Moonraker (1979)
Action, Adventure, Thriller, Science Fiction • 2h 6m
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Cast: Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Richard Kiel, Corinne Cléry, Bernard Lee, Geoffrey Keen, Desmond Llewelyn, Lois Maxwell, Toshirô Suga, Emily Bolton, Blanche Ravalec, Irka Bochenko, Mike Marshall, Leila Shenna, Anne Lonnberg, Jean-Pierre Castaldi, Walter Gotell, Douglas Lambert, Arthur Howard, Alfie Bass, Brian Keith, George Birt, Kim Fortune, Lizzie Warville, Guy Di Rigo, Chris Dillinger, Claude Carliez, Georges Beller, Denis Seurat, Chichinou Kaeppler, Christina Hui, Françoise Gayat, Nicaise Jean-Louis, Catherine Serre, Benoît Ferreux, Michael G. Wilson, Jenny Arasse, Michel Berreur, Albert R. Broccoli, Dana Broccoli, Carlos Kurt, Bob Simmons
Best video release
4K Streaming SDR master seems to be from the same scan and looks like it has less tinkering than the Blu-ray
MGM Blu-ray is the best physical media release
Screencaps of the 4K SDR master: 007 on Home Media: Moonraker (1979)
About the film
After Drax Industries' Moonraker space shuttle is hijacked, secret agent James Bond is assigned to investigate, traveling to California to meet the company's owner, the mysterious Hugo Drax. With the help of scientist Dr. Holly Goodhead, Bond soon uncovers Drax's nefarious plans for humanity, all the while fending off an old nemesis, Jaws, and venturing to Venice, Rio, the Amazon...and even outer space.
- Featured Lists
Director: Guy Hamilton
Director: Terence Young
WB 4K Blu-ray despite frozen grain
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
(for original forced subtitles font)
IMAX sequences have not been released on home video to date
Directors: Val Guest & Ken Hughes & John Huston & Joseph McGrath & Robert Parrish
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Original 4-Track Mix: MGM 1990 LaserDisc
General release mono mix: CBS Fox VHS Hi-Fi but time compressed
5.1 remix of 4-track mix: MGM Blu-ray (a lossless version of the remix from the Ultimate Edition DVD)
The 5.1 track on the earlier THX LD/DVD and SE DVDs is not the same as the later remix, and appears to be more faithful the original mix (likely a simple upmix). The UE DVD remix has a lot more surround activity.
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
WB 4K
An undeniably significant improvement from the BD yet still severely flawed. See DFIC's review.
Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the WB release without the filtering; WB 4K early pressing has errors of a shot, later pressings fixed. Comparison between Criterion and WB.
6-Track 70mm mix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray (restored for the box set), 1997 MGM LaserDisc, 1998 MGM DVD
35mm Mono Mix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Matrixed Stereo Remix: MGM Japan LaserDisc (1985) [G158F5509]
5.1 Remix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Director: Victor Fleming
3D: Warner Bros 3D Blu-ray or Apple Vision Pro
Director: James Cameron
2013 MGM Blu-ray, or 4K Blu-ray if you MUST have the mono mix, 1997 Image DVD/2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix
2013 MGM Blu-ray for non AI transfer, 1997 Image DVD/2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix
1991 Image Entertainment LaserDisc for the US mono mix, 2001 MGM DVD for the International mono mix
Comparison between the US and International mixes: https://vimeo.com/246332731
The 4K Blu-Ray and the 2001 MGM DVD have exclusive extras.
Edit history
2 edits
Every recommendation follows the same method — how these calls are made.