1. Cast Of James Bond Films
2. James Bond Film Series Cast

Cary Joji Fukunaga will direct the new James Bond film, the producers announced Thursday. The 25th Bond installment will begin filming in London, at Pinewood Studios, on March 4, 2019, with a.

Not necessarily as recurring characters.
Acting credits (including voice performances) only.Credits as they appear in the credits on the site (in some cases the same character is listed differently in the credits of the films he/she appears in). The list includes uncredited appearances, as long as they are listed in credits section on the site.
This is not an exhaustive list. There are very likely more actors who appear in bit parts and/or uncredited in more than one Bond film. And there is, of course, that magnificent blue and gold parrot which appears in For Your Eyes Only and The Living Daylights, who isn't even credited for his appearances.

1. Desmond Llewelyn

Actor Octopussy

Desmond Llewelyn was born in South Wales in 1914, the son of a coal mining engineer. In high school, he worked as a stagehand in the school's productions and then picked up sporadic small parts. His family would not give up their effort to prevent him from a life on stage, so an uncle who was a ..

'Q' im 17 films: From Russia with Love (1963)Goldfinger (1964)Thunderball (1965)You Only Live Twice (1967)On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)Diamonds Are Forever (1971)The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)Moonraker (1979)For Your Eyes Only (1981)Octopussy (1983)A View to a Kill (1985)The Living Daylights (1987)Licence to Kill (1989)GoldenEye (1995)Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)The World Is Not Enough (1999)

2. Lois Maxwell

Actress Thunderball

Everyone knows (or should know) Lois Maxwell as the one and only 'Miss Moneypenny', but there's much more to her acting career than that. She started out against her parents' will, and without their knowledge, in a Canadian children's radio program, credited as 'Robin Wells'. Before the age of 15 ..

Miss Moneypenny in 14 films: Dr. No (1962)From Russia with Love (1963)Goldfinger (1964)Thunderball (1965)You Only Live Twice (1967)On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)Diamonds Are Forever (1971)Live and Let Die (1973)The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)Moonraker (1979)For Your Eyes Only (1981)Octopussy (1983)A View to a Kill (1985)

3. Bernard Lee

Actor The Man with the Golden Gun

Best remembered as 'M' in the James Bond films, Bernard Lee was a popular character player in British films throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Born into a theatrical family, he made his stage debut at age six and later attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He first appeared on the West End stage..

'M' in 11 films: Dr. No (1962)From Russia with Love (1963)Goldfinger (1964)Thunderball (1965)You Only Live Twice (1967)On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)Diamonds Are Forever (1971)Live and Let Die (1973)The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)Moonraker (1979)

4. Judi Dench

Actress Skyfall

Dame Judi Dench was born Judith Olivia Dench in York, England, to Eleanora Olive (Jones), who was from Dublin, Ireland, and Reginald Arthur Dench, a doctor from Dorset, England. She attended Mount School in York, and studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She has performed with the ..

'M' in 8 films:GoldenEye (1995)Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)The World Is Not Enough (1999)Die Another Day (2002)Casino Royale (2006)Quantum of Solace (2008)Skyfall (2012)Spectre (2015) (uncredited)

5. Roger Moore

Actor Moonraker

Roger Moore will perhaps always be remembered as the man who replaced Sean Connery in the James Bond series, arguably something he never lived down.
Roger George Moore was born on October 14, 1927 in Stockwell, London, England, the son of Lillian (Pope) and George Alfred Moore, a policeman. His ..

James Bond in 7 films: Live and Let Die (1973)The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)Moonraker (1979)For Your Eyes Only (1981)Octopussy (1983)A View to a Kill (1985)

6. Walter Gotell

Actor A View to a Kill

Walter Gotell was born on March 15, 1924 in Bonn, Germany. He was an actor, known for A View to a Kill (1985), Octopussy (1983) and The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). He was married to Celeste F. Mitchell and Yvonne Hills. He died on May 5, 1997 in London, England.

7 films:From Russia with Love (1963) - Morzeny
General Gogol in 6 films:The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)Moonraker (1979)For Your Eyes Only (1981)Octopussy (1983)A View to a Kill (1985)The Living Daylights (1987)

7. Sean Connery

Actor The Rock

The tall, handsome and muscular Scottish actor Sean Connery is best known for being the original actor to portray the character of James Bond in the hugely successful movie franchise, starring in seven films between 1962 and 1983. Some believed that such a career-defining role might leave him ..

James Bond in 6 films:Dr. No (1962)From Russia with Love (1963)Goldfinger (1964)Thunderball (1965)You Only Live Twice (1967)Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

8. Geoffrey Keen

Actor Moonraker

Geoffrey Keen was born on August 21, 1916 in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England as Geoffrey Ian Keen. He was an actor, known for Moonraker (1979), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and For Your Eyes Only (1981). He was married to Doris Groves, Madeleine Howell and Hazel Terry. He died on November 3, 2005 ..

6 films:Sir Frederick Gray - 2 films:The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)Moonraker (1979)
Minister for Defence - 4 filmsFor Your Eyes Only (1981)Octopussy (1983)A View to a Kill (1985)The Living Daylights (1987)

9. Daniel Craig

Adobe photoshop cs6 extended serial number. Actor Casino Royale

One of the British theatre's most famous faces, Daniel Craig, who waited tables as a struggling teenage actor with the National Youth Theatre, has gone on to star as James Bond in Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015), and Bond 25 (2020).
He was born Daniel ..

James Bond in 5 films:Casino Royale (2006)Quantum of Solace (2008)Skyfall (2012)Spectre (2015)Bond 25 (2020)

10. Robert Brown

Actor A View to a Kill

Robert Brown was born on July 23, 1921 in Swanage, Dorset, England as Robert James Brown. He was an actor, known for A View to a Kill (1985), Octopussy (1983) and Licence to Kill (1989). He was married to Rita Becker. He died on November 11, 2003 in Swanage.

5 films:The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - Admiral Hargreaves
'M' in 4 films:Octopussy (1983)A View to a Kill (1985)The Living Daylights (1987)Licence to Kill (1989)

11. Pierce Brosnan

Actor The World Is Not Enough

Pierce Brendan Brosnan was born in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland, to May (Smith), a nurse, and Thomas Brosnan, a carpenter. He lived in Navan, County Meath, until he moved to England, UK, at an early age (thus explaining his ability to play men from both backgrounds convincingly). His father left..

James Bond in 4 films:
GoldenEye (1995)Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)The World Is Not Enough (1999)Die Another Day (2002)

12. Samantha Bond

Actress Tomorrow Never Dies

Samantha Bond was born on November 27, 1961 in Kensington, London, England as Samantha Jane Bond. She is an actress, known for Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Die Another Day (2002) and GoldenEye (1995). She has been married to Alexander Hanson since September 1989. They have two children.

Miss Moneypenny in 4 films: GoldenEye (1995)Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)The World Is Not Enough (1999)Die Another Day (2002)

13. Shane Rimmer

Actor The Spy Who Loved Me

Shane Rimmer was a Canadian actor and screenwriter, primarily known as the voice actor of Scott Tracy, a leading character in the science fiction series 'Thunderbirds' (1965-1966).
Rimmer was born in Toronto, Canada, where his parents had settled after moving to Canada. Shane's father was Thomas ..

