Wolff rating: MOSTLY HARMLESS
Plot summary: Bond takes on Hugo Drax, a space-shuttle mogul up to no good.
Biased, pithy comments: Except for a good opening sequence (bringing back our favorite dentally-deranged henchman, Jaws), this was a really, really bad Bond film. As the movie moves away from the traditional late 70s Bond standbys (i.e. boat chases, car chases, dog chases, cable-car chases, and a secret lab full of chemical weapons), Bond finds himself near the set of ``Battlestar Galactica'' and procedes to have a laser-driven shootout that ends with a scene of hunting down stray chemical weapons that came right out of the trench scene in ``Star Wars.'' This was as fantastic and crazy as Bond ever gets, and it really didn't work. Though the movie made a ton of money (yes, audiences would see nearly anything with a spaceship in it, at that time), the filmmakers decided to turn the franchise around and return to clever scripts, more nuanced storylines, and an air of greater plausibility, namely in the excellent ``For Your Eyes Only,'' probably Moore's best film. If you see this movie up on TBS, watch that opening sequence and then skip the entire rest of the film.
Other Notes: The location credit claims they shot in location in Outer Space. Yah, and monkeys will fly out of my... Also, this film grossed the most of any Bond film until Goldeneye. Why? WHY?
How many times I have seen it: x2 or so
Starring: Roger Moore, Lois Chiles, Michel Lonsdale, Richard ``Jaws'' Kiel.
Directed by: Lewis Gilbert