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Moonraker (1979)  Bond: Roger Moore The Villian: Michael Lonsdalle as Hugo Drax The Henchperson: J A W S The Bond Girl: Lois Chile as Dr. Holly Goodhead Director: Lewis Gilbert IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079574/ Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2GTKBx4H5Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2GTKBx4H5Y There is a moment halfway through that defines this film. It is deceptively simple and yet speaks volumes about the place where the Bond series is now entrenched.  A pigeon doing a cheeky double-take. It is a moment that is completely absurd, and yet no more rediculous than what Bond is doing at the time. He has just escaped from some villains that literally came out of nowhere for some reason we will never know, and then 007 procedes to ride off into the sunset through a crowded St. Mark's square in a gondola-shaped hovercraft. The Bond that had just reinvigorated the franchise in the last movie, The Spy Who Loved Me, is gone, and we've fallen back to the Bond that most people will mostly associate with the Moore era - A 007 whose predilection with over the top humor precludes the development of the story and rich characters that go with it. Logic would seem to dicatate that this type of Bond who did so poorly at the box office in The Man with the Golden Gun would not be duplicated, and the (somewhat) more realistic manner of The Spy Who Loved Me would be the pattern to follow, but this is not what was done at all. Monetarily speaking, the decision to make a Star Wars type movie paid off at the box office, but it still feels like there was a confession of a misstep, because in the next movie For Your Eyes Only we are back to the concentration of story and relationships over madcap humor.  I don't care what you have heard, the creatures from LV-426 are not to be eaten! Sometimes the Bond series confuses me. I can't understand if the target audience is 17 years old, or 7 years old. There are scenes where Jaws (yup, he's back) ends up with a giant gear around his head like a live-action version of Elmer Fudd, and scenes where ambulence strechers crash into a woman's mouth on a billboard that must have been stolen from Benny Hill. In contrast, we then have classic innuendos and sexual escapades that appeal to an older audience. Or maybe it is all to appeal to kid in all of us, which is mostly what Bond is about, anyway. The key element to the last movie was the relationship between Bond and his girl. To their credit, they've wisely chosen to not go the Bimbo route of previous Bond films, but stick with a Bond Girl who is supposed to be 007's equal, at least on an intelliectual level. Bond is still trying to catch up with this whole equality thing, though, and can't imagine for the life of him why a woman should be able to be a qualified pilot. Chiles' presentation of Holly Goodhead seems to overcompensate with her monotone representation of business before pleasure though, probably as a direct nod to Pussy Galore in Goldfinger. She's also exceedingly practiced in stating the obvious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZYed2DMxZs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZYed2DMxZs Luckily, unlike that film, Bond doesn't have to try to rape her in order to get her to indulge in some Zero-G Thunderball action. However, since she plays so hard to get a relationship between them never seems to gel. If you're looking for something in the same vein that works much better, look no further than Casino Royale (2006).  HEIDI IN SPAAAAAACE!!! Don't get me wrong, there is still good in this movie. There is a fantastic fight in a glass factory with swords that is just fun to watch, one of the best opening sequences ever, and watching the fight at the end of the movie will get you unconciously smiling as 007 pours on the cheese like you've never seen it before. It's almost grindhouse in it's audacity and ludicrous "must...move...in...slow...motion" moments. Plus, there's also amazing set design by Ken Adam, complete with working monorails and tables that conveniently fold into the ground. Finally, we get to enjoy the rediculous splendor of another meglomaniac in chase of his genocidal dream. I honestly believe that this could be a reasonable Bond film if the really terrible parts were euthanised. Maybe you enjoy Jaws, but I think he should take his goofy love story to his own franchise, and give the rest of this movie a cheeseballectomy to get rid of the "garsh, what did they put in my drink to make me see that?" crapola. In the end, you'd have a movie that's about 45 minutes long, but it would be pretty good.  OMGWTFBBQ! The Good: Great opening sequence, good actions sets. The Bad: Benny Hill humor, goofy subplots. The Ugly: Pigtails? Really?? FINAL SCORE As a Bond Flick:   As a movie in general: Yabanjin fucked around with this message at 03:48 on Oct 25, 2010 |
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Jan 5, 2010 14:04
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