A Short History of Moonraker

Moonraker is a title which has special personal significance for me. Roughly eleven years ago, Moonraker was my first ever Bondian experience. The light hearted humour, the action, the music and all the other elements got me instantly hooked. However, little did I know when I watched that video that I was merely scraping the tip of an iceberg. In fact just the story of Moonraker itself is larger and more interesting than I could have imagined.

The Moonraker legacy begins in April 1955 as it is published – the third book by Ian Fleming. After seeing the film version, it was at least six or seven years before I discovered that the literary version was a completely different story to the film.

One of the few similarities between the film and the book is the name of the villain: Hugo Drax. Sir Hugo Drax of the novel is a red head, ex-German who cheats at cards. His scheme is to destroy London with a nuclear missile, supposedly built for Britain's benefit. Needless to say, James Bond foils this dastardly plot, but unlike in the film of Moonraker – he doesn't get the girl. Also, the girl in the novel is a policewoman named Gala Brand. This character was not featured at all in the film.

Although I was a fan of the film, when I eventually read the book the lack of similarity did not disappoint me – on the contrary I found the novel most enjoyable and it remains one of my favourite Fleming novels. On thing quite unusual is that the entire novel in set in England – strictly speaking not Bond's territory of operation. However, he is given special permission to work on British soil, which gives Ian Fleming a chance to show us some of his favourite places in England.

24 years after the publication of the novel, James Bond had become a genuine household name, and with the success of Star Wars in 1977, the Bond producers saw the opportunity to cash in on the sci-fi trend, and a title such as Moonraker seemed to fit the bill. In the film, the Moonraker is no longer a nuclear missile, but a space shuttle. The film opens with a spectacular pre-credits sequence. A Moonraker shuttle is hijacked while being carried on the back of a Boeing 747, and then we cut to James Bond on a aeroplane. He has a fight with the pilot, whom he throws out of the aeroplane, but Bond then is pushed out himself – without a parachute. Of course, Bond doesn't fall to his death – and in one of the series most thrilling action scenes Bond steals the parachute of the pilot in free fall. This was the scene which really hooked me on Bond.

Another thing which got me hooked was the character of Jaws – a character not from the novel. At over seven feet tall, with razor sharp steel teeth, Jaws is surely one of the most menacing villains in cinema history. He is also portrayed in a humorous light – another thing which initially attracted me to Bond.

The film also featured two new female characters: a CIA agent-cum-astronaut named Holly Goodhead and a French helicopter pilot named Corinne Dufour. Also, the villainous Drax is portrayed as a more elegant, silently menacing villain -quite different from the character in the book. Despite the film's faults – which are much more obvious to me today – it remains a personal favourite, even if just for sentimental reasons.

The novel was also not the last literary incarnation of Moonraker – another version was penned in 1979 by Christopher Wood, the screenwriter of the film. This one has the same story as the film, but is told with a very accurate evocation of Ian Fleming's style. Also, the character of Drax is the one from the original novel, as is the Bond character. The silly, implausable elements of the film are played down and the result is a cracking read which should be essential reading for all Ian Fleming fans. In fact, Ian Fleming Publications really should get Christopher Wood to write some more James Bond novels. He is surely the best author in terms of recreating the style of Ian Fleming.

I hope you have enjoyed this journey into the history of Moonraker – but I have still only scratched the surface. However, let me just say that Moonraker remains a favourite in the film version as well as the two literary incarnations. This is just another example of the fantastic story telling ability, as well as the abilities of the film makers who keep the James Bond legacy going strong.

The Art of Bond - Richard Chopping

On April 17, 2008 Richard Chopping died at the age of 91. Chopping was an innovative artist who contributed stunning watercolour paintings to the covers of 10 James Bond novels.

Chopping became established in the 1940s as an author and illustrator of children's books, as well as books about natural history, in particular butterflies, birds and flowers. Chopping even worked on an aborted attempt at a 22 volume work on flora of the British Isles, in which Chopping was to have rendered every single flower.

