Trivia - Moonraker

In 1955, John Payne negotiated and purchased the rights for an option to "Moonraker", paying a $1000 a month option for nine months. Payne was the first ever person in Hollywood interested in making the James Bond novels into a film series. Apparently, he eventually gave up the option when he learned he couldn't obtain the rights to the entire 007 series. Moreover, there were allegedly trans-Atlantic problems between the USA and English agents of James Bond creator Ian Fleming. In 1955-56, the Rank Organisation via Ian Hunter bought an advance option from Fleming to the novel "Moonraker". Fleming stipulated £1000 for an advance option and £10,000 for the film rights. Rank did not develop the material further. In Spring 1959, Rank sold them back to Fleming. Harry Saltzman obtained the rights to the James Bond novels in 1960-61 and "Moonraker" was included in the package. Saltzman later went into partnership with Albert R. Broccoli to produce the James Bond films.

This is the first and only ever filmed version of the Ian Fleming novel "Moonraker" and is not a remake of the 1958 film The Moonraker (1958) which is an entirely different story and a period piece. An alleged 1956 version of "Moonraker" was reported to have been discovered in 2004 but this was an April Fool Day's hoax. In the joke, Dirk Bogarde was James Bond, Orson Welles was Hugo Drax and Peter Lorre was a henchman.

Though little of the source Ian Fleming "Moonraker" novel would be used for the film, various story elements, themes and ideas are said to have inspired the later James Bond movie Die Another Day (2002) and to some extent GoldenEye (1995).

Nepal and India were considered as locations for the movie and the latter would become one in Octopussy (1983).

The Ian Fleming "Moonraker" novel was adapted as a South African radio dramatization in 1956-57 featuring Bob Holness as the voice of James Bond. Holness was technically the second actor to play James Bond in audio-visual media and the first to play him on radio.

A "moonraker" has two dictionary definitions. It is a synonym for a moon-sail which is the highest sail of a ship. It is also a term from a Wiltshire folk story where smugglers trying to hide contraband pretend to rake the water in a pond so as to catch the reflection of the moon.

It was considered for a time that this movie would follow On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969). However, that turned out to be Diamonds Are Forever (1971).

Moonraker was the third James Bond novel written by Ian Fleming. It was first published on 7 April 1955. A number of suggested and working titles existed for this novel. These included: The Moonraker, Mondays are Hell, The Moonraker Sense, The Infernal Machine, The Moonraker Secret, The Inhuman Element, Wide of the Mark, The Moonraker Plan, Hell is Here, Bond and The Moonraker, The Moonraker Plot, and Too Hot to Handle, the latter being the re-title of the novel for its first US paperback release. Moreover, the Christopher Wood novelization of the film was called James Bond and Moonraker.

Scriptwriter Tom Mankiewicz wrote a script for this movie which was not used. Apparently sections of it ended up in Octopussy (1983) (the Acrostar jet sequence) and A View to a Kill (1985) (the Eiffel Tower sequence). Mankiewicz had previously written scripts for Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Live and Let Die (1973) and The Man with the Golden Gun (1974).

The role of Drax was originally offered to James Mason. Lois Chiles had originally been offered the role of Anya in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), but turned down the part when she decided to take temporary retirement. She got the role of Holly Goodhead by chance when she was given the seat next to Lewis Gilbert on a flight.

In his original 1955 novel, Ian Fleming describes Drax as "a Lonsdale figure". Twenty-four years later, Drax was portrayed in this film by Michael Lonsdale.

Ian Fleming based the villain Drax on the Jules Verne's character Robur from the "Clipper Of The Clouds", "Master of the World" and "Robur, The Conqueror" stories. In addition, the filmmakers based Drax also on Adolf Hitler and there is a similarity between the look of Hitler and that of actor Michael Lonsdale. Drax's plan for a master race evokes Hitler's plans for the same.

The "Drax" name was allegedly derived from two possible sources by James Bond creator Ian Fleming. Drax was the surname of a boy at Eton who would become Admiral Sir Reginald Plunkett Ernle Erle Drax. Drax Hall Estate was a Great House in Northern Jamaica in which Fleming visited during one of his early trips to Oracabessa. Fleming apparently saw the name on the blue notice board there. The name of Drax's butler in the movie was Cavendish.

