26 June 1979 (London, premiere)
27 June 1979 (United Kingdom)
29 June 1979 (United States)
Moonraker is a 1979 spy film and the eleventh in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, and the fourth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The third and final film in the series to be directed by Lewis Gilbert, it co-stars Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Corinne Cléry, and Richard Kiel. Bond investigates the theft of a space shuttle, leading him to Hugo Drax, the owner of the shuttle's manufacturing firm. Along with space scientist Dr. Holly Goodhead, Bond follows the trail from California to Venice, Rio de Janeiro, and the Amazon rainforest, and finally into outer space to prevent a plot to wipe out the world population and to recreate humanity with a master race.
Moonraker was intended by its creator Ian Fleming to become a film even before he completed the novel in 1954, since he based it on a screenplay manuscript he had written even earlier. The film's producers had originally intended to film For Your Eyes Only, but instead chose this title due to the rise of the science fiction genre in the wake of the Star Wars phenomenon. Budgetary issues caused the film to be primarily shot in France, with locations also in Italy, Brazil, Guatemala and the United States. The soundstages of Pinewood Studios in England, traditionally used for the series, were only used by the special effects team.
Moonraker was noted for its high production cost of $34 million, more than twice as much as The Spy Who Loved Me, and it received mixed reviews. However, the film's visuals were praised, with Derek Meddings being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, and it eventually became the highest-grossing film of the series at the time with $210,300,000 worldwide, a record that stood until 1995's GoldenEye.
Storyline[]
James Bond investigates the mid-air theft of a space shuttle, and discovers a plot to commit global genocide.
Sound Effects Used[]
- BBC Records, Dalek Gun (3 Blasts)
- BBC SCI FI - TARDIS TAKE OFF
- Benny the Cab Revving
- CINESOUND GUNSHOT 01
- CINESOUND MALE SCREAM 01
- CINESOUND MALE SCREAM 02
- CINESOUND MALE SCREAM 05
- CINESOUND - EXPLOSION TYPE 1
- CINESOUND - EXPLOSION TYPE 15
- DePatie-Freleng Blowing Sound
- Disney - AHOOGA HORN
- Roger Rabbit Ahooga Sound
- Space Lightning 01
- Space Lightning 02
- SoundDogs, Impact Crash - Metal pact; Metal Scrape & pact-Car Crash
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE DIVE AND SWOOP BY
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE POWER DIVE SCREAM
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, DOOR - DOOR SLAM
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, PIANO - PIANO HIT, MUSIC (Heard briefly as Chang falls to his death into a piano on the plaza below.)
- Sound Ideas, CARTOON, WATER - HEAVY WATER SPLASH
- Sound Ideas, GUN, HANDGUN - PISTOL SHOTS WITH SILENCER, MORE WHIZZY
- Sound Ideas, GUN, RICOCHET - MACHINE GUN RICOCHETS, BULLET 01
- Sound Ideas, GUN, SILENCER - SUPPRESSED FIRING: SINGLE SHOT 01
- Sound Ideas, RICOCHET - CARTOON RICCO 04
- Sound Ideas, RICOCHET - CARTOON RICCO 05
- Sound Ideas, RICOCHET - CARTOON RICCO 07
- Sound Ideas, SCI FI - HERCULOIDS: GLEEP WALKING FOOTSTEPS
- Sound Ideas, SCI FI - ROSEY'S BEEPS
- Sound Ideas, WIND, UNDERGROUND - EMPTY SPACE WIND: LIGHT RUSHING UNDERGROUND OR LEAKY WIND, HEAVY WHISTLING
- UNIVERSAL MALE SCREAM 01
- WB CARTOON, AIRPLANE - PROP PLANE POWER DIVE SCREAM, LONG