Lee and Dan's Midnight Movie Club » Action

Batman and Robin

Midmoclub — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:36:02 +0000

After taking advantage of a technical problem last week and having a week off Lee and Dan are back this week with the last of the 90′s Batman films. Some would suggest that Batman and Robin is the worst of all the Batman films, some would suggest that it’s the worst film of all time and Lee and Dan have entered this murky world to bring you their thoughts on the matter.

How cool.

Sigh.

Also on the podcast Lee and Dan discuss the flogging of blogs, cabbagedan.com, quityourdayjob.com.au and fantasymoviepodcast.com for example.

You can possibly still enter the Amazon competition, depending on when you’re reading this.

Lee wants to either:

live on the International Space Station
join a semi secret organisation, that will give him a ring but won’t ask him to participate (a funny little hat would be welcomed as well).

To make any sense of this you will just need to listen to the podcast:

Support the podcast by buying crap you don’t need!

After the stunning success of last episode’s flogging of the pointy asian inspired Batman thing this week Lee and Dan are once again selling out by telling you to buy something else!

This week’s very useful item is a bullet proof clipboard.

Yup.

Bulletproof Body Armor Clipboard

Good Midmoclubbers DO NOT shoot guns at each other.

Next week:

After thirteen seconds of discussion Lee and Dan are throwing their combined might behind a push for Bill and Ted 3 by watching Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey instead of Catwoman.

Excellent.

Batman Forever

Midmoclub — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:25:48 +0000

Michael Keaton and Tim Burton are out and Val Kilmer and Joel Schumacher are in.

Is this a turn for the better?

Will Lee and Dan fall in love with the Schumacher Batmobile? Three things are sure, apparently chicks dig the car, blacklight paint poses a huge problem to the peace in Gotham City and you’re going to have to listen to the podcast to find out what the boys thought.

Apart from Batman Forever Lee and Dan chat about such issues as:

Dan having to go back to work, Lee getting kicked out of his building
Problems with iTunes, these things didn’t happen when Steve was about
Dan’s watching Supernatural and Burn Notice
Movies about kids killing kids don’t have enough laughs (Dan’s review of Hunger Games)
Lee’s watching Friday Night Lights the television series but has a grudge against the film
Lee’s been reading She-Hulk comics, Dan’s reading DC 52.

The trailers discussed this week:

Check out the podcast now!!

Now Lee and Dan flog you stuff that you don’t need!!

Support the podcast by buying something that has pointy edges!

If you thought Val Kilmer’s Batman performance was mechanical then you should check out the Batman Robot Vinyl Invader 11-Inch Vinyl Action Figure from Entertainment Earth. Capturing the classic look of a Japanese super-mecha and super shogun figures, this stylized Batman vinyl figure has no nipples on its outfit and stands at 11 inches making it the perfect defender of your desk.

Next week Lee and Dan visit the chilled out world of Batman and Robin… may God have mercy on them

Batman Returns

Midmoclub — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:37:30 +0000

After many technical problems with last week’s Batman the Movie podcast we are hoping that those of you who subscribe via iTunes will be able to see this week’s episode (and hopefully last week’s will show up eventually). Let us know in a couple of days if this hasn’t happened and we’ll talk to the people that we need to talk with (primarily this means poking Lee with a pointy stick).

So after watching the 1989 Tim Burton Batman film some time ago Lee and Dan pushed ahead into the second Burton Batman film Batman Returns.

Dan has been making marmalade and Tracey wants some and Lee asked Dan not to send any… it’s all very complicated
Trendy badges!!!!
Lee and Dan flog their new podcast Airbending with Lee and Dan.
Lee’s predictions of interwebz domination did not come to fruition.
Dan and Lee wade into the uproar of the current Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle furor.
Lee takes us on a chocolate easter egg tangent.

Time to sit back and enjoy this week’s Midnight Movie club:

During the podcast Dan and Lee got a little deep and analysing of the film so let us know your thoughts about Batman Returns.

Leave us a comment here or over on Facebook.

Next week the boys are watching Batman Forever.

