Made at the height of a global science-fiction
craze in the late seventies, 1979’s "Moonraker" is probably
the most fantasy-laden Bond film. The film’s plot deals
with the genocidal plans of Hugo Drax. On the surface a hugely
successful global business titan, Drax is, in truth, a madman
bent on world domination.
The laser prop is first seen being used by an
MI6 operative disguised as a monk in a Brazilian field office.
Many more of them are later seen during the climatic final battle
sequence, both as hand held weapons and mounted onto US Marines’ space
walk apparatus. The original props were resin and rubber with
no moving parts. They were specially constructed for the film
by the EON Productions prop department, and a large number of
them were crafted. The body was constructed around a casting
taken from an ‘Uzi’ machine gun. Various real world
parts, including plumbing supplies, were then added to complete
the fantasy look. Laser effects seen on screen were added later
during post production using a complex and labor-intensive animation
technique known as ‘rotoscoping’. Totally cutting
edge at the time the process has been all but been replaced by
modern digital effects today. The laser also featured heavily
in the films marketing and promotion and is seen being wielded
by Bond in the iconic illustrated poster artwork.
The Factory Entertainment Moonraker
Laser prop replica was created after exhaustive and careful study
of the original props in the EON Productions archives, as well
as hundreds of reference photographs and original production
drawings and blueprints. All the detail on the original has been
retained including some of the casting asymmetry on the handmade
original, which would not have been visible on screen and a missing
trigger. Triggers were deliberately omitted to allow actors wearing
thick astronaut style gloves to use the props. This makes the
replica visually indistinguishable from the original. However,
a heavier weight polyresin and an internal support frame have
been employed on the replica to give it more heft and strength
than the original.
Each finely crafted Moonraker laser replica
comes with a museum quality display stand, numbered limited edition
plaque, COA, and detailed prop story booklet. Each replica is
also presented in a full color box designed to emulate the distinctive ‘Drax
Enterprise Corp’ shipping crates seen in the film and is
limited to 500 pieces.
