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- The Mandela Effect on Holly is so strong that I actually CHECKED IF SHE WEARS BRACES WHEN I KNOW PERFECTLY SHE DOESN'T.
- It's only the second time I've seen MR in OV, and I noticed that in the Castilian Spanish version, Rog's VA Constantino Romero - bless his immortal soul - uttered an extra line when Drax's mook gets pinned on the British Airways billboard. Bond says, in a very annoyed voice: "We'll take more care of you? Well, they can keep it to themselves". I've heard it so many times that I actually missed it in the original film :))
- John Barry had a brilliant idea getting his 007 theme back for MR, but I can't help but associating it to Sean's Bond. Maybe if he also used it on TMWTTG and/or OP... For AVTAK he created a fantastic successor that didn't stick: the theme used on Snow Job and a couple more cues.
- Jaws' reaction when Bond - from his point of view - randomly takes off on a glider: "WTF is this freako doin'?". And THEN he notices the waterfall. Priceless performance by Richard Kiel. But, wait, there's more: Jean Tournier and his team's beautiful sequences of Iguazú Falls' sorroundings. Brief, but nothing short of awe-inspiring.
- A huge willing suspension of disbelief is needed to not think about how Bond can magically go from Brazil to Guatemala in a question of seconds.
- The anaconda sequence. Now that's the worst scene in this film to me, and maybe a bottom 10 moment of the whole Bond series. "A scene worthy of Ed Wood", as said by a Bond connoisseur in a book (remember Béla Lugosi and/or Martin Landau and the tentacle? So there).
Indeed. It's nothing short of awesome: it's like Blofeld's piranha pit on YOLT, but with random Mesoamerican details that give it an even more comic-book edge.
that set and the control room, or "Mondrian" set for obvious reasons. Moonraker
is one of those films best viewed on as large as scree as you can get. On occasion
I'll watch it on my HD projector and 100 inch screen, for that cinema experience.
I only have to add the sticky carpets, loud teenagers and people on their mobile
phones, to make it fully a cinema experience ;)
- Until now, I didn’t notice how self-destructively petty Drax can be: He could have requested for a postponement in the loan of the McGuffin-esque Moonraker and used it for his plan. Given his prestige and influences nobody would have asked anything. Instead, he killed three persons and put Bond on his trail. Jenious 8-|
- Second time the Q Section hides us that Bond's watch had an opportunely hidden gadget: LALD's rolling blade and MR's micro plastic bomb.
- My main guilty pleasure in this movie is watching those stupid, luv-luvy Draxy couples bite the dust and end up orbiting the Earth forever as space junk. Cute, brainless psychopaths :-&
- How many mooks has Bond unwillingly saved in his illustrous career? Many big bads would have left them non the wiser to their doom if not for Bond emerging victorious! (Zorin knew better and went for direct action).
- I wanted to do a Bananas in Pyjamas joke to Gogol's expense, but nothing came of it.
- As silly as they looked together, Jaws and Dolly were charming, deserved to live and so they did. Thanks, Christopher Wood! =D>
- Locations in OUTER SPACE! and that nice Meco Monardo-like rendition of the song. Fitting end to the most outworldly entry in our fav film franchise.
Now, for the extras and I’ll leave this thread to go to Comments while you watch... After watching several non-Bond movies.
https://bondlocations.com/category/interviews/irka-bochenko/
Thanks for sharing that. It was a fun little read and nice to have the experiences of some of the lesser-known performers captured instead of the same tired accounts that populate so many of the reference books.
It's also refreshing to hear about how well such a young woman was treated by the cast and crew. With all these stories of casting couches and how poorly women were treated in the entertainment industry those days, it seems Eon took care of them, or at least it's nothing that I've heard pf.
She always stood out in MR with that beckoning to the pyramid and at the museum, by far one of the most beautiful background Bond girls. That's another of those things we just don't get anymore. Out with the glamour and in with the angst.
Following the famous gondola chase there is a 15-20min stretch of dialogue-less snooping around + Bond's fight with the Japanese fella' (sorry I forget his name) in Venice...
The use of Barry's subtle score during the lab-discovery and then suddenly no soundtrack at all during the confrontation, allowing the shattering of glass to really hit home for while really stands out for me - it's probably MR strongest pair of sequences.
As well as the sequences mentioned above, there is Bond strapped into the G-force machine. Did we on any other occasions ever see Moore’s Bond as distressed as we saw him there? Of course there is Corrine Duffour chased by hounds, a scene that wouldn’t be out of place in an Omen film. And then there is Jaws in Rio alleyway.
Usually, such tonal whiplash would be to a films detriment but somehow it adds to Moonraker. Maybe these detours into horror and tension make the sillier parts more palatable. They certainly help to make Drax and his outfit more menacing than they would be otherwise
Yes - this is the other thing that really stood out upon re-watching. Moore was - other than in the G-force trainer - never, ever portrayed as getting particularly ruffled or disconcerted - and that scene is genuinely unsettling.
Obviously Barry’s sublime score helped out in that regard, as well as Ken Adam’s designs.
The reveal of Drax’s base in the Amazon for me is such a moment of grandeur. And the flight into space with Barry’s monumental music, and then the reveal of the space station. These moments do bring a sense of awe to the movie that we don’t often see in Bond films. And the sword fight in the glass museum is visually striking
upon the trio of 007, M and Sir Gray bursting into what they think is the lab in Venice:
Drax: "Frederick Gray! What a surprise. And in distinguished company, all wearing gas masks... You must excuse me, gentlemen; not being English, I sometimes find your sense of humor rather difficult to follow.."
:))
And cucumber sandwiches? Those are great as well, with a little cheese and mayonnaise. Perhaps some tomato and pepper.
(Afternoon tea being England’s one contribution to Western civilisation apparently )
It’s admirable the restraint they showed in the G-Force sequence.You’d expect Rogers Bond to have a one liner once he saves himself and is helped out of the machine by Holly.But he just looks absolutely terrified,shaken and in pushing Holly away,completely not knowing who to trust.Rogers acting is incredible here.
"I was shaken, but not stirred."
A really well shot, suspenseful sequence. Moore is really good here. He looks seriously frazzled. Love the way he pushes Holly's arm away and looks super pissed off.
I think the Centrifuge sequence is something Fleming would have loved.
Yes mate! Moore really does sell this sequence, as he does the bomb diffusing scene in OP!
And I've always said due to that demeanor and the throwaway lines, it made many of Moore's serious scenes much more convincing and dramatic. This works better than Dalton trying to sell a one-liner, for instance as far as stepping out of the comfort zone.
I also like the confrontation with Orlov on the train in OP. That's a nice, underrated confrontation scene.
The Orlov confrontation is my favourite Moore scene. He's deadly serious and it's an intense scene. Well written as well.
Moore knew how to turn up the dramatics when he had to...other examples are the confession scene to Anya in TSWLM and finding Tibbett's body in AVTAK.
He was underrated.
Yes it certainly means those dramatic moments actually hit a bit harder because we’re not really expecting them from him. I always say if another actor had done OHMSS it should have been Roger rather than Sean: he was far more human than Sean was in the part.
Speaking about OP it is interesting to note that, while it’s not exactly one of the most grounded Bond films, there are still way more moments of tension, drama and even emotion than there were in NSNA, which came out the same year. And he got to do a Tarzan yell too :)
NSNA got more than its fair share of good will on the basis that Connery was back. There are other positives, but not enough to make it that good. If anything, it forces the humor in at the expense of dramatic moments. Brandauer gets the few good ones.