Daredevil

Midmoclub — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:57:28 +0000

It’s been a while since Lee and Dan have had a real disaster podcast on their hands but this week’s may just qualify as one. The end result was a bit of a struggle as Dan’s laptop deleted the makings of one of the funniest and thought provoking podcasts yet. On top of that Lee’s computer refused to record the backup so they lost it all. Then on the second run something else went wrong and a much more mediocre podcast was thrown to the side.

The third attempt is what you can hear today and we’re pretty happy with the job Dan has done putting it together.

In the podcast the boys discuss amongst other things the trailers of:

The boys also discuss the sheer volume of money that Apple has, why Dan is starting to dislike them and Lee’s irration distrust of people with various states of side-burns or lack of and teens.

None of this will make sense until you listen to the podcast.

Yes, that means listen to the podcast now!!

See now that wasn’t so bad now was it?

Next week Lee, Dan AND Kasey will be watching Krull.

Now go ahead and debate in the comments how much better 1960′s Batman is than Nolan Dark Knight!!!

Supergirl

Dan — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:49:31 +0000

We’re limping in just under the line this week, but technically its still Wednesday (at least in the UK) and so this weeks episode isn’t actually late – just accurately timed.

In this weeks podcast Lee and and Dan wrestle with the issue of Scottish independence, leaky fillings, and the boys both consider joining the secret service.

They also take a look at the trailers for:

Oh yeah, and they also talk about the 1984 movie Supergirl.

Why not listen to the podcast. Go on, you know you want to.

Next week Lee and Dan will be putting on their best Eddie Murphy impressions and watching Golden Child.

Conan the Barbarian

Midmoclub — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 23:00:47 +0000

This week Lee and Dan return to the films that have been or are being remade with the skull crushing Conan the Barbarian and there’s a chance that the Wheel of Pain will replace the affection Lee and Dan have for hovercrafts!

On the week of geek:

Lee’s been watching the Stephen King inspired Haven
Dan ate a sausage sandwich whilst watching Fringe
Dan and Evan have been playing Mario Kart and Dan is very proud of his son’s prowess
Lee bought a Star Trek the reboot Phaser after going out to try and buy a tricorder
Dan’s Lego Millenium Falcon arrived and has been built and now Dan’s at a loss with what to do
DC’s Justice League reboot
Dan’s been watching a bunch of sit-coms

Thoughts on the new Doctor Who episodes

So how did Conan stand up by Crom?!

Next week Lee and Dan will be AWOL until the week after next and then they’ll be watching Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Let us know if you now want to build a wheel of pain in your back yard!!!

Under Siege

Midmoclub — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 22:55:40 +0000

It’s back to the action aisle for Lee and Dan!

Since the boys have featured Jean Claude Van Damme punching out a snake in Hard Target we all thought it only fair that Steven Seagal get a run on the podcast and when asked the office could only think of Under Siege 2 so they went with the lessor known Under Siege.

Dan has started his new job
Lee has medical condition that causes him discomfort if he doesn’t have ALL Star Trek filmed material at his fingertips
Lee considers Dan more entertaining than the Star Trek: Voyager episode “The Thaw“
Economically you’re losing money by not buying the Star Trek Original Series Blu-rays
Dan and Lee are very excited by the Avatar series
Dan tried to make a joke about Two and a Half Men
Lee’s seen the new Thundercats but never watched the old, Dan gives gifts so he can borrow them
Dan shares his thoughts on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2
Chocolate frogs
Minor Harry Potter ending spoilers
Lee’s never seen a Harry Potter film in the cinema
Dan’s going off to see the new Studio Ghibli film (expect a report back next week)
Dan is embarking on the world of Jack Bauer and 24
Dan is writing a radio play.
Lee is not invited to take part.

So does Seagal serve up a superior action film?

Next week Lee and Dan embark on a massive movie marathon and begin with Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Let us know what you think in the comments!!

The Three Musketeers

Dan — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:02:05 +0000

This week Lee and I are watching the 1993 film The Three Musketeers staring Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland, Oliver Platt, Chris O’Donnell, Tim Curry and Rebecca DeMornay.

