The story of the film
James Bond is charged with investigating the disappearance of an American space shuttle, entrusted to the British government, called Moonraker. The secret agent soon discovers that the person responsible is none other than Hugo Drax, the designer of the shuttle, who seeks to annihilate the human race to recreate a new race of perfect men.
The hovercraft gondola
The hovercraft gondola belongs to the department of Q. At the base, it looks like a traditional gondola, like the one you see in Venice. But it is also equipped with an inboard engine that allows it to be transformed into an outboard motorboat and an inflatable skirt, which turns it into a hovercraft, to go on land.
1 - The underside of the gondola at first glance, the "Bondola" looks like any traditional gondola. It is a wooden boat with a flat bottom, 10.82 m long and 1.37 m wide.
2 - Oar lock the oar lock is placed in the "Forcola." It holds the oar called "Remo" and allows the gondolier to choose the position according to the direction: forward, backward or stop.
3 - Electrical controls for speedboats pressing a hidden button on the left side of the gondola, an electric control console appears to turn the gondola into a speedboat, controlled by a joystick.
4 - Mooring point the copper seahorses on each side of the gondola are not only decorative, but also used for mooring.
5 - Decoration of the bow at the front of all gondolas is a multi-row bow known as the "Ferro", which means iron. It can also be made of aluminum, brass or stainless steel and acts as a counterweight to the gondolier, which is at the back of the boat.
6 - Hovercraft controls a button on the right side of the gondola allows to inflate a skirt under the boat, when it is activated. It then turns into a hovercraft. The back of the chair flips over, revealing a steering wheel.
The scene of the film where we see the gondola "Bondola"
James Bond is enjoying a gondola ride through the Venetian canals, when an assassin with a knife kills his gondolier. Reacting quickly, James Bond transforms the gondola into a motorboat and quickly launches himself into the canals to lose his pursuers, a boatload of men with guns. He manages to outrun Drax's henchmen, before arriving in front of St. Mark's Square.
As he approaches a staircase in St. Mark's Square, Bond presses another button to turn the gondola into a hovercraft. An inflatable skirt allows the hovercraft to go on land and cross St. Mark's Square in the middle. Shocked onlookers watch the craft cross the square, wondering if they have had one too many drinks.
Anecdotes from the shoot
The scene in which the gondola transforms into a hovercraft and rises above the water had to be repeated five times. During the first four takes, the vehicle was so unstable that Roger Moore fell into the water and had to dry himself off completely before putting on a new silk suit for each new take. Finally, it was lucky that the fifth take was the right one, as he was wearing the last available suit. Tourists present during the shooting were able to film Roger Moore falling into the water.
The boat chase was slightly hampered by speed restrictions, limited to 5 knots in the city.
Roger Moore was the one who nicknamed the gondola "Bondola" instead of gondola in English.
Moonraker is the only James Bond film in which two boat chases take place: the Bondola gondola chase, filmed in the canals of Venice, and the scene with Q's Hydrofoil Boat, a Glastron speedboat tethered with a hang glider wing.
The appearance of this gondola was strongly criticized by the spectators, who were disappointed by this gimmick after the superb underwater Lotus in The Spy Who Loved Me. And the scene of the pigeon looking at the gondola, and turning his head, was stoned.