4 films: You Only Live Twice (1967) - Hawaii Radio Operator (uncredited)Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - Tom (uncredited)Live and Let Die (1973) - voice Hamilton (uncredited)The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - Commander Carter

14. Rory Kinnear

Actor The Imitation Game

Rory Michael Kinnear is an English actor and playwright who has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. In 2014, he won the Olivier Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Shakespeare's villain Iago in the National Theatre production of Othello.
He is known for ..

Bill Tanner in 4 films:Quantum of Solace (2008)Skyfall (2012)Spectre (2015)Bond 25 (2020)

15. Naomie Harris

Actress 28 Days Later..

British actress Naomie Harris was born in London, England, the only child of television scriptwriter Lisselle Kayla. Her father is from Trinidad and her mother is from Jamaica. They separated before she was born, and Harris was raised by her mother and has no relationship with her father. She ..

Eve (Moneypenny) in 3 films:Skyfall (2012)Spectre (2015)Bond 25 (2020)

16. Ralph Fiennes

Actor The Grand Budapest Hotel

Actor Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes was born on December 22, 1962 in Suffolk, England, to Jennifer Anne Mary Alleyne (Lash), a novelist, and Mark Fiennes, a photographer. He is the eldest of six children. Four of his siblings are also in the arts: Martha Fiennes, a director; Magnus ..

3 films:Skyfall (2012) - Gareth MallorySpectre (2015) - 'M'Bond 25 (2020)

17. Ben Whishaw

Actor Cloud Atlas

Proclaimed by many critics as one of the best young actors of his generation, Benjamin John Whishaw was born in Clifton, Bedfordshire, to Linda (Hope), who works in cosmetics, and Jose Whishaw, who works in information technology. He has a twin brother, James. He is of French, German, Russian (..

'Q' in 3 films:Skyfall (2012)Spectre (2015)Bond 25 (2020)

18. Joe Don Baker

Actor GoldenEye

Tall, broad shouldered character actor with Texan drawl first appeared in support in several Western vehicles both on TV and the cinema in the mid 1960s. Got himself noticed playing Steve McQueen's younger brother in Junior Bonner (1972), and then scored the lead role of Buford Pusser (!) in the ..

3 films: The Living Daylights (1987) - Brad WhitakerGoldenEye (1995) - Jack WadeTomorrow Never Dies (1997) - Jack Wade

19. Jesper Christensen

Actor Spectre

Born 1948 in central Copenhagen. Lived there ever since. Did 25 years of theatre, - like Alceste in the Misanthropist, Richard in Richard lll (solo), Faust in Faust, Astrov in Vanja, a lot of worried men,- stopped doing it in 1998. Since then only worried men on film. Worked on more than 100 films ..

Mr White in 3 films:Casino Royale (2006)Quantum of Solace (2008)Spectre (2015)

20. Colin Salmon

Actor Resident Evil

Colin Salmon is one of Britain's most renowned actors. With a bold voice and posture, Colin makes his characters a favorite among audiences for every role he plays. He made his feature debut as Sgt. Robert Oswald in the British mega-hit mini-series Prime Suspect 2 (1992), which gave him much ..

Charles Robinson in 3 films:Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)The World Is Not Enough (1999)Die Another Day (2002)

21. Eva Reuber-Staier

Actress The Spy Who Loved Me

Eva Reuber-Staier was born in 1951 in Bruck, Austria. She is an actress, known for The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Octopussy (1983) and For Your Eyes Only (1981). She was previously married to Ronald Fouracre.

Rubelvitch in 3 films:The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)For Your Eyes Only (1981)Octopussy (1983)

22. Maud Adams

Actress Octopussy

Stunning Swedish born ex-model who broke into film in 1970, and quickly appeared in several high profile films including playing the ex-wife of James Caan in the futuristic Rollerball (1975) and the ill-fated lover of super-assassin Francisco Scaramanga played by Christopher Lee in The Man with the..

3 films: The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) - AndreaOctopussy (1983) - OctopussyA View to a Kill (1985) - uncredited appearance in crowd scene

23. George Baker

Actor On Her Majesty's Secret Service

George Baker was born on April 1, 1931 in Varna, Bulgaria as George Morris Baker. He was an actor and writer, known for On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and I, Claudius (1976). He was married to Louie Ramsay, Sally Home and Julia Squire. He died on October 7, 2011..

3 films: You Only Live Twice (1967) - NASA Engineer (uncredited)On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) - Sir Hilary BrayThe Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - Captain Benson

24. Anthony Dawson

Actor Dial M for Murder

Long-faced, emaciated-looking character actor with a thin mustache and an impeccable English accent, Anthony Dawson was typecast in a variety of villainous roles in the 1950s and 1960s.
He was born Anthony Douglas Gillon Dawson in Edinburgh, Scotland, to Ida Violet (Kittel) and Eric Francis Dawson. ..

3 films: Dr. No (1962) - Professor DentFrom Russia with Love (1963) - Ernst BlofeldThunderball (1965) - Ernst Stavro Blofeld (uncredited)

25. Jeremy Bulloch

Actor Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

Jeremy Bulloch was born on February 16, 1945 in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England. He is one of six children and even at the young age of five was on stage in his school show enjoying acting and singing. After failing a school exam at the age of eleven, Jeremy seemed destined for the ..

3 films:The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - HMS Ranger CrewmanFor Your Eyes Only (1981) - Smithers (uncredited)Octopussy (1983) - Smithers

26. Timothy Dalton

Actor The Living Daylights

At a consistently lean 6' 2', green-eyed Timothy Dalton may very well be one of the last of the dying breed of swashbuckling, classically trained Shakespearean actors who have forged simultaneous successful careers in theater, television and film. He has been comparison-shopped roundly for stepping..

James Bond in 2 films:The Living Daylights (1987)Licence to Kill (1989)

27. Caroline Bliss

Actress The Living Daylights

Slender, blonde-haired blue-eyed British actress who, at the age of 26, replaced Lois Maxwell as the Bond franchise's 'Miss Moneypenny' in The Living Daylights (1987) and put a slight twist on it by wearing glasses. After 'Daylights' and Licence to Kill (1989), there was a gap between Bond films ..

Miss Moneypenny in 2 films:The Living Daylights (1987)Licence to Kill (1989)

28. John Cleese

Actor A Fish Called Wanda

John Cleese was born on October 27, 1939, in Weston-Super-Mare, England, to Muriel Evelyn (Cross) and Reginald Francis Cleese. He was born into a family of modest means, his father being an insurance salesman; but he was nonetheless sent off to private schools to obtain a good education. Here he ..

2 films:The World Is Not Enough (1999) - 'R'Die Another Day (2002) - 'Q'

29. David Hedison

Actor Live and Let Die

David Hedison was born Albert David Hedison, Jr. in Providence, Rhode Island, where his father owned a jewelry enameling business. He decided he wanted to be an actor after seeing Blood and Sand (1941). He started out in the theater as 'Al Hedison', receiving a Theatre World Award for most ..

