Jaws’ (Richard Kiel) intro in Moonraker (1979) has to be the best henchmen intro of any James Bond movie.
We catch the tail end of villain Hugo Drax’s (Michael Lonsdale) phone conversation searching for a replacement henchman for the recently deceased Chang (it’s so weird he refers to him as “Cha” in the phone conversation, but whatever). As he sits atop his ivory tower, he’s pleasantly surprised to hear the prospect of Jaws (Richard Kiel) as his next henchman to help carry out his nefarious plot and subdue James Bond in the process. I also wonder who Drax is on the phone with – is there a villain’s HR department?!
Fast forward to Jaws’ hilariously oversized arrival in Rio de Janeiro – we see him set off the metal detectors for obvious reasons. Without a word (just a smile), he explains the beeping to the Rodney Dangerfield doppelganger customs worker, totally freaking him out. LOL!
In Moonraker (1979), as James Bond makes his escape via his hydrofoil gondola in Venice, some great, funny and downright cheesy reactions from the witnessing crowd are seen.
Which is your favorite?
…Dr. Holly Goodhead in Moonraker (1979)! GAH!
Moonraker was literally filmed in space! (note the exclamation point used for emphasis)
It must have cost a fortune for filming…perhaps Drax assisted with production costs? A quick Google shows it’s possible to use private space agencies to go intergalactic at ~$200,000 per flight, or around $60,000 in 1979 dollars. Although no such agency existed back then…
The Bond movie franchise’s response to the space-based Star Wars phenomenon of the late 1970’s comes in the form of Moonraker (1979). And this fight scene perfectly encapsulates the movie’s attempt at inserting some James Bond action into the vast bleakness of space.
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