The Bond Girl character name Gala Brand from the original Ian Fleming "Moonraker" novel was not used for the movie. Neither was the name of the assistant villain Willy Krebs. For a time, one of the Bond Girls in Die Another Day (2002) was going to be called Gala Brand (a number of story elements of this movie are derived from the "Moonraker" novel) but her character name was eventually changed to Miranda Frost.

Barbara Bach was originally scheduled to make a brief appearance as Anya, the character she played in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), but the idea was dropped only weeks before filming began. According to the book The Bond Files, her character was going to be the woman shown in bed with General Gogol in the scene where he moans to his British counterpart that he's having trouble sleeping.

First ever Bond Girl where an actress shares first name with her character. Corinne Clery playing Drax employee Corinne Dufour is the only actress ever to play a Bond Girl whose first name is the same as her Bond Girl's. In earlier drafts of the script, the Corinne Dufour character was known as Trudi Parker and she has that name in the film's novelization.

Actor Richard Kiel has only one line of dialogue in his two Bond appearances as "Jaws" (Moonraker (1979) and The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)). He says, "Well, here's to us" near the end of this film.

Drax's main henchmen were named Chang and Jaws. The fight scene between James Bond and Chang in the Venetian glass showroom was originally intended to appear in the previous James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) where it was to take place in the Mummy Room of the Cairo Museum of Antiquities.

Continuing an in-joke used in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979) marks the second appearance of Victor Tourjansky as the "man with bottle". He would return a third and final time in the next Bond film For Your Eyes Only (1981), as the "man with wine glass".

Producer Albert R. Broccoli called Steven Spielberg requesting permission to use the indelible 5-note leitmotif from his Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). Broccoli wanted to use it as the entry code for an electronic laboratory door lock in a scene in Moonraker (1979). Some years later, Spielberg called Broccoli requesting permission to use the 007 theme music for a scene in a movie he was producing titled, The Goonies (1985). Broccoli pointed out that there were more than 5 notes in the 007 theme music. Spielberg suspected the producer's tongue was firmly planted in his cheek as he continued to banter. He was right. Drax's Venice laboratory has an electronic lock on it. The sequence which unlocks the door is the hailing tune from Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). This pass code to Drax's laboratory in Venice was 12589.

Some portions of the Moonraker assembly plant were filmed on location at the Rockwell International manufacturing facilities in Palmdale, California, and at the Vehicle Assembly Building at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The champagne that James Bond and Dr. Holly Goodhead drink in her hotel room at Venice's Hotel Danieli was a Bollinger '69.

The name of the Funambulists circus act seen at at the Hippodrome de Longchamp during the pre-titles sequence was Johnny Traber's Troupe.

Real lasers were used in assisting with the creation of the special effects in the movie.

Though James Bond conquers space in this movie, it is not the first James Bond movie to deal with story elements dealing with outer space. Dr. No (1962), You Only Live Twice (1967) and Diamonds Are Forever (1971) included story elements dealing with outer space.

An asteroid was named after James Bond on 5 October 1983. It was discovered by Antonín Mrkos at the Czech Republic's Klet Observatory. The name of the asteroid , "9007 James Bond", references James Bond's 007 code number in MI6 and is a homage to James Bond creator Ian Fleming.

The blast chamber for Moonraker Shuttle No. #5 was actually a set which wasn't used. It was for another scene as it included a meeting room and could be collapsed to form the blast chamber.

The film boasts an exciting cable car sequence above Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Interestingly, "BONDinho" is truly one of the actual names used to describe these glass cable cars that do the same run from Sugar Loaf Mountain to Urca Hill as seen in the movie. "BONDinho" is a name taken from the Portugese language.

The film was partly set in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil because Albert R. Broccoli wanted to film the magnificent Iguaçu Falls of Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná, Brazil after a trip there.

The name of the mission which James Bond was returning from during the pre-credits sequence was referred to by M as being The African Job.

Second consecutive James Bond movie with an unusual number of repeated story elements: Opening sequence involves James Bond parachuting; appearance of Jaws; a Pyramid location and Bond driving an amphibious vehicle. It was an underwater car in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and a hovercraft gondola in this movie.