(Felix) Leiter in 2 films:Live and Let Die (1973)Licence to Kill (1989)

30. Jeffrey Wright

Actor Shaft

Born and raised in Washington DC, Wright graduated from Amherst College in 1987. Although he studied Political Science while at Amherst, Wright left the school with a love for acting. Shortly after graduating he won an acting scholarship to NYU, but dropped out after only two months to pursue ..

Felix Leiter in 3 films:Casino Royale (2006)Quantum of Solace (2008)Bond 25 (2020)

31. Nadim Sawalha

Actor The Spy Who Loved Me

Nadim Sawalha was born on September 9, 1935 in Madaba, Jordan. He is an actor, known for The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), The Living Daylights (1987) and Captain Abu Raed (2007). He has been married to Roberta Lane since 1961. They have three children.

2 films: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - Aziz FekkeshThe Living Daylights (1987) - Tangier Chief of Security

32. Burt Kwouk

Actor You Only Live Twice

Burt Kwouk was a British actor, he was best known for his role as Cato in the Pink Panther films, and for play Mr Ling in the third James Bond film Goldfinger.
Kwouk was born in Warrington, but was brought up in Shanghai. He made his film debut in the 1957 film Windom's Way. In Goldfinger (1964) he ..

2 films: Goldfinger (1964) - Mr. LingYou Only Live Twice (1967) - Spectre 3

33. Eunice Gayson

Actress Dr. No

Eunice Gayson was an English actress best known for playing Sylvia Trench, James Bond's girlfriend in the first two Bond films (Dr. No and From Russia with Love). Prison break season 1 download. Originally, Gayson was to be cast as Miss Moneypenny, but that part went to Lois Maxwell instead.
Gayson was originally to have been a ..

Sylvia in 2 films:Dr. No (1962)From Russia with Love (1963)

34. Clifton James

Actor Live and Let Die

Blustery, stocky, loud although often genial character actor who has created a niche for himself playing often frustrated and fast talking Southern characters.. most noticeably as Sheriff J.W. Pepper alongside Roger Moore in the James Bond adventures Live and Let Die (1973) and The Man with the ..

Sheriff J.W. Pepper in 2 films; Live and Let Die (1973)The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

35. Charles Gray

Actor The Rocky Horror Picture Show

The son of a surveyor, Charles Gray grew up in Queens Park, London, and went to school in his home town of Bournemouth. As a young actor, he received his vocal training from the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon and at the Old Vic, having long abandoned his first job as clerk for a ..

2 films: You Only Live Twice (1967) - HendersonDiamonds Are Forever (1971) - Blofeld

36. Richard Kiel

Actor Moonraker

Towering 7' 2' tall actor who has cornered the market on playing giants, intimidating henchman, bayou swamp monsters and steel toothed villains! Kiel worked in numerous jobs including as a night club bouncer and a cemetery plot salesman, before breaking into film & TV in several minor roles in the ..

Jaws in 2 films: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)Moonraker (1979)

37. Giancarlo Giannini

Actor Quantum of Solace

Giancarlo Giannini is an Oscar-nominated Italian actor, director and multilingual dubber who made an international reputation for his leading roles in Italian films as well as for his mastery of a variety of languages and dialects.
He was born August 1, 1942, in La Spezia, Italy. For ten years young ..

Rene Mathis in 2 films: Casino Royale (2006)Quantum of Solace (2008)

38. Robbie Coltrane

Actor Cracker

Robbie Coltrane, one of Britain's most popular comedians who was head of debating society at school and won prizes for his art, is now a film star who played in two James Bond films and in the 'Harry Potter' franchise.
Coltrane was born Anthony Robert McMillan on March 30, 1950, in Rutherglen, a ..

Valentin Dmitrovich Zukovsky in 2 films: GoldenEye (1995)The World Is Not Enough (1999)

39. Michael Kitchen

Actor Out of Africa

Michael Kitchen was born on October 31, 1948 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England. He is an actor and producer, known for Out of Africa (1985), GoldenEye (1995) and The World Is Not Enough (1999). He has been married to Rowena Miller since 1988. They have two children.

Bill Tanner in 2 films: GoldenEye (1995)The World Is Not Enough (1999)

40. Martine Beswick

Actress Thunderball

Born to British parents in Port Antonio, Jamaica, Martine Beswick did some brief modeling and pageant entering before seeking a career in films. She allegedly once won a 'Miss Autoville' contest and won a car only to sell it in order to move to and study acting in London. A minor break for her ..

2 films:From Russia with Love (1963) - ZoraThunderball (1965) - Paula

41. Marc Lawrence

Actor The Man with the Golden Gun

American character actor who specialized in underworld types, despite a far greater range. A native of the Bronx, Lawrence participated in plays in school, then attended the City College of New York. In 1930, he was accepted into Eva Le Gallienne's company, where he became friendly with another ..

2 films: You Only Live Twice (1967) - Slumber Inc. Attendant (uncredited)The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) - Rodney

42. Nadja Regin

Actress From Russia with Love

This cosmopolitan actress is best remembered for appearing as different characters in two early James Bond films. Multilingual Nadezda 'Nadja' Poderegin hailed from Kraljevo, a town in present day Serbia (then Yugoslavia). Her father, a Ukrainian-born scientist and lecturer, was killed during World..

2 films:From Russia with Love (1963) - Kerim's GirlGoldfinger (1964) - Bonita

43. Tsai Chin

Actress You Only Live Twice

Tsai Chin, pinyin Zhou Caiqin is an actor, director, teacher and author, best known in America for her film role as Auntie Lindo in The Joy Luck Club. The third daughter of Zhou Xinfang, China's great actor in the last century, she was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art London (first ..

2 films:Ling, Chinese gir in Hong Kong in You Only Live Twice (1967)Madame Wu in Casino Royale (2006)

44. Milton Reid

Actor The Spy Who Loved Me

Although he liked to sign his autographs, perhaps jokingly, 'Milton Gaylord Reid' his real name was Milton Rutherford Reid and he was born in Bombay on 29 April 1917. His father Edgar William Reid was a Scottish-born Customs and Excise inspector who had married an Indian lady. Milton moved to ..

2 films: Dr. No (1962) - Dr. No's guardThe Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - Sandor

45. Irvin Allen

Actor On Her Majesty's Secret Service

Irvin Allen is an actor, known for On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and The Saint (1962). He was previously married to Chamlong Allen.

2 films:Che Che in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)Stromberg One Crewman in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

46. Albert Moses

Actor The Spy Who Loved Me

Albert Moses was born on December 19, 1937 in Gampola, Kandy District, Ceylon. He was an actor and producer, known for The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Octopussy (1983) and An American Werewolf in London (1981). He died on September 15, 2017 in London, England.

2 films:The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - BarmanOctopussy (1983) - Saruddin

47. Peter Porteous

Actor Octopussy

Peter Porteous trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama which, when he was there in the 1950s, occupied premises in the Royal Albert Hall. He made his London theatre debut in 1960 at the Aldwich Theatre in Brouhaha, playing opposite Peter Sellers, Lionel Jeffries and Leo McKern. He played ..

