How do you rate Live and Let Die?

osris

This seems one of the underrated Bond films to me, but I think it has a lot going or it, not least of which is a marvellous title song and gripping orchestral arrangements by George Martin. I also think it has the best Bond villain of the Moore era in Yaphet Kotto.

Anyone agree/disagree?

Silhouette Man

It's a good start for Moore Bond - and a hellova lot better Bond film that DAF that preceded it. Not Moore's best - that's FYEO, as I'm a Fleming purist. Moore is my favourite Bond - after Dalton, who got it just right. I prefer TMWTGG - minus points for all the silliness with Rosie Carver - a very weak character, the neverending boat chase and the Sheriff. Also hate the scene in Bond's house with Miss Caruso scurrying around - it's just childish! Apart from that, an OK film at best. Never really knew what all of the fuss was about concerning this one?! -{

Blackleiter

It was just okay to me, partly because the switch from Connery to Moore was so jarring (and a real letdown, IMO). I thought Yaphet Kotto was quite good, though. (Too bad they ruined his impact with that horribly cartoonish death scene).

osris wrote:

This seems one of the underrated Bond films to me, but I think it has a lot going or it, not least of which is a marvellous title song and gripping orchestral arrangements by George Martin. I also think it has the best Bond villain of the Moore era in Yaphet Kotto.

Anyone agree/disagree?

NeverSayDie

I watched it again yesterday. Still love it.

Question: Who sent Bond the Queen of Cups upside down?
Was it Solitaire? I honestly don't know.

Silhouette Man

NeverSayDie wrote:

I watched it again yesterday. Still love it.

Question: Who sent Bond the Queen of Cups upside down?
Was it Solitaire? I honestly don't know.

Another loose end, as Columbo always says!

Jarvio

What do I think to LALD? I think it's the darn best bond film of the lot! -{

welshboy78

I find it tedious, not sure why either. Love Solitare, one of my fave girls. Maybe the plot is not exciting, or maybe I find Mr Big a dull villain, I just can't put my finger on it to be honest! It also feels like a bloody long film

AdamOmega

Live and Let Die is in my Top 10, that's for damn sure. -{ It's a solid debut for Roger Moore and, in my opinion, the greatest of the Tom Mankiewicz Bond films. There is never a moment where I am not in the mood to watch Live and Let Die.

A few weeks ago a friend and I had a double feature of The Man With The Golden Gun followed by Live and Let Die. That's right; reverse order! After finishing Live and Let Die, my friend had commented that he was glad we ended with it, as watching them in "proper" order would have left a bad taste in his mouth. As much as I enjoy all of the Roger Moore Bond films, I could see where my friend was coming from. Without being too comparative, it was apparent to us that the humor in Live and Let Die was sharp, the characters lively, and the stunts next to none.

It's not a perfect Bond film, and the awkward racial dynamic has dated it somewhat, but it succeeds at being quality entertainment and light escapist fare.

(And need I remind you it has longtime fans in Sam Mendes and Daniel Craig... )

Moore Than

AdamOmega wrote:

(And need I remind you it has longtime fans in Sam Mendes and Daniel Craig... )

They are not the only longtime fans.

I will always have a soft spot for Live And Let Die as it was my introduction to James Bond. The blaxploitation/voodoo theme may date the film but it works for me. Love the action, George Martin's score, Paul McCartney's title song, a great bunch of characters, my favourite Felix Leiter, one of the best Bond girls in Solitaire, and not forgetting Roger Moore. :007)

AlphaOmegaSin

Moore's best Bond Film. Also his darkest Film.

Jarvio

AlphaOmegaSin wrote:

Moore's best Bond Film. Also his darkest Film.

I agree that it's his best film, but I think his darkest film is either FYEO or AVTAK.

osris

I suppose much of my liking of LALD was because I first saw it when I was 10, in the cinema when it first came out. For a 10-year old, it did seem dark and scary at times, especially the pre-title sequence, and the scene at the start of the film where the driver of Bond’s car is shot in the head with a dart from the wing mirror of another car. For a 10-year old in 1973 (and in 1973, 10-year olds weren’t used to seeing such “violence” on screen) this was quite shocking. Of course, a 10-year old now is much more hardened to death and violence, so this would be nothing to them.

zaphod

AlphaOmegaSin wrote:

Moore's best Bond Film. Also his darkest Film.

For sure.

zaphod

osris wrote:

I suppose much of my liking of LALD was because I first saw it when I was 10, in the cinema when it first came out. For a 10-year old, it did seem dark and scary at times, especially the pre-title sequence, and the scene at the start of the film where the driver of Bond’s car is shot in the head with a dart from the wing mirror of another car. For a 10-year old in 1973 (and in 1973, 10-year olds weren’t used to seeing such “violence” on screen) this was quite shocking. Of course, a 10-year old now is much more hardened to death and violence, so this would be nothing to them.

I was 11 in 73 when I saw it but must say you sound like a Wuss

Silhouette Man

Yes, it is a dark film - the voodoo does that - also the cutting of the vein in Bond's arm is grim - difficult to watch for the squeamish like myself!

GoldenEyeing

I like it, but the river chase is indefensibly long.

DangerMouse

One of my favourite Moore films and a good start to his tenure.

