Moonraker (4½ Stars)

This is the 11th James Bond film, made in 1979, two years after "The Spy who loved me". Ever since Roger Moore took over as James Bond, the films have been becoming more and more camp. "Moonraker" is the most camp of the films so far. That's obvious from the film poster shown above. James Bond is floating in a space suit surrounded by six beautiful women. Admittedly, this scene doesn't appear in the film, but it shows the film's tone.

The film's villain is Hugo Drax, a wealthy industrialist who manufacturers space shuttles that he calls Moonrakers. He has a plan to wipe out the whole human race and replace them with a genetically superior master race.

Eight couples will repopulate the Earth after Drax has bombarded it with deadly nerve gas. They'll remain in a space station orbiting the Earth until Drax considers it safe to return. Drax himself doesn't have a partner, because he has a special role in the new Earth. He's God, looking with satisfaction on his creations.

The film's Good Bond Girl is Lois Chiles as Holly Goodhead. She's a CIA agent working undercover for Drax. James Bond is the first person to uncover her, but don't worry, he doesn't tell anyone.

The Bad Bond Girl is Corinne Dufour, Drax's personal pilot. After a night of passion with Bond she betrays Drax and helps Bond steal Drax's plans. Drax sends Jaws to kill her.

Yes, Jaws. He must be a henchman for hire, because he appeared in "The Spy who loved me" as Stromberg's henchman. There must be a market for 7'2" henchmen with metal teeth and superhuman strength.

These are Drax's plans. I hope Bond went to a good grammar school, because they're written in Latin.

The James Bond films are known for their action scenes showcased by beautiful scenery. In Venice Bond is in a boat chase along the narrow canals.

In Rio de Janeiro Bond has to fight with Jaws on top of a cable car.

Evil henchmen need love too. After falling off the cable car Jaws meets a beautiful young mute girl. She isn't named in the film itself, but the credits list her as Dolly.

Jaws takes Dolly to the space station, hoping that they can be the ninth couple to populate the new Earth. A disfigured man and a mute girl? Somehow I don't think they're perfect enough for Drax.

Can't Drax make an exception? Just look at her! She's the most beautiful woman in the film.

The actress Blanche Ravalec is 5'6", which is average for a woman, but she looks ridiculously small next to Jaws.

Roger Moore is dressed up like Clint Eastwood? He should have been in spaghetti westerns.

But at least Miss Moneypenny is impressed. She loves James Bond in any clothes. Or without clothes.

Film critics have heaped scorn on this film. They say that the outer space scenes are ridiculous. Yes, they are, but it doesn't bother me in the least. "Moonraker" isn't meant to be taken seriously, even less than the previous films.

Success Rate:  + 4.2

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The Spy who loved me (4½ Stars)

Ever since the 1970's, especially since the 1980's, there have been heated discussions about who's the best and the worst James Bond. It's not just about who's the best actor, because everyone who's portrayed James Bond on screen is a competent actor. The discussions are about which actor best fits the role. If it means anything, Roger Moore is the only actor who claimed of himself that he was the worst James Bond actor. He said that when he died the inscription on his gravestone would be "A loving husband and father and the worst James Bond". I sincerely hope his family treated this as a joke and didn't follow this wish.

I try to stay out of the arguments. I listen to what others have to say, and I might sometimes express an opinion, but I don't insist that I'm right. I prefer to judge the individual films, and even then I can't be sure I'm right. My opinions on the James Bond films change every time I watch them. I'm set in my opinion that "Live and let die" is the weakest film, but I can't say for certain which one is best. If you ask me now I'll probably give a different answer to what I said last year.

This is the tenth James Bond film, made in 1979, three years after "The man with the golden gun". It has the biggest budget of the films so far, which is obvious when you see the abundance of explosions in the final twenty minutes. It's one of the standard features of the James Bond films that they end with an explosion, but there have never been as many explosions as in "The Spy who loved me".

The film's villain is Karl Stromberg, played by the German actor Curt Jurgens. (His name was actually Curd Jürgens, but it was spelt differently for English language films). He steals two nuclear submarines, one British and one Russian. His intention is to fire nuclear missiles at New York and Moscow to start a third world war. He wants the majority of the human race to be wiped out, so that he can found a new perfect civilisation beneath the sea. All the Bond villains are insane, but I have to say that Stromberg is the maddest of them all. He thinks of himself as an ecologist. He wants nuclear destruction to make the surface of the world beautiful again.

The Good Bond Girl is Anya Amasova, played by Barbara Bach. That's to say, she's almost good. She's a Russian agent, a Communist counterpart to Bond, but the KGB and MI6 are working together to find the missing submarines. James Bond is 007, and Anya's code name is XXX. There must be a joke in there somewhere. Bond is responsible for killing Anya's lover, so she says she'll shoot him as soon as their mission is over. Will she kill Bond or fall for his charms? I think you can guess the answer.

