40 replies to this topic

[Cruiserweight]

I gave it a 8. A very solid bond film.Underrated in my opinon.One of Rogers best.

[001carus]

I saw Live and Let Die many, many moons ago as a kid - and frankly, I remembered next to nothing of it. Today, I just rewatched it for the first time in maybe twelve years, and I was absolutely satisfied with it. From the get go, I was happy to see the film strayed at least slightly away from the usual formula. That being said, I would have been far happier if the movie was translated directly from the novel its based on and, unlike the Casino Royale novel which required many changes for it to work onscreen, Live and Let Die would have required far less, as it was already quite action oriented.

Roger Moore is a refreshing Bond - I don't feel he's quite as "Bond" as Sean was, but he certainly has that presence, and gives a startling performance. He certainly moves, fights, talks like Bond would, so it all works.

The first half of the movie works almost flawlessly. It's fast, never tedious; easy to follow, and feels like a real spy thriller. We have Roger inspecting Mr. Big and the world around him, all the while being tied down by Mr. Big's seemingly endless amount of contacts (which is very similar to how the novel plays out). The movie does a good job of making Mr. Big seem like a powerful figure - not so much as in the novel, but still a good job.

The jokes are delivered with conviction and realism, unlike the one liners found in later Moore films. The locations are brilliant - beautiful for the most part. My favourite would be when Roger Moore arrives at his apartment deep in jungle - it reminded me of the Dr. No apartment Connery stayed in. Lovely.

Unfortunately, the movie does bog itself down in a few places. The boat chase was fine, fun action, but was incredibly slowed and almost ruined by the campy and perfectly unfunny Police Sargent, who served absolutely no purpose whatsoever, and got far too much screen time - probably moreso than Bond in that scene. In the end, the scene was butchered every so often. It wasn't that large of a deal, but it certainly took me out of the movie, which was, up until this point, completely enjoyable.

The climax, while exciting, wasn't as exciting as it could have been. For instance, the climax to the novel would have sufficed, maybe with a few more henchmen for Bond to battle. Instead, we had a decent fight between Bond and Mr. Big, ending in one of the most ridiculous things I've seen in any Bond movie - Mr. Big turning into a giant balloon and popping? A completely odd way to end the movie. That said, the Tee Hee fight was good fun, and while rushed, a decent end to the film.

Live and Let Die was a great Bond flick. It's got a youthful, realistic Roger Moore as Bond, a lovely set of bad guys, a great Bond girl, beautiful locations and a resounding plot. I only wished it had more to do with the novel, which I wholeheartedly loved. Cutting out a bit of the camp near the end, and we'd have a brilliant Bond film that rolls off the screen and is completely watchable and lovable.

8/10

[sharpshooter]

I watched this again yesterday, I was reminded how much I enjoy Yaphet Kotto's performance as Kananga. He is just fun to watch. Oh, and the scene with Moore smoking a cigar while hang gliding is very cool.

[staveoffzombies]

This is a movie that I didn't care much for at first, but has grown on me over time. I just watched it for the first time in almost a year and was surprised at how much I enjoyed this time around.

And Jane Seymour is devastatingly gorgeous...she's worth the price of admission alone.

[Pete]

The first Bond film I ever saw at the Cinema and is my favourite Roger Moore film. I never thought he recaptured the Bond in LaLD in any of his other films. It had the right mixture of action and humour, a great score by George Martin and the best theme tune to a Bond film ever.

As much as I disliked RM as Bond (although I like TSWLM a bit) this film is at the moment in my top ten.

[double o ego]

The first Bond movie I ever saw was this one, in fact it was towards the end, with Bond and Solitaire tied up aboe the sharks. I watched this film a few days ago after about 4 years and I loved it. Even the inept and quite frankly funny J.W.Pepper. I think the gadgets in the movie were actually useful and highly effective. The deflecting bullet, magnetism and buzz saw. Awesome!

Kananga is easily in my top 5 Bond villains list. He's great, it's just a shame he died so soon. Funnily enough, this movie is one of the more serious Moore movies if not the most serious and I rate it as Moore's best Bond film.
8/10 from me.

Edited by double o ego, 09 October 2008 - 02:28 PM.

