Live and Let Die
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Movie Reviews of Live and Let Die
Movie Review: Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
Very satisfied and pleased. I recommend doing business with this seller. Very fast shipping and excellent communication. Thank you very much. A+++++++ Rating.Movie Review: Roger Moore Proves Himself A Worthy Successor To Conner
Summary: 4 Stars
The Sean Connery era was now long gone as Eon embarked upon a new course for 007. Turned down by Timothy Dalton (who would later fill in a two-movie gap for the Broccoli family), Roger Moore donned the suit, the Ashton Martin, and the license to kill.
The Bond franchise has endured through the years with a basically repetitive formula. A breath-taking opening sequence that sets the plot, a memorable theme song (though some are more memorable than others), gorgeous ladies (whom he romances), tough villains, clever and memorable names (like "Xenia Onatopp") and some semblance of a plot. The better Bond movies have all of those.
I divide the Bond movies into four tiers of viewership. The top tier is reserved for the VERY BEST Bond films and includes, in my opinion, movies like 'Goldfinger.' The second tier is the VERY GOOD Bond films that you aren't disappointed about. The third tier is the DECENT AND WATCHABLE group while tier four is the ONLY IF YOU HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO DO section. So where does "Live And Let Die" fall?
In my opinion, it is a high second tier Bond. In fact, other than "The Spy Who Loved Me," this is Roger Moore's best outing. Three agents are killed in the opening sequence, one at the UN, one on the island of San Monique, and another on a street corner in New Orleans. Bond is awakened in the middle of the night by "M" (played so well by Bernard Lee) to start putting the pieces together.
He travels to New York where he meets up with Bond's usual American counterpart, Felix Lighter (played by the best Lighter of them all, David Hedison). After an interesting murder of his cab driver, Bond goes into a witchcraft shop (called "The Oh Cult") and pursues the villains. He winds up being bailed out by another agent as he continues his search. The search leads him to the island of San Monique, where he becomes, shall we say, 'acquanited' with the virginal Solitaire, whose powers have never led the lead villian, Kananga, astray. But Bond stacks the deck, makes the girl a woman, and continues to put together the plot.
The basic plot is that the "Fillet of Soul" restaurants are serving as a front for money laundering from the sale of heroin. Kananga plans to give out free samples, get people hooked, and then drive the price of heroin sky high, making him an overnight gazillionaire. His plans, of course, didn't count on the Brit with the nice suit. In the end, Bond blows up Kananga with a shark pellet and gets the girl. The end.
"Live And Let Die" has many commendable aspects. Felix Lighter was played by a box of Velveeta cheese in "Thunderball." In fact, Lighter was not even necessary to the plot after Jack Lord's good performance in "Dr No." But David Hedison plays a believably authentic role as Bond's CIA source - so much so that he was one of only two guys to play Lighter twice when he re-appeared in 1989's 'Licence To Kill.' Moore is good as Bond, better than Connery's last movie or that sorry excuse for a Bond, George Lazenby. The theme song and the music are decent, and Jane Seymour is, in my view, the 'hottest' of the Bond girls, authentically beautiful rather than surgically attained.
"Live And Let Die" does, however, have a few drawbacks that keep it from the first tier. Aside from the portrayal of Kananga, many of the blacks in the movie are played stereotypically to the point of near racism. This is even countered with the memorable if cornball portrayal (think "Hee Haw" comes to the bayou) of Sherriff J.W. Pepper - a character and scene that the entire movie could have done without. The water scenes in the bayou drag on and on and you're just glad when the thing is over. The ending is reminiscent of "Thunderball" in the sense that the movie went on too long. To top off this mistake, Pepper reappears in the next Bond movie, "The Man With The Golden Gun."
The good thus outweighs the bad, and the movie is decent enough for a high rating. I give it four stars.
Movie Review: Roger Moore's First Attempt
Summary: 4 Stars
Looking back, whenever the producers of Bond insert a new actor the movies tend to be some of the best for their respective era. Goldeneye was Pierce Brosnan's one great film. The Living Daylights was much better than License to Kill and Casino Royale was absolutely spectacular. Roger Moore's initial effort, on the other hand, came during a rather weak period following Sean Connery's one clunker, `Diamonds Are Forever' and preceding the strange and bland `Man With The Golden Gun'. The late 60's and early 70's were an era of experimentation for the U.S. and Britain and the Bond producers seemed to be getting with the times. None of the licensed Bond films are without redeeming qualities but some bury them deeper than others. LaLD has more than a few flaws but I have to say that it has improved with repeated viewings.
My biggest issue with the film is that when you get right down to it Mr. Big/Kananga is nothing more than a glorified drug dealer. It's no coincidence that two of my least favorite Bond films, this one and the abominable License to Kill both pit Bond against a drug kingpin. On the upside the casting is excellent and I have to give a special nod to Yaphet Kotto for his portrayal of Kananga and Jane Seymour is absolutely one of the most beautiful Bond girls ever. Julius Harris and Geoffry Holder were well cast as Kananga's henchmen Tee Hee and Baron Samedi. The one sore spot for me was the nauseating Clifton James as Sheriff Pepper who unfortunately makes an unwanted return in Golden Gun.
