Moonraker celebrates 30 years

Outer Space Now Belongs To 007

30 Years Of Moonraker
PART II

The outer space extravaganza for James Bond—1979’s Moonraker—celebrates its 30th anniversary this month. Debuting at London’s Odeon Leicester Square on 26 June 1979, Roger Moore’s fourth 007 adventure proved to be the biggest Bond film yet.

With a US release following just a few days later on the 29th, Moonraker became an unstoppable success at the worldwide box office. With a grand total in excess of $202 million, it made the most of its $34 million budget and became the highest grossing James Bond film up to that point in time (inflation-unadjusted) and remained so for almost two decades, until 1995’s GoldenEye.

Taking into account the 30th anniversary of the film, CommanderBond.net asked our forum members to recall their first (or most memorable) time seeing Moonraker…

Remembering Moonraker by… Craig Arthur

My 30th anniversary Moonraker celebrations won’t be until December, 2009. As used to be the case with all Bond movies, there was a five month wait until their summer/Christmas release in New Zealand. It was always an interminable wait. And for me, Moonraker was my most anticipated movie of all time.

The Spy Who Loved Me was the first Bond movie I saw in the theatre, in December 1977. I was age 9 and became immediately hooked on Bond. Everybody else was raving about Star Wars but it did not have the same impact on me that The Spy Who Loved Me had. As soon as I emerged from the cinema, I declared that I wanted to see the next Bond movie. And so my two year wait for Moonraker began.

Back then there were no VCRs and Bond movies were never shown on TV in New Zealand. But I became fanatical about Bond and spies in general. So I eagerly devoured any information I could find on the making of the new Bond movie and kept a scrapbook of newspaper and magazine clippings. In the meantime, I managed to see two more Bond movies on the big-screen. Thunderball and Goldfinger.

One wintry Friday morning in May 1979, I was having breakfast and getting ready for school when my parents showed me the cinema page in the newspaper. Thunderball was screening for two days, as would be You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever during the following week. I could not go to You Only Live Twice or Diamonds are Forever because they were only on school nights, but they would take me to see Thunderball. So that cold, wet Friday evening I got to see Thunderball. I loved it, just I had loved The Spy Who Loved Me a year and a half earlier.

Later in the year I got to see Goldfinger on the big screen too. I don’t know how I talked my parents into taking me and my sister to it, but somehow they agreed to take me, one Sunday night in September, even though there were no children’s tickets (everybody had to pay the adult price as it was not a session time for kids). Goldfinger was in a double-feature with Breakheart Pass – god knows why – and Goldfinger was second on the bill. So we had to sit through Breakheart Pass first. To a child of 11, it seemed a very bizarre cinema-going experience. I was used to matinees, not Sunday night double-features of the type Tarantino would immortalise in Grindhouse, where the theatre lobby was full of cigarette smoke. Goldfinger was everything I had hoped for and more. To make the experience even better, as we emerged from the theatre and headed down the stairs, a massive poster for Moonraker was visible inside the entrance. For me seeing that poster was like the Sistine Chapel. Bond in the Heavens with Drax casting him and Lois Chiles out of Paradise with an accusing finger and Jaws looming overhead in Zero G. I had just seen Goldfinger and now Moonraker seemed so close; just two and a half more months to wait.

Moonraker was the first Bond film I had followed the production and overseas release of (as would become the custom for me, to this day. The Spy Who Loved Me, I simply saw on its initial release and loved and the earlier movies I saw on re-release. But Moonraker, I had read about in depth – probably too much – and so I knew the movie inside out before I saw it. Though thankfully I did not know about the pre-credit sequence, and was blown away by it. The movie did not disappoint and contrary to things I would later read and hear about, it did not seem out of step with the other three Bond movies I had seen. In fact I think those four Bond movies fit together nicely. Goldfinger, Thunderball, TSWLM and Moonraker show-case Bond at its big-budget best. All have great spectacle, great characters, locations, Ken Adam production design and scores. I am glad those are the four I saw first, even if it did give me an inflated sense of Bond production values – DAF, Live And Let Die, and The Man with the Golden Gun could only seem disappointing by comparison.

