Moonraker stands as the only Bond film for which I feel a nostalgic affection. That's due to the fact it was the first Bond picture I ever saw. At least I think that was the case; I'm not a hundred percent positive, but my memories tell me I had very little awareness of 007 prior to entering the cinema during the summer of 1979. My Dad dragged me and my friend to see it somewhat against our wishes - bizarrely, we wanted to see Barbra Streisand’s The Main Event instead! - and for once, the Old Man was correct. Both my friend and I had a terrific time, and I at least was set on the path to being a Bond fan forever.

Well, a moderate Bond fan, at least. I've never been hugely fond of the series, though I've always really liked a particular few. The release of the movies on DVD led me to rediscover the whole batch of films, and through that experience, I reshaped my sentiments about many of the pictures.

Despite the fact I loved it when I was 12, my impression of Moonraker actually remained negative for many years. I can't recall the last time I saw it, though I think I checked it out in the early Nineties and thought little of it. However, I do now recognize that my general disdain for the Roger Moore years has tainted my opinion of all his films and that some are actually pretty good. As such, I entertained the notion that I might have been on the right track as a youngster and I could possibly enjoy Moonraker at the ripe old age of 42.

That concept vanished pretty rapidly soon after the disc started to spin. I wanted to like Moonraker - honestly, I want to like all of the Bonds - but I just couldn't get there. The film is possibly the silliest and least coherent of all the Bonds. Each of the films is unrealistic, but Moonraker goes so far over the top in that regard that it becomes absolutely ludicrous.

Moonraker seems like little more than an uninspired rehash of other Bond elements, cobbled together with little wit or freshness. The plot concerns supervillain Drax (Michael Lonsdale) and his attempt to destroy mankind and start his own master race in outer space. That theme obviously borrows liberally from a certain real-life nutbag's plans back in the Thirties and Forties, but the stealing seems even more shameless considering that the prior Bond - 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me - also involved a rich guy who wanted to destroy mankind to start his own civilization. Granted, I don't expect a whole lot of originality in Bond stories, but at least don’t rip off your last movie!

If that self-plagiarism wasn't enough, Drax himself makes for a terribly dull villain. Think of a boring version of Blofeld with a goatee and you have Drax. To spice things up, the filmmakers continue to recycle ideas through their resuscitation of Spy's main henchman, Jaws (Richard Kiel). Despite his status as a gimmick character, I liked Jaws in the older film; he made for a nice combination of menace and light comedy. That doesn't continue here, as any dignity or power is completely stripped from the character; Jaws seems little more than a really tall buffoon in Moonraker, and the role offers absolutely no fun or thrills.

Moonraker also echoes the very successful immediate predecessor through its main female lead, Dr. Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles). Spy’s Major Amasova provided a strong and competent woman. Although Barbara Bach was rather poor in the role, at least the part itself made for a nice challenge to the usual pathetically weak Bond babe.

Goodhead seems scripted to continue that trend, as she is: a) a CIA agent; b) a fully trained astronaut; and c) a scientist. Add to that d) a tremendously dull character played by e) a very weak actress and you have "F" which is the grade I give to Dr. Goodhead. Although Bach wasn't much of an actress, she's a veritable Meryl Streep compared to the insanely stiff and flat Chiles. Goodhead doesn't have much spark as scripted, but a real performer could have wrung some spark out of her. Unfortunately, Chiles is such a bland and boring presence that she makes Goodhead one of the least charismatic and appealing Bond women of all time. I disliked her so that I almost pined for the return of The Man With the Golden Gun's grating Miss Goodnight; Britt Ekland's character may be annoying, but at least she had some life to her! As it stands, Chiles' terrible performance as Goodhead weakens the film considerably. At least Bach was amazingly gorgeous; Chiles is attractive but visually pretty bland as well.

And this is a movie that can't stand much weakening. Moore seems game as ever as Bond, but everything appears so stale and bland. Even the trademarked action sequences look uninspired and fail to rouse much excitement. I like the Bond pictures well enough I feel even a bad Bond still offers some fun, but Moonraker tests my loyalty. It’s probably the worst Bond flick ever made.

Moonraker appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Across the board, the movie looked great.