2 filmsOctopussy (1983) - LenkinThe Living Daylights (1987) - Gasworks Supervisor

48. Sid Man

Actor Skyfall

Sid Man is an actor, known for Skyfall (2012), After the World Ended (2015) and BBC Inside Out: South East (2002).

2 filmsSkyfall (2012) - Floating Dragon Assistant Floor ManagerSpectre (2015) - Boss - Palazzo Meeting (uncredited)

49. Bill Nagy

Actor Goldfinger

Bill Nagy was born on February 21, 1921 in Hungary as Paul William Nagy. He was an actor, known for Goldfinger (1964), Danger Man (1960) and The Long Shadow (1961). He died on January 19, 1973 in London, England.

2 films:Dr. No (1962) - MidnightYou Only Live Twice (1967) - USAF General at Pentagon (uncredited)

50. David de Keyser

Actor Diamonds Are Forever

David de Keyser was born on August 22, 1927 in London, England as Rafael David de Keyser. He is known for his work on Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Yentl (1983) and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001). He was previously married to Ethel de Keyser.

2 films: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) - voice Draco (uncredited)You Only Live Twice (1967) - Doctor

51. Léa Seydoux

Actress La vie d'Adèle

French actress Léa Seydoux was born in 1985 in Paris, France, to Valérie Schlumberger, a philanthropist, and Henri Seydoux, a businessman. Her grandfather, Jérôme Seydoux, is chairman of Pathé, and her father is a great-grandson of businessman and inventor Marcel Schlumberger (her mother also ..

Madeline Swann inSpectre (2015)
Expected to return in the same role in Bond 25 (2020)

52. George Leech

Stunts On Her Majesty's Secret Service

George Leech was born on December 6, 1921 in London, England. He is known for his work on On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), For Your Eyes Only (1981) and The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976). He died on June 17, 2012 in England.

~~ UNCREDITED APPEARANCES ~~
5 films:Goldfinger (1964) - Man in Bulletproof Vest at Q Branch (uncredited)Thunderball (1965) - Disco Volante Crewman (uncredited)On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) - Strangled SPECTRE Skier (uncredited)The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - Cortina Gunman #2 (uncredited)For Your Eyes Only (1981) - Henchman Shark Victim (uncredited)

53. Anthony Chinn

Actor Raiders of the Lost Ark

Anthony Chinn was born in 1930 in Georgetown, Guyana. He was an actor, known for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), A View to a Kill (1985) and The Fifth Element (1997). He died on October 22, 2000 in Georgetown.

~~ UNCREDITED APPEARANCES ~~
Dr. No (1962) - Decontamination Technician (uncredited)Goldfinger (1964) - Servant at Stud Farm (uncredited)You Only Live Twice (1967) - SPECTRE Guard (uncredited)A View to a Kill (1985) - Taiwanese Tycoon (uncredited)

54. Derek Lyons

Derek was born in London and from an early age was fascinated with film and TV. He would regularly entertain friends and family with his impersonations of famous actors of the day. He attended a local theatre school later in his teens.
Derek was fortunate enough to meet the stage and screen actor ..

~~ UNCREDITED APPEARANCES ~~
4 films:Octopussy (1983) - US Air Force Base Officer (uncredited)A View to a Kill (1985) - Main Stike Mine Crew (uncredited)The Living Daylights (1987) - MI6 Agent (uncredited)GoldenEye (1995) - Casino Guest (uncredited)

55. Simon Crane

Stunts Rogue One

Simon Crane (born 1960) is a British stuntman, stunt coordinator, second unit director and film director. Crane has been a staple in the stunt world for decades working on several of the biggest action films and franchises in movie history, including several Bond films, Aliens, Indiana Jones and ..

~~ UNCREDITED APPEARANCES ~~
The Living Daylights (1987) - Gibraltar Soldier #1 (uncredited)GoldenEye (1995) - Lt. François Brouse - Tiger Helicopter Pilot (uncredited)

56. Derek Lea

Stunts The Bourne Ultimatum

Derek Lea was born in Surrey, England. He is known for his work on The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) and Die Another Day (2002).

~~ UNCREDITED APPEARANCES ~~
The World Is Not Enough (1999) - Renard's Submarine Henchman Die Another Day (2002) - Gustav Palace Guard Quantum of Solace (2008) - Haines' Bodyguard

57. Nikki Van der Zyl

Actress Jesus of Nazareth

Nikki van der Zyl is a German voice actress known for providing the voice of Honey Ryder in the movie Dr. No. She also revoiced all the other female voices in that same movie, except those of Miss Moneypenny and Miss Taro.
Van der Zyl also worked as a dialogue coach who assisted Gert Fröbe, whose ..

~~ VOICES / UNCREDITED ~~
9 films:Dr. No (1962) - Honey Ryder/Sylvia Trench/various (voice, uncredited)From Russia with Love (1963) - Sylvia Trench/Receptionist (voice, uncredited)Goldfinger (1964) - Jill Masterson (voice, uncredited)Thunderball (1965) - Dominique 'Domino' Derval (voice, uncredited)You Only Live Twice (1967) - Kissy Suzuki (voice, uncredited)On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) - various (voice, uncredited)Live and Let Die (1973) - Solitaire (voice, uncredited)The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) - Chew Mee/various (voice, uncredited)Moonraker (1979) - voice Corinne Dufour (voice, uncredited)

58. Robert Rietty

Actor The Omen

Born of Italian heritage Lucio Rietti was 'discovered' at the tender age of 8 by his father Vittorio (Victor Rietti veteran actor of the stage and screen) who had noticed the boy had completely memorized a copy of a script he had given Lucio having wanted help from his son while rehearsing his ..

~~ VOICES / UNCREDITED APPEARANCES ~~
5 films:Dr. No (1962) - John Strangways (voice,uncredited)Thunderball (1965) - Emilio Largo (voice, uncredited)You Only Live Twice (1967) - Tiger Tanaka (voice, uncredited)On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) - Baccarat Table Official (uncredited)For Your Eyes Only (1981) - voice Ernst Stavro Blofeld (voice, uncredited)

59. Martin Campbell

Director Casino Royale

Martin Campbell knows how to entertain an audience when he steps behind the camera. When he directed The Mask of Zorro (1998), the movie earned Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations and launched the international careers of Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Next, when he helmed ..

~~ CAMEO APPEARANCES OF THE DIRECTOR ~~
GoldenEye (1995) - Cyclist (uncredited)Casino Royale (2006) - Airport Worker (uncredited)

60. Michael G. Wilson

Writer Licence to Kill

Michael G. Wilson was born on January 21, 1942 in New York City, New York, USA as Michael Gregg Wilson. He is a writer, known for Licence to Kill (1989), Skyfall (2012) and For Your Eyes Only (1981). He is married to Jane Wilson. They have two children.