I absolutely loved Moonraker on its initial release. I only went to see it twice (because I saw as basically the limit for seeing a movie back them) but I really enjoyed it both times. Even though going to see it twice meant sitting through the same terrible state-sponsored documentary on New Zealand butter twice, there were two very great Moonraker adverts – one for Seiko watches before the movie and one for a razor at half time. (Oh, how I coveted a Seiko watch, though I had no use for a razor of course!)

I was a hardcore Moonraker fan. I had a Moonraker T shirt that I insisted on wearing as much as I could even though it exposed my neck to third degree sunburn that will probably lead to melanoma in later life. When I was not wearing it, I was wearing a yellow and white T Shirt onto which I had sewn a homemade emblem of the Drax Corporation. Every day, I imagined myself in the movie.

By my early teenage years I had seen every Bond movie on the big screen several times. (I am very lucky I became a Bond fan when I did. I got to see them all on the big screen, not just once, but multiple times.) But around that time I began reading books such as John Brosnan’s James Bond in the Cinema that described Moonraker as the worst Bond movie. Also, I became friends with a family who hated Moonraker. And so I allowed myself to be brain-washed into thinking that Moonraker was bad. I just accepted this as scientific fact: (even though in early 1983 I saw a Sunday night double feature of Moonraker and For Your Eyes Only again on the big screen and loved both movies equally). The mature Bond fan is expected to rate the so-called more realistic Bond films over the so-called more fantastic, slapstick ones and so throughout my teens I sought a more realistic Bond. At that stage, I much preferred the John Glen Bond movies to the 1970s versions. Spectacle was out.

But in adulthood, I have reappraised this view. For nearly ten years I hardly ever saw Moonraker. A big factor was my parents refused to buy a VCR for many years and so most of the occasions when I watched Bond movies was with those friends I mentioned, at their home – where Moonraker was “banned”. When I did see Moonraker again it would be a terrible dubbed copy as you still could not buy VHS takes of Bond movies and the more spectacular Bond movies suffered more in such a context whereas the earlier, less fantastic Bond movie fared better. But one day in the mid nineties I watched the first half of Moonraker on video and liked it, after watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on TV and really enjoying it.

About this time MGM finally made the Bond movies available to buy on VHS. I bought all the early Connery Bond movies, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, and – on a whim – Moonraker. Suddenly I had a half-decent copy. It was still not exactly my favourite Bond movie, but I liked it. Around that same time – 1996 – Ken Adam’s brother (who lives in Wellington, New Zealand, and is a patron of the arts) put together an exhibition in Wellington of his brother’s work as a production designer. What struck me, when I went along to the exhibition, was how much influence Ken Adam had on the Bond movies. (It was his idea to go to Egypt for The Spy Who Loved Me for instance). I realised that seeing the early Bond movies on video had distorted my impression of the Bond movies and that no matter how fond I was of the Timothy Dalton Bond movies, GoldenEye, or even the last three Roger Moore Bond movies, the production values had slipped dramatically. Moonraker was the last truly epic Bond movie and it went up another notch in my estimation.

The eventual release of the Bond movies on DVD underlined this for me, seeing all the Ken Adam-designed Bond movies in all their widescreen glory. As a result I have enormous admiration for Moonraker. In hindsight, I have never not enjoyed watching Moonraker; I was just brain-washed into not liking it. Yes, the slapstick humour detracts from the movie but the other elements are so well executed one can overlook the silliness much easier than one can overlook the mishandling of Roger Moore’s escape from the gorilla suit in Octopussy or the cardboard-like production design in during Peter Lamont’s tenure as production designer.

