Moonraker (
1979) is the eleventh
spy film in the
James Bond series, and the fourth to star
Roger Moore as the
fictional MI6 agent
James Bond. The film, directed by
Lewis Gilbert, co-stars
Lois Chiles,
Michael Lonsdale,
Corinne Clery, and
Richard Kiel. In the film, Bond is sent to investigate the mysterious theft of a space shuttle, leading him to
Hugo Drax, the
billionaire owner of the shuttle-manufacturing firm. Along with the space scientist Dr.
Holly Goodhead, who later is identified as also being a
Central Intelligence Agency agent investigating Mr. Drax, Bond follows the trail of clues from California to
Venice,
Italy,
Rio de Janeiro, and the
Amazon rain forest, and finally into
outer space in a bid to prevent a plot to wipe out the world population and to re-create humanity with a
master race.
Moonraker was intended by its creator
Ian Fleming to be turned into a film even before he completed the
novel in 1954, since he based the novel on a manuscript he had written even earlier than this. The producers of the James Bond film series had originally intended to do
Moonraker in 1973 with Roger Moore making his debut as Bond, but the making of this movie was put on hold and finally released in 1979, coinciding with the
science fiction genre which had become extremely popular during this period with films such as
Star Wars (1977).
Derek Meddings, a long-time contributor to the James Bond series, was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for the special effects used in this movie and its space scenes.