More than 20 years ago, an online quiz claimed that this was the most promising James Bond flick for me, but others warned me that it was likely to annoy me. Since then, I've found that even unpopular entries can strike a chord with me. When Netflix kept suggesting this one, I finally went for it.
The title refers to a model of space shuttle, one of which gets hijacked en route from California to the UK. Agent 007 (Roger Moore) begins his case by meeting with Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale), shady yet publicly trusted owner of the manufacturing company. The plot Bond eventually uncovers is probably the most destructive in the history of the franchise.
In spite of that, lots of people are in on the conspiracy. There seems to be a new treachery every time Bond turns around. I was prepared for Bond to be a big jerk, but he seems quite the gentleman compared to half the cast.
You can tell the movie came out when space sci-fi was all the rage. There's even a clear shout-out to Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I can appreciate a good action sequence with low gravity. Unfortunately, the effects herein are seldom impressive. You can plainly see a wire in some shots.
The earthly action sequences are not especially innovative. Now I know that Casino Royale (2006) wasn't the first time Bond went to Venice, but at least it wasn't as clownish. And GoldenEye made better use of a weaponized pen. At least the Carnival in Rio adds some color.
One factor to stand out is that Jaws (Richard Kiel) becomes the first evil minion to get a second outing, after The Spy Who Loved Me. Large, taciturn, super-tough, and equipped with neck-breaking steel teeth, he puts Odd Job from Goldfinger to shame. More easily, he puts Chang (Toshiro Suga), the random Asian assassin, to all the more shame.
I also like the most prominent Bond girl in the story, Dr. Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles). With a surname like that, you'd think Bond wouldn't be surprised at her gender, but we can't all be genre savvy. Anyway, she not only has the education expected of an astronaut but can hold her own unarmed in a fight almost as well as Bond.
Yes, we still have a bunch of classic recurring side characters: M (Bernard Lee), Q (Desmond Llewelyn), and Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell). None of them really does anything to elevate the half-silly picture. And Moore was already having trouble selling himself as Bond IMO.
Nonetheless, I didn't mind the gestalt. The 126 minutes didn't have me looking at a clock. The worst I can say about MR is that it threatens to run together with a bunch of other works.
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