Moonraker represents the end of a Bondian era in terms of production values – Ken Adam and John Barry were at their peak. But also it represents the end of the Bond films that embraced modernity. Much has been written about Moonraker being a Star Wars clone. Yes, Cubby Broccoli’s decision to make Moonraker when he did was to cash in on the success of Star Wars but Star Wars was a science fantasy movie that embraced the past – mythological and biblical themes of good and evil – not the future, whereas the Bond movies were about modernity. They showed us technological advancement and our anxieties about the future. This is why I much preferred The Spy Who Loved Me to Star Wars and became a Bond fanatic not a Luke Skywalker fan. In architecture and other areas of our culture, the modernist era came to an end not long after Moonraker. To extent, George Lucas’s influence on the Bond films was that in the 1980s the John Glen Bond movies would embrace old style Indiana Jones type adventure instead of the future. But when I watch Moonraker now, or for that matter Star Trek or Kubrick’s 2001, it represents an era in my childhood when we all believed in the future. This is why I still find it a terrific viewing experience, 30 years on.

Remembering Moonraker by… Robinson

This was the first Bond film I ever saw and the first I saw in the theater. I was 9 at the time and heavily into Star Wars, space exploration and Battlestar Galactica. I think I saw the poster of Moore in his spacesuit and I knew I had to see this flick.

Anyway, I think I stayed in the theater and watched it twice. I had a vague idea of who James Bond was by all my friends who kept talking about The Spy Who Loved Me and “his car that goes underwater.” So, I sit down and watch.

All of the sexual innuendo went right over my head but I definitely could follow the story. I had no idea Jaws was a recurring character and I desperately wanted that boat Bond used to travel down the Amazon. My eyes nearly popped out of my skull when Drax’s space station was revealed.

Flash forward to November of 1979, I’m at my cousin’s and Goldfinger comes on HBO. I’m at a loss as to why James Bond looks so different. My cousin explains to me that this is a series of films and Connery was the first to play the role—and that they always have naked women floating around during the credits.

I’ll still watch Moonraker to this day because it’s a well crafted film. Barry’s score still resonates and Lonsdale makes a great villian. Granted the space battle is absurd but the film is still entertaining.

Remembering Moonraker by… JimmyBond

My first viewing didnt go well. I felt the film was slow and incredibly silly. At the time I felt it was incredibly unBondish. I didnt even finish the whole thing, I don’t recall what happend I just shut it off and did something else. That was my first time.

Now for my most memorable experience. That would probably have to be yesterday. Watching Moonraker for the first time on my widescreen tv was a blast (I’ve had the TV for a while, just havent gotten around to watching the Bond films on it yet). It hit all the right notes for me and I now consider it Moore’s best, and just shake my head when people say it’s too silly. Sure it’s silly, but it knows it, and relishes in it.

Remembering Moonraker by… HildebrandRarity

The mighty globe-trotting epic that is Moonraker was the first Big Screen James Bond movie I saw without my parents.

It was a magnificent experience for a kid who had grown up watching You Only Live Twice, Diamonds are Forever and Thunderball (on both big screen (incuding re-releases) and on TV).

I remember making the Moonraker rocket out of silly putty when I got back home… and, my love for hot, sexy girls began right then, I believe, as I was on the cusp of puberty!

Remembering Moonraker by… ms minniespinney

I had seen Sean and Roger on the telly, but Moonraker was one of those landmark movies that it seemed to me at the time the whole world was waiting for (a bit like Casino Royale and who killed JR). It was the first Bond film I had seen at the cinema, and the first time I went without my parents and I was just blown away. Almost everything about it for me was perfect, the effects had stepped up, Michael Lonsdale as the perfectly sinister supervillain, Lois Chiles, the beautifully mellow music and of course Rio de Janeiro my favourite city in the world! Though not too keen on Jaws now, at the time I was forgiving.

After that, every Bond movie release was eagerly and optimistically and enthusiastically expected but never quite delivered in the same way, and I was always disappointed (until Casino Royale that is).

