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Moonraker: An Unloved Season
Updated
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie Title:
Genre:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1979
Original Running Time:
126
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
129
Time Added:
3
Subtitles Available?
Available in HD?
Additional Links:
Brief Synopsis:
Moved the pre credits Skydive sequence till after the monastary scene.
Used the precredits scene from A View To A Kill as the new opeing for Moonraker.
Removed Jaws having a girlfriend and many of the Wile E. Coyote comedy slapstick involving Jaws.
Removed the gondola-hovercraft in St. Marks square.
And lastly toned down some of the other silly gags such as the use of the Magnificent Seven theme, but still tried to keep the tone of Moonraker fun and lighthearted.
Used the precredits scene from A View To A Kill as the new opeing for Moonraker.
Removed Jaws having a girlfriend and many of the Wile E. Coyote comedy slapstick involving Jaws.
Removed the gondola-hovercraft in St. Marks square.
And lastly toned down some of the other silly gags such as the use of the Magnificent Seven theme, but still tried to keep the tone of Moonraker fun and lighthearted.
Intention:
Often held up as one of the weekest Bond entrys due to its campy humour I always believed there was a strong adventure that could be uncovered with some careful editing.
Other Sources:
A View To A Kill - BluRay
Moonraker Soundtrack
Thunderball Soundtrack
On Her Majesty's Secret Service Soundtrack
Moonraker Soundtrack
Thunderball Soundtrack
On Her Majesty's Secret Service Soundtrack
Special Thanks:
Thanks to ArtisDead and Bionicbob for taking the time to preview and provide suggestions for the edit so I could get it ready for release.
Release Information:
Digital
Cuts and Additions:
Other Sources:
A View To A Kill - BluRay
Moonraker Soundtrack
Thunderball Soundtrack
On Her Majesty's Secret Service Soundtrack
The song Bang A Gong by T. Rex
Cuts and Additions:
-An alternative audio track with Bang A Gong by T. Rex as the title song and also used as a score for key moments in the edit:
Jaws introduction going through the metal detector at airport.
Fight atop the cable car.
First half of Amazon boat chase.
Going over the waterfall in the hanglider.
-2nd alternative audio track with Bang A Gong as title song only. The rest is the original score.
-3rd Audio track with the original Moonraker theme song and score.
Battle inside the space station just before Bonds final confrintation with Drax.
-Replaced pre credits scenes with pre credits Skiing scene from A View To A Kill.
-Removed Beach Boys song with John Barry music and added some sound effects.
-Replaced the start of the opening credits with a small part of A View To A Kills opening credits as Moonraker starts with circus images and images of Bond parachuting which are no longer relevant without those scenes preceding it.
-Added credits for myself as Fan Editor and for John Glen as the editor of A View To A Kill opening.
-Added title MOONRAKER AN UNLOVED SEASON
-Space shuttle hijack has been moved to right after the opening credits.
-Inserted a London MI6 exterior shot from A View To A Kill.
-Bond now enters directly into M's office. The Bond and Moneypenny scene and the scene where M asks Moneypenny if Bond is back from the African job are not in this cut.
-Took out shots of Bond using a camera that has 007 written on it.
-Trimmed comedic shots of gondolier sinking after his gondola is cut in half by a speed boat.
-Gondola hovercraft in St.Mark's square has been cut. A new ending to the Venice gondola speed boat chase has been created using footage from the first scene where Bond is seen in Venice. Bond now pulls up to the dock, gets out, takes a look back at his pursuers and then casually walks away.
-Jump scare in Goodheads hotel room has been removed.
-Trimmed Jaws shocked reaction when the cable car is about to crash.
-Removed Jaws girlfriend Dolly.
-Removed a shot of ambulance passing a product placement sign.
-Replaced the MAGNIFICENT SEVEN theme and replaced with a John Barry track from Thunderball. I was inspired by "The Moonraker Plot" by faneditor MusicEd921 which used the same track here. Added sound effects to this scene.