To be honest I’ve only just finished editing the podcast and I still can’t remember what we talked about. I’m pretty sure that we were unpleasant about Chris O’Donnel, showed our ignorance of classic French Literature, and spent some time discussing Lego Batman. Something like that anyway.

Lee is far better at writing these show notes, which is annoying as he doesn’t even bother listening to the podcast. Unfortunately due to my general slackness I ended up editing the episode right at the last minute, so as punishment it’s down to me to write the accompanying post.

I’m the bloody Igor of this partnership. It’s a disgrace. “All for one” my arse.

Anyway – I do remember that the marvelous Jeff from Caddickisms did a stirling job of a Three of Best for us on this episode. Jeff’s also recently jumped on twitter, so you should all go follow him @Caddickisms

Here we go:

No podcast next week as we take our regular mid-season break. But we’ll be back the week after with Caddyshack.

Speed

Midmoclub — Tue, 10 May 2011 22:57:42 +0000

In the film Speed 2 Cruise Control Sandra Bullock starred as Annie Porter, a woman who has been lied to by her SWAT team boyfriend Jason Patric and trapped an out-of-control luxury cruise liner whose navigation computers have been reprogrammed by a computer hacker (Willem Dafoe) setting the ship on a collision course with an oil tanker.

The week Lee and Dan are watching the lessor known prequel to this film: Speed.

Now according to Lee the films Speed, Speed 2 and Citizen Kane all share something in common: none of these films were watched by Lee in the last week. Yes, that’s right it’s only one week into the new season and already Lee hasn’t watched the film. But to cover up Dan does discuss the weather, it’s all very exciting.

To be fair Lee did watch the movie about a month or so ago in high definition, although he now wishes he’d watch it on his iPad on the bus which would have been completely meta had Dan not pointed out that most of the film takes place off the bus..

Anyway this week Dan and Lee are watching the 1994 action thriller Speed staring Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock and Dennis Hopper.

Enjoy!

Once again it’s a big thank you to Kasey of The Fantasy Movie Podcast for actually being on Three of the Best this week!

Next week Lee and Dan are catching the Bruce Willis comedy Hudson Hawk!

In the meantime why not share your own thoughts or somebody else’s in the comments!? Dan prints every single one of them up and hangs them on his wall!!

Runaway

Midmoclub — Tue, 03 May 2011 22:45:09 +0000

We’re back!!

It’s an all new season of the Midnight Movie Club and Lee and Dan are fresh off their break from the podcast and are ready to the films that keep you bleary eyed at work the next morning after staying up too late on a school night!

In fact they have purposely only been watching brand new films of the highest quality just to keep themselves fresh and ready to dive into the vault to dig up the sometimes less than fresh films of the past!

The first film on the agenda is the 1984 science fiction “thriller” Runaway.
It stars Tom Selleck, Tom Selleck’s moustache, Kirstie Alley and Gene Simmons… yes THAT Gene Simmons.

So you have Magnum PI, Saavik, the bass player from KISS and hat box sized homicidal robots plus it’s all directed and written by the dude who wrote Jurassic Park, how can this film be anything but awesome?!?!

Have a listen and see if it lives up to all of its promise:

A huge thank you to Kasey of The Fantasy Movie Podcast for almost being on Three of the Best and for providing the voice for our brand new intro!!!

Join Lee and Dan next week as they catch the bus and watch Speed!

Are you going to track this film down? Have you already seen it?!?

Let us know what you thought in the comments!!

Hard Target

Lee — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 22:50:37 +0000

If you change your mind, I’m the first in line
Honey I’m still free
Take a chance on me
If you need me, let me know, gonna be around
If you’ve got no place to go, if you’re feeling down
If you’re all alone when the pretty birds have flown
Honey I’m still free
Take a chance on me
Gonna do my very best and it ain’t no lie
If you put me to the test, if you let me try

Take a chance on me
(That’s all I ask of you honey)
Take a chance on me

Yes that’s right this week Lee and Dan are watching the 1993 John Woo action film Hard Target. Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as Chance Boudreaux (see what we did there?!?!… fine whatevs).

It’s a pretty awesome podcast this week so stop gawking at the scary ABBA song lines and listen to the podcast!!

