Order by:

Add your comment

Do you want to let us know what you think? Just login, after which you will be redirected back here and you can leave your comments.

Comments 1 - 9 of 9

Siskoid's avatar

Siskoid

Live and Let Die is Roger Moore's first, and strangely, they don't do the same kind of reveal in the teaser like they did with Lazenby and then Connery. He's not in the teaser at all! LALD isn't well regarded, and I understand why - tone-deaf to racial politics, a very silly death for the main villain, a slow-paced boat race (Hamilton again), and oh Lord, Sheriff Pepper, the spawn of Satan himself - but I still have a lot of affection for it. Moore makes a good Bond right out of the gate, playing the pun-rich dialog for laughs where Connery would have thrown it away (it's a lot more sexually suggestive too, which is good for lots of chuckles and groans). He's a Bond who doesn't take himself too seriously, less dangerous in some ways, but badass in his nonchalance. Then there's my favorite Bond song of all time, though I admit, its various movements don't all fit the opening sequence very well. Quarrel Jr., who gets to survive where his dad didn't. Jane Seymour as the luscious Solitaire (turning her into a nympho is another case of tone deafness, probably). Lots of neat, gimmicky villains. And I mostly like the idea that Bond is slumming it in other genres, in this case, Hammer Horror voodoo stuff (there isn't another Bond with outright MAGIC in it, is there?) and blaxploitation films (with a couple of Black Belt Jones stars - man, Jim Kelly should have been Felix Leiter in this, absence of acting ability be damned!). This is Bond as icon. Like Doctor Who, like Godzilla, we can throw every other genre at him (SF, Kung Fu, and in the Spy Who Loved Me novel, pure romance) and he survives. Not perfect by any means, but it still holds my attention, and it's possibly the Bond film I've seen the most often, by chance and by design both.
8 years 9 months ago
CinemaDump's avatar

CinemaDump

Guy Hamilton directed Live and Let Die, his third outing as director of a James Bond film. He's famous for bringing what is known as the best of all Bonds, Goldfinger. Producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman are for sure looking to repeat that success with the same team but a key component is gone. Without Sean Connery, we're introduced to Roger Moore playing the crucial role of 007.

It's a low-key introduction. Instead of On Her Majesty's Secret Service that hid George Lazenby's face for as long as possible to build anticipation of his reveal or Diamonds Are Forever playing the same trick as its predecessor, Roger Moore is shown pretty much right away. With an Italian babe in his bed of course. It's an intimate introduction because we actually see Bond's house for the first time. Pretty nice digs, that's for sure.

Live and Let Die is a quieter film than previous Bond films because of its villain not seeking to rule to world with some crazy plot. No, Dr. Kananga just wants to ship a whole bunch of heroin into the US and take over the market. He does however use some fantastical help from his tarot card reader assistant so that's also something pretty different from other Bond movies. There's never been any sort of element of magic in previous movies.

Bond's mission begins by trying to find out what happened to three dead agents. It's an intriguing start and like the previous Diamonds Are Forever, James travels to several US locations. Clearly, Live and Let Die borrows a lot from blaxploitation movies which as an era began in the early 70's. What's also pretty risqué for the time is James hooking up with an African-American love interest. Definite props for pushing the envelope in this case.

Action scenes are simple but very enjoyable. This is large in part because there's no camera trickery or CGI in any of the chases. There's also a speedboat chase that's really fun and shows off some amazing stunts. What's interesting to me is that during this boat chase we actually get shown some local police intervention. Think of all the action movies you've ever seen. How many of them actually involve the police? Probably too few which doesn't make sense because these scenes last at least 10 minutes which should give the police some time to respond if it's in a large city.

Sheriff J.W. Pepper is one of these responding officers during the boat chase and he's ridiculous as he is disgusting. He's probably the most stereotypical Louisiana sheriff you could ever imagine with his tobacco chewing and calling everyone "boy." There's maybe a bit too much screen time given to him but he is pretty funny.

Roger Moore overall as James Bond is perfectly adequate. Not just anyone can be 007 and I think Moore carries himself well. He has charisma and charm to spare although he isn't as physically imposing as Sean Connery is. He gets good marks in my book for sure.

Live and Let Die has a great score composed by George Martin who hooked Paul McCartney along for the ride to do the title song. I'm a huge fan of John Barry's James Bond score but LaLD's music is a nice change. Roger Moore is successfully introduced and the action is well choreographed and executed. In all, Live and Let Die is a winner as far as Bond movies go.

7/10
9 years 11 months ago
jktomas's avatar

jktomas

Fine movie. I like Moore as Bond more than Connery in his last couple of films (after he started to say "sh" instead of "s" like he doesh now).
spoilerAgree with Larkspur, it dived into MST3K territory a few times throughout the movie, which is awesome.
Also, I don't know if it's just me, but Solitaire looks just like Rose Byrne.
11 years 2 months ago
Boei's avatar

Boei

Ok debut for Moore. Liked the voodoo vibe, Louisiana setting and the dukes of hazard boat chase. Awesome title song with Live & Let Die by McCartney. Connery's train fight was better!
1 year 6 months ago
DisneyStitch's avatar

DisneyStitch

Never been much of a fan of Moore's take on the British spy but this particular film has enough going for it that's easier to forgive several of the misfires it has. The stunt work has always been a major plus and the chase sequences are well filmed. Moore is very much a different kind of Bond, rather serious despite the zainy plotlines and environments he plays in. Add that to the interesting voodoo and Louisiana theme plus beautiful Jane Seymour and it ends up being more than decent. It's no coincidence that Jane Seymour as Solitaire always ends up being towards the top end of Bond girl opinion polls either.

Worst thing for me is definitely how they used spoiler
9 years 1 month ago
wizardhat's avatar

wizardhat

Just re-watched this. Been a looong time since i saw it last and I was actually disappointed. I love the boat chase, the crocodile scene is classic Bond, but much of this movie is just off. I thought this was one of my favorite Bond movies. It's probably more like one of my 5 least favorite Bond flicks.
11 years 4 months ago
chunkylefunga's avatar

chunkylefunga

Ignoring the fact that Jane Seymour is supposed to be Haitian, I've never seen such bad acting for someone about to be killed by a snake. Would have gotten better acting out of a mannequin.
8 years 5 months ago
Larkspire's avatar

Larkspire

I've been working my way through the series, and this is my favourite so far. Shame about the cops in the chase, and the sudden dive spoiler
11 years 6 months ago
fakirfikir's avatar

fakirfikir

worst Bond movie ever made that I have watched so far.
7 years 4 months ago
View comments