History Trivia / Moonraker

* DeletedScene: The crew had shot a scene with Drax meeting his co-financiers in his jungle lair and they used the same chamber room below the space shuttle launch pad that Bond and Goodhead eventually escape from. This scene was shot but later cut out. Another scene involving Bond and Goodhead in a meditation room aboard Drax's space station, was shot but never used in the final film.

** In the extras of the DVD, producer Michael G. Wilson admits that the next movie, ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'', was purposely made to be the exact opposite of Moonraker, for fear of the franchise becoming silly.

** Carole Bouquet was slated to play Holly Goodhead before she had to turn it down, only to play the Bond girl in the next film, ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly''.

** In the extras of the DVD, producer Michael G. Wilson admits that the next movie, For Your Eyes Only, was purposely made to be the exact opposite of Moonraker, for fear of the franchise becoming silly.

** Creator/JamesMason was considered for the part of Drax, but turned it down. Creator/MichaelLonsdale was likely selected due to the movie's French financing (and he does sound somewhat like Mason).

** Creator/JamesMason was considered for the part of Drax, but turned it down. Michael Lonsdale was likely selected due to the movie's French financing (and he does sound somewhat like Mason).

** [[Series/CharliesAngels Jaclyn Smith]] was offered the role of Holly Goodhead, but she turned it down.
** [[Film/{{Emmanuelle}} Sylvia Kristel]] reportedly auditioned for the role of Corinne Dufour.

** The woman with General Gogol was originally supposed to be Anya Amasova from ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe''.

** Early script and storyboards for the movie reveal another character who was ultimately dropped from the picture, a sidekick villain henchman called Ratz, who was involved in the cable car sequence with Jaws.

* FollowTheLeader: The film was was made during the space science-fiction craze that was kicked off by ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]''.

** Music/ShirleyBassey also has similar feelings towards the title song. In spite of its popularity, she's admitted that it never truly felt like it was one of her own due to being called to sing it at the last minute (and possibly due to all the other artists that executives offered the song to first) and as a result she seldom sings it publicly (much less than either ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' or ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'').

** The Chinese Chang is played by Japanese actor Toshirō Suga.

* CaliforniaDoubling: Weird inversion: Bond is flown to Drax's base in California (aerial plates shot in the US) and lands on a castle which "Drax ordered to be brought from France". It was all shot at an actual castle in France, Vaux-le-Vicomte. Some indoor scenes that are supposed to take place in Venice were also shot at Vaux-le-Vicomte.

* CreatorKiller: Screenwriter Christopher Wood only had a small handful of screen and television credits after working on this film. Somewhat unusually, however, it wasn't so much because the film was a critical or commercial failure (though it certainly didn't get great reviews) as the fact that Wood found screenwriting and all the ExecutiveMeddling that goes with it to be too stressful, and simply preferred working on his Timothy Lea novels.

** Music/ShirleyBassey also has similar feelings towards the title song. In spite of its popularity, she's admitted that it never truly felt like it was one of her own due to being called to sing it at the last minute (and possibly due to all the other artists that executives offered the song to first) and as a result she seldom sings it publicly.

* CaliforniaDoubling: Weird inversion: Bond is flown to Drax's base in California (aerial plates shot in the US) and lands on a castle which "Drax ordered to be brought from France". It was all shot at an actual castle in France, Vaux-le-Vicomte. Some inner scenes that are supposed to take place in Venice were also shot at Vaux-le-Vicomte.

* CaliforniaDoubling: Weird inversion: Bond is flown to Drax's base in California (aerial plates shot in the US) and lands on a castle which "Drax ordered to be brought from France" (shot at an actual castle, Vaux-le-Vicomte, in France, of course).

** Music/ShirleyBassey also has similar feelings towards the title song. In spite of its popularity, she's admitted that it never truly felt like it was one of her own (possibly due to all the other artists that executives offered the song to first) and as a result she seldom sings it publicly.

** The original script contained scenes that ended up in future Bond films - an Arcostar Minijet, knife throwing twins (''{{Film/Octopussy}}'') and a parachute jump from The Eiffel Tower (''Film/AViewToAKill'').

* CreatorBacklash: While certainly not the Bond film of which he's most ashamed (that would be ''Film/AViewToAKill''), Creator/RogerMoore has often made fun of himself and this movie for the absurdity of the plot.

* FakeNationality: Chang: Chinese character, Japanese actor.