The fictitious plant species of rare orchid, once discovered near the River Tapirapé and secretly developed by Drax Industries as the chemical base for the highly toxic nerve gas that has no effect on animals, was Orchidae Nigra.

Product placements, brand integrations and promotional tie-ins for this movie include Bollinger Champagne; Bell Helicopters; Canon Cameras; British Airways; Marlboro; Seven Up Soft Drink; Glaston Boat Company; Christian Dior; Seiko Watches, particularly the Seiko M354 Memory-Bank Calendar and Seiko H357 Duo Display watches; and Air France.

To build the gigantic three level Space Station set interiors at France's Epinay Studios, the production utilized two tons of nails, one hundred tons of metal, two hundred and twenty technicians and ten thousand feet of set construction woodwork.

Second and final time to date that James Bond has been seen hang-gliding. Very popular as a new sport in the 1970s, Roger Moore is the only actor to ever play James Bond and be seen hang-gliding. The other time was in Live and Let Die (1973).

The budget for Moonraker (1979) was more than the combined budget total of the first six EON James Bond movies put together.

Second consecutive James Bond movie in which the opening sequence involves James Bond parachuting.

The license plate number of the car that escorts James Bond to the pheasant shooting was DRAX. The license plate of the truck carrying pheasants was 481BLA.

The only James Bond movie to ever have two boat chases: There is the Bondola Gondola chase filmed and set in the canals of Venice and then there is Q's Hydrofoil Boat Chase with a Glastron speedboat with attached hang-glider, set in South America (but filmed in Florida).

There were six Moonraker Space Shuttles. The number of the shuttle that James Bond and Dr. Holly Goodhead commandeer for their trip to the space station was Moonraker Shuttle No. #6. The number of the shuttle that James Bond and Dr. Holly Goodhead commandeer for their trip back to Earth was Drax's Moonraker Shuttle, Moonraker Shuttle No. #5.

The co-ordinates where the Boeing 747 crash landed in the Yukon at the beginning of the film were 136° 15' 10" W and 63° 20' 48" N.

The combination to Drax's safe in Venice was 2543.

The initial shot of Drax's mansion is a superimposed plate of the Vaux-le-Vicomte in Seine-et-Marne, France with the Mojave Desert, California.

C. & W. Inc. stood for Carlos and Wilmsberg.

The brand of piano that Drax plays was a Steinway & Sons.

The registration identifier of the speed boat that chases James Bond in the Venetian Lagoon was V99060.

The villain Jaws is the only time a sidekick villain or henchman has ever returned in a James Bond movie. The character of Jaws first appeared in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). He is parodied in "The Secret Files of the SpyDogs" (1998) as a cat with metal teeth. In the Inspector Gadget (1999) movie, a Jaws like character is credited as Famous Guy with Metal Teeth (and was played by Richard Kiel).

The literal translations of some of this film's foreign language titles include Moonrocket (Finland); 007 Against The Death Rocket (Brazil & Portugal); Moonraker: Operation Space (Italy); Moonraker: Top Secret (Germany); Moonraker: Space Mission (Latin America) and 007 Seizes The Space Station (China)

Vehicles featured included NASA / Rockwell International Shuttle Spacecraft designed as six Moonraker Space Shuttles; a Venezian Gondola that can turn into a hovercraft known as the Hovercraft Gondola or Bondola; Q's Hydrofoil Boat, a silver Glastron/Carlson CV-23HT speedboat with accessory hang-glider which is chased by three Glastron SSV-189 speedboats; a white MP Roadster; a Rio Ambulance; a blue Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith II which takes Bond to his Rio hotel; a Bell 206 JetRanger helicopter; a BONDinho Rio cable car; a Hispano-Suiza; and a Handley Page Jetstream Turboprop plane in the opening sequence.

Cameo: [Dana Broccoli] [as a Woman at St. Mark's Square along with family members Albert R. Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson.]

The name of Hugo Drax's multinational conglomerate was Drax Enterprises. Its space division based in California was called Drax Industries.

The name of Hugo Drax's escorts seen at his chalet were Lady Victoria Devon and Countess Labinsky, and at the forest, were Signorina del Mateo and Mademoiselle Deradier.

The license plate number of Manuela's white replica MG was KG 1881.

For the fight between James Bond and Chang, the film had the largest amount of break-away sugar glass used in a single scene.

