The plot of the "Moonraker" movie I would have liked to see

Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,702MI6 Agent
edited May 2020 in The James Bond Films
In a desperate act of boredom and hubris I have written a short outline of an alternate plot for the movie Moonraker. I have kept the elements I like and changed the elements I don't like. This is done purely for my amusement, but please read if you feel like it. Comment if you want.



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A Drax Industries Moonraker space shuttle on loan to the United Kingdom is hijacked in mid-air and MI6 operative, James Bond, agent 007, is assigned to investigate. En route to England in a small charter plane, Bond is attacked by two men. One is Jengo, an African albino of gigant size. Drax saved Jango from an armed crowd who wanted to hack him into pieces and use the remains to work powerful magic. Jengo is strong enough to snap the neck of any man like a dry twig. The pilot and the two hit-men put on parachutes and jump out of the plane. Bond jumps after them and wrestles the parachute from the second assassin in mid-air.
Bond proceeds to the Drax Industries shuttle-manufacturing complex in France where he meets the owner of the company, Hugo Drax. Bond also meets Dr. Holly Goodhead, an expert on DNA hired by Drax to do research for him. She has grown suspicious of Drax’s plans and motives. Bond is later aided by Drax's personal pilot, Corinne Dufour, as he finds blueprints for a glass vial made in Venice. Bond then foils another attempt on his life, using a hunting shotgun to shoot a sniper. Upon discovering that Dufour assisted Bond's investigations, Drax has her killed.
Bond again encounters Goodhead in Venice where he is attacked by henchmen on a speedboat. Bond chases after the boat using a motorcycle chased along the canals. He jumps canals, negotiates tight corners, crosses bridges and hitches on the roofs of tourist taxies to keep up with the speedboat.


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He discovers a secret biological laboratory, and by accidentally poisoning the scientists there, he learns that the glass vials are to hold a deadly virus deadly to some ethnic groups, but safe for others using DNA engineering. In a glass art shop Bond is attacked by two assains dressed in costumes for the anual carnival. They area med with rapiers, but Bond manages to kill his attackers using a rapier with glass guard and handle he picks up from the exhibition. Bond finds evidence that Drax is moving his operation to Rio de Janairo.

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Rejoining Goodhead, he deduces that she works for CIA to spy on Drax. They promise to work together, but quickly dispense with the truce. Bond has saved one of the vials he found earlier, as the only evidence of the now-empty laboratory, giving it to M for analysis, who permits him to go to Rio de Janeiro under the pretence of being on leave.
In Rio, Bond meets his Brazilian contact Manuela. Bond meets Goodhead at the top of Sugarloaf Mountain. When they are on their way down using the cable car, Jango starts hacking at the cable using a fire axe. Just before the cable car plummets to the ground, Bond and Goodhead jumps from the car going down to the car going up. Bond then uses his belt to slide down the cable with Goodhead. Bond and Goodhead are captured by henchmen in other end of the cable line, but Bond escapes and reports to an MI6 base in Brazil and learns that the toxin comes from a rare orchid indigenous to the Amazon jungle. Bond travels the Amazon River looking for Drax's research facility and again encounters Drax’s henchmen. Bond escapes from his boat just before it hits the Iguazu Falls, and finds Drax's base. Captured by Drax’s people again, Drax explains that he stole the Moonraker because another in the fleet had developed a fault during assembly. They are flown from Brazil to Norway, where Drax has a private rocket base on the Lofoten islands. They are traveling on Drax’s private luxery jumbo jet. The airplane features a bubble bath, a gourmet kitchen and a living room with a large, circular screen showing the ground the jet is flying over as filmed by cameras placed in the fusilage. Bond talkes to Jango about Drax’s racisist world view and how Jango doesn’t fit in it. During the flight Bond manages to send a secret message to MI6 about the base in Norway. (There is a rocket base in Andøya in the Lofoten Islands. The rockets are used to monitor the atmosphere in the polar region. The northeren lights are among the topics of research. In 1995 they launched a rocket that led to panic in Russia. The launch was pre-planned and the Russians were alerted in advance. But since this is Russia in the 1990's and the President was Yeltsin and hence drunk, so Russia almost "retaliated" agains the West with atomic missiles.Andøya is also surrounded by a stunning landscape)

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Drax plans to launch fifty globes containing the DNA-coded lethal viruses into the Earth's atmosphere. The viruses would kill all the ethnic groups Drax deems to be ”lesser”. The globes are to be sent up in smaller batches in several rockets. The rockets are aimed at Britain, central Europe and North America.
Bond and Goodhead are tied up under the first rocket’s blast area to die, but they escape before the rocket engine iginites using Bond’s gadget wrist watch.