-Inserted pre credits skydiving scene after the monastary scene.
-Added music track from On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
-Removed shots of Jaws flapping his arms when his parachute fails to open.
-Removed Jaws breaking speed boat steering wheel.
-Removed various shots of Dolly on the space station. In shots where she still appears with Jaws I hope it comes across as she works for Drax and is assigned to give Jaws a guided tour similar to how Corinne Dufour gives Bond a tour of the Drax estate earlier.
-Added a neck snapping sound effect when Jaws grabs one of Drax's guards by the face.
-Removed Jaws reunion with Dolly. Repurposed some of the footage to show Jaws looking for the docking release system to help Bond.
-Removed Bond saying “Don't worry they'll make it. It's only a 100 miles to Earth.”
-Removed Nasa guy saying they picked up 2 survivors, a tall man and a short woman.
A View To A Kill - BluRay
Moonraker Soundtrack
Thunderball Soundtrack
On Her Majesty's Secret Service Soundtrack
The song Bang A Gong by T. Rex
Cuts and Additions:
-An alternative audio track with Bang A Gong by T. Rex as the title song and also used as a score for key moments in the edit:
Jaws introduction going through the metal detector at airport.
Fight atop the cable car.
First half of Amazon boat chase.
Going over the waterfall in the hanglider.
-2nd alternative audio track with Bang A Gong as title song only. The rest is the original score.
-3rd Audio track with the original Moonraker theme song and score.
Battle inside the space station just before Bonds final confrintation with Drax.
-Replaced pre credits scenes with pre credits Skiing scene from A View To A Kill.
-Removed Beach Boys song with John Barry music and added some sound effects.
-Replaced the start of the opening credits with a small part of A View To A Kills opening credits as Moonraker starts with circus images and images of Bond parachuting which are no longer relevant without those scenes preceding it.
-Added credits for myself as Fan Editor and for John Glen as the editor of A View To A Kill opening.
-Added title MOONRAKER AN UNLOVED SEASON
-Space shuttle hijack has been moved to right after the opening credits.
-Inserted a London MI6 exterior shot from A View To A Kill.
-Bond now enters directly into M's office. The Bond and Moneypenny scene and the scene where M asks Moneypenny if Bond is back from the African job are not in this cut.
-Took out shots of Bond using a camera that has 007 written on it.
-Trimmed comedic shots of gondolier sinking after his gondola is cut in half by a speed boat.
-Gondola hovercraft in St.Mark's square has been cut. A new ending to the Venice gondola speed boat chase has been created using footage from the first scene where Bond is seen in Venice. Bond now pulls up to the dock, gets out, takes a look back at his pursuers and then casually walks away.
-Jump scare in Goodheads hotel room has been removed.
-Trimmed Jaws shocked reaction when the cable car is about to crash.
-Removed Jaws girlfriend Dolly.
-Removed a shot of ambulance passing a product placement sign.
-Replaced the MAGNIFICENT SEVEN theme and replaced with a John Barry track from Thunderball. I was inspired by "The Moonraker Plot" by faneditor MusicEd921 which used the same track here. Added sound effects to this scene.
-Inserted pre credits skydiving scene after the monastary scene.
-Added music track from On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
-Removed shots of Jaws flapping his arms when his parachute fails to open.
-Removed Jaws breaking speed boat steering wheel.
-Removed various shots of Dolly on the space station. In shots where she still appears with Jaws I hope it comes across as she works for Drax and is assigned to give Jaws a guided tour similar to how Corinne Dufour gives Bond a tour of the Drax estate earlier.
-Added a neck snapping sound effect when Jaws grabs one of Drax's guards by the face.
-Removed Jaws reunion with Dolly. Repurposed some of the footage to show Jaws looking for the docking release system to help Bond.