The film had the largest number of actors in weightlessness (on wires) ever filmed.

Roger Moore arrived a few days late for the shoot Rio due to a kidney stones attack in France. Moore had also had a renal colic attack whilst filming Live and Let Die (1973). Once arrived in Rio, he literally walked off the plane, went into make-up and hair, got fitted out, went back onto the plane, and was then filmed arriving in Rio as James Bond for the movie.

It was the first movie to feature the modern space shuttle in a motion picture. The film's release was suppose to coincide with the first ever launch of the space shuttle, but this unfortunately didn't occur until 12 April 1981, just before the release of the next James Bond movie, For Your Eyes Only (1981), and exactly twenty years after Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space (12 April 1961).

The film utilized the largest set ever built in France.

During the cable-car stunt high above Rio, a real cliff-hanger moment occurred when stuntman Richard Graydon slipped and was hanging-off for his dear life. The recce crew, including Ken Adam, were petrified while the camera was rolling and they were watching-on from a vantage point.

Final James Bond movie directed by Lewis Gilbert.

Production Designer Ken Adam likened the Control Room set at the Studios de Boulogne to a Mondrian painting because of its black lines and multitude of screen monitors. As such, Adam nicknamed it the "Mondrian Set".

Cameo: [Albert R. Broccoli] [Long-time James Bond producer as a man at St. Mark's Square wearing a untucked light blue shirt.]

Cameo: [Michael G. Wilson] Makes three cameo appearances, one as a Man outside Venini Glass, St Mark's Square, one as a Man on a canal bridge whilst M and James Bond talk and one as a NASA technician in the central control room.

Moonraker is the only 007 film where the signature pistol of James Bond is not seen, be it the Walther PPK or the Walther P99.

Fifth and final James Bond film (to date) to feature John Barry's second signature James Bond theme, "The 007 Theme". Only Roger Moore Bond movie in which it is heard.

Moonraker (1979) was filmed on three continents, in four studios, and across seven countries.

Despite the previous 007 film telling us that James Bond will return in For Your Eyes Only (1981), producer Broccoli choose Moonraker (1979) as the next installment after the success of Star Wars (1977).

According to writer Tom Mankiewicz there was a scene featuring Drax meeting his co-financiers in the Amazon lair; they use the room located just below the space shuttle launch pad that Bond and Holly later escape from. This scene was shot but later cut out.

With the exception of the title, the character Drax, and a couple other minor elements, this is an original story rather than an adaptation of Ian Fleming's novel.

Bond stunt double, veteran skydiver Jake Lombard, bore a strong resemblance to Bond actor Roger Moore. (That is, after he was persuaded to cut his long hair and shave off his equally long beard). This allowed many relative close up facial shots of Bond in freefall. As for the role of the pilot, skydiver B.J. Worth was actually chosen first, with actor Jean-Pierre Castaldi being chosen later for studio scenes, due to his resemblance to Mr. Worth.

The filmmakers did not think that viewers would accept the relationship between Jaws and Dolly due to the height difference between them. It was only when Richard Kiel pointed out that his actual wife was the same height as Dolly that they changed their minds. Jaws' (Richard Kiel) height was 7 ft 2½ inches.

The world premiere was supposed to be held in Houston, Texas; however, problems with the launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia forced the change of venue to London, England.

Kate Bush was reportedly considered to sing the theme, but turned it down.

The title song is sung by Shirley Bassey, the third and last time she did so in the Bond series. The other two were Goldfinger (1964) and Diamonds Are Forever (1971). She also sang a version of the "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" song for Thunderball (1965) which was not used. To date, Bassey is the only singer to have performed a Bond title song more than once.

In order to create the final shot in which the space station is destroyed, the visual effects crew locked themselves in the studio and shot the model of the space station to pieces using shotguns.

When work on the film began, NASA had in fact not yet officially "finalized" the design of the Space Shuttle. Fortunately for the production designers, there were subsequently no visible changes made to the shuttle's design, making their rendering of it accurate.

Claude Renoir was originally hired as Director of Photography but had to depart because of his failing eyesight.