Sharpness seemed superb. The movie presented solid clarity and definition, with only a smidgen of softness along for the ride. I noticed no signs of jagged edges or shimmering, and source flaws failed to materialize. This was a consistently fresh transfer.

Colors seemed solid. The best scenes came from the vivid hues of Rio, but all segments displayed nicely clear, distinctive tones. Black levels were dark and taut, while shadows usually seemed perfectly acceptable. A few “day for night” shots looked a bit murky, but most of the flick showed good delineation. Overall, I felt the picture quality was very satisfying.

For this DTS-HD MA 5.1 remix, the forward soundfield offered most of the action, with plenty of nicely localized audio from all three front channels that blended together well. The rears also provided quite a lot of information. They bolstered the forward mix in a satisfying manner and added a reasonable amount of information to the action sequences.

Audio quality was perfectly satisfactory for an older film. Speech sounded clear and concise, with no edginess or intelligibility issues. Music lacked great dimensionality and could be slightly stiff. However, the score was usually pretty lively; it just didn’t match up with the really dynamic music heard on some other Bond soundtracks.

Effects fared well. They lacked distortion and represented the elements with good accuracy. Bass response was also more than satisfying, as low-end kicked in some decent depth. This was a nice remix of the original Dolby Surround 2.0 audio.

How did the picture and audio of this Blu-ray compare to those of the 2006 Ultimate Edition DVD? Audio was pretty similar, but the visuals showed an upgrade, especially in terms of sharpness. I thought the DVD could look a bit soft, but no such concerns marred the Blu-ray. It often provided spectacular picture quality.

The Blu-ray offers all the same extras as the Ultimate Edition. We start with two separate audio commentaries. The first comes from director Lewis Gilbert, screenwriter Christopher Wood, associate producer William Cartlidge, and executive producer Michael Wilson. They all sit together for a running, screen-specific chat in which they offer a refreshingly frank and fun view of the movie.

Okay, it's not so honest that the guys actually strongly criticize the movie, but they do poke some fun at it. For example, Wood bitches about how some of his lines were changed, and the speakers just seem not to take things too seriously. Mainly they convey a lot of fun information through anecdotes, and the piece even gets in a contemporary note through a mention of Blair Witch Project. For some reason, the participants get in a lot of jabs at famed set designer Ken Adam; they're all gentle and in good fun and they add some real spirit to the commentary. I didn't much like the movie, but this track is very enjoyable.

For the second track, we hear from actor Roger Moore. He presents his own running, screen-specific discussion. He touches on a few production details, thoughts about various members of the cast and crew, and a variety of stories somehow connected to the film.

As with most other Moore commentaries, this one starts slowly but manages to rebound before too long. The actor seems a little less involved here, though, and this may be the least interesting of his seven chats. Or maybe I’ve just listened to too many of them; how many stories about Moore’s various illnesses (shingles, kidney stones, etc.) can one man stand? Still, Moore’s dry, self-effacing wit helps ensure that this piece remains fairly entertaining despite some dead spots.

The Mission Dossier splits in seven areas. 007 In Rio provides an “original 1979 production featurette” that lasts 12 minutes, 44 seconds. It features movie clips and footage from the shoot along with comments from Gilbert, producer Cubby Broccoli, and actor Lois Chiles. Despite a few decent shots from the production, this is mostly a tedious promotional program with little to offer.

Another archival component, Bond ‘79 runs 12 minutes, 17 seconds as it features soundbites from the same sessions that appear in “Rio”. We hear from Broccoli, Gilbert, Chiles and Moore. They chat about “Bond in space”, changing the series for the modern times, and other aspects of the Bond experience. While the information isn’t particularly deep, it offers a reasonably interesting perspective on Bond at the time of Moonraker.

Information from the production designer appears via Ken Adam’s Production Films. Adam narrates this 12-minute and two-second compilation of shots. We see location scouts and aspects of the shoot. As always, these offer a fun glimpse of the production, and Adam adds nice insights.

Skydiving test footage comes under the banner Learning to Freefall. The segment fills three minutes, 55 seconds. Mochael Wilson introduces the clips of aerial rehearsals. It’s a decent piece that offers a good take of the challenges. We also find some SkyDiving Storyboards. This 81-second reel shows planning materials for the aerial segment.

