40 replies to this topic

[Qwerty]

From CBn's main page...

CBn Reviews 'Live And Let Die'
Forum members review the eighth James Bond film

[trumanlodge89]

great reviews everyone!! these articles are among my favorite of the CBn "regular" collumns...

[Qwerty]

Glad you like. Sorry for the small delay of sorts between Diamonds Are Forever and this one. All the rest from now on will be on a somewhat regular basis.

[Doctor Shatterhand]

Hey, how can one become a reviewer for this series of articles?

[Qwerty]

Hey, how can one become a reviewer for this series of articles?

All the info can be found right here: http://debrief.comma...showtopic=24641

So for example Dr. Shatterhand, if The Man With The Golden Gun is your 4th favorite Bond film, review it in the Countdown #4 thread, or if it's your 7th favorite, review in the Countdown #7 thread.

I take all the reviews for these articles right from those threads.

[trumanlodge89]

Glad you like. Sorry for the small delay of sorts between Diamonds Are Forever and this one. All the rest from now on will be on a somewhat regular basis.

you know, the day LALD was posted, i was wondering what happened to the reviews. my question was answered.

[Qwerty]

Oh yes, all the reviews will go up.

[Qwerty]

[Moderator's Note: Poll added to this thread.]

[Qwerty]

Bumping this up.

[moorebond82]

I gave it a 9 it's a good bond picture in my opinion but it's real hard picking a favorite roger moore bond film. Sometimes it's FYEO and even AVTAK. There really is no bad roger moore bond for me.

[Lady Templar]

I gave it a 8.

[sharpshooter]

I gave it a 7.

I have seen this film COUNTLESS times, and is always a good fun film to watch.

The song by Paul McCartney is one of the best of the series.

[Scottlee]

An 8 from me. A flawed but very engrossing movie.

[Agent 0015]

An 8, very entertaining movie, but I really didn't like Kananaga's death.

[Turn]

It's not one of my very favorites, but I like LALD for some reason. There's just something very cool and '70s about it. The imagery with the voodoo and such really helps, not to mention George Martin's offbeat score and the McCartney theme.

And what's not to like about a Bond film where somebody says "Keep your hands up, honkey!"

[Bond fan since March 2000]

Ok, I reviewed all 21 Bond films on DVD & I started with my least favorite & am working my way to #1. So enjoy!

#18 Live & Let Die, 1973

Have you noticed a trend in my Bond reviews so far? My least favorite, The Man With The Golden Gun was 1974. My 2nd least favorite, Diamonds Are Forever was 1971. My 3rd least favorite, On Her Majesty's Secret Service was 1969 & now my 4th least favorite, Live & Let Die is 1973. It seems that the early 70s (OHMSS was released December 1969) was the low point in the Bond franchise for me, although theses ones still have some type of entertainment value.

Live & Let Die sees the debut of Roger Moore as James Bond where he travels to New York City investigating the killings of three of MI6's best agents. He then travels through Jamaica & New Orleans while dealing with Dr.Kanaga (Yaphet Kotto from Alien) who plans on selling free drugs to people in the US so there will be more addicts & will turn a huge profit. Along the way, Bond seduces his tarot-reading mistress Solitaire (Jane Seymour in her debut) & encounters many voodoo things.

Live & Let Die is a good Bond, but seems to lack the more luxirous up-scale elements of other Bonds & feels kind of cheap. Bond never wears a tuxedo & orders a Bourbon instead of a martini shaken not stirred. And the locations while fine seem too much on a normal human scale. They are original however & some scenes in New Orleans pre-Hurricane Katrina are a reminder of what that city was like before the hurricane.

For a debut, Roger Moore is adequate. Unlike Lazenby, the filmakers tried to distance Moore from Sean Connery so it would be harder to compare. Moore seems uncomfortable is some scenes but good in others & he does improve later on. The villains are ok with Yaphet Kotto not one of the best Bond villains. Julius Harris plays TeeHee, a henchmen with a metal arm & a claw for a hand with lots of spirit & energy & the same can be said for Arnold Williams in a small role as a cab driver Bond keeps running into. Jane Seymour is one of those dansel-in-dintress Bond girls who is very beautiful & handles the role well.