Sadly, I have become a real Dalton fan of late, and feel now that he has been incredibly under-rated by people like me not really giving him a chance but perhaps his performance may have been a bit ahead of his time. If The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill had come out post Brosnan, he might have pulled it off in the same way as Daniel Craig did.

I have to admit being a little disappointed with Quantum of Solace, but I do like it. But I think like most people I was expecting way too much. Casino Royale was just too good a movie to easily top.

Remembering Moonraker by… scaramunga

I can’t recall when my first viewing was of Moonraker. The first Bond film I saw was in the theater was Octopussy in 1983. I believe it was in the mid to late 80’s though. I was 12 or 13 I think. Anyway, Moonraker has always had me from the first viewing. I really enjoy Moore in the part in this one. Great locations too! Rio and Venice are always great. Probably my favorite soundtrack too. I really wish it could get an expanded release for the soundtrack.

It would be wonderful to see limited releases of the older Bond films in US theaters as they are doing in the UK.

Remembering Moonraker by… right idea, wrong pussy

For some reason this was the one Roger More Bond my parents didn’t have on video when I was young, so I first saw it about the time GoldenEye came out (I would have been about 14 or so) on TBS. I think it was during one of those silly “Dinner and a movie” presentations they used to have on Fridays where during some of the commercial breaks, two rather daft hosts would tell you recipes.

Remembering Moonraker by… Brian Flagg

Moonraker was my second-ever Bond film that I watched and being eight years old at the time, I ate it all up. I took my adventure movies at face value and didn’t necessarily notice the dopey humor, except when the adults in the room with me laughed. Back then, adventure was serious and comedy was funny (hopefully). I didn’t always see that one could include the other. Anyway, I loved Moonraker when I first saw it, and it captured my imagination—sounds silly saying that now—the laser gun fights, the space scenes, Jaws’ return, the fight in the museum… my friends and I played our Star Wars action figures in our own deeply derivative version of Moonraker, with me getting the “plum” role of 007, since I was the only one who’d seen the movie at that point.

Watching Moonraker as an adult, I enjoy it for all the wrong reasons: the campiness, the sexual innuendo, the wonderfully dated safari suits, the egregious advertising. Yes, I love Moonraker still, but on an entirely different level.

“Take me ’round the world one more time.” So bad it’s brilliant.

Remembering Moonraker by… sthgilyadgnivileht

I remember watching Moonraker on TV as a young kid, in fact it may have been the TV premiere. Would have been ’83-84 time. It was a big powerful exciting film to me (and my friends) at the time, and was Bond on top form. We all laughed at Jaws and were well into the space thing along with Star Wars at that time.

Remembering Moonraker by… Mharkin

Well, this was the third Bond film I saw—The Spy Who Loved Me and The Man with the Golden Gun coming first.

It was a very fun movie, I remember watching the VHS I got on Christmas Day. I specifically asked for this because my grandmother told me that “Jaws is in another one.” This was at the time I was obsessed with the character.

I watched it, and I loved it. It was a very fun film at the time. It still is really. I just wish I had a TARDIS, so I could go back to 1979 and see it on the big screen.

Remembering Moonraker by… Tubes

Moonraker was the fourth Bond film I saw (after Tomorrow Never Dies, Goldfinger and Thunderball) and the third I owned. For the longest time, the only Bond films I owned where Goldfinger, Thunderball and Moonraker and Moonraker was the one I watched the most. Quite a few memories involve me being plopped in front of the big screen in the family room as the first notes of Shirley Bassey’s song came up over the surround speakers.

Remembering Moonraker by… Stainless Steel Teeth INC

The best thing about being a child is experiencing things without the burden of logic and cynicism.

I was eight years old and Moonraker was my first experience of Bond on the bigscreen. It’s expertly crafted collection of action, adventure, humour & effects cemented my love for a character that has lasted ever since. With hindsight I appreciate it’s shortcomings, especially when compared to some of the earlier more ‘grounded’ films but for a generation of fans this (along with The Spy Who Loved Me) is where it all began and set a standard by which all other 007 films were judged.

