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Moonraker

Play trailer Poster for Moonraker PG,  1979,  2h 6m,  Action/ Adventure/ Sci-Fi/ Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 60% 53 Reviews Tomatometer 43% 50,000+ Ratings Popcornmeter
60% Tomatometer 53 Reviews 43% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
Agent 007 blasts into orbit in this action-packed adventure that takes him to Venice, Rio de Janeiro and outer space. When Bond investigates the hijacking of an American space shuttle, he and beautiful CIA agent Holly Goodhead are soon locked in a life-or-death struggle against Hugo Drax, a power-mad industrialist whose horrific scheme may destroy all human life on Earth!
Moonraker

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Featuring one of the series' more ludicrous plots but outfitted with primo gadgets and spectacular sets, Moonraker is both silly and entertaining.

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Critics Reviews

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Gary Arnold Washington Post Oct 6, 2015
Moonraker, the newest James Bond spectacle, is a cheerful, splashy entertainment. The curators of the Bond museum do not surpass themselves with this exhibition, the 11th in the series, but they haven't fallen down on the job either. Go to Full Review
Variety Staff Variety Oct 13, 2008
Christopher Wood's script takes the characters exactly where they always go in a James Bond pic and the only question is whether the stunts and gadgets will live up to expectations. They do. Go to Full Review
Frank Rich TIME Magazine Oct 13, 2008
Broccoli just keeps piling on the goodies: lush Ken Adam sets, gadgetry and gams galore, super stunts and effects. Go to Full Review
Photoplay Staff Photoplay Nov 16, 2023
Like the last Bond exercise, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker hits its stride by being silly and spectacular. Go to Full Review
Carson Timar ButteredPopcorn Aug 28, 2022
D+
I wanted to love this film and to see something actually new and interesting, but instead, I got a boring and confusing plot that had me simply waiting for the runtime to get over. Go to Full Review
John Brosnan Starburst Jul 23, 2022
Moonraker is still basically good fun and I suppose that's all it's supposed to be. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Draco S Mar 29, 2019 Fun! Just fun! Very different and modernized from the novel, obviously. (Instead of the sea, they use outer space.)
Finn R Mar 18, 2019 This is by far the campiest, most ridiculous Bond movie in the franchise thus far. As I said earlier, it has a horrible case of personality disorder switching from Spy Thriller, to Action film, to western, to sci-fi and never fully embracing any of single genre.  It was almost as if the film makers wanted to corner the market on every genre so that they could fill every fanboys dream while only managing to alienate the very people who kept this franchise alive.  To be honest, it is a wonder that the Bond series continued after this ghastly film. http://latetothegame.blog/2019/03/14/key-movies-of-my-life-james-bond-edition-moonraker-1979 See more
Feb 11, 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. 6/10 See more
Anakin R Feb 8, 2019 A bit more care and a complete de-sleaze, and this could have been a proper classic.
Finn W Jan 12, 2019 A different theme from the previous series. The less organized plot resulted in some scenes becoming less attractive. Overall, quite entertaining See more
Ron R Nov 11, 2018 43% rotten well totally disappointing movie unexpected
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Moonraker

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis Agent 007 blasts into orbit in this action-packed adventure that takes him to Venice, Rio de Janeiro and outer space. When Bond investigates the hijacking of an American space shuttle, he and beautiful CIA agent Holly Goodhead are soon locked in a life-or-death struggle against Hugo Drax, a power-mad industrialist whose horrific scheme may destroy all human life on Earth!
Director
Lewis Gilbert
Producer
Albert R. Broccoli
Screenwriter
Ian Fleming, Christopher Wood
Distributor
CBS/Fox, United Artists, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc.
Production Co
United Artists, Eon Productions Ltd., Danjaq Productions
Rating
PG
Genre
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 29, 1979, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 1, 2016
Runtime
2h 6m
Sound Mix
Magnetic Stereo 6 Track, Dolby Stereo, Surround
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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