The other Bond girl is Rosie Carver played by Gloria Hendry & her few scenes are quite annoying & very poorly acted. Her screen time is thankfully limited. The only other complaint with casting is the absence of Desmond Llewelyn as Q. Clifton James also brings good humor as Sheriff J.W. Pepper, a role he would reprise in The Man With The Golden Gun.

Action is low-key & not the best Bond has to offer but still good. The bus chase is fun as is a chase through an airport & an 8 minute boat chase which set a then world record boat jump. The film's best scene includes one of Bond's best escapes:From an island surrounding by nothing but crocodiles. This scene is set perfectly to Beatle producer George Martin's funky, fresh & entertaining musical score that is a nice deviation from John Barry & one of the best scores. That is helped by a classic title song sung by Paul McCartney & what I rank as the 3rd greatest theme song ever. The music & the crocodile scene are my favorite parts of this movie.

Live & Let Die is good despite it's cheapness. The pre-title sequence is dull, but after that it gets going. It's great to listen to & if you are curious about Roger Moore's debut, you should check this one out.

[LadySylvia]

[Mr_Wint]

[quote name='Bond fan since March 2000' post='717905' date='25 March 2007 - 05:26']if you are curious about Roger Moore's debut, you should check this one out.[/quote]
[quote name='LadySylvia' post='735009' date='3 May 2007 - 23:17']Between 1967 and 1972, EON Productions spent a chaotic five years trying to find one man to settle down portray James Bond following Sean Connery

[LadySylvia]

[quote name='Mr_Wint' post='735018' date='3 May 2007 - 16:34'][quote name='Bond fan since March 2000' post='717905' date='25 March 2007 - 05:26']if you are curious about Roger Moore's debut, you should check this one out.[/quote]
[quote name='LadySylvia' post='735009' date='3 May 2007 - 23:17']Between 1967 and 1972, EON Productions spent a chaotic five years trying to find one man to settle down portray James Bond following Sean Connery

[Blabbermouth]

This was the first Roger Moore Bond movie I say, and at the time I thought it was pretty scare in the voodoo scenes. I have therefore always had a soft spot for the movie, but upon reading the original novel believe that a lot better movie could have been made had Tom M. stuck more with the original plot.

High points include the New York scenes, boat chase, interrogation of Bond, Crocodille Farm scenes. Performances are good, although I would have loved more time for Seymour as Solitaire before she allies with Bond. George Martin's score is great as is the title song by Wings.

Low Points are the plot(too unrealistic), too little of Mr. Big and too much of Kananga, airport chase, rescue of Solitaire and fight with Kananga

[manfromjapan]

LIVE AND LET DIE (1973)
Roger Moore's debut as 007 lacks the epic scale of the '60's productions, and jettisons much of the original Fleming novel. What it does have is a confident, good-humoured performance from Moore, a witty script from Tom Mankiewicz and some outstanding action scenes involving boats, crocodiles and buses. Jane Seymour is the virginal Bond girl; Yaphet Kotto an effective villain, although he is overshadowed by Julius W. Harris as the one-armed henchman Tee-Hee. The Paul McCartney/ Wings theme tune may just be the best ever Bond theme.

[Safari Suit]

I caught the start of this on ITV yesterday. I noticed they cut the stabbing in the funeral scene, rendering it incomprehensible.

[BoogieBond]

Watched this recently on TV, and it confirmed this is still a Bond I enjoy a great deal.
It is a pretty loose adaption of the book. The characters are pretty much the same (-the robber) and the roles and relationships of those characters are pretty faithful. The plot and story and events of the film are different. Substitution of gold coins for Heroine. Also there are a number of my favourite actions sequences from the book missing incl. Bond attacked by Barracuda and scuba diving to Mr Big's boat(some were done later in FYEO and LTK) Baron Samedi appears in a different guise(Mr Big is BaronSamedi in the book) The way Mr Big captures Bond in Harlem is pretty similar, and a big similarity is the villains have the upper hand in both the film and book, adding a dangerous feel to the movie.

Number of highlights, like the boat chase, croc farm, chase in airstrip, bus chase , bond battle with Tee Hee. And perhaps the best ending of a Bond. With Baron Samedi laughing at the end. Rog is fine as Bond, he looks in good shape for this one, but in terms of performance he is not at his SWLM best.

I think everything clicked in this film, I don't think anything was particularly weak apart from now, it looks a bit dated. I like that it is unique(at that time in 1973) in that M visits Bond's home for his mission, and Q is not in the film.