I arguably doubt there has been a better shot or ‘designed’ Bond film since then (thank you Mr Adam) and the score achieves the impossible by lending a majesty to the outrageous nature of the climax. At a time when I firmly believed that good would always conquer evil, Bond showed me that one person could make a difference.

Over the course of 18 months my first few films in the cinema included Star Wars, Superman the Movie and Moonraker. I couldn’t have asked for a better start and for that reason Roger Moore will always be my favourite Bond and Moonraker one of the films that let me dream without burden.

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Moonraker celebrates 30 years

The outer space extravaganza for James Bond—1979’s Moonraker—celebrates its 30th anniversary this month. Debuting at London’s Odeon Leicester Square on 26 June 1979, Roger Moore’s fourth 007 adventure proved to be the biggest Bond film yet.

With a US release following just a few days later on the 29th, Moonraker became an unstoppable success at the worldwide box office. With a grand total in excess of $202 million, it made the most of its $34 million budget and became the highest grossing James Bond film up to that point in time (inflation-unadjusted) and remained so for almost two decades, until 1995’s GoldenEye.

Taking into account the 30th anniversary of the film, CommanderBond.net asked our forum members to recall their first (or most memorable) time seeing Moonraker…

Remembering Moonraker by… David_M

I saw Moonraker at the age of 14, which in my opinion is pretty much THE age to experience Bond in general. To say I was blown away would be the understatement of the century; I thought it was the greatest film ever made, forget those fancy pants critics and their Citizen Kane crap.

I lived in the sticks back then and it was a good drive to Richmond to do just about anything, including see a movie. My 12-year-old brother and I got in late (thanks to my parents…I still haven’t forgiven them 🙂 ), just as Roger was getting shoved out of the plane. We tried to find seats while keeping our eyes on the screen and I remember some guy yelling “Hey!” because my brother had sat in his lap!

We finally did find two seats together, and enjoyed the heck out of the film, which had everything; action, comedy, spectacle, sex, great music, spaceships and Roger Moore, who for me was the coolest guy alive. The only downside was a guy in the row behind us who’d seen the movie before and spoiled a couple of moments. When Bond and Holly are lying on the ground after their close shave with the cable car, the ambulance crew shows up and Bond says, “Thanks, but we’re in great shape” and the guy behind us said, “Not for long!” before the bad guy on screen konked Bond on the head.

I remember the other film in the theater that day was The Muppet Movie. Not sure why that’s stuck with me; maybe the folks presented it to me as another option in the vain hope of keeping me from the dark side.

That year probably wasn’t as big a marketing blitz as ’77, but there was lots of Bond stuff to go around. I collected the bubblegum cards, bought the soundtrack and the Warren magazine devoted to the film (a handy checklist in the front of that mag helped me memorize the Bond film titles in proper order), and years later acquired the “advance” poster (the one with Roger alone in orbit), which remains one of my most treasured Bond possessions and favorite Bond image.

That October I went with my folks to see Meteor with Sean Connery and thought, “Wow, THAT guy used to be James Bond? They’re lucky they dropped him when they did!”

Remembering Moonraker by… The Ghost Who Walks

My first Bond film, seen first at the age of seven. Due to my love for Star Wars, my mom taped MR for me from TV and allowed me to see it (she’d later allow me to watch all the Moore films, since she felt they were much better suited for kids than the Connery movies). Watched it with my best buddy and my younger brother, and was completely enthralled by the sheer spectacle of it. The whole pre-credit sequence was the coolest thing I had seen since Luke finally defeated Vader in Return of the Jedi.

In short, it made me a Bond fan for life, so feel I owe it a lot.

Remembering Moonraker by… zencat

Tragically, I never saw Moonraker on the big screen. I was very partisan towards Frank Langella’s Dracula in the summer of 79 and resented Moonraker‘s success (I was a Bond fan, but not yet a fanatic). But I came to love Moonraker and have always wanted to see it projected with an audience.