Big thanks to Alex this week for taking part in our Three of the Best! Check out his blog “Do it Anyway”.

Now next week is possibly the first horror film (there must have been another… maybe Jaws) on the podcast, if you listen carefully you can hear Dan shaking in his boots already!! Lee and Dan are checking out From Dusk Till Dawn!!

Judge Dredd

Lee — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 03:39:37 +0000

Grab your helmet, lawgiver and your lawmaster and bring justice to unruly masses because this week Lee and Dan are visiting the mean streets of Mega City 1 in the 1995 film adaptation of Judge Dredd. Alternatively you can simply hide within a food dispensing robot and hope it all goes away.

It won’t though so you might as well just give in to the punishment and listen to the podcast:

Many thanks go to Matt Cavendish… no, wait… Caverstone… no, that’s not right… Caverhill! That’s it Caverhill! Many thanks to Matt Caverhill from the blog Culture Kills…wait, I mean cutlery for such a sterling job on both Week in Geek and Three of the Best. Thanks man.

Join us next week when we’ll be watching the 1993 Jean-Claude Van Damme movie, Hard Target.

The Running Man

Midmoclub — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:02:02 +0000

Well looky what we’ve got here, an all new look for the Midnight Movie Club!

This is really a precursor to the new season coming up where we’ll have all new… um old movies, all new segments… new except for the ones we already do and are keeping… umm look it’s going to be new and awesome.

But that’s next season and we’ve still got this season to deal with!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ceegnWSENQ

This week Lee and Dan are watching the Arnold Schwarzenegger science fiction action film The Running Man (1987). Does the film stand the test of time? Is there some sort of social commentary that can be taken from this? Does Lee say favourable things about Batman and Robin?? Listen to the podcast to find out!!

So what did you think of The Running Man? Remember to answer the poll (right over there on the sidebar!) and leave a comment!

Next week: Lee and Dan are taking a nap, they’ll be back in a couple of weeks with the all new Midnight Movie Club Season 2!!

Running Scared

Midmoclub — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 22:46:07 +0000

Running Scared is a 2006 crime film written and directed by Wayne Kramer and released by New Line Cinema. The film stars Paul Walker… hang on a second?!?

That doesn’t sound like a Midnight Movie Club film!?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2FHICIsStg

…phew that’s more like it. This week Lee and Dan are watching the most triumphant Running Scared from 1986.

Did you catch the point in the podcast where Lee severely damages the space time continuum? Or the bit that Dan puts his support behind police brutality?

Next week it’s a HUGE podcast as the boys celebrate Christmas and the Midnight Movie Club’s birthday AND have guests from the Casta La Vista podcast!!

…oh yeah and they’re watching Jingle All The Way.

The Warriors (1979)

Midmoclub — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 22:17:09 +0000

When it was first suggested that the Midnight Movie Club visit the world of The Warriors, Lee was confusing this movie with West Side Story and was expecting a lot of singing and jazz hands. Dan who hadn’t seen the film since he was twenty was not expecting much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV4cgs-bPic

Listen to the podcast to find out how they found it:

Now there is some debate over the car at the end of the film as to whether or not it’s the same car as Ecto 1.

It’s not.

We think that it’s a 1955 Cadillac Funeral Coach Superior but then we’ve seen other suggestions.

And the Ectomobile is a 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor limo-style endloader combination car (ambulance conversion).

So what did you think of The Warriors? Be sure to leave a comment!!

Next week Lee and Dan will be visiting Lee’s cultural heritage with BMX Bandits (although Lee has never seen it – how un-Australian)

Batman (1989)

Midmoclub — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 22:49:49 +0000

After a couple of weeks of sweaty Charlie Sheens and hookers stitched together from other dead prostitute parts it was decided to go for a normal film set firmly in reality… a reality where a man dressed up as a bat stalks the night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPLUeA4vwik

Welcome to Gotham and the 1989 Tim Burton film Batman.