-Removed Bond saying “Don't worry they'll make it. It's only a 100 miles to Earth.”
-Removed Nasa guy saying they picked up 2 survivors, a tall man and a short woman.
Trailer
User reviews
5 reviews
Overall rating
9.5
Audio/Video Quality
9.8(5)
Audio Editing
9.4(5)
Visual Editing
10.0(5)
Narrative
9.0(5)
Enjoyment
9.2(5)
Overall rating
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
9.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
8.0
Enjoyment
9.0
I didn't realize the intention of this edit was (essentially) the same as my Godzilla KOTM edit. PoorAndin (PA) cut a lot of bad jokes that ruined the vibe. The gondola scene cuts and other goofy stuff being gone makes the film feel more straight-to-the-point. (Timestamp: 50min.35sec.) It still remains a goofy Bond film, to it's benefit, and my delight.
This is a very well made edit.
I love the original Bond films. I have them all kinda ranked in my head. Moonraker isn't super high on that list, but I like it a lot more than a few others in the series, that's for sure. ALMOST every Bond film has iconic locales and aesthetics unique to it. Moonraker definitely has an iconic look and feel. The mansion and grounds are amazing. A few Venice kanals. Rio, that creepy Jaws mask at night, then eventually to SPAAAAACE!
Roger Moore's Bond is what I grew up with when I was like 10 in the 90s. What I remember not liking about it (and still think now) is that it felt one act too long. It's the space scene that feels like it came after when the ending should have happened already. So much setup. The space scene defines the film though, so it's gotta stay. But the earlier stuff like the G-force training tampering scene could be removed and the plot still make total sense. It's boring to me and I skip it every time. It would shave off good runtime too.
I'm not sure I like how the song plays when Jaws opens his mouth at the airport. It comes in and fades out so quickly. But, I do like how you did it when they're all on the gondola. The added horse sound effects were great. I think you added those, right? I'd have to compare. I think I remember you posting a clip of it when it was ITW. What if you layered in a snake hiss SFX at 01:26:58 when the snake dies? Seeing the girlfriend of Jaws with Jaws, and holding hands, on the space-station all of a sudden at the end was odd. Reading your notes in the Cuts and Additions section makes sense but they're holding hands, which throws it for me.
My only actual technical note: volume/dB at 10:37 is quite loud during the city street transition shot. I'd adjust.
I wore headphones while watching on a 1080p TV.
This is a very well made edit.
I love the original Bond films. I have them all kinda ranked in my head. Moonraker isn't super high on that list, but I like it a lot more than a few others in the series, that's for sure. ALMOST every Bond film has iconic locales and aesthetics unique to it. Moonraker definitely has an iconic look and feel. The mansion and grounds are amazing. A few Venice kanals. Rio, that creepy Jaws mask at night, then eventually to SPAAAAACE!
Roger Moore's Bond is what I grew up with when I was like 10 in the 90s. What I remember not liking about it (and still think now) is that it felt one act too long. It's the space scene that feels like it came after when the ending should have happened already. So much setup. The space scene defines the film though, so it's gotta stay. But the earlier stuff like the G-force training tampering scene could be removed and the plot still make total sense. It's boring to me and I skip it every time. It would shave off good runtime too.
I'm not sure I like how the song plays when Jaws opens his mouth at the airport. It comes in and fades out so quickly. But, I do like how you did it when they're all on the gondola. The added horse sound effects were great. I think you added those, right? I'd have to compare. I think I remember you posting a clip of it when it was ITW. What if you layered in a snake hiss SFX at 01:26:58 when the snake dies? Seeing the girlfriend of Jaws with Jaws, and holding hands, on the space-station all of a sudden at the end was odd. Reading your notes in the Cuts and Additions section makes sense but they're holding hands, which throws it for me.
My only actual technical note: volume/dB at 10:37 is quite loud during the city street transition shot. I'd adjust.