So for my 40th birthday, Athena007 (with help from Bryce003) rented out the club Cinespace in Hollywood and threw me a surprise party where, yes, we screened Moonraker! All my friends and family where there. Great food. Cake. Open bar. By the end of the movie we were all in outer space. A truly incredible Moonraker experience.

Life has pretty much been downhill since then. 😉

Remembering Moonraker by… singleentendre

I have to say my most memorable experience is when I popped in the Blu-Ray. What a gorgeous gorgeous film. So under appreciated.

For the life of me, I can’t remember the first time I saw it.

Remembering Moonraker by… DaveBond21

Before I had even seen the movie, my grandparents bought me two of the official toys that came out in 1979 – a Drax space shuttle and Corinne’s helicopter. I remember playing with them a lot.

I finally saw Moonraker on ITV when I was 10 years old in 1985. It was shown after the Queen on Christmas Day that year.

I always remember loving the fact that Jaws was back in this one, and was looking forward to the stunts, the special effects and the baddies. Hugo Drax didn’t let me down with his sinister voice and great lines (“Make sure some harm comes to him”).

This has got to be one of the most fun 007 adventures and there are so many great locations – California, Venice, Rio, the Amazon rainforest and space! There are probably more action scenes in this entry than any other Bond film. The free-fall opening, the centrifuge, the hover gondola chase, the fight with Chang, the cable car fight with Jaws, falling out the back of an ambulance (an often forgotten scene), a fight with a python and a space battle. What more could you ask for as a 9 year old watching a movie?!

It’s still fun to watch today, 30 years on.

Remembering Moonraker by… Simon

I organised a trip for a few friends to take the bus into the nearest town to see this. I was 13 and this was a minor treat, such independence.

Superb stuff, beginning to end.

Couldn’t have imagined anything better in life.

Remembering Moonraker by… Nicolas Suszczyk

How did I first get in touch with Moonraker…

It was in 1999, after august, so I was nine years old.

I wanted to see the Bond film with featured Jaws, since I knew him from the GoldenEye for N64. I’d just seen GoldenEye, The Man with the Golden Gun and Live and Let Die.

So my dad bought me the film in a place where you can buy second handed VHS. I watched it and I liked it very much, and has became one of my favourite films because it’s directly connected with my childhood. Obviously, it’s not a film you have to take very seriously but, besides that, I’ve loved it.

Remembering Moonraker by… BoogieBond

It was my first Bond movie and I was 5 years old. My parents took my brother and I to the local cinema. The most memorable moment was the freefall PTS, that effectively sealed the Bond deal for me inside 5 minutes. I remember liking the Amazon boat chase and the cable car fight as well. Then I persuaded my parents to take me to see The Spy Who Loved Me the following week. Great times

Remembering Moonraker by… 00Twelve

I’d have to say that my most memorable experience has to be my latest viewing. Not having seen it in a year or two because of how much I despised its silliness, I popped it in and sat in awe of the brilliantly fun movie I’d been missing for years. I was totally blown away in surprise; where had I been?? Why in the world was I lamenting a lack of grit when there was this ridiculous, damn well-made spectacle right under my nose?

I’m happy to be able to enjoy Moonraker like a kid, or at least a loosened up adult. I feel like a kid who kept refusing to go to the pool party because I got splashed that one time. Never too late to learn to swim!

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Ernst Stavro Blofeld tops best Bond baddie poll

SPECTRE’s Ernst Stavro Blofeld has been named the best James Bond villain in a new poll conducted by DVD rental service LOVEFiLM.

According to Boxwish, LOVEFiLM asked their 1,000+ members to cast their votes for the best Bond baddie and the man with the white cat came away in first place with approximately 22% of the vote.

In a very close second place was Gert Frobe’s Auric Goldfinger from Sean Connery’s incredibly popular third 007 film. His villain came in with 21% of the votes. Christopher Lee’s Francisco Scaramanga from The Man with the Golden Gun followed in third place.