~~ CAMEO APPEARANCES of the WRITER / PRODUCER ~~
Goldfinger (1964) (uncredited)The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) (uncredited)Moonraker (1979) (uncredited)For Your Eyes Only (1981) (uncredited)Octopussy (1983) (uncredited)A View to a Kill (1985) (voice, uncredited)The Living Daylights (1987) - (uncredited)Licence to Kill (1989) - (voice, uncredited)GoldenEye (1995) - (uncredited)Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) - (uncredited)The World Is Not Enough (1999) - (uncredited)Die Another Day (2002) - General Chandler Casino Royale (2006) - Chief of PoliceQuantum of Solace (2008) (uncredited)Skyfall (2012) (uncredited)Spectre (2015) (uncredited)

Moonraker is a 1979 British spy film, 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. Phonerescue download mac. 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.^[2][3]

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,^[4] more than twice as much as The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), 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,^[4] a record that stood until 1995's GoldenEye.

• 3Production
  • 3.1Script
• 4Release and reception

Plot[edit]

A Drax Industries Moonraker space shuttle on loan to the United Kingdom is hijacked in midair. M, head of MI6, assigns James Bond, Agent 007, to investigate. En route to England, Bond is attacked by the Apollo jet crew and pushed out of the plane by the mercenary assassin Jaws. He survives by stealing a parachute from the pilot, whilst Jaws lands on a trapeze net within a circus tent.

At the Drax Industries shuttle-manufacturing complex in California, Bond meets the owner of the company, Hugo Drax, and his henchman Chang. Bond also meets Dr. Holly Goodhead, an astronaut, and he then survives an assassination attempt while inside a centrifuge chamber. Drax's personal pilot, Corinne Dufour, helps Bond find blueprints for a glass vial made in Venice; Drax discovers her involvement and has her killed by his pet dogs.

Bond again encounters Goodhead in Venice and observes her snooping around a door near the glass factory. Then he is chased through the canals by Drax's henchmen. He returns to the factory at night to check the door out, and discovers a secret biological laboratory, and learns that the glass vials are to hold a nerve gas deadly to humans, but harmless to animals. Chang attacks Bond, but Bond hurls him through the stained glass clockface of the Saint Mark's clocktower, killing him; during the fight, Bond finds evidence that Drax is moving his operation to Rio de Janeiro. Rejoining Goodhead, he deduces that she is a CIA agent spying on Drax. Bond has saved one of the vials he found earlier, as the only evidence of the now-empty laboratory; he gives it to M for analysis, who permits him to go to Rio de Janeiro under the pretence of being on leave.

Bond survives attacks by Jaws, Chang's replacement, during Rio Carnival and on the Sugarloaf Cable Car. After Jaws' cable car crashes, he is rescued from the rubble by Dolly, and the two fall in love. Drax's forces capture Goodhead, but Bond escapes; he learns that the toxin comes from a rare orchid indigenous to the Amazon jungle. Bond travels the Amazon River and comes under attack from Drax's forces, before eventually locating his base. Captured by Jaws, Bond is taken to Drax and witnesses four Moonrakers lifting off. Drax explains that he stole back the loaned shuttle because another in his fleet had developed a fault during assembly. Bond and Goodhead escape and pose as pilots on Moonraker 6. The shuttles dock with Drax's space station, hidden from radar by a cloaking device.

Bond and Goodhead disable the radar jamming cloaking device; the United States sends a platoon of Marines aboard another shuttle to intercept the now-visible space station. Jaws captures Bond and Goodhead, to whom Drax reveals his plan to destroy human life by launching 50 globes that would dispense the nerve gas into Earth's atmosphere. Drax had transported several dozen genetically perfect young men and women of varying races to the space station in the shuttles. They would live there until Earth was safe again for human life; their descendants would be the seed for a 'new master race'. Bond persuades Jaws to switch his allegiance by getting Drax to admit that anyone not measuring up to his physical standards, including Dolly, would be exterminated. Jaws attacks Drax's guards, and a laser battle ensues between Drax's forces and Bond, Jaws, and the Marines. Drax's forces are defeated as the station is destroyed, while Bond shoots and ejects Drax into space. Bond and Goodhead use Drax's laser-armed Moonraker 5 to destroy the three launched globes and return to Earth.

Cast[edit]

• Roger Moore as James Bond: An MI6 agent assigned to look into the theft of a shuttle from the 'Moonraker' space programme.
• Lois Chiles as Holly Goodhead: A CIA agent and astronaut who joins Bond and flies with him to Drax's space station.
• Michael Lonsdale as Hugo Drax: An industrialist who plans to poison all humans on Earth, then repopulate the planet from his space station.
• Richard Kiel as Jaws: Drax's replacement bodyguard after Chang is killed, afflicted by giantism and possessing a set of stainless steel teeth.
• Corinne Cléry as Corinne Dufour: Drax's personal pilot.
• Emily Bolton as Manuela: 007's contact in Rio.
• Geoffrey Keen as Frederick Gray: The British Minister of Defence.
• Toshiro Suga as Chang: Drax's original bodyguard.
• Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny: M's secretary.
• Irka Bochenko as Blonde Beauty: Drax's lead henchwoman.
• Nicholas Arbez as Drax's Boy: Drax's henchman.
• Bernard Lee as M: The head of MI6. This was Bernard Lee's final appearance as M.
• Desmond Llewelyn as Q: MI6's 'quartermaster' who supplies Bond with multipurpose vehicles and gadgets useful for the latter's mission.
• Blanche Ravalec as Dolly: Jaws' girlfriend.
• Anne Lonnberg as Museum Guide: Drax's henchwoman.
• Michael Marshall as Colonel Scott: An American Space Marines commander.
• Jean-Pierre Castaldi and Leila Shenna as the Pilot and Hostess, respectively: The crew aboard a private jet, who—along with Jaws—try to assassinate 007 during the pre-credit sequence.
• Walter Gotell as General Gogol: The head of the KGB.

Production[edit]

The end credits for the previous Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me, said, 'James Bond will return in For Your Eyes Only'; however, the producers chose the novel Moonraker as the basis for the next film,^[5] following the box office success of the 1977 space-themed film Star Wars. For Your Eyes Only was subsequently delayed and ended up following Moonraker in 1981.^[6]

Script[edit]

Ian Fleming had originally intended the novel, published in 1955, to be made into a film even before he began writing it. A part of the novel was thus based on an original idea for a screenplay which had been on his mind for years.^[7] In 1955, American actor John Payne offered $1,000 for a nine-month option to Moonraker, plus $10,000 if production eventually took off. The negotiations broke up the following year due to disagreements regarding Payne's ownership of the other Bond novels. Fleming eventually settled with Rank Organisation, a British company who owned Pinewood Studios. Rank wound up not developing the film, even after Fleming contributed his own script trying to push production forward,^[8] and Fleming purchased the rights back in 1959.^[9]Moonraker ended up being the last James Bond novel to receive a screen adaptation.^[10]