I wore headphones while watching on a 1080p TV.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
I
Overall rating
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
I really enjoyed this edit. The new pre titles sequence is seamless and I love the new opening theme (Moonraker was always my least favourite Shirley Bassey theme). The cuts all improve the pacing and the updated soundtrack works well (I particularly enjoyed the OHMSS cue). Thanks for a brilliant edit!
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
B
(Updated: July 17, 2022)
Overall rating
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
9.0
I enjoyed the movie. It is good that you kept the comedy parts unlike the other editors who made it so serious. It's ok to have some comedy in the picture, that's how it was back then. It was neat how you got the original beginning of the movie and place it in the middle of the movie. It was very creative of you to put the beginning of " A View to A Kill" at the opening of this move. The song Bang The Gong really worked well for the title song and throughout the movie . Also I really liked the first boat chase then at the end James Bond just walked out the boat that was so ingenious!! The only one thing I would of liked to see that was not there, was Jaws girlfriend at the end. Great edits, good audio and no problems with visual.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
M
Overall rating
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
9.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
8.0
Enjoyment
8.0
This was a well done and certainly interesting approach to one of the weaker Bond films. An approach in which I found a lot to admire, and admire highly, but at the same time certain aspects didn't really work fully for me. First, the positives: I absolutely loved how Poor Andin solved two key terrible scenes from the original: the gondola chase and Jaws helping Bond at the end. For the former, a way has been found to keep the reasonably grounded parts and remove the whole hovercraft silliness, and is a way that's as simple as it is clever. For the latter, what was done is simply genius. I myself could only come up with a much darker fate for Jaws back in the day (for MusicEd's edit), but I wish I had thought of this. It manages to both remove Dolly from the scene and allow Jaws his redemption. And without clumsy reframings, at that.
Now, what didn't work for me? While I think the new placement of the original Jaws opening works fine by itself, it now presents the problem of having two overly similar action scenes in a row, which compromises the pacing and gives that segment more of an action montage feel than a proper cinematic flow. Then, there's the Dolly factor: her central scenes have been removed but for some reason she's still there, holding hands with Jaws all through the third act. Can't really understand this decision, cutting her out completely would have been easy and she wouldn't come out of nowhere for any potential first time viewers. Also, there are a few further silly bits I would have preferred to lose (the likes of "Play it again, Sam").
I am a bit ambivalent about the new opening credits song. Part of me likes it and considers it a fun alternative, but another part feels like it just lacks the John Barry "Bond sound". I thought it worked better as the trailer music than as the actual film theme. Your mileage may of course vary on this.
Technically, it's very well done except for the volume level of the piece used to replace the Magnificent Seven one. I though it was way too loud. The rest of the edit was excellently executed.
As I stated, much to recommend here, and what works, works great. I have yet to see the LS cut, but at this point I tend to think that taking the gondola chase and Jaws redemption from this and putting them in the MusicEd cut would pretty much make what I envision as the ideal version of Moonraker. Definitely worth the watch.
Now, what didn't work for me? While I think the new placement of the original Jaws opening works fine by itself, it now presents the problem of having two overly similar action scenes in a row, which compromises the pacing and gives that segment more of an action montage feel than a proper cinematic flow. Then, there's the Dolly factor: her central scenes have been removed but for some reason she's still there, holding hands with Jaws all through the third act. Can't really understand this decision, cutting her out completely would have been easy and she wouldn't come out of nowhere for any potential first time viewers. Also, there are a few further silly bits I would have preferred to lose (the likes of "Play it again, Sam").
I am a bit ambivalent about the new opening credits song. Part of me likes it and considers it a fun alternative, but another part feels like it just lacks the John Barry "Bond sound". I thought it worked better as the trailer music than as the actual film theme. Your mileage may of course vary on this.
Technically, it's very well done except for the volume level of the piece used to replace the Magnificent Seven one. I though it was way too loud. The rest of the edit was excellently executed.