As a general note, no specific actor (such as Donald Pleasence or Telly Savalas) was cited for the Blofeld role in this poll.

In related news, Anthony Dawson’s portrayal of Blofeld in From Russia with Love (and voiced by Eric Pohlmann) earned him the #23 spot in a listing of the 50 greatest movie villains by The Times.

They said: ‘The Bond franchise has villainy aplenty and a rogue’s gallery that could have dominated the vast majority of this list. Blofeld is the best of the bunch and carries the torch for 007’s opponents. Why? As well as heading a sinister criminal organisation, Blofeld is the pin-up-boy for evil geniuses. Scar? Check. White cat for fiendish stroking? Check. Console of buttons guaranteeing a creative demise for those who cross him. Check.’

As always, stay tuned to the CommanderBond.net main page for all the latest news from the world of 007. Be sure to check out our Twitter feed as well.

Time Out's open letter to Bond 23 scribe Peter Morgan

Following the recent announcement that Peter Morgan would be joining Neal Purvis and Robert Wade to pen the 23rd James Bond film, Time Out London‘s Tom Huddleston has decided to write and open letter to the latest 007 screenwriter.

The letter lays out some friendly dos and don’ts regarding how to create a successful Bond 23, such as giving the characters room to breathe, respecting the audience and not blatantly copying the Jason Bourne series.

Dear Peter,

While we at Time Out are thrilled that you, one of our country’s most talented and inquiring screenwriters, have accepted the challenge of penning the next James Bond movie, there are a few salient points we feel you might like to keep in mind while writing what will inevitably become one of 2011’s most important and, we hope, enjoyable movies. We trust you accept our advice in the friendly spirit with which it’s intended…

[Click Here To Continue Reading]

Do you agree with the points they make? Feel free to offer your own suggestions here on the CommanderBond.net Forums.

Keep turning to the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for the most up-to-date Bond coverage on the net.

Daniel Craig in early talks for Dream House

Bond 23, The Adventures of Tintin and A Steady Rain are just a few upcoming projects for Daniel Craig and now the Hollywood Reporter has details on possibly another.

The paper writes that the James Bond star is in early talks to star in Dream House, a psychological thriller set up at Morgan Creek—though principals stress that the two sides have not reached a concrete deal.

In the script penned by David Loucka, Craig would play a man who moves his family to an idyllic small town, only to find his house haunted by its former inhabitants, who were murdered there. Jim Sheridan is signed on to direct.

Of Craig’s current projects, Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn is classified as being in post-production and set for a December 2011 release.

Work on Bond 23, which is also expected in 2011, is in the very early stages following the announcement of the screenwriters.

As always, stay tuned to the CommanderBond.net main page for all the latest news from the world of 007. Be sure to check out our Twitter feed as well.

A Quantum Of Complaints

Today saw the release of a new set of classification guidelines by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) in their annual report and it has been revealed that Quantum of Solace accumulated a select few complaints from the public.

According to a press release, the latest James Bond film was singled out mostly for the fact that ‘M’, portrayed by Dame Judi Dench, swears in the film.

Quantum of Solace, which received a 12A rating, prompted only one complaint about violence, the BBFC said in its report, and two from viewers who mistook a shadow on a woman’s leg for her genitalia.

‘The remainder were upset by the film’s language,’ the report said, ‘this may be attributed to the “Judi Dench factor”. This beloved actress plays M, Bond’s tough-talking boss. However, it was her tough talking which upset the viewers.

‘Even though ‘b*****d’ is comfortably placed at “12A”, it seems that she should not use such language. Almost every time Dame Judi swears in a film, regardless of its category, we can expect a number of complaints.’

In total, Quantum of Solace received a very moderate six complaints in total—a sum that pales in comparison to the 80+ complaints that Casino Royale received upon its release in 2006 (it was the most complained about film for the entire year).

