Holly Goodhead

she does seem a bit cold and standoffish but it makes sense considering her role being CIA and the situation and she doesn't trust Bond at first
I think she is comparable to Wai lin in terms of personality and effectiveness as an agent.

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

She's more convincing than Bach as a spy.

Talk about damning with faint praise! Next you'll say she's more convincing than Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist.

Ha!



Well... if I'm completely honest...

You indeed warm to Holly over the years and she is a capable ally. The standoffish rival nature is a direct lift from TSWLM which causes it to feel a bit stale at first-until you see how much fun Roger has with the battle of wits and trying to puncture her cold exterior. The hotel gadget meet cute is INSPIRED but the love scene is the best moment when punctuated by Barry's astounding musical cue. As Bond leaves in the middle of the night he call for the porter is exquisite punctuation.

Plus she can fly a space shuttle and knock a guy's lights out. Instant win!

But I will agree the "Something must've gone wrong with the controls!" line is strained in the end of the reading which always made it stick out to my ears in an endearing way- or as a means to show her semi-playacting for Drax akin to "we're taking good care of him".

Holly grows on me more and more. I said before I'm sure, I never had a problem with her (there are worse Bond girls). She's at least capable, knows her stuff and yes some of the lines are a bit off but such is Moonraker.

Wonder if that line was added in post? ADR work is a bitch.

Yeah her delivery is pretty off in some instances, like when she calls "hang on, James!" as he's dangling off the cable cart.

Yep. Though Moore's "the thought had occurred to me" softens the blow of that one a little.

'Have you broken anything?'

'Only my tailor's heart'.

I'm surprised those two boobs didn't fall to their deaths in that scene fighting Jaws. Mr. 007 License to Kill and where is his gun? Did he forget it beside the toilet, leave it hanging over the shower curtain or get drunk and get it taken away by a game warden?Shoot up an embassy? Then little Miss CIA who's whole apartment is one big secret weapon factory is suddenly not carrying either...like where is the flame thrower perfume Holly? That is one scene that really could have used Pepper, say what you will about the man at least he knows enough to pack a piece. and how those two not only managed to get away from Jaws but save the world in the end is beyond me. This movie just get's dumber the more I watch it and the more I watch it the more I love it. I swear if I spot one more stupid moment in this film I am ranking it ahead of Goldfinger and From Russia With the Love Bone solid  9/10 

Sarai wrote:

I swear if I spot one more stupid moment in this film I am ranking it ahead of Goldfinger and From Russia With the Love Bone      solid  9/10 

Sarai wrote:

I'm surprised those two boobs didn't fall to their deaths in that scene fighting Jaws. Mr. 007 License to Kill and where is his gun? Did he forget it beside the toilet, leave it hanging over the shower curtain or get drunk and get it taken away by a game warden?Shoot up an embassy? Then little Miss CIA who's whole apartment is one big secret weapon factory is suddenly not carrying either...like where is the flame thrower perfume Holly? That is one scene that really could have used Pepper, say what you will about the man at least he knows enough to pack a piece. and how those two not only managed to get away from Jaws but save the world in the end is beyond me. This movie just get's dumber the more I watch it and the more I watch it the more I love it. I swear if I spot one more stupid moment in this film I am ranking it ahead of Goldfinger and From Russia With the Love Bone      solid  9/10 

Moore wasn't so much a licence to kill but licence to kick.

MR can have a tedious silly bit then hit you with a gorgeous Barry cue, stunning production design, a truly definitive dark Roger moment, a great one liner-and a sense of scale without any digital effects you simply cannot get anymore.

And if MR needs any definition as to its everlasting greatness it gave the world this:
The Drax putdowns.

"You appear with the tedious inevitability of an unloved season"

"Your country's one indisputable contribution to western civilization: afternoon tea."

hegottheboot wrote:

MR can have a tedious silly bit then hit you with a gorgeous Barry cue, stunning production design, a truly definitive dark Roger moment, a great one liner-and a sense of scale without any digital effects you simply cannot get anymore.

