1130. Moonraker (1979)

Starring: Roger Moore, Lois Chiles, Richard Kiel

Director: Lewis Gilbert

Running Time: 126 mins

Moonraker is a British film and the eleventh instalment in the James Bond series. After a space shuttle is mysteriously hijacked, Bond discovers a madman’s plot to travel into space and create a new human super-race.

This is such a stupid film. With a plot that makes next to no sense, ridiculous action, gadgets and sequences throughout, terrible dialogue and cheesy romance and innuendo, you’d think that this would be a hugely dull and unpleasant watch. But it’s not, it’s amazing!

The thing is that this is such a ridiculous and idiotic movie that it falls almost into the category of so-bad-it’s-good, in relation to the rest of the Bond series. You can tell that it’s not taking itself too seriously, which is good, but it’s also clear that it’s not meaning for the entire film to be completely laughable.

I was wetting myself laughing at this film from start to finish, and definitely not always for the right reasons. Yes, there are some cool quips here and there, and it has a good sense of fun that makes it a much lighter watch than other Bond films, but it’s more the fact that this film is still trying to be a decent film with such a ridiculous plot and silly atmosphere that’s funniest.

Although the premise centres around space, the first hour and a half of this movie are all set on Earth, and in typical Bond fashion, in the most glamorous locations around the globe. Following the 007 formula once again, it’s a story that you know like the back of your hand, but that allows for a much easier-going watch thanks to the amount of laughs here.

From the Bond girl’s ridiculously unsubtle name to a high-speed gondola chase through the rivers of Venice, there’s so much mad stuff going on here that it’s impossible not to have a good time. If you’re looking for an intelligent Bond movie, this isn’t it, but for a properly entertaining experience for you and your friends, this is absolutely brilliant.

It’s only in the last half-hour that we actually get into space, and when this film begins to take a turn for the worse. It’s still hilariously bad, but in space, it just doesn’t have the feel of a James Bond film, more like a try-hard Star Wars rip-off, with 2001: A Space Odyssey references thrown in too.

And by the end, we see one of the worst-directed, messiest and most idiotic fight sequences in all of Bond history, as countless people engage in a LASER GUN battle while free-floating in space. And it’s just ridiculous.

So, Moonraker gets a 7.2 from me in the end, because despite its complete lack of intelligence, and its dire final act, the majority of this film is so stupid that it’s simply hilarious, and one of the most entertaining of all the James Bond films by far.