However, as with several previous Bond films, the story from Fleming's novel is almost entirely dispensed with, and little more than the idea of Hugo Drax as an industrialist who makes rockets was used in the film. Drax has a plan for a master race in the film, but in the novel actually had been a Nazi (unbeknownst to the English). The dramatic scene of Bond and his female companion being trapped in an exhaust duct under a rocket where they are nearly burned to death also appears in the film. Otherwise the film is more in keeping with contemporary trends in science fiction. The 2002 Bond film Die Another Day makes further use of some ideas and character names from the novel. Tom Mankiewicz wrote a short outline for Moonraker that was mostly discarded. According to Mankiewicz, footage shot at Drax's lairs was considerably more detailed than the edited result in the final version. The crew had shot a scene with Drax meeting his co-financiers in his jungle lair and they used the same chamber room below the space shuttle launch pad from which Bond and Goodhead eventually escape. This scene was shot, but later cut.^[11] Another scene involving Bond and Goodhead in a meditation room aboard Drax's space station was shot but never used in the final film. However, press stills were released of the scene, which was featured on Topps trading cards in 1979, as was a cinema trailer which featured a close-up of Jaws' reaction after Bond punches him in the face aboard the space station, neither of which appeared in the complete film.^[11] Some scenes from Mankiewicz's script were used in subsequent films, including the Acrostar Jet sequence, used in the pre-credit sequence for Octopussy, and the Eiffel Tower scene in A View to a Kill.^[5]

In March 2004 rumours surfaced about a lost 1956 version of Moonraker by Orson Welles, and a James Bond web site repeated it on April Fool's Day in 2004 as a hoax. Supposedly, this recently discovered lost film consisted of 40 minutes of raw footage with Dirk Bogarde as Bond, Welles as Drax, and Peter Lorre as Drax's henchman.^[12]

Novelization[edit]

The screenplay of Moonraker differed so much from Ian Fleming's novel that Eon Productions authorised the film's screenwriter, Christopher Wood to write a novelisation, his second. It was named James Bond and Moonraker to avoid confusion with Fleming's original novel Moonraker. It was published in 1979, with the film's release.^[13]

Casting[edit]

Initially, the chief villain, Hugo Drax, was to be played by British actor James Mason, but once the decision was made that the film would be an Anglo-French co-production under the 1965–79 film treaty, French actor Michael Lonsdale was cast as Drax and Corinne Cléry was chosen for the part of Corinne Dufour, to comply with qualifying criteria of the agreement.^[14]Stewart Granger and Louis Jourdan were considered also for the role of Drax. ^[15][16] Jourdan later portrayed prince Kamal Khan, chief villain of Octopussy. American actress Lois Chiles had originally been offered the role of Anya Amasova in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), but had turned down the part when she decided to take temporary retirement. Chiles was cast as Holly Goodhead by chance, when she was given the seat next to Lewis Gilbert on a flight and he believed she would be ideal for the role as the CIA scientist.^[5]Jaclyn Smith was originally offered the role of Holly Goodhead but had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts with Charlie's Angels.Drax's henchman Chang, played by Japanese aikido instructor Toshiro Suga, was recommended for the role by executive producer Michael G. Wilson, who was one of his pupils.^[5] Wilson, continuing a tradition he started in the film Goldfinger, has a small cameo role in Moonraker: he appears twice, first as a tourist outside the Venini Glass shop and museum in Venice, then at the end of the film as a technician in the US Navy control room.

The Jaws character, played by Richard Kiel, makes a return, although in Moonraker the role is played more for comedic effect than in The Spy Who Loved Me. Jaws was intended to be a villain against Bond to the bitter end, but director Lewis Gilbert stated on the DVD documentary that he received so much fan mail from small children saying 'Why can't Jaws be a goodie not a baddie', that as a result he was persuaded to gradually transform Jaws into Bond's ally by the end of the film.^[5]

Diminutive French actress Blanche Ravalec, who had recently begun her career with minor roles in French films such as Michel Lang's Holiday Hotel (1978) and Claude Sautet's Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film nominee, A Simple Story (1978), was cast as the bespectacled Dolly, the girlfriend of Jaws. Originally, the producers were dubious about whether the audience would accept the height difference between them, and only made their decision once they were informed by Richard Kiel that his real-life wife was of the same height.^[17]Lois Maxwell's 22-year-old daughter, Melinda Maxwell, was also cast as one of the 'perfect' human specimens from Drax's master race.^[7]

Filming[edit]

Production began on 14 August 1978. The main shooting was switched from the usual 007 Stage at the Pinewood Studios to France, due to high taxation in England at the time. Only the cable car interiors and space battle exteriors were filmed at Pinewood. The massive sets designed by Ken Adam were the largest ever constructed in France and required more than 222,000 man-hours to construct (roughly 1000 hours by each of the crew on average).^[5] They were shot at three of France's largest film studios in Épinay and Boulogne-Billancourt.^[7]The 220 technicians used 100 tonnes of metal, two tonnes of nails and 10,000 board feet of wood to build the three-story space station set at Épinay Studios.^[7] The elaborate space set for Moonraker holds the world record for having the largest number of zero gravity wires in one scene.^[5] The Venetian glass museum and fight between Bond and Chang was shot at Boulogne Studios in a building which had once been a World War IILuftwaffe aircraft factory during Germany's occupation of France.^[7] The scene in the Venice glass museum and warehouse holds the record for the largest amount of break-away sugar glass used in a single scene.^[5]

Drax's mansion, set in California, was actually filmed at the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, about 55 kilometres (34 mi) southeast of Paris, for the exteriors and Grand Salon. The remaining interiors, including some of the scenes with Corinne Defour and the drawing room, were filmed at the Château de Guermantes.^[5]

Much of the film was shot in the cities of London, Paris, Venice, Palmdale, California, Port St. Lucie, Florida, and Rio de Janeiro. The production team had considered India and Nepal as locations but after scouting trips, were rejected as impractical to work into the script, particularly considering the time constraints.^[5] They decided on Rio de Janeiro relatively early on, a city that Cubby Broccoli had visited on holiday, and a team was sent there in early 1978 to capture initial footage from the Carnival, which featured in the film.^[5]

At the Rio de Janeiro location, many months later, Roger Moore arrived several days later than scheduled for shooting due to recurrent health problems and an attack of kidney stones that he had suffered while in France.^[5] Upon arrival, Moore was immediately whisked off the plane for hair and make-up work before reboarding the plane to film the sequence with him arriving as James Bond in the film. Sugarloaf Mountain was a prominent location in the film, and during filming of the midair cable car sequence in which Bond and Goodhead are attacked by Jaws, stuntman Richard Graydon slipped and narrowly avoided falling to his death.^[5] For the scene in which Jaws bites into the steel tramway cable with his teeth, the cable was actually made of liquorice, although Kiel was still required to use his steel dentures.^[7]

Iguazu Falls, in the south of Brazil, was used in the film, although as Q notes, the falls were supposedly somewhere in the upper basin of the Amazon River. The second unit had originally planned on sending an actual boat over the falls.^[5] However, on attempting to release it, the boat became firmly embedded on rocks near the edge. Despite a dangerous attempt by helicopter and rope ladder to retrieve it, the plan had to be abandoned, forcing the second unit to use a miniature at Pinewood instead.^[5] The exterior of Drax's pyramid headquarters in the Amazon rain forest near the falls was actually filmed at the TikalMayan ruins in Guatemala.^[7] The interior of the pyramid, however, was designed by Ken Adam at a French studio, in which he purposefully used a shiny coating to make the walls look plastic and false.^[5] All of the space centre scenes were shot at the Vehicle Assembly Building of the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, although some of the earlier scenes of the Moonraker assembly plant had been filmed on location at the Rockwell International manufacturing plant in Palmdale, California.^[18]

The early scene in which Jaws pushes Bond out of the aircraft without a parachute took weeks of planning and preparation. The skydiving sequence was coordinated by Don Calvedt under the supervision of second unit director John Glen and was shot above Lake Berryessa in northern California. As Calvedt and skydiving champion B.J. Worth developed the equipment for the scene, which included a 1-inch-thick (25 mm) parachute pack that could be concealed beneath the suit to give the impression of the missing parachute, and equipment to prevent the freefalling cameraman from suffering whiplash while opening his parachute, they brought in stuntman Jake Lombard to test it all. Lombard eventually played Bond in the scene, with Worth as the pilot from whom Bond takes a parachute, and Ron Luginbill as Jaws. Both Lombard and Worth became regular members of the stunt team for aerial sequences in later Bond films.^[5][19][20] When the stuntmen opened their parachutes at the end of every shoot, custom-sewn velcro costume seams separated to allow the hidden parachutes to open.^[7] The skydiver cinematographer used a lightweight Panavision experimental plastic anamorphic lens, bought from an old pawn shop in Paris, which he had adapted, and attached to his helmet to shoot the entire sequence. The scene took a total of 88 skydives by the stuntmen to be completed.^[5] The only scenes shot in studio were close-ups of Roger Moore and Richard Kiel.^[19]

Since NASA's Space Shuttle program had not been launched, Derek Meddings and his miniatures team had to create the rocket launch footage without any reference. Shuttle models attached to bottle rockets and signal flares were used for take-off, and the smoke trail was created with salt that fell from the models. The space scenes were done by rewinding the camera after an element was shot, enabling other elements to be superimposed in the film stock, with the space battle needing up to forty rewinds to incorporate everything. The climactic scenes of the space station disintegrating were created by Meddings and other members of the special effects team shooting the miniature model with shotguns.^[5][21]

For the scene involving the opening of the musical electronic laboratory door lock in Venice, producer Albert R. Broccoli requested special permission from director Steven Spielberg to use the five-note melody from his film Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). In 1985, Broccoli returned the favour by fulfilling Spielberg's request to use the James Bond theme music for a scene in his film, The Goonies (1985).

As James Bond is arriving at the scene of the pheasant shoot, a trumpet is sounded playing the first three brass notes from Also sprach Zarathustra, referencing the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

Music[edit]

Moonraker was the third of three Bond films for which the theme song was performed by Shirley Bassey (following Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever). Frank Sinatra was originally considered for the vocals, and Kate Bush was asked, but she declined.^[22]Johnny Mathis was approached and offered the opportunity. However, Mathis—despite having started recording with Barry—was unable to complete the project, leaving producers to offer the song to Bassey just weeks before the premiere date in England.^[23] Bassey made the recordings with very short notice and as a result, she never regarded the song 'as her own' as she had never had the chance to perform it in full or promote it first.^[23] The film uses two versions of the title theme song, a ballad version heard over the main titles, and a disco version over the closing titles. Confusingly, the United Artists single release labelled the tracks on the 7-inch single as 'Moonraker (Main Title)' for the version used to close the film and 'Moonraker (End Title)' for the track that opened the film.^[24] The song made little impact on the charts, reaching #159, partly attributed to Bassey's failure to promote the single, given the last-minute decision to quickly record it to meet the schedule.^[25]

In 2005, Bassey sang the song for the first time outside James Bond on stage as part of a medley of her three Bond title songs.^[23] An instrumental strings version of the title theme was used in 2007 tourism commercials for the Dominican Republic.

The soundtrack of Moonraker was composed by John Barry and recorded in Paris, again, as with production, marking a turning point away from the prior studio, CTS Studios in London. The score also marked a turning point in John Barry's output, abandoning the Kentonesque brass of his earlier Bond scores in favor of slow, rich string passages – a trend which Barry would continue in the 1980s with scores such as Out of Africa and Somewhere in Time.^[26] For Moonraker, for the first time since Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Barry used a piece of music called '007' (on track 7), and 'Bond smells a rat', the secondary Bond theme composed by Barry and introduced in From Russia with Love during Bond's escape with the Lektor; some classical music pieces were also included in the film. For the scene where Bond visits Drax in his chateau, Drax plays Frédéric Chopin's Prelude no. 15 in D-flat major (op. 28), 'Raindrop', on his grand piano (although he plays in the key of D major).^[24]Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka by Johann Strauss II was featured during the hovercraft scene on the Piazza San Marco in Venice,^[24] and Tchaikovsky's 'Romeo and Juliet Overture' was used for the scenes in Brazil in which Jaws meets Dolly following his accident.^[24] Other passages pay homage to earlier films, including Richard Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra (op. 30),^[24] associated with 2001: A Space Odyssey, with the hunting horn playing its distinctive first three notes, Elmer Bernstein's theme from The Magnificent Seven when Bond appears on horseback in gaucho clothing at MI6 headquarters in Brazil, and the alien-contacting theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind as the key-code for a security door as mentioned previously.^[24]

The Italian aria 'Vesti la giubba' from Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera I Pagliacci, was sung in Venice before one of the henchmen falls to his death from a building, landing and ruining a piano, causing in Bond to quip, 'Play it again, Sam,' a misquote from the film Casablanca.

Release and reception[edit]

Moonraker premiered on 26 June 1979, in the Odeon Leicester Square, United Kingdom. Three days after the UK release, it went on general release in the US, opening in 788 cinemas. On the mainland of Europe, the most common month of release was in August 1979, opening in the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland and Sweden between 13 and 18 August. Given that the film was produced largely in France, and it involved some notable French actors, the French premiere for the film was relatively late, released in that country on 10 October 1979. Moonraker grossed a worldwide total of $210,300,000.^[4]

Richard Maibaum^[27]

Moonraker had a mixed reception by critics. The film has a 'fresh' 62% rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes,^[28] and reviewers such as James Berardinelli praised the visual effects and stunts.^[29]

The New York Times film critic Vincent Canby called Moonraker 'one of the most buoyant Bond films of all. Almost everyone connected with the movie is in top form, even Mr. Moore. Here he's as ageless, resourceful, and graceful as the character he inhabits.'^[30] Canby subsequently said the film was, alongside Goldfinger, the best of the series.^[31]

The Globe and Mail critic Jay Scott said Moonraker was second only to Goldfinger. 'In the first few minutes – before the credits – it offers more thrills than most escapist movies provide in two hours.' During the title sequence, 'the excitement has gone all the way up to giddy and never comes down.' Scott admired the film's theme song and cited with approval the film's location work. He also singled out Ken Adam's sets, dubbing them 'high-tech Piranesi.'^[32]

Frank Rich of Time felt 'The result is a film that is irresistibly entertaining as only truly mindless spectacle can be. Those who have held out on Bond movies over 17 years may not be convinced by Moonraker, but everyone else will be.'^[33]

Film scholar James Monaco designated the film a 'minor masterpiece' and declared it the best Bond film of them all.^[34]

However, some critics consider Moonraker one of the lesser films in the series, largely due to the extent of the plot which takes James Bond into space, some of the ploys used in the film for comedic effect, and its extended dialogue. In November 2006, Entertainment Weekly ranked Moonraker fourteenth among the Bond films, describing it as 'by far the campiest of all 007 movies' with 'one of the worst theme songs';^[35] while IGN listed it as eleventh, calling it outlandish and saying that despite the actors 'trying what they can to ground the film in reality, the laser gun/space station finale pretty much undercuts their efforts';^[36] and Norman Wilner of MSN chose it as the fourth worst film of the series, considering that the film 'just flat-out sucks'.^[37]

Critic Nicholas Sylvain said 'Moonraker seems to have more than its share of little flaws and annoyances which begin right from the opening pre-credit sequence. The sheer idiocy (and impossibility) of having a fully fueled shuttle on the back of the Boeing during the trans-Atlantic crossing should be evident, and later in the film, the whole Jaws-falls-in-love and becomes a 'good guy' routine leaves me rather cold, and provides far too much cheesy comedy moments, as does the gondola driving through the square scene.'^[38]

In his review of Moonraker in 1979, the Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert, while clearly expressing his approval of the advanced special effects and Ken Adam's extravagant production sets, criticised the pace in which the locations of the film evolved, remarking, 'it's so jammed with faraway places and science fiction special effects that Bond has to move at a trot just to make it into all the scenes'.^[39]Christopher Null of Filmcritic.com said of the film: 'Most rational observers agree that Moonraker is without a doubt the most absurd James Bond movie, definitely of the Roger Moore era and possibly of all time'.^[40] However, while he criticised the extravagance of the plot and action sequences, he believed that this added to the enjoyment of the film, and particularly approved of the remark 'I think he's attempting re-entry!' by 'Q' during Bond and Goodhead's orbiting of the Earth which he described as 'featuring what might be the best double entendre ever'.^[40]

Reviewing Moonraker, film critic Danny Peary wrote, 'The worst James Bond film to date has Roger Moore walking through the paces for his hefty paycheck and giving way to his double for a series of unimaginative action scenes and 'humorous' chases. There's little suspense and the humor falls flat. Not only is Jaws so pacified by love that he becomes a good guy, but the filmmakers also have the gall to set the finale in outer space and stage a battle right out of Star Wars.'^[41]

The exaggerated nature of the plot and space station sequence has seen the film parodied on numerous occasions. Of note is the Austin Powers spoof film The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) which whilst a parody of other James Bond films, pays reference to Moonraker by Dr. Evil's lair in space. The scene in which Drax is shot by the cyanide dart and ousted into space is parodied by Powers' ejection of Dr. Evil's clone Mini-Me into outer space in the same way.^[42]

Accolades[edit]

Derek Meddings, Paul Wilson and John Evans were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects,^[43] and the film was nominated for three Saturn Awards, Best Science Fiction Film, Best Special Effects, and Best Supporting Actor (Richard Kiel).^[44]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Moonraker'. American Film Institute. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
2. ^'The Official 1979 Moonraker Magazine'. The James Bond 007 Dossier. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
3. ^'The Official 1979 Moonraker Magazine'(PDF). The James Bond 007 Dossier. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
4. ^ ^abcBlock & Autrey Wilson 2010, p. 428.
5. ^ ^{abcdefghijklmnopqrs}Inside Moonraker(DVD) format= requires url= (help). MGM.
6. ^For Your Eyes Only Special Edition, Region 2(DVD) format= requires url= (help). MGM. 1981.
7. ^ ^abcdefghMoonraker Special Edition, Region 2 booklet. 2000. access-date= requires url= (help)
8. ^Lycett, Andrew (1996). Ian Fleming. London: Phoenix. pp. 280–3. ISBN978-1-85799-783-5.
9. ^Feeney Callan, Michael (2002). Sean Connery. Virgin. p. 100. ISBN1-85227-992-3.
10. ^Jay Rubin, Stephen (1982). James Bond Films. Random House Value Publishing. p. 155. ISBN0-517-54824-0.
11. ^ ^ab'Moonraker:Cut Scenes & Alternate Versions'. mi6-hq.com. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
12. ^'Moonraker: The 'Forgotten' 1956 Film Version?'. Commanderbond.net. 7 April 2004. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
13. ^'Christopher Wood Interview'. mi6-hq.com. 6 February 2005. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
14. ^Moore, Sir Roger (2012). Bond On Bond: Reflections on 50 Years of James Bond Movies. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot. p. 43. ISBN978-0-7627-8281-9.
15. ^2018, MI6-HQ Copyright (15 February 2015). 'Louis Jourdan (1921-2015)'. mi6-hq.com.
16. ^'MOONRAKER 1979 SWE'. www.007museum.com.
17. ^'Moonraker:Trivia'. mi6-hq.com. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
18. ^Exotic Locations of Moonraker(DVD) format= requires url= (help). MGM.
19. ^ ^abLearning to Freefall(DVD) format= requires url= (help). MGM.
20. ^Double O Stunts(DVD) format= requires url= (help). MGM.
21. ^The Men Behind the Mayhem(DVD) format= requires url= (help). MGM.
22. ^'Gaffaweb - Kate Bush - THE GARDEN - Kate's KBC article - Issue 5 (April 1980) - 'With Love from Kate' & Interview'. gaffa.org. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
23. ^ ^abc'The Filming of Another Audience With Shirley Bassey'. Bassey.co.uk. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
24. ^ ^abcdefMoonraker Special Edition, Region 2(DVD) format= requires url= (help). MGM. 2000.
25. ^'Moonraker:Music written by John Barry and lyrics by Hal David'. Songs of Shirley Bassey. Archived from the original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
26. ^'Dances With Wolves'. Filmtracks.com. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
27. ^Hibbin, Sally (1989). The making of Licence to kill. Salem House. p. 14. ISBN978-0-88162-453-3.
28. ^'Moonraker (1979)'. Rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
29. ^Berardinelli, James. 'Moonraker (1979)'. Reelviews. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
30. ^Canby, Vincent (29 June 1979). 'Moonraker'. The New York Times.Available online.
31. ^Canby, Vincent (26 June 1981). 'For Your Eyes Only'. The New York Times.Available online.
32. ^Scott, Jay (30 June 1979). 'MOONRAKER:007 in space as good as ever'. The Globe and Mail. p. 29.
33. ^Rich, Frank (2 July 1979). 'Agent 007 Goes into Orbit'. Time.
34. ^Monaco, James (1985). The Connoisseur's Guide to the Movies. Facts on File. ISBN978-0-87196-964-4.
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38. ^Sylvain, Nick. 'Verdict on Moonraker'. DVD Verdict. Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
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Sources[edit]

• Block, Alex Ben; Autrey Wilson, Lucy (2010). George Lucas's Blockbusting: A Decade-by-Decade Survey of Timeless Movies Including Untold Secrets of Their Financial and Cultural Success. London: HarperCollins. ISBN978-0-06-177889-6.

External links[edit]

Cast Of James Bond Films

• Moonraker on IMDb
• Moonraker at the TCM Movie Database
• Moonraker at AllMovie
• Moonraker at Rotten Tomatoes
• Moonraker at Box Office Mojo

James Bond Film Series Cast