For more on the BBFC, visit the official website.

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'Quantum of Solace' Is Top-Selling Blu-ray Of 2009

Halfway into 2009 and Quantum of Solace has been named the top-selling Blu-ray title of the year so far.

Blu-ray.com reports that Daniel Craig’s second James Bond film was listed as the number one title after sales figures were published today by Home Media Magazine.

Quantum of Solace was followed by The Dark Knight , Twilight, Eagle Eye and Taken.

In the overall sales category, Christopher Nolan’s phenomenally successful The Dark Knight (a 2008 release) took the top spot.

Quantum of Solace Blu-ray/DVD Overview
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Sir Sean Connery Awarded Honorary Doctorate

Sir Sean Connery has been awarded an honorary doctorate to mark the actor’s distinguished film career.

The former James Bond star collected the award earlier today at the Edinburgh Napier University. Full details follow below in a press release:

Sir Sean Connery has been awarded an honorary doctorate for personal achievement in his glittering career.

The Scottish actor – who found fame playing 007 in James Bond films – collected the “splendid honour” at a ceremony at Edinburgh Napier University, just a few miles from the school he left aged 13.

In a short speech, the 78-year-old said he had been on a “long and winding road”.

Connery – who scooped an Oscar for his role in The Untouchables – went on: “I know I could not be standing here today receiving this splendid honour if I had not learned to read and write at the age of five.

“What is interesting in all of this is that I never realised it until I was in my 70s.

“Being able to read and write was key to almost everything I’ve done in my life.”

The actor is a patron of Screen Academy Scotland, a joint venture between Napier and Edinburgh College of Arts to educate and train filmmaking talent.

Connery has featured in more than 60 movies.

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Two James Bond Villains Also Included On Queen's Birthday Honour List

Following up the news that The Man with the Golden Gun star Christopher Lee is to receive a knighthood, we can now report that two additional James Bond baddies have also been recognized on the Queen’s Birthday Honour List.

Broadway World reports that Tony award-winning performer Alan Cumming has been named an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire).

‘I am really shocked and delighted to receive this honour. I am especially happy to be honoured for my activism as much as for my work,’ stated Cumming, who received his honor for services to film, theatre and the arts and to activism for equal rights for the gay and lesbian community, USA.

007 fans best know Cumming as computer mastermind in Pierce Brosnan’s GoldenEye.

Also honoured is fellow Tony award-winner Jonathan Pryce, who starred as media mogul Elliot Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies. He has been named a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire).

As alwasys, keep turning to the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for all the latest James Bond-related news.

Saved Vulcan Bomber Takes To The Sky

In early March, CommanderBond.net reported that James Bond fans were being called upon to save the Vulcan Bomber plane.

At the time, the restored Vulcan bomber XH558—the only one still capable of flight—was set to be grounded permanently unless supporters could come up with £1m million by a strict deadline later that month.

Richard Clarke, spokesman of the Vulcan to the Sky trust, who led the campaign to save the plane, hoped that 007 fans will assist in what ways they could as the plane had a pivotal role in Sean Connery’s 1965 Bond film Thunderball.

We can happily report that the necessary funds were raised in time, and according to the BBC News, the Vulcan made a stunning comeback as it took to the skies today at RAF Cosford in Shropshire for the first time since the campaign.

Navigator Andy Marson from Timberland near Woodhall Spa, said it was a real privilege to fly a plane so closely-linked to his home county.

‘The Vulcan is synonymous with Lincolnshire, especially with Lincolnshire being bomber county and of course throughout the Vulcan’s career, it was always based in Lincolnshire,’ he said. ‘And also I’ve spent the last period of my career flying the Lancaster as well at the Battle of Britain flight.’

‘Never has one aircraft owed so much to so many,’ said Vulcan to the Sky trust chairman Robert Pleming in regards to the massive support received in order to save the plane in such short notice.

Keep your browsers locked on the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for all the latest James Bond-related news.