Moonraker Plot, The

This is a tough one for me. As a Bond fan I can enjoy all eras of 007 - including even the so-called "cheesy" Roger Moore period. So, whilst I fully acknowledge that Moonraker took it to the extreme (double taking pigeons anyone?), the one thing which always kept me entertained was Moore's one-liners. He's the best at delivering them and I have to say that the amount which have been cut in the edit is a little disappointing (and not just Moore's humorous quips are gone - some others too from other characters are sorely missing). However, the purpose of this edit is to cut back on as much as the over the top style nature of the piece as possible, so in that musiced certainly succeeds.

Most of the visual edits work a treat, but audio-wise I feel this is a bit less consistent. The added music is at times somewhat ill-fitting (the cable car fight just doesn't work for me) and the replaced key-entry beep sound effects are way too loud. Perhaps a small criticism, but I really think this could have been caught by musiced when he was checking the edit back and adjusted.

By far the best piece of this edit is the much discussed speed boat chase. Very nicely done and the use of White Knight from David Arnold's Tomorrow Never Dies actually works a treat. I'm not sure I would have totally removed Jaws from the scene though, as when Bond meets him soon after, Jaws is clearly soaked through and we have no idea why.

I'm also not sure of cutting the "space battle". As over the top as the scene is, there's some terrific model work going on and the outlandish nature of that scene is so much fun. I was also surpised to see what is probably the worst product placement in Bond history left totally intact (7-up, Marlboro and British Airways all in the space a few frames).

However, I did have fun watching the edit. On the whole it's well edited and does present what it sets out to achieve in making a more serious, less cheesy take on Moonraker. Maybe I just like my Moore a little more humorous and cheesy than other people do?

Been a while since I watched the original so was coming into this with a clean-ish slate.
I had forgotten how silly it all was but bravo to MusicEd921 for eliminating my main gripe of the 'Jaws in love' sub-plot. Now Jaws is restored to being the formidable foe of TSWLM, being manipulated by Bond out of self-interest but rightly meets his comeuppance. I thought the cable car scene seemed to end rather abruptly but can't remember the original, so can't say if there was something that had to be cut there.
Gondola chase - didn't even notice it was gone!
Scene where Bond follows Goodhead again seemed like it jumped but don't know why.
Fight scenes mostly poor - not much can be done with what's available.
Speed boat chase was good although it felt like it belonged in a full re-edit rather than a fanfix. I'd like to see more of that though; can the pedestrian original be edited in a modern style?
What else...nothing really stood out; watching it again did make me realise how sloppy the whole original production was. Essentially it was TSWLM in space done to pander to the Sci-Fi mania of the day. The craziest thing is that in 1979 it was the number 1 worldwide box office draw so who are we to argue!
All-in-all good edit. Makes a poor movie a little more serious and faster paced but it's impossible to eliminate every stupid scene.
Now, on to View to a Kill...

I liked this a lot; MusicEd921 has done a really good job putting this together and removing some of the more frustrating elements of the movie;
A few notes
1. I've actually had this for an age and kept forgetting to watch it; glad I finally got round to it; definitely worth it
2. I have 2 minor quibbles; Firstly the editing of Corinne's death; that's one fo the darkest scenes in the movie and is beautifully scored by Barry; I would have liked to have seen that stay
Secondly; I love the editing of the boat chase and don't mind the removal of the 007 theme, but would have liked another Barry piece in it's place, as good as Arnolds work on TND is, the style just doesn't fit as well as a Barry piece would've..

These are minor quibbles over what was an excellent edit;
I should also add, I love Moonraker, it's actually one of my fave Bond pics, but I absolutely think that it suffers from the overuse of humor/silliness that damaged a number of Moore's Bond pics (and Diamonds Are Forever as well)

Good work MusicEd921!!

This is a great edit: it removes some of the cheesiest parts of the movie, while keeping the pacing consistent. Also, there's still an overall Roger Moore - vibe to this movie. Overall the movie is more bearable to watch without severe editing.

Dvd is nicely, got a sweet menu and everything. Quality is as expected for a DVD5.

I really loved how Jaws was way more menacing and how the love interest was omitted completely. Excellently excecuted.

Personal recommendation: put the dvd in a sleeve and put it in the same case as the original movie. This is the version you must watch

I liked this one a lot.

Now, first up, let's get the whole thing about the original out of the way...it is generally considered to be about the worst of the Bond films. I can't argue with popular consensus here. It really is dreadful.

MusicEd921 did well in getting rid of most of the corny dialogue. I mean, really, if we have to have this film at all, then yeah, let's cut out that embarrassing Roger Moore "humor". My only problem here? There could have been even MORE cut! Some of the sleazy lines still make me cringe. But hell, if the editor cut out all of the corny stuff then we'd be left with not much of Bond in this film at all! So no real problem here I guess.

Action scenes changed or removed worked well for me. There is a lot of fat to trim here and I certainly didn't miss that damn gondola!

Sound and music changes were nicely done. I couldn't really notice any real issues and the changes made only added to the film. Especially that daft cowboy bit and the redoing of the password control panel. Nice work.

OK, it is time to be petty, but I found that the redoing of the title stuck out like a sore thumb. Adding "The" and "Plot" around the original existing "Moonraker" with that shadow? Get rid of the shadow and it'll look fine! Again, it is petty and didn't really ruin anything, it just took me out of the idea that this was, in fact, the real film....but only for a second...and it doesn't matter that much... so please take it as a compliment! Also, a little bit of slowed frame rate once or twice, but only for a brief period and again, hardly anything to ruin the experience as a whole. And this could also be an issue from making the .iso file. It can happen and if it WAS just on my copy, then apologies to the editor.

It works well as a DVD too. Static but perfectly fine menu screen, a short comparison piece about changes made and a pretty classy looking trailer. All good.

In my opinion, there isn't much that can be done to save this film, but at least MusicEd921 has had a proper, good go at it. I think the only way to make it better, one would have to be absolutely merciless with the cutting of Bond's awful lines....but then again, that would ruin half of the appeal of Roger Moore era Bond films, wouldn't it?

So I'll take my couple of petty complaints, stick them somewhere else and highly recommend this edit.

Much better than the original.