There are a few scenes in the movie that are done extremely well. One classic is when Bond walks into the all black `Filet o Soul' dressed in a long black coat with black gloves, parted haircut, speaking in his British accent. This may be the best fish out of water scene in all the Bond movies. After Bond stumbles into Mr. Big's trick booth and finds himself captured, Kotto delivers one of the best lines of any Bond movie. Bond begins to introduce himself and Big responds, `Names is for tombstones, baby! Y'all take this honkey out and WASTE HIM! NOW!' The line works absolutely perfect and establishes Mr. Big as a different kind of villain. Another great scene is when Mr. Big reveals that he and Kananga are the same person. Everything about it works, particularly Kananga testing of Solitaire to see whether or not she had slept with Bond. The plot of LaLD is a bit weak but the dialogue is well written. When Bond stumbles upon the villains underground lair Kananga is there waiting with Champaign in hand. `What shall we toast to?' he asks to which Bond replies, `An earthquake?' That is one of the few times I laughed out loud during a Bond movie.
Live and Let Die reminds me in some ways of the Man with the Golden Gun in that it seems a bit removed from the other Bond films. On some levels, including the terrific soundtrack, it works quite well. I was never a fan of Paul McCartney's title song but the rest of the music is great. I'm going to give the film a four and it may be a generous score but for some reason the film continues to grow on me unlike many of the more recent Brosnan films that seemed to lose something on repeated viewings.
There is one final scene I thought I would mention. After Bond is taken out to be `wasted' Kananga's henchmen take him to the slums of Harlem behind some buildings strewn with trash. One of the henchmen gives Bond a rough shove from behind prompting Bond to thank him. And he thanks him in a way that sounds 100% sincere. What really struck me about this scene was the realism of it. This was a legit, trash filled, crumbling section of Harlem. There is almost no color in this scene and the thought of Bond being executed in this terrible section of New York City always stuck with me. Again, the film is on the lower end of the Bond scale but there are moments that excel.
Movie Review: Roger Moore's first Bond film - and not his best
Summary: 4 Stars
Sean Connery officialy retired from the Bond films (though he comes back for the "Never Say Never Again" film, which isn't even considered a true Bond film) in the 7th film of the series "Diamonds are Forever". Roger Moore has become the new Bond in his first, and the 8th Bond film "Live And Let Die". Roger Moore sports a refreshing and young look to Bond, and maybe a bit too young, demonstrating a role that is less impressive than what seemed to have come off as a natural for Connery. But when one hates to compare, Moore is still impressive and creates a sucess (after all, he does return for 6 more films). As for the Live and Let Die story, it would seem long gone is the unrealistic super-villain, actually replaced with a more natural and down-to-Earth type villain. This is indeed a very different feel for a Bond film, but overall it is a welcome change that is still as fun and entertaining as any Bond film out there.
Live and Let Die is composed of an almost entirely black cast, which is another welcome change for a Bond film. The villain is called Kanaga, who is in charge of a huge business in heroine smuggling. He works out of an island in the Caribbean called San Monique (non-existent in the real world) and travels back and forth between there and New York City and New Orleans, where Bond vists throughout the film as well. Kanaga's sidekick villain Tee-Hee is a most memorable villain, sporting a villainous 24 hour grin and a left-armed hook that can break and snap anything. Kanaga's girl Solitaire is his primary means of comfort, using Tarot cards to see the future, both near and far.
The story can be a bit slow at times, and defintely lacks the depth and charm of prior Bond films. Exotic locales are also at a minimal. A variety of shots in and around Jamaica are about the only landscape beauty we get to see (portraying the island of San Monique). There are also many scenes in New York and uptown Harlem, and New Orleans - mainly fabulous scenes on the Bayou. And a bonus, there is even a fun little scene at an actual crocodile farm.
Aside from certain villains, its the action that is the most memorable element of the movie. A variety of action scenes begin to pickup the pace about mid-way through the film, but its the never-ending boat chase on the Bayou that is a complete stand-out. This was a scene that I thought went well before it's time, and was played out very well, loaded with teriffic boat jumps and stunts. I had never before seen boats skid as well on land as they did in this film.
Roger Moore has a way to go before he really begins to shine in the shoes of James Bond. His first outing is a sucess, but he is not the most memorable thing to come out of Live And Let Die. This is a toned down Bond story, but has excellent action to carry it on, as well as a catchy song title that topped the charts in its day "Live And Let Die".
Acting - 3.5
Action - 4.5
Characters - 4
Story - 3.5
Overall - 4
Movie Review: "No sense going off half cocked."
Summary: 4 Stars
Roger Moore's maiden voyage as James Bond -- and the third different actor in the role in three consequetive films -- is actually a fairly entertaining movie with the usual set pieces, babes, and Moore's laid back performance. Tom Mankowicz (who wrote for both Connery and Moore) had the best observation. In the scene where Moore enters the Fillet of Soul in Harlem, if you have Connery you know there is going to be a fight. Jane Seymour's big break, Yaphet Koto as Kananga/Mr. Big, Julius Harris as his henchman "T" and David Hedison in his first outing as Bond's CIA buddy Felix Leiter. The first 007 since DR. NO not to be scored by John Barry, the music is courtesy of Sir George Martin (who produced the Beatles records) with a title song (and an energetic one at that) by Paul McCartney and Wings. A pleasant romp, I actually like this one more than Connery's last, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER.