Ian Fleming Published the James Bond Novel 'Moonraker' 70 Years Ago Today (cbr.com)
- Reference: 0176937179
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/04/05/2026218/ian-fleming-published-the-james-bond-novel-moonraker-70-years-ago-today
- Source link: https://www.cbr.com/james-bond-book-moonraker-hasnt-got-movie-it-deserves/
> In 1979, the market was hot amid the studios to make the next big space opera. Star Wars blew up the box office in 1977 with Alien soon following and while audiences eagerly awaited the next installment of George Lucas' The Empire Strikes Back , Hollywood was buzzing with spacesuits, lasers, and ships that cruised the stars. Politically, the Cold War between the United States and Russia was still a hot topic, with the James Bond franchise fanning the flames in the media entertainment sector. Moon missions had just finished their run in the early 70s and the space race was still generationally fresh. With all this in mind, as well as the [4]successful run of Roger Moore's fun and campy Bond , the time seemed ripe to boldly take the globe-trotting Bond where no spy has gone before.
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> Thus, 1979's Moonraker blasted off to theatres, full of chrome space-suits, laser guns, and jetpacks, the franchise went full-boar science fiction to keep up with the Joneses of current Hollywood's hottest genre. The film was a commercial smash hit, grossing 210 million worldwide. Despite some mixed reviews from critics, audiences seemed jazzed about seeing James Bond in space.
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> When it comes to adaptations of the novella that Ian Flemming wrote of the same name, Moonraker couldn't be farther from its source material, and may as well be renamed completely to avoid any association... Ian Flemming's original Moonraker was more of a post-war commentary on the domestic fears of modern weapons being turned on Europe by enemies who were hired for science by newer foes. With Nazi scientists being hired by both the U.S. and Russia to build weapons of mass destruction after World War II, this was less of a Sci-Fi and much more of a cautionary tale.
They argue that filming a new version of Moonraker "to find a happy medium between the glamor and the grit of the James Bond franchise..."
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonraker_(novel)
[2] https://www.slashdot.org/~sandbagger
[3] https://www.cbr.com/james-bond-book-moonraker-hasnt-got-movie-it-deserves/
[4] https://www.cbr.com/roger-moore-grave-vandalized/
FYI - Books dated but good reads (Score:2)
FYI - The books are very dated, and I do NOT mean that in any "woke" sense, they are very much a flashback to a different political and technological era. Sort of like reading Jules Verne describing deep sea diving, but with a narrower historical and technological gap. However they were still pretty damn good. And there are some fun stories never turned into movies.
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Sometimes with books - and movies too - you simply need to go in with the realization that it was a product of its time. I don't see anything wrong with that.
I can mostly enjoy watching the old movie Holiday Inn , for instance, despite a couple elements that make me cringe.
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> Sometimes with books - and movies too - you simply need to go in with the realization that it was a product of its time. I don't see anything wrong with that.
Agree. In addition to Flemmings' James Bond, the Doyle's Sherlock Homes books were pretty damn good too. And Verne. And Shelley.
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> this question seems kind of sus
Why must we endure this kind of punishment?
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Full Boar Science Fiction.
Obviously the Muppets Pigs in Space.
Full Bore Science Fiction, on the other hand, would be maximal sci fi.
But they must be talking about the Pigs in Space here.
Your Tax Dollars at Work (Score:2)
[1]Rockwell International [wikipedia.org] acted as a consultant for the film. Since the work was done in England, they sent various people over to England (on the Concorde) to consult.
Since the Space Shuttle was a "Cost Plus" contract, all that was billed to NASA.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockwell_International
really? (Score:2)
full boar?
Worst Bond Film (Score:1)
This was the worst Bond Film, ever.
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With the best music score.
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The entire Roger Moore era sucked.
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It sucked through gritted Jaws,
Hit and Miss (Score:2)
It did not. For Your Eyes Only is one of the best Bond films if, for no other reason, it offered the most realistic plot. A Royal Navy encryption device is stolen and Bond has to track it down. You know, do some actual detective/anti-espionage work, instead of having to kill some lunatic threatening nuclear blackmail for the nth time.
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> it offered the most realistic plot
This is not what people (used to) expect from a Bond film.
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The Spy Who Loved Me is a good Bond film and my favorite from the Moore era. The opening to the film was not only amazing for its time, but holds up well today. Amazing stunt work and even if you're not British you can't help but feel a tinge of national pride when the Union Jack parachute opens as the music swells.
I don't think the scripts Moore had to work with were as strong as what Connery had. From Russia With Love and Goldfinger are just better material. Excluding Never Say Never Again, Connery's w
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"The Man with the Golden Gun" was pretty good. "Live and Let Die" was pretty good, too.
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> The entire Roger Moore era sucked.
I have to admit that Live and Let Die is a guilty pleasure of mine. And I can watch A View to a Kill simply because a) it was so over-the-top as to basically be a self-parody; b) Christopher Walken is always great; and c) Duran Duran, 'nuff said.
But... all in all I agree with you.
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...but the best leisure suits.
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But it had the best [1]airport scene. [youtube.com]
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gkfGKq34bA
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It also had very little relation to the book.
Until Disney buys the franchise (Score:2, Insightful)
> This was the worst Bond Film, ever.
Until Disney buys the franchise. :-)
Re: Until Disney buys the franchise (Score:2)
Jeff Bezos sez Hold My Beer!
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> Jeff Bezos sez Hold My Beer!
More like Bezos says "hold my personal brewmaster's crafted IPA". :-)
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Amazon has it now and after Rings of Power I'd argue they're better at failing miserably and destroying a franchise than Disney.
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Amazon says "hold my beer".
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> Amazon says "hold my beer".
More like Amazon says "hold my crafted IPA from Bezos' personal brewmaster". :-)
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Corrine Clery
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Ian Fleming's novel "Moonraker" and the movie "Moonraker" are very different. They have basically only the title and some minor details in common, such as the name of the main villain and him having Nazi leanings.
The movie even got a separate novelisation.
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> Ian Fleming's novel "Moonraker" and the movie "Moonraker" are very different.
This is true of almost all the Ian Fleming novels when compared to their movie adaptations. The only one I recall even loosely following the book's plot was From Russia With Love .
As an aside - The Man with the Golden Gun was probably the best of the books, even though the movie was easily one of the two worst.
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You've never seen On Her Majesty's Secret Service then. I don't know what was worse: Kojak as Blofeld or sound editing that was so bad that you actually noticed.
Re: Worst Bond Film (Score:2)
It was still better than any Roger Moore film. Nothing sucked worse than the Roger Moore era.
George Lasenby? Better
Timothy Dalton? Better
Pierce Brosnan? Better
Fucking anything? Also better
Re: Worst Bond Film (Score:2)
I was quite disappointed with Skyfall. They promoted it as based on Stuxnet, but was clearly a dig on WikiLeaks with a thinly veiled Julian Assange.
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Competition is stiff.
"Aaaand 'Live and Let Die is leaning at the tape..."