Moonraker (1979): Cast, Plot and Ending Explained

Moonraker (1979) is a James Bond film in which MI6 agent James Bond (Roger Moore) investigates the theft of a Moonraker space shuttle built by Drax Industries. The shuttle was being flown to Britain on loan when it was hijacked in midair and disappeared.

Bond is thrown out of a plane by the assassin Jaws (Richard Kiel) and survives. He then travels to Drax's grand estate in California, where he meets the industrialist Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) and an astronaut and scientist, Dr. Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles).

What does a Moonraker mean? Inside the film, a Moonraker is the space shuttle that Drax Industries builds, and the missing machine is the thread Bond pulls. The title also comes from Ian Fleming's novel, on which the film is based, with a screenplay credited to Christopher Wood. If you want to see where it sits in the saga, the James Bond Movies in Order guide places it eleventh.

The full plot of Moonraker follows the stolen shuttle from California to Venice, Rio de Janeiro, the Amazon and finally a hidden space station. M sends Bond to investigate after the shuttle is taken from the plane carrying it, and his first stop is Drax's California estate, where he meets Hugo Drax and Dr. Holly Goodhead.

Bond's search leads to Venice, where he finds a secret laboratory that makes a nerve gas. The gas kills people but leaves plants and animals unharmed, a detail that matters later. The trail continues to Rio de Janeiro, where Bond faces Jaws, who now works for Drax. Bond learns that the toxin comes from a rare orchid and follows that clue into the Amazon.

There he finds the real plan. Drax intends to launch fifty gas filled globes to wipe out humanity. His hidden space station would then house a hand picked group of young people to repopulate the Earth afterward. It is a villain's plan with a clear sequence, and Bond has to break it at each step: find the lab, trace the orchid, reach the jungle base, then follow Drax into space.

Bond and Goodhead reach the station, and Bond persuades Jaws to turn against Drax. A laser battle breaks out in space, and Drax is ejected from the station into space. Bond and Goodhead destroy the globes before they can hit the Earth. Jaws and his companion Dolly (Blanche Ravalec) survive and are rescued by US Marines.

Moonraker had a UK premiere reported for June 27, 1979 and a US release reported for June 29, 1979; neither date is confirmed. Australia followed with a release reported for July 27, 1979.

Was Moonraker a success? Yes, Moonraker was a commercial success: it grossed $210 million worldwide ($70 million domestic, $140 million international) on a $31 million budget, about 6.8 times its cost.

For streaming and rental options in the US, the UK and Australia, see the Where to Watch James Bond page.

In the ending of Moonraker, James Bond and Dr. Holly Goodhead destroy Hugo Drax's poison globes, Drax is ejected into space, and Jaws and his companion Dolly survive and are rescued by US Marines.

First, the globes. Drax needs fifty of them launched to carry out his plan, which is why the laser battle on the space station matters: Bond and Goodhead only have to destroy the globes before they hit the Earth, and they do. The design of the plan links back to the Venice laboratory. The nerve gas Bond finds there kills people but leaves plants and animals unharmed, and the toxin comes from a rare orchid, so the weapon was built to clear humanity and leave the natural world intact for the young people Drax has chosen to repopulate it.

Second, Drax is ejected from the station into space. It is the very station he built as a refuge for his hand picked group of young people, so the place meant to outlast humanity is where his plan ends. The route to that finish is also a tour of the film's locations: Drax's California estate was Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte in France, the Amazon pyramid exterior was shot at Tikal in Guatemala, and the space battle exteriors were built at Pinewood Studios in the UK, per the filming location list in the Wikipedia entry for the film.

Third, Jaws (Richard Kiel), who switched sides after Bond persuaded him, survives with Dolly (Blanche Ravalec) and is picked up by US Marines. So, did Jaws and his girlfriend survive Moonraker? Yes, both do. That last turn is the one that changes the series most. Jaws starts the film by throwing Bond out of a plane, faces him again in Rio de Janeiro as Drax's man, and ends it as an ally. In my opinion, it could be argued that this makes him the most developed character in the film, since he is the only one who changes sides.

The scale matches the money on screen. Moonraker was made on a $31 million budget and grossed about 6.8 times that worldwide, according to The Numbers and Box Office Mojo, and a story that ends in orbit is the logical close for a production that also shot at Kennedy Space Center.

The film closes with Bond and Goodhead together, as a standalone adventure with no direct hook into the next film, For Your Eyes Only. That is a contrast with the idea of a series that carries plot threads forward: Moonraker, the eleventh EON film, follows The Spy Who Loved Me and hands nothing on to its successor.

Moonraker was filmed mainly in France, with further location work in Italy, Brazil, Guatemala and the United States, and studio work at Pinewood in the UK. The production ran as a global shoot, which suits a story that travels from California to the Amazon to space.

The French shoot included Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte, which stands in for Drax's California estate. Venice, Italy was a location, and the secret laboratory Bond finds there is one of the film's early turning points. In Brazil, the crew worked in Rio de Janeiro, including Sugarloaf Mountain, and at Iguaçu Falls. Tikal, Guatemala supplied the exterior of the Amazon pyramid, and the United States leg included Kennedy Space Center.

Back in the UK, Pinewood Studios hosted the cable car interiors and the space battle exteriors. For anyone tracing the film, the surprise is that Drax's California home is a French château and the Amazon pyramid is a Guatemalan site.

Moonraker (1979) was made on a $31 million budget and grossed $210 million worldwide.

• The Numbers records a UK rerelease on March 25, 2022, and Box Office Mojo records a 2026 rerelease in Australia.
• The Australian release of July 27, 1979 is reported rather than confirmed.
• Moonraker is eleventh in both the release order and the chronological order of the 25 EON films, the official series.
• Casino Royale (1967) and Never Say Never Again are the unofficial, non EON Bond films, so they sit outside that count.