And if MR needs any definition as to its everlasting greatness it gave the world this:
The Drax putdowns.

"You appear with the tedious inevitability of an unloved season"

"Your country's one indisputable contribution to western civilization: afternoon tea."

Agreed. Perhaps no other Bond film has the various types of variety as MR, and as many stratospheric highs and abysmal lows. It's anything but dull and uninteresting.

"May I press you to a cucumber sandwich?"

It is never dull. It has Zero-G shagging!

A gondola sprouts a motor then becomes a hovercraft in Venice.
A glass museum is setup only to then be completely demolished.
Corinne's death is horrifying yet strangely hypnotic.
Barry's score is ethereal and could have easily been for a full on sci-fi film set in outer space.
The effects are stunning and all done painstakingly by hand-including the one shot with nearly 100 full rewinds!!!!!!! (The old school process of adding an effect one at a time optically where you had to rewind the shot and then play it back to record the next layer. Each rewind could reduce resolution and of course one mistake or slip up and you either had to start all over or the shot was ruined and had to be redone very expensively.)

I tell myself and another's that Dr.No, Goldfinger, OHMSS are my fav Bond films and I have watched them 3 or 4 times. Moonraker I must have seen 20 times now.

"Jaws was supposed to be Bond's archnemesis in this movie, until Director Lewis Gilbert started paying attention to some of the fan mail he was getting from small children, asking why he couldn't be a goodie instead of a baddie."

Ah ... so as with so much in life, kids were to blame for that shit!

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Ah ... so as with so much in life, kids were to blame for that shit!

It's when the adults begin taking the suggestions of children seriously that you've got problems.

I suppose it's proof that the series had settled into being cosy-ish family entertainment by the late 70s.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Ah ... so as with so much in life, kids were to blame for that shit!

exactly, them and the gender feminists 

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Ah ... so as with so much in life, kids were to blame for that shit!

It's when the adults begin taking the suggestions of children seriously that you've got problems.

The current climate in Australia at the moment. The world's gone bonkers.

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

Perilagu Khan wrote:

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Ah ... so as with so much in life, kids were to blame for that shit!

It's when the adults begin taking the suggestions of children seriously that you've got problems.

The current climate in Australia at the moment. The world's gone bonkers.

Yes. The Western world, anyway. Reminds me of the earliest years of the USSR.

Sarai wrote:

"Jaws was supposed to be Bond's archnemesis in this movie, until Director Lewis Gilbert started paying attention to some of the fan mail he was getting from small children, asking why he couldn't be a goodie instead of a baddie."

Wouldn't want to steal the kiddos' childhood and dreams...

Speaking of, the resemblance between Shouty Pigtails and Dolly is uncanny.

Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang wrote:

Hilly KCMG wrote:

Who else would we have had in 1979? One's tempted to suggest Raquel Welch

I was thinking about this too. Farrah Fawcett?

In my research I believe the only other name I came across that was up for the role other than Lois was Shelly Hack's. So not quite Farrah Fawcett, but a Charlie's Angel nonetheless. I'm working off memory so maybe there were other names being considered.

Holly has always been Top 5 for me.

She has beauty, she has brains...Lois is from Texas. They were going for a Bogy and Bacall type relationship between Roger and Lois if I recall correctly. Lois was beautifully lit without nary a bad picture of her. Quite stunning. The acting was a bit hit and miss at times, but she certainly gets in her licks. Everything in Venice with Goodhead is top marks, and as others have already mentioned, Barry's lush score really helps elevate the film. She's good in the fight scenes and I love the line: "Where did you learn to fight like that? NASA?" "No, Vassar". I think that went over a lot of people's heads.

Ah one of the forgotten Angels. Not sure she'd have worked any better than Chiles if she was the only other name being thrown around at the time. Now Jaclyn Smith in a Bond movie as a damsel in distress is a missed opportunity. Though none of the girls of the 70s and 80s would have really suited her, except maybe Stacey, but I wouldn't swap out Tanya Roberts.