Movies - Moonraker

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	Movies - Moonraker

Moonraker is the third James Bond novel written by Ian Fleming. It was published in 1955. In 1956, Bob Holness provided the voice of Bond in a South African radio adaptation. Fleming's novel was later adapted again as the eleventh film in the official James Bond series of films by EON Productions in 1979 and the fourth to star Roger Moore as Bond. The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson.

The film is mostly an entirely new adventure using only Fleming's character Sir Hugo Drax. The screenplay was written by Christopher Wood who had previously co-written and novelised the screenplay for the previous film, The Spy Who Loved Me
. Likewise, Moonraker was novelised in 1979 by Christopher Wood.

The title comes from "moonraker", a synonym for moonsail, the highest sail carried by sailing ships. It is also a reference to the folk story about simple folk who see the moon's reflection in the water and try to catch it with their rakes.

The novel

The title, Moonraker wasn't the first choice by Fleming. In fact Fleming first suggested: "The Infernal Machine", and later "The Inhuman Element", or "Wide of the Mark". The publishers, however, favoured "The Moonraker Sense", "The Moonraker Plan", or "Bond & The Moonraker". Other titles that are known to have been suggested include: "Mondays are Hell", "Hell is Here", "The Moonraker", "The Moonraker Plot", "The Moonraker Secret", and "Too Hot to Handle". Ultimately, it was Fleming who settled on "Moonraker".

For an unknown reason, Moonraker's title for the first U.S. paperback publication by Permabooks in 1956 was changed to Too Hot to Handle. One possible reason might have been to avoid confusion with the then-current stage play The Moonraker by Arthur Watkin (which was made into a film of the same title in 1958). Similar to Casino Royale, however, the novel was subtitled (Moonraker) on the cover. Too Hot To Handle is notable for being the only Fleming Bond novel that was "Americanized", exchanging British idioms for American ones such as "knave of hearts" for "jack of hearts", "lift" for "elevator", etc. The title was later changed back to Moonraker in 1960.

Plot summary

In the novel Bond is asked by M to observe Sir Hugo Drax, who is winning money playing bridge at M's club, Blades, and who M suspects of cheating. Although M claims to not really care, he is concerned why a multimillionaire and national hero such as Drax would resort to cheating at a card game. Bond later confirms Drax's deception, and manages to 'cheat the cheater' (with a little help from benzedrine and champagne), winning £15,000 and infuriating Drax.

As it turns out, Drax is the backer of the 'Moonraker' missile project being built to defend the UK against its Cold War enemies (compare to the real life Blue Streak missile). The Moonraker rocket is essentially an upgraded V-2 rocket that can withstand hotter temperatures to its engine thanks to the use of columbite, on which Drax has a monopoly. Because the engine can withstand more heat the Moonraker therefore can use more powerful fuels which results in the rocket having a vast improvement in range. Partly due to the cheating episode, M asks Bond to infiltrate Drax's missile-building organization on the coast of England. Bond uncovers a dreadful and fiendish plot to destroy London, which he foils with the assistance of a female (and, of course, attractive) Special Branch agent, Gala Brand.

With the exception of the name "Moonraker" and the character of Sir Hugo Drax, little else from this book made it into the 1979 film. The 2002 film, Die Another Day
, however, used several concepts from this book including the Blades club, and at one point the character of Miranda Frost from the film was to have been named Gala Brand. The villain, Gustav Graves, is also based somewhat on Fleming's original concept of Hugo Drax.

Comic strip adaptation

Fleming's original novel was adapted as a daily comic strip which was published in the British Daily Express newspaper and syndicated around the world. The adaptation ran from March 30 to August 8, 1959. The adaptation was written by Henry Gammidge and illustrated by John McLusky. Titan Books reprinted the strip in 2005 as part of the Casino Royale anthology, which also includes Casino Royale and Live and Let Die.

The film

When the end credits rolled for the previous Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me
, it said: "James Bond will return in For Your Eyes Only
," however, after the tremendous box office success of Star Wars in 1977, the producers decided they wanted to cash in on the subsequent science fiction craze and make a film where Bond would go to space. Moonraker was chosen as the basis for the film, although Fleming's novel has no science fiction aspects. For Your Eyes Only was subsequently delayed and ended up following Moonraker in 1981.

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Movies - Moonraker

The novel

Plot summary

Comic strip adaptation

The film

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