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James Bond: Moonraker

£595.00

Film

James Bond: Moonraker

Additional information

Year

1979

Size/Type

UK Quad (30" x 40") Single Sided, Printed in England by Lonsdale & Bartholomew (Nottingham) Ltd

Country of Origin

UK / British

Condition

Near Mint minus -Very Fine plus; originally rolled (as issued)

Director

Lewis Gilbert

Actor/Actress

Bernard Lee, Corrine Clery, Desmond Llewelyn, Geoffrey Keen, Lois Chiles, Lois Maxwell, Michael Lonsdale, Richard Kiel, Roger Moore

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“Outer space now belongs to James Bond 007”

At the time of its release in 1979 this “Star Wars” inspired Bond movie was the largest grossing 007 movie to date. Beautiful detailed Daniel Gouzee artwork was the highlight of the “Moonraker” campaign and this original 1979 Country of origin UK quad film poster really does look spectacular. Featuring a suave Roger Moore in a shiny silver space suit, this is the only time on any official Bond poster campaign Moore was depicted wearing anything other than a black tuxedo…Presented rolled (as issued) in high grade condition this unrestored example is perfectly suited to the landscape style for which it was designed. Colours are bright and unfaded. Hugely desirable and very collectable, it would be a worthy addition to any collection of James Bond movie memorabilia and is an impressive 007 film poster from the Roger Moore run in the series.

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Trivia: Producer Albert R. Broccoli complained that Maurice Binder‘s title sequence cost more than the entire budget of Dr. No (1962).

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Vintage Movie Posters Grading Criteria... read more +

Film Description

James Bond: Moonraker Movie Poster

“James Bond is back for another mission and this time, he is blasting off into space. A spaceship traveling through space is mysteriously hi-jacked and Bond must work quickly to find out who was behind it all. He starts with the rockets creators, Drax Industries and the man behind the organisation, Hugo Drax. On his journey he ends up meeting Dr. Holly Goodhead and encounters the metal-toothed Jaws once again.”

Roger Moore‘s first two 007 films – Live & Let Die and The Man With The Golden Gun – clambered aboard whatever cinematic bandwagons were rolling at the time, such as blaxploitation and martial arts. By the end of the ’70’s, sci-fi was back in vogue thanks to ‘Star Wars’, hence Moonraker replaced For Your Eyes Only as the next James Bond movie.

Until Die Another Day in 2002, it was universally regarded as the nadir of the series. I disagree. One has to remember that around this time Kevin McClory was threatening a Thunderball remake starring Sean Connery, and thus Albert R. Broccoli could not afford to takes risk with the formula.

The film bears little resemblance to Fleming’s book, which concerned a nuclear rocket attack on London. As The Spy Who Loved Me had proved popular with audiences, it was decided to give them more of the same, hence Christopher Wood‘s script had the villain hijacking space shuttles instead of submarines, and Richard Kiel‘s ‘Jaws’ returned to menace Bond. Lewis Gilbert once more supervised the mayhem.

Bearded French actor Michael Lonsdalemade an excellent ‘Hugo Drax’. Like ‘Stromberg’, he is wealthy, and plans to create a new civilisation by destroying the old one. Ken Adam once again delivers some marvellous sets, such as the Pyramid control centre and Drax’s Space City.

The action scenes were even wilder that those of ‘Spy’, including a magnificent free-fall pre-credits scene, Bond’s gondola turning into a hovercraft, Jaws and Bond getting to grips on a cable car over Rio, a speedboat chase in South America, and a shoot-em-up finale in outer space. John Barry produced another fabulous score, particularly ‘Flight Into Space’.

As a youngish lad growing up in ’70’s Britain, I always made a point of seeing the latest Bond, usually with my friends in tow. We did not care if the films were faithful to Fleming, if there was too much humour, or if Moore was wooden, we went to have a good time and did.

No offence to Connery, but for us Moore was The Man. Suave, sophisticated and debonair. On leaving the theatre we would attempt to recreate Bond’s fights, usually resulting in one of us being cautioned by the police.

And the gadgets! Moonraker outdid them all. I once tried to build Bond’s wrist-dart gun. I don’t think anybody walked out of a Timothy Dalton Bond feeling like they could conquer the world, but with Roger’s we did. And we saw them more than once in theatres.

I do wish that some of the gags had wound up on the cutting room floor, namely ‘Jaws’ flapping his arms after his parachute breaks, Alfie Bass’ cameo as a drunken Italian, and a pigeon doing a double-take as Bond’s gondola roars by. Take these out and you have a pretty decent Bond movie.