The story goes that Ian Fleming's wife, Ann saw some of Chopping's distinctive trompe l'oeil watercolours at an exhibition, and recommended Chopping for the cover of her husband's next book, From Russia With Love. The famous jacket, my personal favourite for a Bond novel, features a the combination of a rose and sawn-barrel Smith & Wesson which belonged to gun expert Geoffrey Boothroyd. Boothroyd appeared in Fleming next novel, Dr. No and was the genesis of the 'Q' character in the film series.

Chopping returned with the distinctive jacket design for Goldfinger, another personal favourite. From here onward, Chopping illustrated the covers of all the Ian Fleming first editions. In total, 9 of Ian Fleming's first editions featured the artwork of Richard Chopping. Some of the most distinctive include For Your Eyes Only, which has the striking image of an eye peering through a hole, presumably in a door. Another unique cover is The Man With The Golden Gun, which features artwork which extends from the back all the way to the front cover of the novel, as does the title lettering. The cover for Octopussy and The Living Daylights, published posthumously was the final Fleming novel, and the last to feature a Chopping cover. This particular cover is crawling with Chopping's trademark visual - flies.

He also returned to the fold, as the literary 007 returned in 1981's Licence Renewed by John Gardner. The following four John Gardner novels also featured covers in the Chopping style, although painted by other artists.

Chopping's relationship with Ian Fleming was hardly a smooth one, and Chopping alledgedly disliked both Fleming and the books. He was also unhappy that he didn't receive royalties from the enormous success of the books, and claimed that he was “swindled all along the line”.

Richard Chopping also wrote two novels of his own. These were The Fly (1965) and The Ring (1967). The Fly was described by the publishers as “a perfectly disgusting concoction . . . sufficiently sordid to appeal to voyeurs”. This, combined with the appeal of Chopping's distinctive cover art resulted in a success. However, Chopping's second novel “sank with very little trace”.

The legacy of Richard Chopping's art remains as some of the most distinctive and best loved Book jackets of 20th century British fiction.

The return of Fleming's Bond - Devil May Care

Published on the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth, Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks returns the literary Bond to 1967, exactly where Fleming's original series left off. I won't rehash the plot here, rather I'll just give some opinions now that I have finished the novel.

Sebastian Faulks has tried very hard to emulate the style of Ian Fleming, including Fleming's habits when it comes to the writing process itself. The result is an entertaining read with all the requisite elements, but it lacks a certain something. Ultimately it is just an entertaining pastiche, which doesn't really live up to the reputation of the author or the hype surrounding the book itself. Something which I dislike in all Bond books, whether official or fan fiction is excessive referencing of other Bond adventures. Unfortunately Devil May Care is packed full of references which I feel only cheapen the book. I guess it is to emphasise that the book exists within the continuity of the original series, but the level of referencing is unnecessary.

On the positive side, the book does fit quite comfortably within the Fleming canon, and it authentic in that sense. Faulks brings out a loaded supporting cast of Fleming characters such as Leiter, Mathis and May. The story it itself is quite good, with interesting use of locations unexplored in the original novels. The plot itself is not particularly inspired, and also quite implausible in some parts - but serviceable nonetheless. There are some good scenes, such as the tennis match. This particular scene is clearly a homage to the classic scenes in Moonraker and Goldfinger
, in which the villain attempts to cheat but is ultimately beaten by Bond. I enjoyed the chapter, but story wise it was a little unnecessary. The villain, Julius Gorner is pretty good, with a typical physical deformity. His henchman is also an imperfect human specimen, but with great physical prowess. The 'Bond Girl', Scarlett, is an interesting character although she and Bond have a somewhat distant relationship until the very end of the novel.

It may sound as if I have more criticism than compliments for the novel, but I must say that I found the novel an entertaining and engaging read despite its faults. I would even say that I enjoyed it more than some of the lesser Fleming novels, and it ranks as one of the best of the continuation novels in my opinion. Sebastian Faulks has stated that the novel was just a one-off and that he wouldn't be writing another. However, I hope that somebody does take up the challenge of continuing the Bond literary series!