[chrisno1]

In 2008 I watched all the Bond movies and wrote a series of reviews for another site. The aim was to watch them in order in the run up to the premiere of QOS. I succeeded and the reviews were well received.
However, subsequently, I have re-read my reviews and re-watched a number of the movies (the BFI had a whole 007 season earlier this year and I saw quite a few on the big screen again!).
This is my updated review for Live And Let Die.

LIVE AND LET DIE
REVISED REVIEW 11/01/10

For the third film running we are presented with a different James Bond - and also a different tone. While Lazenby’s episode was earnest, and Connery’s return camp, here we have a breezy Bond as Roger Moore drives his merrily destructive way through the Big Easy, the Big Apple and the Blue Caribbean. Moore seems a remarkably bankable choice now, but in 1973 his star was on the wane after a decade of television popularity and there was some reluctance to employ him.

Interestingly, Moore’s debut, while not one of his very best films, is one of his better performances, lacking the overt humour of his later output and showing ample restraint when confronted with the some of the more foolish goings on. Moore was lucky as the screenplay was written before he took over the role, hence it has a certain “generic James Bond” feel to it. That does not excuse the material wasted on the remaining characters and this is the central failure of the film.

One of the major criticisms of Fleming’s writing has always been his “Yessah – Nossah” attitude towards his black characters. The novel Live And Let Die is no exception, although it does feature a strong central negro villain in Mr Big. The producers took something of a gamble with this project, especially during the era of “blaxploitation” films, as a poor adaptation would have appeared patronising. As it is Bond is the one made to be the fool, twice being captured when visiting blacks-only Fillet of Soul bars and being scoffed at by a CIA agent for his clever disguise – “a white man in Harlem.”

The trouble with Tom Mankiewicz’s screenplay isn’t that he avoids Fleming’s racial stereotypes - it’s everything else he leaves out. Live And Let Die is a violent novel and Fleming’s grisly descriptions have great cinematic appeal. It is surprising then that Leiter’s mutilation by sharks, Bond’s midnight raid on a seafront warehouse, his swim across a barracuda infested coral reef and the keel hauling finale have all been dispensed with. Some of these genuinely thrilling passages are re-used later in the series, but it is disappointing they are not used in context.

Mankiewicz does retain a few incidents: Bond meets Mr Big and has his finger broken; Bond’s taxi is tracked through Harlem by a number of eagle-eyed informants; Bond is abducted from a rotating booth; Mr Big has an underground hideout; he controls his island population with voodoo; and he utilises a white voodoo priestess to tell the future.

The last of these forms the central love story and Mankiewicz is very careful when building the character of Solitaire, a chaste high priestess, so that when Bond takes her virginity, despite his deceitful interference, it appears as foretold in her tarot cards. The success of this portion of the film rests with Moore and Jane Seymour, who act the roles of lothario and innocent very well. It is a difficult few scenes and the dialogue isn’t completely convincing, but the playing certainly is, and Seymour, a very young and beautiful actress, excellently displays the flowering sensual side of Solitaire, something that Fleming stresses in his novel.

Having left out the best parts of the source novel, the producers try to create their own sensational narrative. There are numerous short-lived bouts of fisticuffs and several well constructed pursuits, including a fifteen minute speed boat chase and a lot of quite outrageous stunts that usually involve crashing and smashing motorised vehicles. It’s all good fun but not very threatening.

Any real menace in a Bond film usually comes from the enemy and here the team fail us too: a succession of wily black heavies is generally used for light relief or fashion models as they lounge around New York and New Orleans. They do include Fleming’s permanently smiling Tee Hee, who here is given, for no apparent reason, a metal claw for a hand. Julius Harris can do little with this role, as can Yaphet Kotto with his. Fine actors both, but Kotto in particular disappoints. The confusion of his dual role as Kanaga the politician and Mr Big the gangster does not help his interpretation, and by the climax he seems to morph into the recently deceased Baron Samedi and becomes manic and wild eyed.

Choreographer Geoffrey Holder’s Samedi leaves a lasting impression, both as a wild on stage dancer and as the spirit king; he has a small scene in a churchyard that tingles the spine. His ultimate demise in a coffin of snakes is way too sudden for such an outstanding creation. Indeed all the voodoo elements of the story could have been exploited far better. It would certainly then have given the imbecilic Rosie more cause to be scared of betraying Kanaga.

