3. Moonraker (1979)
The Man: Roger Moore (again)
The Mission: After a British space shuttle is hi-jacked in mid-air, Bond is sent to investigate the operations of the industrialist Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale). His journey eventually leads him to Drax's space station, from which Drax intends to poison the Earth and begin a new, purer version of the human race.
The Problem: Even amongst die-hard Bond fans, Moonraker is a bit of a joke. Like many films released in the aftermath of Star Wars, it was attempting to cash in on the popularity of space adventure stories without having the proper tools with which to do it. The wire work is poor, the script is weak and none of the villains are particularly compelling. The film comes off as pompous and embarrassing as Star Trek: The Motion Picture, though it is at least a little shorter. As a general rule, stories about eugenics and racial purity don't work in situations where big action set-pieces and comic one-liners are just as high a priority. The plot has potential, make no mistake, but its execution is so off-kilter that it makes The Boys From Brazil looks sensible in comparison. Not to mention the film takes Jaws, one of the best ever Bond henchman, and turns him into a wet blanket by giving him a girlfriend. Diddums.
The Alternative: For Your Eyes Only (1981), if only for the funny scene at the end in which the parrot talks to Margaret Thatcher - sort of.