When Frank Sinatra was approached to sing the theme song, it was called "Think Of Me" and had music composed by John Barry and lyrics written by Paul Williams. After he turned it down, Barry and Hal David wrote "Moonraker" and Johnny Mathis was chosen to sing it. When it was decided that it wasn't working, Barry had a chance meeting with Shirley Bassey and with the approval of producer Albert R. Broccoli she recorded the song.

Carole Bouquet was interviewed for the female lead.

Bond does not drive a car in this movie. He is seen however briefly driving a jeep through some caves (i.e. the Paris Mining Shafts location). The only Bond movie where James Bond is not seen driving a motor vehicle is You Only Live Twice (1967).

The only time Bond fires a gun in this movie is when he shoots the sniper out of the tree with Drax's hunting rifle.

Michael Lonsdale replaced Stewart Granger.

Corinne Clery is dubbed.

The painting that James Bond shoots with the wrist activated dart is that of King William III of England.

The code to Drax's laboratory in Venice is 12589.

Since new Tax Laws were announced in Great Britain, the Producers decided not to use the 007-Stage which they just had erected for the previous Bond Movie. Instead the interiors by Ken Adam were mostly filmed at 3 sound-stages in France. The condition from the filmmakers to the French Film Industry was, that they could overtake literally all Soundstages in Paris. (This didn't make them all too popular with other Filmmakers)

Adapting to the different work ethics in France, Ken Adam (Production Designer) was informed by the union leader that the crew will not work overtime. Ken Adam could not recall even one Bond Movie he designed which did not include overtime on part of the construction crew to complete the interiors. Ultimately the crew saw his designs and they decided that it was indeed worthwhile to work overtime. In fact he recalled that on Sundays they did bring their whole families.

Identical sound effects during battle scenes, such as twisting metal fatigue noises; yelling and computer equipment usage were used both in this film and The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).

Early script and storyboards for the movie reveal another character who was ultimately dropped from the picture, a sidekick villain henchman called Ratz, who was involved in the cable car sequence with Jaws.

Plans for a motion picture based on Ian Fleming's novel date back to 1956 when the book was first optioned by a producer, but a film was never made.

The novel Moonraker and the film Moonraker (1979) are two entirely different stories that have nothing in common, except when James Bond and Dr.Goodhead are left under the rocket-engine to get killed by Drax. To make sure people didn't confuse the novelization of the film with the original Ian Fleming novel, the film novelization's title was "James Bond and Moonraker."

One of the Moonraker space shuttle models used in filming is currently on display in the Las Vegas Planet Hollywood restaurant.

Except for a few brief close-ups, the entire sequence of Bond, Jaws and the pilot falling from the plane with Bond and the pilot fighting for a single parachute was actually shot in free-fall. The camera for these sequences was mounted on the helmet of another skydiver, and a few shots are of the cameraman's own arms and legs. Stuntmen Jake Lombard and B.J. Worth wore parachutes concealed within their suits. The "parachute" they fought over was actually a dummy 'chute which had to be removed before the stuntman could use the real parachute underneath. Stuntman Jake Lombard would don and remove the dummy 'chute up to three times in a single jump. The actual parachutes used by the stuntmen had both a main and reserve 'chute concealed within the suitcoats. A breakaway seam ran down the backside which allowed the parachute to be opened without the need to remove the coat. There were only sixty to seventy seconds of freefall time between when the stunt performers exited the aircraft and when they had to activate their 'chutes. After factoring in the time needed to get the performers and cameraman into position after leaving their plane, only a few seconds of film could be shot per jump. Therefore, the entire sequence required 88 jumps and five weeks to film, just to produce the two minutes of footage in the final film.

Director Cameo: [Lewis Gilbert] One of the men at St Mark's Square.

Brazilian actress Adele Fátima was cast as Manuela, and she shot some minor scenes with Roger Moore around Sugar Loaf Mountain, Rio de Janeiro. She was later recast by Emily Bolton, with her own scenes deleted from the final cut.

The cable that Jaws bites was actually made of licorice.

About fifty sets were constructed for the movie. It is estimated that to build all the sets for the film took approximately 220,000 hours.

Roger Moore is believed to have conducted approximately 390 interviews for the promotion of the movie.

Jaws was supposed to be Bond's arch-nemesis in the film until Lewis Gilbert started paying attention to some of the fan mail he was getting from small children, asking why he couldn't be a goodie instead of a baddie.

