Live and Let Die, blaxploitation, and critical consensus

Luke

I've always felt that Live and Let Die is Roger Moore's strongest Bond film. It's dark, creative, mystical, and has a very cool mis-en-scene. It has a great theme song, the baddies are all fun and dynamic, the chase scenes are creative and usually tie in to the plot, the Bond girl is beautiful, and Roger Moore has an unsteadiness in the role that I think actually helps his performance more than it hurts it. Once Moore got comfortable as Bond (TSWLM and beyond), I think his performance started to lose its humanity.

Anyway, it seems to me that most don't share this opinion of the film. I was wondering if perhaps the 70s "blaxploitation" aspect has created an insurmountable barrier to some people, or if there are other flaws that people see in the film.

chrisisall

Luke wrote:

I was wondering if perhaps the 70s "blaxploitation" aspect has created an insurmountable barrier to some people, or if there are other flaws that people see in the film.

Nah, the 'Blacksploitation' thing didn't bother me a bit (nor the kung-fu thing in the next), but the climactic fight was poorly arranged IMO, and the pop-goes-Kananga was just sad. Stupid distraction to an otherwise fine film.

Luke

chrisisall wrote:

Luke wrote:

I was wondering if perhaps the 70s "blaxploitation" aspect has created an insurmountable barrier to some people, or if there are other flaws that people see in the film.

Nah, the 'Blacksploitation' thing didn't bother me a bit (nor the kung-fu thing in the next), but the climactic fight was poorly arranged IMO, and the pop-goes-Kananga was just sad. Stupid distraction to an otherwise fine film.

Haha. I loved his death as a kid, so for me it rings of nostalgia more than stupidity. It always gets a laugh from a crowd, especially Bond-newcomers. Bond climaxes are notoriously difficult to finish, and I think an absurd gag serves that purpose here, especially when the film is as campy as LALD.

bailorg

Luke wrote:

Haha. I loved his death as a kid, so for me it rings of nostalgia more than stupidity. It always gets a laugh from a crowd, especially Bond-newcomers. Bond climaxes are notoriously difficult to finish, and I think an absurd gag serves that purpose here, especially when the film is as campy as LALD.

The movie definitely does not end well in terms of quality. From the whole, "that snake is fake, right?" scene, the cartoonish Kananga explosion, the out of nowhere fight on the train, and finally the "for no reason, here's Baron Samedi" ending was just bad decision after bad decision.

Thunderpussy

Sure it cashes in on the "Blacksploitation" movies of the early 70s Just as
Moonraker uses the big SiFi Binge of the late 70s. Although I still think It's
a great Film, Mistakes and all. Yaphet Kotto Makes a great Villain and
it's a shame both He and Bond didn't get a better end fight scene.

zaphod

It's still the best of Moore's outings by a country mile in my book,and better than the lacklustre DAF.

Blackleiter

I agree that Kotto's Kananga was a great villain. That was one of LALD's strongest points.

Thunderpussy wrote:

Sure it cashes in on the "Blacksploitation" movies of the early 70s Just as
Moonraker uses the big SiFi Binge of the late 70s. Although I still think It's
a great Film, Mistakes and all. Yaphet Kotto Makes a great Villain and
it's a shame both He and Bond didn't get a better end fight scene.