52 replies to this topic

[jmarks4life]

Would've been nice if Moore actually did the alligator stunt himself.

[MajorB]

It's pretty low on my personal list, but cheers to those who love it--including, I believe, both Daniel Craig and Sam Mendes.

[quantumofsolace]

http://uk.movies.yah...-145600569.html

[Janus Assassin]

Definitely my favorite Moore film and ranking it #5 on my list of all the films. I'm actually watching it now.

[Grard Bond]

It's a fun and ok Bond movie, but no way one of my favorites!

When I saw it for the first time that was around the mid eighties when I had bought my first VCR (one of those grazy V2000 players from Phillips) and I hired all the Bondmovies I didn't knew at that time and that was a lot (In Holland the movies were not shown on TV till the beginning of the nineties!). So Live and let die was one of them and although I liked it, I was a little disapointed when it was finished, thinking was this all? I had the same feeling with DAF. Somehow I expect a little more of a Bondmovie. The seventies Bondmovies from Hamilton and screenwriter Mancovitch are a little hollow and have not a great and big ending.

Jane Seymour, Hot? Sexy? One of the best Bondgirls? I don't get it. I think she's a little boring and not in the same league of Bondgirls like Barbara Bach, Ursula Andress, Lois Chiles, Claudine Auger or Holland's own Famke Janssen.

Mr. Big is also not one of the best villians, but he has a couple of very good and great henchmen.

It's also very clear that the script is based on a couple of exotic locations and stunts and then they made the story around it.

[Grard Bond]

PS: ofcourse I ment Mankiewicz and the word " script" is Dutch and I ment screenplay. Sorry!

[The Krynoid man]

This was one of my favourites as a kid, I recorded it off TV along with TMWTG on the same tape and is probably the one I watched the most. I still enjoy it now but I'm not sure if that's just me being nostalgic or not.

[ViperSRT87]

THe film is not bad by any means as a James bond film goes IMHO. Nostalgia is a powerful feeling. Considering the world has gone almost totally mad nostalgia is one of the few things left to keep you sane! I have great nostalgia for LALD and MWTGG as well as we watched them the most when I was little. Next on that would probably be TLD. I have to ask my same question of that movie as its still one of my favorites. 

[glidrose]

The love this film gets surprises me. Moore is too weak. The film is grungy looking. It looks like bad 1970's tv. The film is stodgy. I guess director Hamilton was aiming at the style of The French Connection but didn't have the necessary aptitude (I don't want to go so far as to say "necessary talent", though...). The plot is almost non-existent, just an excuse for the film's many locations. Most Bond films at least go try to have logical step-by-step reasons for each sequence leading to the next.

 

Seeing this film on first release - after having seen the others - was a real slap in the face. This isn't Bond!

 

I do like the film's second half better. And I still think the "revelation" scene is one of the best in the series and features much excellent dramatic writing. And Yaphet Kotto makes a great villain. In fact the black performers blow "whiteys" off the screen. I enjoy the motorboat chase - in fact the comic relief here works wonders. Don't know why so many stuffy Bond fans don't like the slapstick. J.W. Pepper is fantastic.

[Tiin007]

I'm also a bit puzzled by the seemingly universal adoration LALD gets from Bond fans. In addition to the "almost non-existent" plot mentioned by glidrose, I find the film rather dull. With the exception of the alligator jump and the fight with Tee-Hee on the train, none of the stunts or action sequences are particularly impressive, especially the boat chase (which, at about 14 minutes, is WAY too long).

 

Yaphet Kotto may have done a great job with what he was given, but the lack of a real scheme from Kananga makes the whole movie feel rather contrived.

 

For some reason, this film lacks the sense of excitement I get from most Bond films, and is my least favorite Moore film (yes, I do prefer AVTAK), perhaps even my least favorite in the series.

 

That being said, I do enjoy all Bond films (admittedly, some of it may be nostalgia, or their unique roles in the overall series/legacy), so I wouldn't go so far as to say that the movie is a total failure.

[glidrose]

That being said, I do enjoy all Bond films (admittedly, some of it may be nostalgia, or their unique roles in the overall series/legacy), so I wouldn't go so far as to say that the movie is a total failure.

