this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2026
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I always loved Roger Moore, in The Saint, in the Persuaders and he was a great James Bond too.
But if you don't want to end up hating him forever, here's my advice: never EVER watch Moonraker.
Moonraker is my favorite Bond movie. Because it is the "drugs kicked in" kind of movie. Same with Die Another Day - it is horrible but also so ridiculous it just hits the right part of the lizard brain.
I'll generally prefer silly James Bond over boring or depressing James Bond.
yeah - that's why Moore is the best - he gets it.
He got one way of doing Bond: the superhero in a tuxedo. I like that version when it really works (Live and Let Die), and I at least find it entertaining when it becomes too undignified (Octopussy). The worst I'll say about Moore is that he probably should have exited the series one movie earlier, if only for the ick factor of his age vs the female leads.
I think the other way of doing Bond properly is to make him a suave, devil-may-care sociopath, like Craig in Casino Royale. This is closer to the way he is in the books. But there's always the danger of losing all levity and veering into grimdark, and then you end up with something like the wounded dog Bond from No Time to Die.
My favourite Bond is actually Brosnan, whom I think had the best of both worlds: absolutely ludicrous plots and villains, but also a dangerous edge. He was the first Bond to actually look like he had been given more than cursory training with firearms.
and then there is full raging psychopath Dalton Bond whose casual cruelty would make the rest blush. they definitely overdid it in License to Kill (even though its a great movie with top tier villain).
Brosnan is also my fave. He is also the one with most Bonus Bond movies and he's peak in Tailor of Panama
You've convinced me. I've never cared for Bond films. Moonraker will be the first one I watch.
Moonraker is fine. I loved it when i watched it as a kid. However, it contains the culmination of a reoccurring character's storyline, which might diminish the payoff if you haven't seen at least one of the previous films with that character. Other than that, have fun.
Blame Star Wars for Moonranker.
Oh god, fucking Moonraker.
Are you just talking about the implausible sci-fi plot or is there something icky in that movie that I didn't notice as a kid?
Moonraker was a typical case of too-much-of-a-good-thing. Bond was always about clever spy gadgetry, powerful supervillains and foiling unlikely wold domination plans. Eon Productions cranked all that to 11 and then some, and they made the entire movie utterly ridiculous as a result. It's seriously cringe to me. But I know a lot of people love it.
Nothing icky, no 🙂
Star Wars came out in 1977 and received six Oscars in 1978. I read somewhere that Moonraker was Broccoli trying to jump the SciFi bandwagon. It was a weird thing to do, but there are worse movies in the franchise.