Product Details

• Actors: Irka Bochenko, Emily Bolton, Jean-Pierre Castaldi, Lois Chiles, Corinne Clery
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered, NTSC
• Language: English, Italian
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: United Artists
• VHS Release Date: May 16, 2000
• Run Time: 126 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (198 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302510031
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,742 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This was the first James Bond adventure produced after the success of Star Wars, so it jumped on the sci-fi bandwagon by combining the suave appeal of Agent 007 (once again played by Roger Moore) with enough high-tech hardware and special effects to make Luke Skywalker want to join Her Majesty's Secret Service. After the razzle-dazzle of The Spy Who Loved Me, this attempt to latch onto a trend proved to be a case of overkill, even though it brought back the steel-toothed villain Jaws (Richard Kiel) and scored a major hit at the box office. This time Bond is up against a criminal industrialist named Drax (Michel Lonsdale) who wants to control the world from his orbiting space station. In keeping with his well-groomed style, Bond thwarts this maniacal Neo-Hitler's scheme with the help of a beautiful, sleek-figured scientist (played by Lois Chiles with all the vitality of a department-store mannequin). There's a grand-scale climax involving space shuttles and ray guns, but despite the film's popular success, this is one Bond adventure that never quite gets off the launching pad. It's as if the caretakers of the James Bond franchise had forgotten that it's Bond--and not a barrage of gizmos and gadgets (including a land-worthy Venetian gondola)--that fuels the series' success. Despite Moore's passive performance (which Pauline Kael described as "like an office manager who is turning into dead wood but hanging on to collect his pension"), Moonraker had no problem attracting an appreciative audience, and there are even a few renegade Bond-philes who consider it one of their favorites. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad , but not outstanding....., September 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Moonraker (DVD)

MOONRAKER is okay and has a couple of good moments.The locations are beautiful ;007 travels to California,Venice,Brazil and Outer Space!Unfortunatly,this eleventh entry in the Bond series remains underrated and was never taken to heart by most fans.A plot that was definetly inspired by Star Wars and actors who do not seem to take their roles seriously may have something to do with it. Dr Holly Goodhead(Lois Chiles) is pretty but never had a status as a memorable Bond girl. Hugo Drax(Michael Longsdale) is not a classic example of a head villain.However,Jaws(Richard Kiel) adds flavor to this movie.Despite mixed reviews, MOONRAKER was one of the most grossing James Bond films of all time.I enjoy this movie once in a while,and I find it superior to the two first Roger Moore films(LIVE AND LET DIE and THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN) but inferior to FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME,and A VIEW TO A KILL.The theme song by Shirley Bassey is not bad.Worth a look, but dont have too many high expectations..........

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No way, Moonraker rocks., August 22, 2005

By	Justin Ratcliff "egovirus" (S.Pasadena, Ca.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Moonraker (DVD)

This screen is starting to look like the metaphorical equivalent of the sweet space battle at the end of this breathtaking achievement of cinematic perfection. Well, I'm here to shoot a few of my own lasers now, this movie totally kicks a$$. Let's start with the opening song, which I think is easily in the top 3 of all time best Bond openers.

So there's this frog named Drax who wants to kill everyone on Earth, and start from scratch with his own breeding stock of beautiful people. The genocide of the ugly people of Earth comes by virtue of a space delivered disease, or nerve agent, or something equally superfluous, which Drax of course also manufactures.

I have a theory which goes a little something like this: When a man reaches a certain level of wealth, he naturally begins to contemplate some dimension of world conquest. The uber-villains Bond is often pitted against seem to pan this theory out nicely, begging the question, when will 007 take on Dick Cheney, Bill Gates, or Ronald McDonald?

So in comes old pervy Bond to salivate all over the dames, karate chop some mouth brething henchmen, and get all up in Drax's grille. Drax, for is his part, is no sllouch though. The man is straight evil, but his taste in women, crib's, and lasers is beyond reproach. I suppose because I grew up with Roger Moore playing Bond, I get the best of both worlds, because Connery and Moore are both Bond to me.

Now, in a movie which already has so much to offer the entertainment starved masses, we see the return of super hencmen JAWS. That alone should raise a pulse or two, because this guy is emma effin indestrutable. You can shoot him in the face, throw him out of an airplane, drop him in a tank full of ill tempered sharks, drop his a$$ from outerspace, and he doesn't die. Why can't we unleash this cat in Iraq?

So anyway, Bond figures Drax out, and its on. As I have previously alluded to, there is a magnificent space battle involving cats floating around in space shooting lasers, and invading space stations like that's all they got paid to do. Wow, if it get's any better than this they'll start taxing us for it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Aw come on, it can't be that bad, December 3, 2000

By	Brandon J. Seger (California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Moonraker (DVD)

As much as people here trash the movie, I think it is a good Bond film. Out of all the Bond films, this one seems the most visceral to me. It isn't the best of the Bond films, but I found that I really enjoyed this movie. The plot, although a tad far-fetched, was good enough to drag the movie along and the story required Bond to travel around the globe, from Britian(of course), Venice, California, Rio De Janero, and even space.

Lois Chiles, while in my opinion is the least of the Bond girls, still fits the bill, and Roger Moore is my favorite Bond actor, and he takes his role in this film confidently. Jaws is my favorite of the Bond henchmen, and I liked him in this film more than the previous one, "The Spy Who Loved Me." Also, this was Bernard Lee's last role as M Bond film before his unfortunate death after this film.

All in all, "Moonraker" deserves more than it is given by the public.