The Bad Bond Girl is Naomi, played by Caroline Munro. What a body! She's much more beautiful than the anorexic Bond Girls in the last two films. Naomi is Stromberg's personal assistant. When they meet her, Bond and Anya are pretending to be husband and wife. That doesn't stop Naomi flirting with Bond, and he flirts back.

Anya doesn't need to say a word in this scene. Her thoughts are obvious. "Stop making eyes at my husband, even though he's not really my husband!"

But in my opinion, the film's most beautiful woman isn't either of the Bond Girls, it's an unnamed hotel receptionist played by Valerie Leon. It's frustrating that we see so little of her.

Everyone has different opinions as to who's the most beautiful. This woman is the closest the film gets to an objectively beautiful woman. She's Eva Rueber-Staier, who won the Miss World title in 1969. Yes, she's gorgeous, and it's a shame she only gets 20 seconds of screen time as the personal secretary of the head of the KGB. The film makers must have realised their mistake, because they brought her back in two of the subsequent films. She isn't named in "The spy who loved me", but in the other two films she's called Rublevitch. 

Always in the background is Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny. Her heart beats faster every time James enters the room. She longs for the day when James will sweep her off her feet, or at least take her out for a meal.

I like this film a lot, but it's not quite perfect. The musical score is cheesy, intended to amuse the audience rather than make the film more dramatic. The theme from "Lawrence of Arabia" is even played when we see Bond in the desert. That's overdoing it.

Success Rate:  + 11.7

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The Man with the Golden Gun (4½ Stars)

This is the ninth James Bond film, made in 1974, only a year after "Live and let die". It's the second film starring Roger Moore as James Bond, and it's much better than his first film. It's partly because it's a better written film, but Roger Moore also plays the character differently. He's not quite as whimsical as in his first film. He's adapting to the role as he goes along.

The film's big villain is Francisco Scaramanga, an assassin who charges one million dollars per kill. His speciality is that his bullets are made out of gold, and so is his gun. His gun only holds a single bullet, because he never misses.

It's not just about making money. Scaramanga needs to know he's the best, so he hires assassins to kill him. He knows they're coming, so it's a duel to the death. The greatest killer he knows is James Bond, so he wants to have a duel with him. He could easily eliminate Bond any time as an anonymous sniper hiding in the shadows, but he respects Bond too much to kill him without giving him a fighting chance.

There's an element of double cross in the film. A businessman called Hai Fat pays Scaramanga to kill a scientist who's invented a revolutionary solar energy device which has 90% efficiency. I assume that it means it transfers 90% of the sun's heat which is shone into it, which would mean immense heat. After killing the scientist, Scaramanga hands over the device to Hai Fat, but he realises how valuable it is and shoots Hai Fat to take the device for himself. Scaramanga inherits a huge laboratory, but he doesn't seem to know what to do with it. That's the weakest part of the plot, and the reason for deducting half a star from an otherwise perfect film. A man with Scaramanga's obvious intelligence would have hired a dozen or more scientists and technicians to operate Hai Fat's machines.

The Good Bond Girl is Mary Goodnight, played by Britt Ekland. She's supposedly a junior agent in MI6, but she's so air-headed that it's difficult to take her seriously. Her only interest is in getting into bed with James Bond, but she has to wait until the end of the film before he pays attention to her. I've been told that she appeared in several of the James Bond novels. I'm glad that she only made it into one film. Beauty isn't enough. I like a woman who's intelligent.

The Bad Bond Girl is Andrea Anders, played by Maud Adams. She's a more competent woman. Her only weakness is that she can't resist James Bond's charms. Scaramanga shoots her when she betrays him.

James Bond meets the two nieces of a police lieutenant. They aren't named in the film. They act like giggling schoolgirls, but they sure know how to fight.

Bond doesn't even take part in this fight. He stands back and watches the girls in action.

As always, Bond flirts with Miss Moneypenny, raising her hopes of a romantic encounter, but she never has a chance.

Beauty is only skin deep. If Bond had been less shallow he could have grown to like her. The Bond Girls came and went, but Moneypenny was always in the office waiting for him. She appeared in the first 14 Jams Bond films, from 1962 to 1985. 23 years is a long time to wait for a man who's only interested in other women.

Success Rate:  + 11.9

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Live and let die (3 Stars)

This is the eighth James Bond film, made in 1973, two years after "Diamonds are forever". It's the first film to star Roger Moore as the main character. Unlike George Lazenby, who did his best to imitate Sean Connery, Roger Moore gives the Bond character his own style. He plays the role with a light, seemingly careless air.