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UK has gathered military forces allready in the country for a NATO excersise and now they attack in waves. First SBS frogmen from minisubs attack from the sea and SAS commandoes attack on skis and by parashutes throwing themselves from the edge of the mountain above the base.

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The hidden defences of the rocket base are revealed. Machine gun nests facing the the beach. AA batteries hidden in mock houses etc. Bond sneaks around the base, fighting the defences from within.


Bond and Goodhead manage to steal the antidote of the virus. Drax and his mercenaries manage to hold off the attackers in a small area around the launch pad and are about to start the next rocket heading for London. Jango makes the rocket and the feul depot explode, killing Drax’s men. The next wave of attack are Royal Marines in beach landing crafts and helicoptres. Bond and Goodhead celebrate by hijacking Draxes luxury jumbo jet.

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Comments

  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    Some nice ideas, and I'd pay to see it. -{ :)
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,702MI6 Agent
    edited January 2014
    Thank you. Readers have of cource notice the main changes from the movie: no Jaws and no journey into space. Jaws was fine in TSWLM, but in MR he turned into a comedy stick who ends up in love. I hope Jengo is a good replacement. The cable car fight in Rio and the gondola chase in Venice were too silly, so I changed them slightly. I wanted a more realistic story instead of the space opera MR turned into, and the Andøya rocket base seemed to fit. The story should still be fun and spectacular, but still withing the realm of the believable. The starting point of this story was the Wikipedia plot summary. The parts of the story I changed I have embelished on. I hope the simple story and the illustrations are entertaining.
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    They had a motorbike chase in mind for Venice in Moonraker but in the
    end they went with the boat chase. Although I agree the boat chase was
    silly. -{
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,702MI6 Agent
    I had no idea a motorcycle chase was planned in Venice for MR!
  • BIG TAMBIG TAM Wrexham, North Wales, UK.Posts: 773MI6 Agent
    I like the rejigged synopsis, Number24. Take out the shuttles & alter a few names & it'd still make a cracking future adventure. I like the sound of the Norwegian locations.

    I've always said the same thing about MOONRAKER: Jettison the silliness & sight-gags & you'd have a Bond film a lot of people would put in their Top Ten.

    Broccoli & co were obviously high on the success of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME & wanted to deliver more of the same (cranked up to 11!) to a younger target audience. Easy to get caught up in the moment.
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,702MI6 Agent
    I avoided re-watching MR for the longest time because all I could remember were the space battles, the double-taking pigeon and Jaws' bafoonery. When I finally watched MR again the bad parts were just as horrible as I remember them, but I had forgotten most of the good parts. I couldn't help thinking: "If they had kept Bond on earth and removed the silliest parts, this could have been a really good movie!"
  • Thunderbird 2Thunderbird 2 East of Cardiff, Wales.Posts: 2,774MI6 Agent
    First things first. I like the existing film of Moonraker. I agree some of the comedy is awful, such as the Bondolla sequence and the "Jaws like a chicken" part of the PTS, but the beauty of the locations, good casting and eye popping space sequences catch my eye every time. A Bond baddie with his own fleet of Space shuttles? That is a delicious conceit! Ok, I realise some may want to hit me with a nerve gas globe now!

    Having said that, - I do like your premise very much No 24! It feels very much like a nice adaptation of Mr Fleming's book, while upscaling the international feel of the storyline. Nice addition of Norway as a location, Jengo sounds like a credibly scary heavy and Drax actually sounds worse if possible! I'm curious how you would approach DAF and AVTAK.
    This is Thunderbird 2, how can I be of assistance?
  • Number24Number24 NorwayPosts: 21,702MI6 Agent
    Thank you! I actually wanted to mix the movie, the novel and whatever was needed to make it all work. I already had the idea of the albino African and the Lofoten Islands, and both worked for the story.
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