All of the space center scenes were shot at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

M's office set - which usually resided at Pinewood Studios - was transported over to Paris for shooting.

Corinne Dufour was originally written to be a Californian valley girl but when the production moved to France it necessitated the casting of a French actress.

One of the very first movies to be filmed in the Pompidou Centre in Paris; it's where Dr Goodhead's office is located.

Roger Moore's face was quite bruised after having intense bursts of air pumped onto it in the scene where the gravity simulator spins out of control.

The boat chase in Venice was slightly hampered by the fact that speed restrictions in the city were 5 knots.

Roger Moore was off the production for a week in hospital as he had a kidney stone. At one point, it looked like the production would have to shut down due to Moore's illness.

Footage of the carnival in Rio was shot in January 1978. The scenes with Roger Moore was done in February 1979, recreating the carnival revelers from the year before.

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

The opening sequence concludes with Jaws freefalling into a circus big top which then comes crashing down around him. Footage was shot of Richard Kiel staggering out of the wreckage but this has now been lost.

When the Minister of Defense and M arrive in Venice, the Minister mentions that he plays bridge with Drax. This is a reference to the original novel, in which Drax is continuously winning while playing bridge at M's favorite club.

Bernard Lee's final appearance as M. The actor died when For Your Eyes Only (1981) was in pre-production.

Cameo: [Melinda Maxwell] [The daughter of the series regular character Miss Moneypenny played by Lois Maxwell as one of Drax's Master Race specimens.]

Louis Jourdan was offered the role of Drax.

Drax is designed to be cosmopolitan, as his staff consisted of a French helicopter pilot, a Japanese killer, an American scientist, and an English butler.

"Moonraker" was loosely modeled after NASA's 1973 creation Skylab.

Cameo: [Victor Tourjansky] The Italian second-unit director as Man with Bottle (uncredited) in the 2nd of 3 appearances starting with The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and lastly with For Your Eyes Only (1981).

The scene in which the gondola converts into a hovercraft and elevates out of the water succeeded with the fifth attempt. During the first four takes, the vehicle was so unstable that Roger Moore fell into the water and needed to have his silk suit replaced for each take. It was fortunate that the stunt worked during the fifth take because was wearing the last available silk suit.

The film's Royal World Premiere was held on 26th June 1979 at London's Odeon Leicester Square Theatre in the presence of British Royal Prince Philip.

The film's title song "Moonraker" has been covered by Shara Nelson and can be heard on David Arnold's Bond song compilation album, "Shaken and Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project". Another track called "Space March" has been covered by Leftfield for this compilation album. However, there is no track called 'Space March" on the original "Moonraker" soundtrack.

According to the film's soundtrack sleeve notes, the soundtrack album debuted in the US Charts on 18 August 1979 where it peaked at the No. #159 spot. The soundtrack has never had an extended release with the release of extra tracks like other Bond soundtracks apparently due to the masters being lost in France.

Classical music heard in the film includes Frédéric Chopin's Prelude no. 15 in D-flat major (op. 28), "Raindrop") heard when Drax is playing the piano ; Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Overture is heard when Jaws meets Dolly whilst "Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka" by Johann Strauß is heard during the Saint Mark's Square hovercraft sequence in Venice. At the conclusion of the pheasant shoot, the bugler blows the first three notes to Richard Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (op. 30) which was famously used in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Moreover, the scene where Bond is riding to M's temporary headquarters in a South American hacienda is accompanied by Elmer Bernstein's theme from The Magnificent Seven (1960).

The first line of the Ian Fleming James Bond "Moonraker" novel read: "The two thirty-eights roared simultaneously."

The last line of the Ian Fleming James Bond "Moonraker" novel read: "He touched her for the last time and they turned away from each other and walked off into their different lives."

According to the film's CD Soundtrack sleeve notes, the soundtrack album debuted in the US Charts on 18 August 1979 and went to the No. #159 spot.

The opening sequence where Bond is pushed out of a plane and wrestles over a parachute while in free-fall took 5 weeks to shoot and required 88 individual jumps from a plane. One camera operator with a 7 pound camera attached to his helmet followed the action while the Bond stuntman had a hidden miniature parachute under his suit.

This was the highest grossing Bond movie up until the release of GoldenEye (1995).