A few minor snippets finish this area. Circus Footage runs 78 seconds, while two Cable Car Alternative Storyboards go for 83 seconds and two minutes, 10 seconds, respectively. The “Circus” material shows cut shots from the opening sequence, while the “Alternative Storyboards” offer a view of unused concepts. All are pretty interesting. Wilson provides narration to inform us about the elements.

With that we head to the 007 Mission Control Interactive Guide. This splits into components under seven different headings: “007”, “Women”, “Allies”, “Villains”, “Mission Combat Manual”, “Q Branch”, and “Exotic Locations”. An odd form of “greatest hits”, this simply presents a few selected scenes that match the topics.

One of the only interesting elements comes from the presentation of the opening credits without text (3:03). “Locations” (4:26) also gives us a narrated set of clips. Maud Adams chats over the scenes and tells us about the locations. That makes it more useful than the others since they just show snippets from the final film. The rest of the set is a waste of time.

Heading to Mission Dossier, we begin with Inside Moonraker. The 42-minute program combines movie clips, archival materials, and interviews. We hear from Moore, Gilbert, Adam, Wood, Wilson, Cartlidge, producer Cubby Broccoli, optical effects cameraman Robin Browne, visual effects supervisor Derek Meddings, aerial stuntmen Jake Lombard and BJ Worth, editor/2nd unit director John Glen, Eon Productions former VP marketing Jerry Juroe, camera operator Alec Mills, stuntmen Martin Grace and Richard Graydon, special effects technician John Richardson, visual effects cameraman Paul Wilson and actors Lois Chiles, Richard Kiel, Desmond Llewelyn and Michael Lonsdale.

We see material like Chiles' test shots and a variety of raw stunt footage. It covers the story’s genesis, cast and crew, stuns and effects, and many other production issues. The show offers the usual fine description of the creation of the movie, and it makes for a very entertaining and informative piece.

The Men Behind the Mayhem gives us a 19-minute tribute to the folks who fashioned the special effects for the Bond series. We get comments from Richardson, Meddings, Moore, Paul Wilson, Browne, special effects supervisors Chris Corbould and John Stears, optical effects technician Cliff Culley, and actors Maud Adams, Tanya Roberts, and Jill St. John. The program makes sense on this DVD, since Moonraker stands as the most effects-intensive Bond, but the show covers technical aspects of many other Bonds as well. As usual, the piece gives us a great look at the behind the scenes work done for the movies.

Surprisingly, this disc cuts back on the plethora of promotional materials we typically find on the Bond releases. The others toss in multiple trailers plus TV ads and radio spots. However, on Moonraker we only discover one theatrical trailer. Why so little? I have no idea. Perhaps they've gotten lost, but it seems odd that a relatively recent Bond would lack these components whereas much older efforts still boast lots of materials.

The standard plethora of stills appears as well. Under the Image Database, we get the Moonraker Gallery. It includes almost 100 pictures spread across 14 different sections. While the photos themselves are mildly interesting, I must say the style of the interface seems unnecessarily awkward. On one hand, it's good that the pictures are split into different areas because it makes future access easier. If you want to check out a certain shot, you won't need to wade through dozens of uninteresting snaps to get there. However, many of these sections feature only between one and three pictures, and the awkwardness of access through a DVD player - which is relatively slow at going from menu to menu - makes exploration of these photos more of a chore than it should be.

Unfortunately, that and the other strong supplements aren't enough to redeem Moonraker, for it remains a fairly lame movie. I like the Bond pictures and find enough fun in Moonraker to get me through it, but it's possibly the worst Bond to date. The Blu-ray provides very good picture and sound plus some fine supplements. Despite the poor quality of the film itself, the disc is good enough to warrant purchase from serious Bond fans; all others should probably skip it, however.

Should folks who already own the UE DVD pursue this Blu-ray? Yup – at least if they really like the movie. The Blu-ray offered often stunning visuals that improved on an already attractive DVD.

To rate this film visit the Ultimate Edition review of MOONRAKER