For some he was the Bond that should have never been. For others he was a delightedly droll hero from the intensely paranoid era of Popeye Doyle and Dirty Harry. Roger Moore was never going to be the greatest actor to wear the mantle of Ian Fleming's ageless spy, but he was, for more than a decade, the unflappable personification of Seventies British Cool. Fresh from his debonair TV characters of The Saint and The Persuaders, Moore scored an immediate hit as 007 starting with the Blaxploitation Bond film Live and Let Die (1973), followed by the dreary Kung Fu antics of The Man With The Golden Gun (1974), and finally hitting his stride with the witty and sophisticated action adventure cocktail of The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). For Your Eyes Only, was intended to follow, but in the meantime Star Wars had proven Sci-Fi could be huge box-office, so the third James Bond novel Moonraker, with its out-of-this-world title, was substituted instead. It became the highest grossing film in the series to date, but it was not without its detractors. For Sean Connery, and even George Lazenby fans, Roger Moore's interpretation was just too light and self-mocking, an eyebrow-raising maitre d' presiding over a full course meal of snide one-liners, pigeon double takes, and silly set pieces. For the young film fans coming of age during this new era of the blockbuster, the tall fair haired Moore represented the ultimate parody of the British stiff upper lip, always ready with a witty rejoinder for every deadly situation and never with a hair out of place. This characterization mined a different vein from his predecessors but it was Moore's personal irreverence for his own acting abilities that sold his breezy Bond to a willing public. Possessing none of Connery's cat-like grace, Moore embodied the stiff action man, thereby diminishing much of the tension and suspense of Fleming's popular literary protagonist. Aware of these shortcomings, producer Albert R. Broccoli, embraced the infectious drollery of his new leading man, boldly anticipating an audience who didn't need to be shaken and stirred, just pleasingly satisfied with the deluxe morsels of a stylish Bondian banquet. Moonraker represents the zenith of the Moore era, containing the most extravagant set designs by series veteran Sir Ken Adam, the stunning in-camera miniature effects of Derek Meddings, the sensual cinematography of Jean Tournier and the majestically elegant score by Bond theme arranger John Barry. It was also the first of the series to be based outside of Britain, nearly overwhelming its Parisian crew of technicians with an ambitiously sprawling production matched only by the recent mega-budget spectacle of Superman. A middle-aged Moore would go on to star in three further Bonds, with progressively less enjoyable results, and despite futile attempts to cover his wrinkled visage, he would never lose his sense of facetious fun in a role that brought unaffected joy to a cynical post hippie generation. DVD and Blu-ray REGION 1 & 2