The highlights:

The little known “Batman fine” at Blockbuster
Lee likes this Batman cowl, Dan not so keen
Do you know why the bat symbol is different on his chest?
Lord of the Batdance
There is some more poor Irish accents, to be fair this will be the last
More villains, the worse the film
Dan brought a baseball bat for some Burton bashing
Melting Goths in Brisbane should play the practicality card
Dan actually talks about the score!
Lando Calrissian
The thoughts being casting Michael Keaton
The utter awesomeness of the Batmobile

Next week Lee and Dan are watching the anime classic My Neighbor Totoro.

Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995)

Midmoclub — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 05:31:41 +0000

Lee and Dan face off in the fight of the podcast as this week they talk about Die Hard With a Vengeance!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=866yr_Oj5IA

The highlights…

Accuracy is the name of the game
Everyone hates having to do the synopsis
It’s fight night!!!
Dan peaks early
Die Hard 3′s original title was Riddle-fest!!
Lee cares about you
Fight night turns out to be fizzer…

Dan’s Rating: 8.5 out of 10 stars
Lee’s Rating: 8.5 out of 10 stars

Next week we’re watching one of Dan’s favourite films Zulu (Lee is sceptical having never seen the film)

Demolition Man (1993)

Midmoclub — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:29:49 +0000

This week Lee and Dan visit the dystopian future of the Sylvester Stallone film Demolition Man and for once turn out a podcast that feels semi polished and professional. It may have more to do with Dan’s editing or perhaps Lee’s ban on hovercraft shopping for the 60 minutes or so it took to record.

The highlights:

the most justifiably complex synopsis yet
Sandra Bullock wears tight pants in this and Dan is the sexist one
apologies for past sins (hovercrafts are mentioned)
Lee has seen the future and is unimpressed
Dan agrees.
There is actually some intelligent discussion regarding futuristic settings
Where the hell was Al Leong?!!
There is a lot of discussion around some of the more sizeable plot holes
Does the three sea shell joke still work?
Hand towels can be icky…
Dan talks fire and ice

A note from Lee…

There is some mention of a video in the podcast and unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances there is no video however it would have been hilarious and would have involved me making a cup of tea illustrating my apathy towards Demolition Man.

Regards
Lee

Dan’s Rating: 6 out of 10 stars
Lee’s Rating: 5 out of 10 stars

Next week Dan and Lee are watching The Neverending Story, cue the music…

Rumble in the Bronx (1995)

Midmoclub — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 23:05:32 +0000

This week Dan and Lee go to the world of Kung Fu and hovercrafts in Rumble in the Bronx. The warning is that they talk about the movie for about ten minutes and then discuss hovercrafts for what feels like hours.

Enjoy!

Dan discusses the definition of art
Lee is confused about wallflowers at singles dances
Rumble in the podcast!!
Lee delivers potentially the worst synopsis yet
There is a subtle reference to hovercrafts
Dan’s mixed heritage is revealed
Housewife corner with Lee and Dan
Rats ate Lee’s jacket
Crappy dialogue
There is an audio clip missing which may show up somewhere else during the podcast – try and work out where as I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Dan doesn’t need a big television
Racism raises it’s ugly head again
Brotherhood of the Wolf is awesome!
The lack of cushions
Jackie Chan lays some truth on the bad guys
Another subtle reference to hovercrafts
Dan turns to Wikipedia Lee turns to Amazon…
Dan hates Bruce Lee
Jackie Chan is a classy dude
Radioactive beer man!!
It’s a Jackie Chan love-in!
More tiny references to hovercrafts
Buying a hovercraft!!!
More hovercraft related information
The hovercraft malarkey continues…
Chickens and the demise of Dan’s second favourite
Dan and Lee eventually go back to talking about Rumble in the Bronx
The cup of tea test is back!!
Lee was wrong twice but you shouldn’t blame the Coen Brothers
The worst Amazon pitch you’ll ever hear
Dan and Lee finish on an in-depth discussion of Sylvester Stallone’s buttocks.
Well actually they end on how Lee still hasn’t finished Dan’s new header image (but there are blueprints!!)

Next week Demolition Man!!

