Moonraker (1979)

After a space shuttle is hi-jacked in midair, James Bond 007 (Roger Moore) is sent to California to investigate. There he meets the billionaire Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) who built the space shuttle and Dr. Goodhead (Lois Chiles), a scientist on loan from NASA. The trail continues on to Venice, Italy and Brazil and eventually outer space as Bond discovers a diabolical plan to destroy the human race. The 11th entry in the Bond franchise, directed by Lewis Gilbert, is frequently maligned as one of the worst Bonds but the film was enormously popular upon its original release and it's actually one of my favorite Bond films. It's one of the best looking Bonds (photographed by Jean Tournier, DAY OF THE JACKAL), the elegant cinematography taking great advantage of the exotic locations and Ken Adam's terrific production design. The outer space sequences have a near magical quality about them though that may be due, in part, to the gorgeous John Barry score. Of the actors, Lonsdale's deadpan and droll villain stands out ("I'm going to put you out of my misery"). The haunting title song is performed by Shirley Bassey. With Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, Corinne Clery, Geoffrey Keen, Desmond Llewelyn and returning from THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, Richard Kiel as "Jaws".