As I stated, much to recommend here, and what works, works great. I have yet to see the LS cut, but at this point I tend to think that taking the gondola chase and Jaws redemption from this and putting them in the MusicEd cut would pretty much make what I envision as the ideal version of Moonraker. Definitely worth the watch.
D
Overall rating
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
9.0
Audio Editing
9.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
10.0
Enjoyment
10.0
SO ...RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE...I'm one of the ones that really likes MOONRAKER...and metally removed the more egredious material...BUT now, along comes Poorandin and does it with a flourish which I completly agree with and admire; moving the opening to the central action sequence...and what a master stroke it is.
Let's be clear, I did not think it would work BUT IT DOES...SEAMLESSLY. More so because it is IMHO one of if not the best action stunt sequences EVER commited to film...and I'm including Mission Impossible in that assesment. But there is more to this edit than that.
Poorandin has also surgically emoved some of the decent into slapstick which plages this movie...that is now by and large gone...retaining a tolerable number of quips. But there is even more...
When I watched this (fro a recommendation)...I was very Very VERY sceptical about removing Dame Shirley from the opening credits and dropping in Bang The Gong....well.....knock me down and shake me senseless..IT WORKS...I mean it REALLY works, not with standing that I love the song...But there is even more....
Cuts and Additions:
There are tweaks to the fight on top the cable car, Boat Chase, some selective rescoring to tie into the opening credits and some excision of egredious "musical comedy" replacing it with lesser know John Barry moments. Generall when others have recored Bond sequences, they opt for iconic music cues which always pull me out of the edit...these did not. And yet there is more again...
A new opening has been used from A vIew to a Kill which works because it is not so iconic and somewhat tamer than the openings have become...so it set the tone without pulling you out or trumpiing what is to follow...and what follows is a resurection of a good entry of the 007 francise into a now GREAT entry.
I wont spoil all the remaining tweaks but they are all welcome and in fact I had to check back to the Theatrical version to confirm what indeed had gone missing..though I did not miss any of it frankly.
There are a few very minor issues which I have flagged to Poorandin...and no deductions have been made for them since I believe these will be resolved and do not materially impact my 10/10 enjoyment.
MOONRAKER is now in my Top 5.
"Well done 007"
Highly Recommended
Let's be clear, I did not think it would work BUT IT DOES...SEAMLESSLY. More so because it is IMHO one of if not the best action stunt sequences EVER commited to film...and I'm including Mission Impossible in that assesment. But there is more to this edit than that.
Poorandin has also surgically emoved some of the decent into slapstick which plages this movie...that is now by and large gone...retaining a tolerable number of quips. But there is even more...
When I watched this (fro a recommendation)...I was very Very VERY sceptical about removing Dame Shirley from the opening credits and dropping in Bang The Gong....well.....knock me down and shake me senseless..IT WORKS...I mean it REALLY works, not with standing that I love the song...But there is even more....
Cuts and Additions:
There are tweaks to the fight on top the cable car, Boat Chase, some selective rescoring to tie into the opening credits and some excision of egredious "musical comedy" replacing it with lesser know John Barry moments. Generall when others have recored Bond sequences, they opt for iconic music cues which always pull me out of the edit...these did not. And yet there is more again...
A new opening has been used from A vIew to a Kill which works because it is not so iconic and somewhat tamer than the openings have become...so it set the tone without pulling you out or trumpiing what is to follow...and what follows is a resurection of a good entry of the 007 francise into a now GREAT entry.
I wont spoil all the remaining tweaks but they are all welcome and in fact I had to check back to the Theatrical version to confirm what indeed had gone missing..though I did not miss any of it frankly.
There are a few very minor issues which I have flagged to Poorandin...and no deductions have been made for them since I believe these will be resolved and do not materially impact my 10/10 enjoyment.
MOONRAKER is now in my Top 5.
"Well done 007"
Highly Recommended
W