Shiffman@WHITE.SWW.Symbolics.COM (05/28/85)
From: Hank Shiffman <Shiffman@WHITE.SWW.Symbolics.COM>
Date: 22 May 85 11:21:19 EDT
From: Chris Jarocha-Ernst <JAROCHA-ERNST@RU-BLUE.ARPA>
Now, I am not a James Bond fan, but I've seen all the films but two,
and to say that MOONRAKER is "perhaps the series' worst", as does
Hank Shiffman, starts a little indignation flowing in me.
Only a little? I must be losing my touch. And why indignation?
Disagreement would not have surprised me, but indignation? I questioned
the quality of a movie, not anyone's parentage.
Yes, I enjoyed MOONRAKER, as the pulp-type adventure story it is.
It certainly wasn't a spy thriller, but Bond films stopped being spy
thrillers with FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (attempting to return to the
genre in FOR YOUR EYES ONLY). Instead, MOONRAKER was a good "Bond
film", however you want to define that. Some of the scenes I
enjoyed:
- the hijacking of the shuttle
- the opening parachuting sequence
- the dobermans out to terminate a Drax Industries employee
- the discovery and activation of the space station
along with the cute references to SF films (the CE3K doorchime,
e.g.).
Yes, there were some nice visual images. However, the quality of the
casting is pretty poor. I found Lois Chiles to be lacking in romantic
appeal, and Michael Lonsdale as Drax was completely nonthreatening. For
him to seem any more benign he would have needed to be comatose. Where
are the Donovan Grants of yesteryear (or even the Emilio Largos)?