James Bond film Moonraker premieres

James Bond film "Moonraker" premieres in U.S. on June 29, 1979.

Moonraker (1979) is the eleventh spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond.

The third and final film in the series to be directed by Lewis Gilbert, it co-stars Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Corinne Clery, and Richard Kiel. In the film, Bond is sent to investigate the mysterious theft of a space shuttle, leading him to Hugo Drax, the owner of the shuttle-manufacturing firm. Along with the space scientist Dr. Holly Goodhead, Bond follows the trail of clues from California to Venice, Italy, Rio de Janeiro, and the Amazon rain forest, and finally into outer space in a bid to prevent a plot to wipe out the world population and to re-create humanity with a master race.

James Bond Moonraker was intended by its creator Ian Fleming to be turned into a film even before he completed the novel in 1954, since he based the novel on a manuscript he had written even earlier than this.

The producers of the James Bond film series had originally intended to do Moonraker in 1973 with Roger Moore making his debut as Bond, but the making of this movie was put on hold and it was finally released in 1979, coinciding with the rise of the science fiction genre in the wake of the Star Wars phenomenon.

Moonraker was the highest grossing film of the series until the Pierce Brosnan Bond film GoldenEye (1995). Moonraker earned a total of $210,300,000 worldwide — surpassing the preceding Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Moonraker was also noted for its high production cost for a Bond film, spending almost twice as much money as The Spy Who Loved Me. Derek Meddings, a long-time contributor to the James Bond series, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for the special effects used in this movie and its space scenes.

Retro History for June 29 The 50s 60s 70s 80s

Retro History For The Decade 1980

1989 Emmy 16th Daytime Award presentation - Susan Lucci loses for 10th time
1989 Susan Lucci loses daytime emmy for 10th straight year
1988 Emmy 15th Daytime Award presentation - Susan Lucci loses for 9th time
1987 Phil's Steve Bedrosian is 1st to record 12 saves in 12 attempts
1987 Yankees blow 11-4 lead but trailing 14-11 Dave Winfield's 8th inning grand slammer beats Toronto 15-14; Mattingly also grand slams
1986 Argentina becomes world champion soccer team (3-2 against W-Germany)
1986 Sandra Palmer wins LPGA Mayflower Golf Classic
1986 Sparky Anderson is 1st to win 600 games as manager in both leagues
1985 NASA launches Intelsat VA
1985 STS-51-F vehicle moves to launch pad
1984 Orel Hershiser begins string of making every sched start until 1990
1984 Pete Rose plays in record 3,309th game, surpassing Carl Yastrzemski
1984 U.S.S.R. offers to start talking about banning SDI
1983 Angel Cordero wins his 5,000th horse races
1983 Challenger flies back to Kennedy Space Center via Kelly AFB
1982 Voting Rights Act of 1965 extended
1981 Bomb attack on headquarters of Islamic Party in Teheran, 72 killed
1981 Hu Yaobang succeeds Hua Guofeng as leader of China PR
1980 "Sweeney Todd" closes at Uris Theater New York City after 557 performances
1980 Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Sarah Coventry Golf Tournament

Retro History For The Decade 1970

1979 "Moonraker" premieres in U.S.
1979 San Diego Chicken reborn at Jack Murphy Stadium
1978 Vice President Walter F. Mondale begins trip to Mid-East
1977 Willie Stargell hits his 400th career home run
1976 Seychelles gains independence from Britain
1975 3rd du Maurier Golf Classic (Peter Jackson Classic): JoAnne Carner
1975 8.10" (20.57 cm) of rainfall, Litchville No Dakota (state 24-hour rec)
1972 Supreme Court rules (5-4) that Death Penalty is cruel and unusual
1972 U.S.S.R. launches Prognoz 2 into earth orbit (549/200,000 km)
1971 Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards sentenced on drug offense
1971 Soyuz 11 docks with Salyut 1 for 22 days
1970 U.S. ends 2 month military offensive into Cambodia

Retro History For The Decade 1960

1969 1st Jewish worship service at White House
1969 24th U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship won by Donna Caponi Young
1969 On Billy Williams Day in Chicago, the Cubs outfielder passes Stan Musial's NL record for consecutive games played (896)
1968 "Tip-Toe Thru' The Tulips With Me" by Tiny Tim peaks at #17
1967 Israel removes barricades, re-unifying Jerusalem
1967 Keith Richards is sentenced to 1 year in jail on drugs charge
1966 In the Vietnam War, U.S. planes bombed Hanoi and Haiphong for 1st time
1966 KBSC (now KVEA) TV channel 52 in Corona-Los Angeles, California begins
1966 U.S. bombs fuel storage facilities near North Vietnamese cities
1965 USAF Captain Joseph Henry Engle reaches 85,530 m in X-15
1964 1st draft of Star Trek's pilot "Cage" released
1964 Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed after 83-day filibuster in Senate
1963 "Little Me" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater New York City after 257 performances
1963 Beatles' 1st song "From Me to You" hits U.K. charts
1963 SVB, Students Unions, established under Barrel Regtien
1962 1st flight Vickers (British Aerospace) VC-10 long-range airliner
1962 Frank Howard, hits the 5,000th Dodger home run
1962 John F. Kennedy dines with premier MacMillan in London
1961 Launch of Transit 4a, with 1st nuclear power supply (SNAP-3)
1961 Willie Mays is 4th major leaguer with 3 or more home runs twice in a season
1960 Joyce Ziske wins LPGA Western Golf Open
1960 KYA-AM in San Francisco changes call letters to KDBQ (for 2 weeks)

Retro History For The Decade 1950

1959 Pope John XXIII 1st encyclical "On truth, unity, and peace, in charity"
1958 Brazil beats Sweden 5-2 in soccer's 6th World Cup at Stockholm
1957 12th U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship won by Betsy Rawls
1957 Malenkov, Molotov, Kaganowitsj and Sjepilov leave U.S.S.R. Communist Party
1956 Charles Dumas, makes 1st high jump over 7' (2.13 m)-LA, California
1956 Federal interstate highway system act signed
1956 Prime Minister Drees refuses resignation of queen Juliana (Greet Hofmans)
1955 Argentine state of siege ends
1954 Atomic Energy Commission voted against reinstating Dr. J Robert Oppenheimer
1953 XETV TV channel 6 in Tijuana-San Diego, California (IND) begins broadcasting
1952 1st aircraft carrier to sail around Cape Horn-Oriskany
1952 7th U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship won by Louise Suggs
1950 U.S. beats England 1-0 in a world cup soccer game (next win in 1994)
1950 West Indies beat England by 326 runs thanks Ramadhin and Valentine

Have a groovy vintage retro day!


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Vintage Retro Music & Retro Pop Culture is our passion and what we LOVE. We keep it going everyday for the love of producing it for you to enjoy. Thanks for viewing. Much Peace! Moonraker is the eleventh spy film in the James Bond movie series.