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Rewatching Bond films
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<blockquote data-quote="Morrus" data-source="post: 9602427" data-attributes="member: 1"><p>OK, <em>Moonraker</em>. Here goes...</p><p></p><p>I had bad memories of this one. It's not great, but it's not the train-wreck I remember. And the special effects are better than than they were in my mind.</p><p></p><p>But, bizarrely, it's the<em> exact same film </em>as the last one. Find/replace "sea" with "space"; plot done! Villain steals subs/spaceshuttles. Bond teams up with foreign female spy. Jaws chases them comedically throughout the movie. Villain has an undersea/space station and plans to kill everyone so they have to live in his new world. American troops attack the lair/space station and a big battle ensues (third time, Gilbert?) while Bond easily offs the villain by himself. MI6 and other important officials are shocked to see Bond and the second Spy Who Loved Him "keeping the British end up"/"attempting re-entry".</p><p></p><p>The opening stunt is great. <em>Spy's</em> Union Jack parachute remains the high point, but this skydive fight is a close second. These two opening stunts--which are not as common so far as you'd think; it's only now, ten films in, becoming a trope--always stuck in my mind.</p><p></p><p>I said earlier that Jaws was basically Wile E. Coyote in <em>The Spy Who Loved M</em>e. In this one, he is even more so. Like in the last movie, over and over again he appears from nowhere to attack Bond and then 'dies' (he survives every time) in a cartoonish way. Falling from a plane, he flaps his arms and tries to fly! But he lands on a circus tent so he's OK. Fight on a cable car, it crashes into the tower at high speed and everything explodes! Chasing Bond in a boat he goes over a massive waterfall! Dressed as a giant clown, he gets swept away by the crowd! Over and over again... this guy is just a buffoon and not threatening in the least.</p><p></p><p>The other henchman, Kendo-man (I don't recall his name) shows up randomly a few times to attack Bond, too.</p><p></p><p>The first half is a traditional Bond investigation. Mansion, Venice, Rio, Amazon. Still as weakly-threaded as the last one, with a line at the end of each scene 'explaining' why they go to the next location. I mean, Bond recognises an orchid, so his plan? Go to the Amazon and wander around until he's attacked by Jaws & co. on speedboats. Then stumble across the villain's rocket base. If only all investigations were that easy!</p><p></p><p>The main villain, Drax, is OK I guess. Is he the first one without some kind of 'disability'? I guess Goldfinger didn't. But Drax has no metal hand, missing eye, flipper hands, third nipple, wheelchair. That's always been a problematic Bond trope. Anyway, Drax? Nothing to say really. He does enjoy a good trap-death, but at least he hangs a lampshade on it.</p><p></p><p>The space stuff? It looks better than I remember. This is 1979 now, <em>Star Wars/2001</em> era. Apparently this movie was by far the most expensive Bond flick to date (it was also the highest grossing until <em>Goldeneye</em>). Sure, the space action is no <em>Star Wars</em>, but the actual effects hold up well, especially the use of light and shadow in space, the zero-g, even the lasers don't look too bad (but they could have given the good guys and bad guys different colours). That said--were those lasers actually any more useful than just a regular gun? I imagine they cost a pretty penny. Hey, they look shiny.</p><p></p><p>Still, the film isn't <em>quite</em> as straight-up comedy as the last. it's still a quip-a-thon. Moore's fight scenes are not much better--he's OK when throwing a simple punch, but the other three moves which he pulls out with every fight are worse than Shatner fighting -- (a) swing off something and slowly kick them with both feet; (b) a gentle kick with his shin to their lower back which usually makes them jump in the air or fall over; (c) a judo chop.</p><p></p><p>Sooo.... I'm surprised, but I think it's better than <em>The Spy Who Loved Me</em>. It's not <em>good</em>. But it's not a trainwreck. The effects are great and hold up well. The action scenes are good (though Moore can't fight). An excellent opening stunt. The tropes are all in place. But it is the exact same film again. Let's call it surprisingly average.