I remember one critic who said it was a weak Bond film, but even a weak Bond film is better than most other movies. Sho' nuff.

[ViperSRT87]

 

That being said, I do enjoy all Bond films (admittedly, some of it may be nostalgia, or their unique roles in the overall series/legacy), so I wouldn't go so far as to say that the movie is a total failure.

I remember one critic who said it was a weak Bond film, but even a weak Bond film is better than most other movies. Sho' nuff.

 

He is not wrong

[dtuba]

The best? No way. Not even close. But it is my favorite Moore film, and it never fails to entertain me. I know it's silly and dated, but so what....love the boat chase, the theme song and the score, and the villains are awesome.

 

Plus I just love the old guy driving the chicken truck. Don't ask me why, I just do.

[iBond]

I enjoyed this film. Moore looked his youngest and the film was just entertaining. It was nice to have a Bond film mix in with the Blaxploitation era. The one part that could have been reduced in time was the boat chase. It dragged on and on. The scene with the alligators was awesome! I mean, imagine yourself in Bond's shoes. I found my heart pounding when the first croc got on the lone rock. Yes, we all knew that Bond was going to survive, but it was something never used in a Bond film before and something fresh.

[JSDude1]

Dissagree; Live and Let Die is my least favorite of the Roger Moore Era, and one of my least favorite JBs. 

 

I rank it down there with Die Another Day, Quantum of Solace, and Diamonds are Forever. Sorry..

[Major Tallon]

I go back and forth on LALD.  There are times when I think it's a large step down for the series' tone, but I watched it again recently, and I enjoyed it a lot.

[ggl]

My memories were of a good debut film (LALD) and an horror later (TMWTGG).

 

But I saw them together the other day and my opinion has changed. I found GoldenGun really good and LALD probably as the least RM favourite... Quite dated in my opinion...

[Turn]

LALD has always been in the back of the middle of the pack for me. I've always preferred TMWTGG of the two early Moores. It's in line with the other '70s Bond films in that it has a lot of pluses and minuses that balance each other out.

 

LALD has always seemed like one long pursuit movie, with Bond constantly on the run. I could never figure why after Bond stops the plane at the airport that with all the thugs still around he was still able to escape, or how with all his resources Kananga couldn't find and stop Quarrel Jr.'s boat after escaping San Monique. I know, don't think too much, it's a Bond film.

 

And the centerpiece boat chase has a strange pace to it. For all the complaining some fans do about TB's underwater scenes, here for every time you get into the chase we cut to Pepper and his troops bumbling and getting stuck behind oyster trucks.

 

On the positive side, I like the vast network of villains, the music and the great imagery. While not a vibe of paranoia like FRWL, the supernatural aspect comes off pretty well, especially that final shot.  

[hoagy]

"burning a woman's hand with a satisfying hiss"

 

Umm.  Really ?

[The Krynoid man]

The ending with Baron Semadi seems to indicate that he's going to appear in a later film, but he never did. I wonder why?

Edited by The Krynoid man, 20 December 2013 - 10:16 AM.

[Major Tallon]

I never heard any suggestion that Baron Samedi was thought of as a character in any other film.  His end credits appearance was just intended as a reminder that the Baron was a ghostly character who couldn't die.

[seawolfnyy]

For me, LALD is the 3rd best of the Moore films. Not too heavy, slightly heavy on the action, riddled down with blaxploitation and Kananga's embarrasing death scene. That said, I love the New Orleans/Jamaica setting. And while the film reeks of the 70s, it is still a very solid entry sandwiched between 2 lesser films. I rank the Moore films:

 

1. The Spy Who Loved Me

2. For Your Eyes Only

3. Live and Let Die

4. Octopussy

5. The Man with the Golden Gun

6. A View to a Kill

7. Moonraker

[tdalton]

Live and Let Die ranks pretty far down there on the list of Moore's entries for me.  It used to be one that I was rather fond of, but it just seems to get worse with each new viewing. 

 

I'd rank Moore's entries as follows:

 

1. For Your Eyes Only
2. Octopussy
3. A View to a Kill
4. Moonraker
5. The Spy Who Loved Me
6. Live and Let Die
7. The Man With the Golden Gun