While Mankiewicz’s script carries the blame for these deficiencies, it isn’t entirely his own fault. Guy Hamilton’s direction is lame, Ted Moore’s photography flat, the editing functional at best and George Martin’s music score intrusive, erratic and repetitive. While Julie Harris’ suits are naffly colourful and Jane Seymour has some great gowns to wear, everything else looks and feels bit counterfeit, including Kananga’s underground cavern, a tiny bushel for Mr Big.

Thankfully, Paul McCartney and Wings provide an excellent theme song. With its jump starting and fast pace it seems to match the film, which doesn’t ebb and flow but stops and starts. Live And Let Die features two worthy central performances and some good set pieces, but could have benefitted from the harder edge of the novel.

Most significantly, Roger Moore deserves credit for not impersonating Sean Connery.
He establishes a different Bond, less vicious, less contemptuous, less mean spirited, even, dare I say it, less resourceful. This Bond is stylish, humorous and fanciful. When he talks of Rosie Carver he could be speaking of himself: “A terrible agent, but the compensations speak for themselves.”

RATING 6 from 10

[SecretAgentFan]

I had very fond memories of this. But when I decided to re-watch it, I must say I found it... wanting.

Moore is very good, the story is basically interesting, all actors deliver - yet, the pacing seems off. Everything seems a bit slow and forced. Of course, there are classic scenes (the alligator farm, Bond cheating with the cards to get Solitaire, the finale). And the title song and the score are fantastic. But having seen LALD shortly after DAF and TMWTGG I must say that I prefer those two. Both are much more fun IMO and have tighter editing and plots. The boat chase in LALD drags on with too much Sheriff Pepper slowing it even further down.

So - LALD gets five out of ten from me.

[elizabeth]

LALD gets a very high rating in my book - a 9. i loved it, especially roger moore's debut.

[tb75]

Here is my offical review:
--------------------------------------

Live and Let Die. Oh boy, this film scarred me from the time i was nine until a year or two ago. I may look like a wimp, but LALD is generally frightening, with plenty of Voodoo added in, which has not been in a Bond film before or since. Let's start from the top shall we?

The Movie begins after Bond is awoken by M, who informs Bond of the deaths of 3 MI6 agents, with Bond being sent to investigate. After arriving, the viewer can sense Bond is not fit for his surroundings, with Bond being trailed from all direction sby Mr. Big's henchman. But who is Mr. big. In the film, he is actually a leader/diplomat from a fictional Caribbean Island, who is make heroin, and eliminating his enemies through Voodoo Ceremonies. He is helped by his telepathic friend Solitaire, who's mother and grand mother worked for Kananga's relatives.

Basically, the movie is a twist after twist Bond Film. You don't know what's going to happen next, so you must hold onto your seat.

I do have some problems with the film though. Number one, they should have let Kannaga live at the end. That would have been a nice twist. Jane Seymour is okay, she was not the best actress back then, and her make up was horrible. She should have just wore white dresses in the film. Kannaga's death was horrible, they should have let him get eaten by the sharks. Baron Samedi was underused, and they wasted a fight scene with him and Bond.

But the film had some good things as well. The Villains were great, with Samedi and the Taxi driver as my favorites. The score was great, especially with when the score kicked in when something was happening. And there was some great funny scenes in the movie as well. Moore's puns were funny as hell.

Overall the movie was the second best of the 70'S, I GIVE IT A 8/10.

Edited by tb75, 28 March 2010 - 02:51 AM.

[Andy Bond]

There aren't many films more fun to watch in the series than this. It is action packed and a perfect way to ease someone into the role. It is lacking a little in plot but has a lot more positives than negatives.

The main theme is great, there are some really nice locations, there are some great set pieces and it has some really memorable villains. I'm not a huge fan of the voodoo magic elements but it definitely maes the film stand out. It gets a little too silly towards the end, what with Sheriff J.W. Pepper and the ridiculous death of the villain but there's a lot to like about this.

8/10.

Edited by Andy Bond, 16 February 2012 - 03:01 PM.