</p><p></p><p>I'll give this one a 004 rating.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Morrus, post: 9602427, member: 1"] OK, [I]Moonraker[/I]. Here goes... I had bad memories of this one. It's not great, but it's not the train-wreck I remember. And the special effects are better than than they were in my mind. But, bizarrely, it's the[I] exact same film [/I]as the last one. Find/replace "sea" with "space"; plot done! Villain steals subs/spaceshuttles. Bond teams up with foreign female spy. Jaws chases them comedically throughout the movie. Villain has an undersea/space station and plans to kill everyone so they have to live in his new world. American troops attack the lair/space station and a big battle ensues (third time, Gilbert?) while Bond easily offs the villain by himself. MI6 and other important officials are shocked to see Bond and the second Spy Who Loved Him "keeping the British end up"/"attempting re-entry". The opening stunt is great. [I]Spy's[/I] Union Jack parachute remains the high point, but this skydive fight is a close second. These two opening stunts--which are not as common so far as you'd think; it's only now, ten films in, becoming a trope--always stuck in my mind. I said earlier that Jaws was basically Wile E. Coyote in [I]The Spy Who Loved M[/I]e. In this one, he is even more so. Like in the last movie, over and over again he appears from nowhere to attack Bond and then 'dies' (he survives every time) in a cartoonish way. Falling from a plane, he flaps his arms and tries to fly! But he lands on a circus tent so he's OK. Fight on a cable car, it crashes into the tower at high speed and everything explodes! Chasing Bond in a boat he goes over a massive waterfall! Dressed as a giant clown, he gets swept away by the crowd! Over and over again... this guy is just a buffoon and not threatening in the least. The other henchman, Kendo-man (I don't recall his name) shows up randomly a few times to attack Bond, too. The first half is a traditional Bond investigation. Mansion, Venice, Rio, Amazon. Still as weakly-threaded as the last one, with a line at the end of each scene 'explaining' why they go to the next location. I mean, Bond recognises an orchid, so his plan? Go to the Amazon and wander around until he's attacked by Jaws & co. on speedboats. Then stumble across the villain's rocket base. If only all investigations were that easy! The main villain, Drax, is OK I guess. Is he the first one without some kind of 'disability'? I guess Goldfinger didn't. But Drax has no metal hand, missing eye, flipper hands, third nipple, wheelchair. That's always been a problematic Bond trope. Anyway, Drax? Nothing to say really. He does enjoy a good trap-death, but at least he hangs a lampshade on it. The space stuff? It looks better than I remember. This is 1979 now, [I]Star Wars/2001[/I] era. Apparently this movie was by far the most expensive Bond flick to date (it was also the highest grossing until [I]Goldeneye[/I]). Sure, the space action is no [I]Star Wars[/I], but the actual effects hold up well, especially the use of light and shadow in space, the zero-g, even the lasers don't look too bad (but they could have given the good guys and bad guys different colours). That said--were those lasers actually any more useful than just a regular gun? I imagine they cost a pretty penny. Hey, they look shiny. Still, the film isn't [I]quite[/I] as straight-up comedy as the last. it's still a quip-a-thon. Moore's fight scenes are not much better--he's OK when throwing a simple punch, but the other three moves which he pulls out with every fight are worse than Shatner fighting -- (a) swing off something and slowly kick them with both feet; (b) a gentle kick with his shin to their lower back which usually makes them jump in the air or fall over; (c) a judo chop. Sooo.... I'm surprised, but I think it's better than [I]The Spy Who Loved Me[/I]. It's not [I]good[/I]. But it's not a trainwreck. The effects are great and hold up well. The action scenes are good (though Moore can't fight). An excellent opening stunt. The tropes are all in place. But it is the exact same film again. Let's call it surprisingly average. I'll give this one a 004 rating. [/QUOTE]
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