Moonraker is a movie built on the belief that if you just keep throwing money, stunts, and lasers at the screen, no one will notice the script is quietly sobbing in the corner. After The Spy Who Loved Me was a hit, the producers decided to go even bigger—and thanks to Star Wars, “bigger” meant outer space.
This one’s a 3 out of 5 for me. I liked it, but I spent most of the second half wondering if anyone involved remembered they were making a spy thriller. It opens with one of the best action scenes in the franchise, then slowly spirals into sci-fi nonsense involving space stations, laser battles, and a plot to repopulate the Earth with sexy supermodels. Yes, really.
Freefall Masterpiece
Let’s give credit where it’s due. The opening freefall fight in Moonraker is jaw-dropping. Bond gets pushed out of a plane without a parachute and has to mid-air wrestle another man to steal his. It’s practical, it’s dangerous, and it’s edited so tightly you could mistake it for modern digital work.
And this is the 1970s. No green screen, no CG—just stuntmen and serious nerve. It’s easily one of the greatest openings in Bond history, setting a tone the movie sadly doesn’t sustain.
From Shuttle Heist to Space Nazis
The story kicks off with a stolen Moonraker space shuttle and ends with Bond leading a laser-armed assault on a space station. In between, there’s a bizarre journey through California, Venice, Rio de Janeiro, and the Amazon jungle, all while trying to stop Hugo Drax, a billionaire with a God complex and a plan to wipe out humanity and restart the gene pool.
It’s bloated and disjointed, like a travelogue that kept accidentally walking into a science fiction movie. The espionage angle fades fast, replaced by a cartoonish Bond who battles gondola-chasing henchmen and escapes death with a raised eyebrow and a hovercraft.
Roger Moore: Unflappable in Orbit
Moore continues his smooth, affable take on Bond. He’s clearly not rattled by anything—whether it’s a man with metal teeth or a python attack, he treats it all like a mildly annoying cocktail party guest.
There’s a charm to how unbothered he is, but it also makes the tension feel nonexistent. He’s a tourist in his own movie by the time we hit the final act. Still, Moore’s comedic timing and sheer comfort in the role keep things afloat, even when logic checks out completely.
Soft Voice, Big Ego, Zero Charisma
Michael Lonsdale plays Drax like he’s narrating a nature documentary. He’s all sleepy menace and disdainful smirks, but never quite threatening. His plan—to exterminate humanity and repopulate the Earth with handpicked genetically perfect couples—feels like it came from a rejected Twilight Zone episode.
He does get a few great villain lines, though. “Look after Mr. Bond. See that some harm comes to him” is delightfully dry. But in terms of screen presence, he’s easily outshone by the return of an old metal-toothed friend.
From Horror to Harmless
Jaws is back, and he starts out great. He’s still huge, terrifying, and chewing through steel cables like they’re Twizzlers. But then the movie turns him into comic relief. He falls in love. He helps Bond. He gets a redemption arc. It’s sweet in theory, but also kind of ridiculous.
By the end, he’s waving at Bond from a crashing space station like he’s just stepped off a Disney ride. The menace is completely gone. It’s charming, but it feels like we’ve lost something.
Dr. Goodhead Is… Okay
Lois Chiles plays Holly Goodhead, a NASA scientist and CIA agent with one of the least subtle names in the franchise. She’s competent and shares some decent repartee with Bond, but the chemistry is lukewarm. She’s clearly there to be the “equal,” but the script doesn’t give her much to do besides deliver exposition and shoot a laser gun.
Still, she’s not terrible—and in a movie full of cartoon logic, she at least feels like she belongs in the same genre as the audience.
Lasers in Space
Then it happens. The movie launches itself into orbit, literally and figuratively. Bond in zero gravity. Drax monologuing on a rotating space station. Astronauts in jetpacks shooting lasers. It’s pure spectacle, and the effects are solid for the era, but it feels like the franchise momentarily forgot what genre it’s supposed to be.
You can almost hear the writers saying, “Screw it, give them Star Wars.”
Groundbreaking Start, Goofy Finish
Moonraker is a movie torn between excellence and excess. The first half has intrigue, tension, and that incredible stunt work. The second half devolves into a space opera with all the subtlety of a Saturday morning cartoon. Still, it’s fun in that overly ambitious, guilty-pleasure kind of way.
It’s Bond in orbit, for better and worse.