Moonraker [Blu-ray]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

In this adaptation of Ian Fleming's 1955 novel, James Bond (Roger Moore) must thwart Sir Hugo Drax (Michel Lonsdale), who plans to wipe out all of humankind and replace it with a super race that he has cultivated in a massive space station. The girl in the case is American secret agent Holly Goodhead, intelligently played by Lois Chiles. "Jaws," the steel-mouthed henchman played by Richard Kiel in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), makes a return appearance in Moonraker, turning good guy (complete with a girlfriend of his own) in the process. Bernard Lee makes his last appearance as "M" in this most costly of James Bond's 1970s escapades. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: A
• Number of Discs: 1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Cinemascope)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Surround
• Features:
  • Audio commentary featuring Sir Roger Moore
  • Audio commentary featuring director Lewis Gilbert and members of the cast and crew
  • 007 in Rio - original 1979 production featurette Bond '79
  • Ken Adam's production films
  • Learnign to freefall - skydiving test footage
  • Skydiving storyboards
  • Circus footage cable car alternative storyboards
  • 007 mission control: Interactive guide into the world of Moonraker
  • Original theatrical trailer inside Moonraker - an original documentary
  • The men behind the mayhem - special effects documentary
  • Image database

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Visual Effects - 1979 (John Evans, Paul Wilson, Derek Meddings)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Roger Moore - James Bond
       Lois Chiles - Holly Goodhead
       Michel Lonsdale - Hugo Drax
       Richard Kiel - Jaws
       Bernard Lee - "M"
       Corinne Clery - Corinne Dufour
       Geoffrey Keen - Frederick Gray
       Desmond Llewelyn - Q
       Lois Maxwell - Miss Moneypenny
       Emily Bolton - Manuela
       Toshiro Suga - Chang
       Blanche Ravalec - Dolly
       Jean - Pierre Castaldi - Pilot of Private Jet
       Leila Shenna
       Walter Gotell - Gen. Gogol
       Arthur Howard - Cavendish
       Irka Bochenko - Blonde Beauty
       Douglas Lambert - Mission Control Director
       Alfie Bass - Consumptive Italian
       Brian Keith - Shuttle Captain
       Georges Birt
       Kim Fortune - FRA Officer
       Georges Beller - Drax's Technician
       Lizzie Warville - Russian Girl
       Anne Lombers - Guide

• Director:

  Lewis Gilbert

• Producer:

  Albert R. Broccoli

• Screenwriter:

  Christopher Wood

• Book Author:

  Ian Fleming

• Cinematographer:

  Jean Tournier

• Composer (Music Score):

  John Barry

• Songwriter:

  Hal David

• Editor:

  John Glen

• Production Designer:

  Ken Adam, Anton Furst

• Art Director:

  Charles Bishop, Max Douy, Harry Lange

• Associate Producer:

  William P. Cartlidge

• Executive Producer:

  Michael G. Wilson

• Set Designer:

  Peter Howitt

• Costume Designer:

  Jacques Fonteray

• Special Effects:

  John Evans, Derek Meddings, John Richardson

• First Assistant Director:

  Michel Cheyko

• Stunts:

  Bob Simmons

• Sound Mixer:

  Daniel Brisseau

• Second Unit Director:

  Ernest Day

REVIEW:

• Moonraker is quite simply one of the weirdest James Bond movies out there, as close to accidental spoof as anything in the series (not counting Casino Royale, which was supposed to be real spoof). Not only does it feature the larger-than-life, metal-toothed villain Jaws (Richard Kiel), performing even stranger feats than he did in The Spy Who Loved Me, but also a downright loopy foray into outer space, complete with an exchange of laser blasts better suited to the contemporaneous Star Wars movies. Of course, diversions from the straight and narrow in a long-running series like this are always welcome, and Moonraker has fun with its lighter tone and silly finale. Directing his third Bond film, Lewis Gilbert also knows how to provide the goods, including a taut sequence atop a tram that'll be a doozy for anyone afraid of heights. Of course, the fact that Jaws is severing the tram's thick support wire with his teeth just restores focus on the sense of kookiness that suffuses the whole enterprise. Moonraker was the middle of Roger Moore's seven films as 007. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi