The James Bond franchise is insanely popular, and on that note, fans are curious to know about Moonraker filming locations. The movie was released back in 1979 and served as the 11th installment in the huge array of films for James Bond. Lewis Gilbert directed the film under the banner of Eon Productions.
Roger Moore starred in the titular role for the 4th time in this movie. The entire film takes the audience on a trotting adventure where we see James going on to solve yet another case. The entire genre for this project runs on the action as well as drama and thrill.
The plot of the film sees James out on yet another mission with the task of finding out more regarding the theft of a space shuttle. This was robbed from the Boeing 747. As he tries to dig in more, we see that the entire evidence leads him toward a billionaire industrialist named Hugo Drax.
Moonraker – Plot Details
The man is more than evil as he is trying to get the entire human race eliminated and then start a new life somewhere in Outer Space. The movie unfolds in a way where we witness Bond going over to some of the most exotic places in the world to find out everything regarding the key aspects of Drax’s plans. He has some assistance from Dr. Holly Goodhead, who works as a scientist for Drax.
Throughout the film, we see Bond come across some of the most deadly and dangerous men, but he tackles them with his signature moves. The action sequences, as we can expect from any Bond film, are top-notch. At one point in the film, Bond even has to go to space to decode Drax’s plan and save humanity on Earth.
Moonraker Filming Locations
There are various places all across the world that Bond travels to in order to save the planet. Thus, there are numerous beautiful cities and locations that have been featured in the movie in total.
Let’s talk about Drax Industries first. This is the base of the main antagonist of the film, Hugo Drax. The main shots of the building that were seen in the movies were taken at Chateau de Vaux le Vicomte, located in France. It is situated in the southeastern part of Paris. The venue is best known for the 17th-century palace, which was built here, along with some of the most elaborate gardens as well as grand interiors that anyone might have ever seen.
Coming to the time that James travels to Venice in Italy to understand the whole story behind the theft of the space shuttle. Various Venetian landmarks were used for the filming. Some of these iconic locations are Piazza San Marco as well as the Rialto Bridge. One of the best scenes, that is, the gondola chase scene through the canals of Venice, was shot here.
There is a scene where James Bond goes over to Brazil in order to find out about the secret base from which Drax has been working. James thinks that this secret location is situated in the Amazon jungle. The filming for the same took place in Brazil. To be more precise, filming majorly took place around the Amazon River and the rainforests for the same.
One of the most asked-about scenes from Moonraker is the one where Bond meets up with Dr. Holly Goodhead. We see that the production crew filmed the scene over at the Iguazu Falls located in Argentina. They exist between the border of Argentina and Brazil. They are one of the largest waterfalls in the world.
The final scenes of the entire movie take place in Rio de Janeiro. This was the place where Bond and Holly were finally going to stop Hugo from making bad decisions about the whole thing. The crew used some of the popular landmarks from the city to create a backdrop, such as Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain for the same.
Also read: 50 Best Shows Like Why Women Kill That You Might Consider Watching.