Starship Troopers

Midmoclub — Tue, 18 May 2010 23:45:12 +0000

This week’s midnight movie club movie appears to be a slam dunk; spaceships, explosions and giant bugs! On paper it sounds like the perfect film for the club or is it?

Would you like to know more?

Oh.

Really? Ummm okay then ahhhh in the podcast this week:

Dan makes a very exuberant greeting.
Dan and Lee are old.
Arjan is not.
There are 86% less insults directed at the Dutch.
Apparently Lee spoke to Casper Van Dien at some stage on MySpace.
There are 100% more references to flogging than before.
Lee is better and more widely read than Dan or Arjan.
No one is defending the Nazis.
Surprisingly less talk about balls.
Matt pops in for a cup of tea and some points about Starship Troopers.
No one likes Carmen.
No really, no one.
Doogie Howser MD.
Lee, Dan and Arjan discuss nudity *giggle* *snigger*
There are bug puns!!!
Everyone turns on Arjan when he refers to Denise Richards as eye candy.
Arjan then brings up penis removal?!?
Arjan then manages to jam Warhammer into the conversation.
Lee and Dan wonder why they invite the Dutch on to the podcast.
Lee just wants to wait in the car park.

What are you waiting for then!!?!

So any thoughts on Starship Troopers? Agree? Disagree? What would you have rated it?

Next week: Starship Troopers 2 and 3 – oh my!

Highlander (1986)

Midmoclub — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:17:20 +0000

Lee had never seen Highlander.

Ever.

Dan assures Lee that fee Apple Macs will soon flow to him
Lee doubts Dan
Dan realises that women watch science fiction
Lee wonders why they aren’t aliens
A Scotsman playing an Egyptian and a Frenchman playing a Scotsman…
Do the sword fights survive the test of time?
Lee and Dan refuse to pronounce more foreign names correctly.
Dan and Lee look at Wikipedia again
Demolition grade swords
Lee admits to not being a sword-smith
Dan likes his villains bald
Lee says Donkey Balls
Dan hates Queen
Dan has an interesting idea of what a spoiler is
Lee mentions Twilight…

So what do you guys think? Is Highlander dated? Is it still awesome? Drop us a comment!

Next week we’re watching Starship Troopers with Arjan!

ID4 Independence Day (1996)

Midmoclub — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:05:43 +0000

Okay guys this one is a long one.

It’s a big file and it goes for about an hour and a half.

But we think it’s worth it

Listen to us discuss the effect alien invasion would have on Con Air Blu-ray supplies, how no one ever cares if the nazi dies, ID4 alien prisoner of war rights violations and how the nuclear weapon ruined the alien’s lunch hour.

Oh and Frankenhooker is mentioned…

…and Lee does a Ghostbusters quote.

Next week we’re watching Teen Wolf!!

Other podcasts you should listen to!

Remember to write to NASA and complain about their anti-stripper-wives policy!!

Broken Arrow (1996)

Midmoclub — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:26:33 +0000

Director: John Woo

Starring: John Travolta, Christian Slater, Samantha Mathis

Corrupt Air Force major (Travolta) intentionally crash lands a U.S. plane in the middle of the desert and holds two nuclear warheads for ransom. The only ones who can stop him are his co-pilot (Slater) and a U.S. park ranger (Mathis) patrolling the area .

This week we’re flying solo again. Marvel as we give an intelligent, in depth and witty report on the film…

Fine.

Who am I kidding!?

We get caught up in butterfly conversations and ramble on about Christian Slater’s career.

Support the Midnight Movie Club:

Now in case you can’t get enough Dan and/or Lee you can:

Next week:

We’re watching The Last Starfighter and we better not be disappointed or there will be much pouting.

Moonraker

Midmoclub — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 23:45:45 +0000

Moonraker (1979)

Director: Lewis Gilbert

Starring: Roger Moore, Michael Lonsdale, Lois Chiles, Richard Kiel

Moonraker is the eleventh Bond film, and the fourth to star Roger Moore. In the movie Bond is sent to investigate the theft of a space shuttle. He follows the trail of clues from California to Venice, Rio de Janeiro, and the Amazon rain forest. Finally Bond and his female companion (Dr. Holly Goodhead) eventually ending up in outer space battling the evil Hugo Drax and foiling his plans to destroy humanity and create a master race.

The midnight movie session:

I remember watching Moonraker as a child and being absolutely petrified of Jaws. There was something about his lumpy head that disturbed me. Now I know that the actor suffers from a form of gigantism called acromegaly, which explains his unusual appearance. However there’s no room for political correctness in the nightmares of a eight year old.

Now this was Jaws’ second outing in a Bond film is that right?

Yes, he was in The Spy Who Loved Me although apparently he was a lot less comedic in that one. Not that I found him very funny when I was eight. And is it me or is that woman he hooks up with more disturbing than he is?

OK I’m talking ahead of myself now (I’m going home tonight to watch the rest of the film now as I need to be able to discuss this), but isn’t she small? The whole irony of how Jaws and this tiny woman didn’t fit in the ‘perfect society’.

Yes she’s small. And she has pigtails, freaky pig tails. To be honest I’m sort of with Hugo Drax – these people have no place in society.

Did I just advocate genocide then? I think I did. I think I just advocated genocide. Maybe this Midnight Movie thing is not such a good idea after all

However scary I found Moonraker, it pales into insignificance when compared to Live and Let Die. I still refuse to watch that movie. That Baron Samedi is going to come for my liver one night, I just know it.

I’m sitting here watching the movie as I type this and I have to say that they weren’t even trying anymore with the name Dr. Holly Goodhead!? I mean they have thrown innuendo out the window with these names!!!

Sorry I’ll go back to watching the movie.

I think they could have at least given her the first name of “Givessomemightyfine”

I’m actually rolling around on the floor laughing, it’s not just an interwebz saying people!! I’m living this.

Oh yeah it should be explained too that these midnight sessions aren’t going to read like your average review, I’m sure I’ll be the worst for it but I’m just going to be blurting stuff out as I think of it and often whilst watching the movie. Sometimes Dan will have already watched it and I’ll be catching up or vice versa (we have different midnights)

No doubt it will give many of you headaches, I suggest then just reading Dan’s bits which I’m sure will be much more coherant.

To be honest I’m just planning on writing my own independent post and simply cutting and pasting it whenever Lee stops typing. It’s roughly the same method of communication I use within my marriage.

Ironically my method of blurting random things out is generally how i communicate in my marriage too, Tracey is a very patient woman.

Speaking of cutting and pasting: It’s not the most popular choice, but Roger Moore has always been my favorite Bond. While others criticise his reign for being too frivolous, I find the lighthearted tone and heavy use of slapstick very enjoyable. Moore has a delightful twinkle in his eye that no other Bond has ever managed to replicate in my opinion.

Saying that, Moonraker takes the buffoonery to a level of ridiculousness that even I have difficulty swallowing. I mean what on earth was going on with that Venetian gondola/hovercraft? Especially the gold tassels on the air cushion!?

So I’m through the movie – I rushed home to watch it completely simply because Dan was showing off his tassels knowledge and I got jealous.

I must say that I thought I would cringe more (is that a shameful pun) when watching Roger Moore’s Bond, simply because I remember him being so tongue in cheek and I haven’t watched one of his for years. But I found myself really enjoying his snappy British wit, particulary in the g force machine when Goodhead tells him that a 70 year old could withstand 3 g and he replies that that’s the problem, there’s never a 70 year old around when you need one.

*snigger* “Goodhead”. Actually if you watch closely there is occasional bursts of dark menace in Moores performance, almost worthy of Daniel Craig. However it could just have just been indigestion of course.

No I SO get what you are saying, even before when I hadn’t watched the whole movie there were flashes of seriousness that probably explain why he was brought back so many times as James Bond.

It certainly wasn’t ALL wink wink nudge nudge

I’m also thinking about the scene where Drax sets his dogs onto the woman who helped Bond take a look in the safe. That’s quite a brutal scene.

Where was I before I got serious?? That’s right LOL gold tassles – I’m more concerned over the pigeon doing the double take, I mean what a truly rediculous thing to include in the film, and that gondola that has to be up the with the worst of the Bond vehicles, I mean really, next they’ll have a diamond encrusted yo-yo that slices people’s heads off… nevermind.

The reference though to Bond throwing his hat, when he does so on the gondola is kind of neat if you are a Bond nut which I’m not but I seem to remember a huge amount about very trivial things. In the earlier movies when hats where still in style Bond would throw his hat across the room and have it land on the hat stand, presumably to impress Moneypenny. So that was nice if you are looking far too much into things.

I didn’t notice the double taking pigeons. But then you do have a bit of a thing about anthropomorphised animals. Didn’t you start sending Lucas death threats after the CGI gophers in the new Indiana Jones film?

And rightly so, in my defence.

NIT PICK!!! I have to declare a nit pick, at the start of the film when the Moonraker shuttle breaks away from the 747 jumbo, look I’m a spaceship geek – that’s not how space shuttles work!?!?! You can’t fly one off the back of a 747.

Can you do it off a 748?

Well a 748 is a different story… no. Even if you were to actually fly it off the back of the plane the shuttle is not very aerodynamic – apparently it handles like a falling brick.

It should also be noted that as I worked my way through the film this not the only implausible concept I encountered, I’ll try and keep it to a dull roar though.

Random thought too, I can’t stress how much I enjoy the James Bond gun barrel stuff at the start of the film. It’s an institution.

Geek alert – using the tones from the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind was awesome. If not entirely cheesy and an admission that the franchise was trying to get some of that sweet sweet scifi money that was all the rage at the time.

Apparently the next film scheduled to be made was actually For Your Eyes Only, not Moonraker, but after 1977′s Star Wars the producers decided that a space theme might be more financially lucrative. It worked too; Moonraker was the highest grossing Bond film until Goldeneye came along.

Wow I would have thought Octopussy or even A View to a Kill would have made more money, I certainly remember them the most but I suspect that has more to do with my age than box office.

So I really liked how Jaws fell in love with the young lady who was not even half as freakish as you described, I was expecting an Oompa Loompa or a Jawa but she wasn’t freaky at all except for the pig tails.

But I like Jaws and Bond coming to an agreement and then Jaws swapping sides because in Drax land he would not have a place. I was a little confused about his girlfriend though, was she working for Drax originally or did Jaws get her the gig?

I can’t let the comment from Bond slide though when he says that Jaws and his lady friend will be OK because it is only 100 miles to Earth… ARGGGGG. They did have NASA back then?!?! I mean I know there was no Wikipedia but surely they could have fact checked something in a book, or rang someone?!?

I’ll let all the lasers go, I think it was a stretch, but we were firmly in fantasy land…

Erm….excuse my ignorance, but what’s wrong with it being 100 miles from earth?

Well the international Space Station sits around 200 to 240 miles from Earth, but consider falling even a mile in a chunk of space station. That’s not cool, that’s going to leave a mark when you land.

But he’s Jaws. He’ll probably bite through the atmosphere or something. Anyway they were rescued by the good guys a the end, it said so over the radio whilst Bond and Goodhead were joining the 240 mile high club.

Incidentally I read something about sex in zero gravity the other day. It was saying that it isn’t quite as romantic as you’d imagine. Something to do with all the squelchy bits floating around in a rather unnerving manner.

So final thoughts: Watching it as an adult I enjoyed Moonraker quite a bit more than I thought I would, given its reputation. The complete lack of plot irritated me at times, as it just seemed to jump from one set piece to another. But overall I think it stands up pretty well considering it’s age and the restraints on special effects at the time.

My final thoughts are that I’m surprised how well this holds up, I have to admit to remembering very little of the film so it all felt fairly new to me. There were a LOT of space shuttles and frankly that will get me over the line everytime! One thing which was more than obvious is that this is where Mike Myers drew a lot of inspiration Austin Powers the Spy Who Shagged Me and so it was kind of nice seeing the origin of that.

Also we got to see a cool space battle!

My double shot soy flat white rating is 6 cups out a possible 10

What the hell is a double shot soy flat white!? I’ll agree with you on the rating, but go for more traditional source of caffeine: 6 out of a possible 10 cans of diet coke.