The title card from Moonraker (1979)
The beginning of the end credits for Moonraker references an out-of-this-world filming location!
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…
Richard Kiel as Jaws smiles in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
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Richard Kiel as Jaws smiles in Moonraker (1979)
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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The end credits of The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) says that For Your Eyes Only (1981) is the next movie
Eon Productions jumped the gun!
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Roger Moore as James Bond escapes via hang glider in Moonraker (1979)
Might be my favorite escape!
Ever wondered what the name of the song that Drax plays on his Steinway the first time he meets 007? It’s Frederic Chopin‘s “Prelude No. 15 (Raindrop)”.
Check out a full performance of the piece by world-reknown Chinese pianist Yi Lundi below:
I see Jaws’ costume from Moonraker (1979) in my nightmares.
Villain Hugo Drax and his dorky henchmen from Moonraker (1979)…they couldn’t have worn any other kind of helmet???
Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) is merciless in Moonraker (1979). In this scene, he’s had enough with his incompetent employee Corinne Dufour (Corinne Clery) who slept with Bond and led 007 to the safe in Drax’s study. She was an easy mark for Bond – giddy chatting him on the helicopter ride to the Drax estate and a asinine glance at the safe’s location in Drax’s study. Her fate was inevitable – a simple snap of his fingers and henchmen Chang (Toshiro Suga) releases the hunting dogs to maul her to death.
Oddly enough, the subsequent dog chase scene in the eerie forest and its accompanying harrowing music feels more like a horror movie than a James Bond movie.
Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) fires Corinne Dufour (Corinne Clery) in Moonraker (1979)