All in all, enjoyed it greatly, rollicking good entertainment.

Edited by BoogieBond, 15 April 2008 - 06:00 PM.

[Golden Claw]

This is Rodge's debut as Bond, and I consider this as Rodge's best Bond movie and my second most favourite of his. There is something mystical and mythical about this movie and it feels very special. Rodge's performance as Bond is very good: he's a man of action but has a human feel to him, unlike the superhero Bond of TSWLM onwards.

The movie feels down-to-Earth and there are no gadgets (apart from the watch) which I like. This is Guy Hamilton's best directorial effort of his 4 Bonds. I like the fact that Kananga and Mr Big are actually the same person. Yaphet Kotto is great as the villain and and so are the henchmen. Kananga's death is disappointing and the chase scenes are too long.

But I still consider it Rodge's best movie.

[DaveBond21]

I always loved this one as a kid, but it's not as good anymore.

Still good fun though.

[Unit II]

Live and Let Die was the first "old" bond movie I saw, and happened to fall in love with it when I saw it. Prior to, I had seen Golden Eye and played the video game obsessively, yet that was my only exposure to 007. Over my Xmas break in 6th grade TNT played 7 days of 007 and I was hooked. All I did that break was watch bond movies, and eventually my brother became hooked, too. Live and Let Die is a shared favorite of ours and it always will be.

[Mr. Blofeld]

Live and Let Die was the first Bond movie I ever saw. Back when I was a wee lad, they had it showing as one of the networks' night movies; I still remember being vividly impressed by the jazz funeral sequence at the beginning of the film. Roger was in tip-top shape and crisp to a finish as Bond, and that score... mmmm-mmmm!

[Johnboy007]

8/10

This movie has just about everything, but there's a certain spark about it missing. All of the pieces are there but something doesn't click. I can never figure out what it is...

It introduces the world to Roger Moore for James Bond. My favorite James Bond, and this is probably his second best performance (TSWLM is #1). When people talk about which actor most closely resembles Fleming's Bond, I would give serious consideration to Moore in Live and Let Die. He is equally charming and savage. Moore's Bond exudes those necessary amounts of arrogance, snobbery, and confidence that none of the other actors ever quite got. He does whatever it takes to get the job done; be it in bed or on the battlefield.

The score is a real classic. Something about all of those strings of George Martin's gets me every time I listen to it. He's helped of course by McCartney's song, one of the best of the series, and is one of the most brilliantly incorporated into the score. I really can't emphasize it more. If I were left stranded on an island with only one James Bond album to listen to for the rest of my life, this would be it.

Yaphet Kotto, Jane Seymour, Geoffrey Holder, and a whole host of wonderful henchman make this film even more enjoyable. With the exception of Kananga's death, some of the greatest support around James Bond. There's something so chilly about the reveal of Mr. Big. Seymour provides an unusual air of innocence around her that no other Bond girl pulls off, that that makes her something really special. The classic damsel in distress. Then there's Baron Samedi. It doesn't make much sense as to how he keeps resurrecting, but that makes him all the more creepy.

The action scenes do a fine job of balancing genuine thrill and good humor. The boat chase is a little long, but it really adds some sparkle to the Lousiana bayou.

In the end, I guess there's something about the dinginess of the film that dilutes it. Other films benefit from exciting and exotic locales that people actually want to visit. Maybe it's just me, but Harlem, the bayous of Louisiana, and "San Monique" do not fit that bill. Otherwise I enjoy this one immensely.

[Aris007]

9/10

One of the best films. Moore was very good, so was Bernard Lee, in his bigger role in a Bond film! The boat chase, simply the best!
Th e thing I hate, though is J.W Pepper. He's disgusting! he spits and spits....bliah! He doen't overshadow the film fortunately! Still one of my favs!

[ChrissBond007]

9/10

The second best Roger Moore Bondfilm, after For Your Eyes Only. A great start for the third 007. Especilly the action and locations are great, love the crocodile farm scene! And also the cast and the fantastic music score are another great things about this film. Many people hated the character of JW. Pepper. Yes he's only for the comedy, but I wasn't irritated and I like those funny moments. Any way, one of the best Bondfilms!

Edited by ChrissBond007, 14 August 2008 - 03:17 PM.