What with the tremendous success of contemporary movie-franchises that (partially) take place in outer space like, "Star Wars" or "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" or even "Superman", James Bond naturally couldn't be the action hero who remained with his both his feet on the ground and thus the 11th official 007-adventure deals with topics like the conquest of space, the theft of hi-tech shuttles and – top of the bill - a genuinely absurd finale set in an outer space cult- community! By 1979, the familiar Bond formula had pretty much turned into a pastiche of absurd plot lines, cartoon-like villainous characters, ludicrous gadgetry and polished stunt work. It wouldn't be until the next installment, "For your eyes only", before James Bond returned to more old-fashioned story lines and down-to-earth action sequences, and so "Moonraker" qualifies as one of the weakest entries in the whole series. Weak in terms of plot and plausibility, that is, because the last Bond film directed by Lewis Gilbert is undeniably fun and entertaining in a light- headed/undemanding type of way. When a massively expensive and hi- tech space shuttle gets stolen during its transportation from the US to England, James Bond is promptly put on the case to discover the whereabouts of the shuttle as well as to save diplomatic relationships with the Americans. He begins his search at the gigantic Californian estate of the shuttle's manufacturer, Hugo Drax, and quickly realizes that he doesn't have to look any further to meet an evil opponent. Drax owns secret research laboratories and warehouses in Venice and entire rocket-ship launch platforms in Rio De Janeiro. Why? Because he plots to exterminate the entire human race with nerve gas and breed an entirely new master race in outer space, of course! 007 teams up with the yummy CIA agent Dr. Goodhead in order to put a stop to the shenanigans, but Drax recruited a familiar ugly face from Bond's past to stall him, namely the metal- teethed Jaws. Okay, so admittedly you can't really claim that "Moonraker" is a masterpiece of realism or suspense, but the film works fairly well as a tongue-in-cheek Sci-Fi/action comedy and Roger Moore clearly feels comfortable in his more comically- orientated role. Hugo Drax (Michael Longsdale) surely had the potential of becoming one of the most legendary flamboyant and over- the-top deranged villains, but his part remains rather vague while more screen time is offered to the indestructible Jaws (Richard Kiel). The special effects are impressive, clearly very expensive and were righteously nominated for an Oscar (although they lost – also righteously – against "Alien"). "Moonraker" doesn't deserve a spot in my personal top five, or even top ten of James Bond movies, but still I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking for a two hours of mindless good fun!
