FILM · 1979 · UK
Moonraker
24 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
24 Interesting Facts About Moonraker
Interesting Facts (16)
- #001
The cable Jaws bites is actually made of liquorice.
- #002
The scene in which the gondola transforms into a flying vessel and rises out of the water succeeded on the fifth attempt. In the first four takes the craft was so unstable that Sir Roger Moore fell into the water and had to change his silk suit each time. It was very lucky that the stunt worked on the fifth take, because he was wearing his last silk suit.
- #003
Jaws was meant to be Bond's main villain in this film, until director Lewis Gilbert began paying attention to some fan letters he received from small children asking why he could not be a good man instead of a bad one.
- #004
Pope John Paul I died during the scenes set in Venice. Filming was subsequently postponed for a day, partly because the bells in Venice mourning his death were so loud that they made work impossible.
- #005
To create the final shot in which the space station is destroyed, the visual effects team locked themselves in the studio and blasted the space station model apart with pump-action shotguns.
- #006
Sir Roger Moore enjoyed filming in Paris because the production did not start until noon and the hours were shorter. In France the limit a person can work is eight hours of filming a day.
- #007
This was the first film to feature the modern space shuttle. Its release was meant to coincide with the shuttle's first launch, but that unfortunately did not happen until 12 April 1981, just before the premiere of the next James Bond film, For Your Eyes Only (1981), and exactly 20 years after Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space (12 April 1961).
- #008
The only moment Bond fires a gun in this film is when he shoots the sniper out of the tree with Drax's (Michael Lonsdale) shotgun.
- #009
Producer Albert R. Broccoli donated money to the Save Venice Fund because of all the wild stunts they were allowed to stage in Venice.
- #010
According to Sir Roger Moore, the final scene in which Bond and Holly make love in zero gravity was the hardest scene; he really felt the blood flowing to his nose and eyes.
- #011
One of the samples of Drax's Master Race is the daughter of Lois Maxwell (Miss Moneypenny).
- #012
It is the first time in the series that M shares a scene with the main villain.
- #013
For the shot of Drax being launched into space, a camera was placed on the ground (pointing upward) and Michael Lonsdale was pulled fifty meters (164 feet) up on a wire.
- #014
The Concorde jet shown when James Bond arrives in Rio de Janeiro is not, as some people mistakenly believe, the jet destroyed in the July 2000 crash in Paris that caused all Concordes to be permanently withdrawn from service. This aircraft, production number 205, registration F-BVFA, was sent after its retirement to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., where it can still be seen today.
- #015
It is the last James Bond film (to date) to include John Barry's second signature James Bond theme, "The 007 Theme," and the only Sir Roger Moore Bond film in which it is heard.
- #016
The radar jamming system device that Holly Goodhead disables on the space station is the same propeller Princess Leia tries to repair on the Millennium Falcon when she first kisses Han Solo in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980).
Production Story (1)
- #017
Producer Albert R. Broccoli complained that Maurice Binder's title sequence cost more than the entire budget of Dr. No (1962).
Behind the Scenes (3)
- #018
Except for a few brief close-ups, the entire sequence in which Bond, Jaws and the pilot fall from the plane and Bond and the pilot struggle over a single parachute was filmed in free fall. For these shots a seven-kilogram camera was mounted on another skydiver's helmet, and a few frames were shot from the cameraman's own arms and legs. Stuntmen Jake Lombard and B. J. Worth wore parachutes hidden inside their clothing. The "parachute" they fought over was in fact a dummy, and it had to be removed so the stuntman could use the real parachute beneath it. Stuntman Jake Lombard could put on and take off the empty parachute up to three times in a single jump. The real parachutes used by the stuntmen had a main and a reserve concealed inside their suit jackets. A ripcord seam running down the back allowed the parachute to open without removing the jacket. The stunt performers had only 60 to 70 seconds of free fall between leaving the plane and having to deploy their parachutes. Taking into account the time needed to get the performers and cameramen into position after leaving the aircraft, only a few seconds of film could be shot per jump. As a result, 88 jumps and five weeks of filming were required across the whole sequence to produce the two minutes of footage in the final film.
- #019
During the cable car stunt above Rio de Janeiro, a genuinely frightening moment occurred when stuntman Richard Graydon slipped and clung on for dear life. The rest of the crew, including Sir Ken Adam, watched in horror from a suitable vantage point while the camera was running.
- #020
Sir Roger Moore arrived several days late to the shoot in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, because of a kidney stone attack in France. Moore had also suffered a renal colic attack during the filming of Live and Let Die (1973). When he arrived in Rio de Janeiro, he literally got off the plane, had his makeup done, had his hair done, dressed up, got back on the plane, and was then filmed arriving in Rio de Janeiro as James Bond for this film.
Characters & Cast (1)
- #021
Lois Chiles was first offered the role of Anya in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), but she turned it down after deciding to take a temporary retirement. She landed the role of Holly Goodhead by chance when the seat next to director Lewis Gilbert on a flight was given to her.
Easter Eggs & References (3)
- #022
Although the previous film said James Bond would return in For Your Eyes Only, producer Albert R. Broccoli chose this film as the next one after the success of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977).
- #023
The film became the centerpiece of a real-life adventure when mercenary John Miller used it as cover for an attempt to abduct Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and return him to Britain to stand trial. Miller and his team posed as members of the film's production crew, offered Biggs a cameo in the film, and planned to lure him onto a yacht for the proposed scene and, once in international waters, take him to a Commonwealth country where he could be extradited. The plan fell apart when a journalist who heard rumors about the operation telephoned Biggs's home, believing he had already been abducted.
- #024
A "moonraker" has two dictionary definitions. It is synonymous with the moon sail, a ship's highest sail. It is sometimes used to refer to an overly ambitious man, which could apply to both Bond and Drax.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- IMDb
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