Car
None on this assignment - Pilots a Space shuttle instead!
Bond’s Gadget
Wrist dart gun that fires armour-piercing and cyanide-coated darts
Main Title Music
‘Moonraker’ sung by Shirley Bassey
End Title Music
‘Moonraker’ sung by Shirley Bassey
Music Score
John Barry
Production Design
Ken Adam
Main Titles Designer
Maurice Binder
Screenplay
Christopher Wood
Editor
John Glen
Director of Photography
Jean Tournier
Director
Lewis Gilbert
Producers
Albert R. Broccoli
Filming Locations
Pinewood Studios, London, England, UK
Brazil
Guatemala (scene with pyramid)
Iguaçu Falls, Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná, Brazil (Brazil-Argentina border)
Italy
Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA (Vehicle Assembly Building)
Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, USA
Palmdale, California, USA (Rockwell International facility)
Paris, France
Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil
St. Lucie County, Florida, USA
Vaux-le-Viconte, France (Drax's mansion)
Venice, Veneto, Italy
Budget
$34 million
Worldwide Box Office
$202.7 million
Worldwide Box Office Gross Income 2002 inflation-adjusted
$503 million
Review: Seeing how the world flocked to see Star Wars, the Bond producers decided to make their own little Bond Wars. They basically took the plot of The Spy Who Loved Me and sent it to space. Hugo Drax replaced Carl Stromburg who, instead of wanting to control the new world order from the middle of the ocean, wanted to control it from his station in the heavens. This should not, under any circumstances, have been done. Maybe with ten years in between, but not two back-to-back movies with the same plot. And even if they had to repeat the plot, at lease make it plausible; there are no space stations of that magnitude today, let alone in 1979. Even the scenes on earth were a bit far-fetched. Although the hydrofoil boat ride through Venice was a great scene it was quite silly. One scene that did work was the fight with Chang in Venini Glass. However, the ending was preposterous. The space fight looked fake as did the lasers that melted through space suits. The return of Jaws was one of the movie's saving graces. He fit in with this movie better than in The Spy Who Loved Me.
Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles), James Bond (Roger Moore)
Hugo Drax (Michael [Michel] Lonsdale)
Jaws (Richard Kiel)
peace & love
SLIM K