* RealitySubtext: Creator/RogerMoore's distaste at the shooting scene is quite genuine. In his autobiography, Moore expresses an extreme dislike for bloodsports and a reticence about guns.

** Before he orders her and Bond to be executed, Drax tells Holly [[FalseReassurance "Your desire to become America's first woman in space will shortly be fulfilled"]], which points itself to pre-1983, when Sally Ride became the first female American astronaut (the first ever female astronaut was Valentina Tereshkova of the Soviet Union in 1963). Let's just [[MST3KMantra forget that Holly had actually gotten into space]] already by that point.
** An inversion (though only at the time of its release): at the time ''Moonraker'' was made, NASA was intending to launch its first space shuttle in 1979, which would have made the film very timely. Unfortunately, NASA had to delay the launch for two years, rendering the film unexpectedly something that was before its time.
*** Even more so now that the Space Shuttle has been retired as of 2011; in this film it is headlined and touted as the pinnacle of human spaceflight, with none of its viable replacements yet ready to succeed it.

* CoversAlwaysLie: [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XjCAebNf_s0/UQFuXPIXEvI/AAAAAAAAS8Q/pYv914bPpPc/s1600/moonraker_ver2.jpg The film's posters]] [[http://www.the007dossier.com/007dossier/james-bond-007-movie-posters/moonraker/Moonraker-Poster.jpg feature]] [[https://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/77/MPW-38698 Bond]] in a white space suit (and so did some [[http://theredlist.com/media/database/muses/icon/cinematic_men/1970/roger-moore/007-roger-moore-theredlist.jpg promotional]] [[http://media.rtl.fr/cache/RhBJgLpjZBrH1xCzKLlEiw/880v587-0/online/image/2017/0523/7788680070_roger-moore-dans-james-bond-moonraker-sorti-en-1979.jpg shots]]). He never wears one such in the film.

* TheDanza: Corrine Clery as Corrine Dufour.

* CaliforniaDoubling: Weird inversion: Bond is flown to Drax's base in California (aerial plates shot in the US) and lands on a castle which "Drax ordered to be brought from France" (shot in an actual French castle, of course).

* FollowTheLeader: The film was was made when it was because of the success of ''Franchise/StarWars''.

* CoversAlwaysLie: [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XjCAebNf_s0/UQFuXPIXEvI/AAAAAAAAS8Q/pYv914bPpPc/s1600/moonraker_ver2.jpg Several posters]] [[http://www.the007dossier.com/007dossier/james-bond-007-movie-posters/moonraker/Moonraker-Poster.jpg feature]] [[https://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/77/MPW-38698 Bond]] in a white space suit (and so did some [[http://theredlist.com/media/database/muses/icon/cinematic_men/1970/roger-moore/007-roger-moore-theredlist.jpg promotional]] [[http://media.rtl.fr/cache/RhBJgLpjZBrH1xCzKLlEiw/880v587-0/online/image/2017/0523/7788680070_roger-moore-dans-james-bond-moonraker-sorti-en-1979.jpg shots]]). He never wears one such in the film.

* CoversAlwaysLie: [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XjCAebNf_s0/UQFuXPIXEvI/AAAAAAAAS8Q/pYv914bPpPc/s1600/moonraker_ver2.jpg Several]] [[http://www.the007dossier.com/007dossier/james-bond-007-movie-posters/moonraker/Moonraker-Poster.jpg feature]] [[https://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/77/MPW-38698 Bond]] in a white space suit (and so did some [[http://theredlist.com/media/database/muses/icon/cinematic_men/1970/roger-moore/007-roger-moore-theredlist.jpg promotional]] [[http://media.rtl.fr/cache/RhBJgLpjZBrH1xCzKLlEiw/880v587-0/online/image/2017/0523/7788680070_roger-moore-dans-james-bond-moonraker-sorti-en-1979.jpg shots]]). He never wears one such in the film.

* CreatorBacklash: While certainly not the film of which he's most ashamed (that would be ''Film/AViewToAKill''), Creator/RogerMoore has often made fun of himself and this movie for the absurdity of the plot.

** James Mason was considered for the part of Drax, but turned it down. Michael Lonsdale was likely selected due to the movie's French financing (and he does sound somewhat like Mason).

* CreatorBacklash: While certainly not the film of which he's most ashamed, Creator/RogerMoore has often made fun of himself and this movie for the absurdity of the plot.