 

Vintage Movie Posters Grading Criteria

Mint
A poster that has never been used or displayed and may show the most minor signs of age and wear. The poster should have no holes or tears.

Near Mint
A generally unused poster with fresh, saturated colors. May have minimal tears at folds. Has no significant holes, no paper loss, may have minor tears along edges, may have fine pin holes.

Very Fine
A poster with bright colour and crisp overall appearance. It may have very general signs of use including slight fold separation and fold wear. It may have pin holes or very minor tears. This is the highest grade allowed for a poster that has been restored either on linen or on paper.

Fine
A poster with good colors and overall clean appearance. It may have minor tears small paper loss and minor stains. It may have some fold seperation.

Good
An average poster with overall fresh color. May have tears, minor paper loss, minor hazing. Paper may be brittle due to age, may have minor stains. May have a small amount of writing in an unobtrusive place. May have medium or major restoration.

Fair
A poster with faded colors and brittle paper, showing significant signs of use. May have tears and paper loss. May have tape, writing, stains in image area. In need of restoration or had major restoration.

Poor
A poster that is worn, torn, and/or damaged. May have staining, cracking, dry rot, and/or large tears. May be heavily soiled, may have pieces missing. In need of major restoration.

All photographs and images used on our site are photographs of the actual poster/item you are buying, we do not use stock photographs.

Most Popular Poster Types

US Posters

LOBBY CARD
11 x 14″ printed on heavy stock paper. Used as display in theatre lobbies. Originally made in sets of eight. Some sets have a title card, which contains credits and artwork, essentially a mini-poster. The remaining seven cards are coloured photographic credits and poster artwork showing different scenes from the movie.

WINDOW CARD
14 x 22″ printed on heavy stock paper with the top 4-6 inches usually left blank for the local cinema owner to fill in the cinema and the date it was due to play. Largely discontinued during the 1970’s.

HALF SHEET
22 x 28″ printed on heavy stock paper. The image displayed is normally a smaller version of the main poster, although some do have different artworks and sometimes come in two versions.

INSERT
14 x 36″ printed on heavy stock paper. Inserts usually have the same artwork as a one sheet. Popular with collectors since they are smaller and easier to frame. Normally come tri folded or rolled.

STYLE Y/FORTY BY SIXTY
40 x 60″ printed on heavy stock paper. Rare since they were primarily used for major motion pictures only. Designed to be used outside the theatre, on an easel, normally at a drive-in movie theatre.

ONE-SHEET
27 x 41″ printed on paper. This is the most common size of poster, intended to be displayed in a glass “marquee” case. It is the most sought after size by collectors. Since the 1980’s most posters are sent to the theatre rolled and maybe slightly smaller measuring 27″ by 40″ and with the advent of backlit light boxes a growing number of modern movie posters are available double-sided and the more traditional single-sided.

THREE-SHEET
41 x 81″ printed on paper. These were printed on two or three separate sheets designed to overlap, few survive. Used for larger advertising spaces, normally posted on walls, perfect for huge movie theatres the drive-in, where people could see them from a distance. From the 1970’s on, three-sheets were sometimes printed in one piece and issued as “international” versions to be used abroad.

BRITISH Posters

BRITISH QUAD
30 x 40″ Most common poster size used in the UK. British Quads are horizontal and may have different artwork to the US one sheet. Like a US one sheet they normally come in two versions. Like a US one sheet they are usually supplied single-sided or more commonly now as a double sided poster.

BRITISH ONE-SHEET
27 X 40″, printed on paper. Very rarely used size.

ITALIAN Posters

ITALIAN LOCANDINA
13 x 28″ six inches shorter than the US insert, very nice size to frame. Italian poster illustrators are some of the best in the industry.

ITALIAN PHOTOBUSTA
18 x 26″ Glossy, high quality, used as lobby cards in Italy. Size may vary, either vertical or horizontal format. There are also double Photobusta or mini Photobusta.

2-FOGLIO (DUE)
(DUE): 39 x 55″ This is the standard poster size used in Italy. Italian poster illustrators are some of the best in the industry.

4-FOGLIO
(QUATTRO) 55 x 79″ Very large Italian poster printed in two pieces, often contains very beautiful artwork.

FRENCH Posters

FRENCH
47 x 63″ (GRANDE) or 24 x 33″ (PETITE) French movie posters normally come with different artwork to either the US or the UK. Like the Italian’s some of the artwork is extrememly beautiful.