The film's big villain is Yaphet Kotto as President Kananga, the ruler of a small Caribbean island. He's the smallest of the big villains so far. Rather than wanting to rule the world or get rich fast, he has long term business plans. He's producing heroin in large quantities on his island. He wants to give away two tons of heroin free of charge in America. This will put all other drug dealers out of business, but it will also double the number of addicts. After this he'll sell heroin for a high price in America, unopposed because he'll have a monopoly. Would that work? It's difficult to believe that the other drug dealers would disappear so easily. After the free gift has been exhausted, they'd have supplies ready to be sold. Or does heroin have an expiration date?

The film's Good Bond Girl is Gloria Hendry as the rookie CIA agent Rosie Carver. Or is she really good? It's hinted that she's a double agent working for Kanaga, but this isn't followed up.

She doesn't have much meat on her bones, but James seems to like her.

When James Bond turns on the charm, she collapses into his arms. As you can see, the big afro in the previous pictures was just a wig that she takes off in intimate settings. She wanted to look more like a Blaxploitation star.

The Bad Bond Girl is Solitaire, played by Jane Seymour. She's inherited psychic powers from her mother and her mother before her. Kanaga uses her powers to warn him of any danger. There's only one problem. The powers only remain as long as she's a virgin.

How long can she remain a virgin when James Bond has his eye on her? That depends on how fast she can take her clothes off. Like most of the Bad Bond Girls, after one sexual encounter with him she changes sides and works against her former boss.

Madeline Smith also appears in the opening scenes. She doesn't have enough screen time to be classed as a Bond Girl. It depends on your definition. She plays an Italian secret agent called Miss Caruso, but in the credits she's listed as "Beautiful Girl". That's appropriate. She was one of the most beautiful actresses of the 1970's.

There were several publicity photos for the film with Madeline Smith, but her fans must have been disappointed when they at in the cinema and realised that she was only in the film for a few minutes. She deserved a bigger role.

Roger Moore asked for Madeline to have a part in the film after working with her on a television programme. She must have left a lasting impression on him.

So James Bond slept with three women in the film. The only woman he didn't drag into bed was Miss Moneypenny. Come on, James, give her a chance!

Despite the assortment of pretty women, I consider this to be the weakest James Bond film. I mentioned Blaxploitation above. The film features black communities in New Orleans, Harlem and the Caribbean. What I don't like about the film is that almost every black person in the film is evil. This gives the film a racist flavour that I find unpleasant.

On the positive side, the film features spectacular chases scenes. The over-the-top car chases are what characterised the Roger Moore Bond films. In one scene he's chased while driving a bus, in another he's chased in a motor boat that sometimes jumps out of water and skids across the ground. It's ridiculous and infeasible, but highly enjoyable.

Success Rate:  + 21.1

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The Man with the Golden Gun (4½ Stars)

Following the death of Christopher Lee, which I reported earlier today, I've decided to watch a few of his films. He made so many, more than 200 films in his career that spanned from 1948 up to his death in 2015. This is the first film in my list. It's one of the James Bond films that starred Roger Moore as James Bond. In my opinion it's the best of the Roger Moore Bond films, but it seems like public opinion is against me. Maybe I'm just biased because it stars Christopher Lee? His performance lifts the film and makes it something memorable, a film that deserves to be watched and rewatched many times over.

The film is about a professional hitman, Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee), who charges one million dollars for each job. He uses a custom made golden gun, and he shoots golden bullets. He's so confident of his skill that he only takes one bullet with him on each job. Apart from this he likes to have fun. He pays other hitmen to come to his house and attempt to kill him. This is more of a challenge. Scaramanga also has a great respect for James Bond, since he considers him to be the world's second best hitman; second after himself, of course.

The film borrows ideas from many other films. For instance, in the opening scene Christopher Lee emerges from the water wearing white swimming trunks looking like Ursula Andress in "Dr. No", the first James Bond film. The effect is spoilt by the camera not showing him from the front as he walks onto the beach, but there's a reason for this, obvious to all who have seen the film. The final scene in Scaramanga's fun fair looks like it comes from an episode of the Avengers TV series. The martial arts scene in a dojo is reminiscent of "Fist of Fury", and the showdown among the mirrors looks very much like the final scene from "Enter the Dragon".

Apart from that, we have the typical motifs that we know from the James Bond films. Whenever Bond walks into a woman's hotel room she's in the shower. There are the car chases, which were at their craziest during Roger Moore's time as Bond. There are sexy women with suggestive names, in this case the naked girl in the swimming pool called Choo Mi. There's the scene where the villain explains his evil plans to Bond in great detail as if they were old friends. And there's the big explosion at the end.

Someone should tell Christopher Lee that you can't impress a girl by pointing your gun in her face. However big it is.

I'll choo yu if you choo mi.

Roger Moore has kung fu kicking schoolgirls to help him out. They may be young, but they know the best place to kick a man.

Isn't it nice to catch a ball game with your enemy before you fight to the death?

Much too generous. Mr. Lee, you are the best!