Trevelyanus

For me its the 2nd best Moore Bond - after FYEO. However, I kinda wish they gave a bigger part to Baron Samedi. He even seems to fall behind tee hee in the pecking order. He'd make a much more interesting villain than Kananga, although it might make the film less realistic.
Also, the voodoo ceremony scenes with the plastic snake and the lad with a goat on his head are so bad they're comical )
Solitaire's great though

Silhouette Man

Trevelyanus wrote:

For me its the 2nd best Moore Bond - after FYEO. However, I kinda wish they gave a bigger part to Baron Samedi. He even seems to fall behind tee hee in the pecking order. He'd make a much more interesting villain than Kananga, although it might make the film less realistic.
Also, the voodoo ceremony scenes with the plastic snake and the lad with a goat on his head are so bad they're comical )
Solitaire's great though

Yes, I never viewed Kananga as all that great - he was underused - the double idents didn't help, though. I really really need to re-watch LALD, you know.

osris

zaphod wrote:

I was 11 in 73 when I saw it but must say you sound like a Wuss

I suppose I’m just more artistically sensitive than you are—if any Bond film can be called “art”, that is. But as a few others here have noticed, it is a dark film, regardless of my recognising this fact at such a young age. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t been such a precocious child.

Silhouette Man

Yes, its got a haunted quality - an inner darkness - it's rather special. I like my James Bond as an Eton drop-out and Moore captures this better than anyone else, IMHO!

ChromeJob

New member here.... (Have lurked for a while, doing research in older threads.)

I grew up with the Connery flicks, and mostly remembered the later Connery flicks ... which I thought were silly. I thought, as a 10 yo, that Moore would be a breath of fresh air. The producers didn't disappoint. They spared no effort in making LALD a bold new direction: rockin' score by Geo. Martin, blaxploitation film influences (for better or worse), some real jeopardy for Bond (I sneaked a peek in the theater before our screening, saw that arm-cutting scene, and thought "WOAH, they're not treating him like a rare orchid"), a few gadgets but not out of control, his accomplices (Felix, Quarrel Jr.) get to do some stuff (I believe it's the latter placing the incendiary devices, I never figured that out until recently), absolutely stunning heroine (still lose myself a little seeing Jane Seymour at that age), kind of shocking startling end....

That cartoonish end for Kananga, I thought as a kid, was pretty grisly ... and in keeping with the books. Remember, Bond buries Dr. No under a mountain of guano.

I didn't like Tom Mankiewicz (sp?) scripts, I thought he hammed it up too much, use some insensitive humor about gays, blacks, etc., but at least they had action. I LIKE the boat chase, not every action scene or getaway has to wrap up in 3-5 minutes. There's some good character suspense and dialog,... e.g. Mr. Big/Kananga demanding to know if Bond "messed with dat." At least ... there wasn't an overflowing slop bucket of snide, wink-at-the-audience humor every 10 minutes. (Still laugh at "Butterhook!") I like that, though not looped in post-production, J.W. Pepper clearly says, "What the f---" when the boats go flying over him. That, and the flying student saying, "Holy s---," had everyone laughing in the theater, a good scary action flick needs some humor. DIE HARD is a great example of ultraviolence and a restrained sprinking of humor keeping the audience from getting bored.

And of course ... that Rolex 5513.

And ... taking cover directly after this ... I really disliked how old Moore got in the role. I liked the return to Fleming story elements in FYEO, but watched my BD recently and groan at a "field agent" twice his ladies' age running up all those stairs, free-rope climbing, diving,... I'd even have a hard time believing Dalton or early Brosnan being quite so athletic. If the Star Wars-inspired inanity of Moonraker wasn't bad enough, Moore was doing all this at an age where he'd be a desk analyst, or retired grandpa. I stopped going to see them after Octopussy; had never seen FAVTAK in its entirety until this summer.

And of course ... this was one of those films in which Bond was obscenely promiscuous. Caruso, Carver, seducing Solitaire through trickery and innuendo ("But honey, the cards SAID we'd be lovers! So c'mon, spread 'em...."). Okay, not so bad actually. But I preferred that Bond was a little more attentive to his mission, his secrecy, and keeping his wick dry until he wasn't on the company's time. I know, that ended in Goldfinger.... That's another thread. 8-)

Addendum:

Yes, I always liked that the occult element was a part of the story ... and wasn't just ruled out as BS for the stupid locals ... who WAS Samedi? ... gave the film a nice, darker quality. Samedi's alive and laughing right at us on the train, giving the ending a bit of a "no one's really safe" feeling.

AdamOmega

Moore Than wrote:

The blaxploitation/voodoo theme may date the film but it works for me.

Same here. It's not the kind of thing you could easily get away with today, but part of the appeal with the Roger Moore Bond films was that they were looking at lots of other genres for inspiration (Golden Gun and kung-fu movies, Moonraker and science fiction). I think the blaxploitation angle was -- with consideration to 1970's cinema at the time -- a fine creative choice.

osris

ChromeJob wrote:

New member here.... (Have lurked for a while, doing research in older threads.)

I grew up with the Connery flicks, and mostly remembered the later Connery flicks ... which I thought were silly. I thought, as a 10 yo, that Moore would be a breath of fresh air. The producers didn't disappoint. They spared no effort in making LALD a bold new direction: rockin' score by Geo. Martin, blaxploitation film influences (for better or worse), some real jeopardy for Bond (I sneaked a peek in the theater before our screening, saw that arm-cutting scene, and thought "WOAH, they're not treating him like a rare orchid"), a few gadgets but not out of control, his accomplices (Felix, Quarrel Jr.) get to do some stuff (I believe it's the latter placing the incendiary devices, I never figured that out until recently), absolutely stunning heroine (still lose myself a little seeing Jane Seymour at that age), kind of shocking startling end....

That cartoonish end for Kananga, I thought as a kid, was pretty grisly ... and in keeping with the books. Remember, Bond buries Dr. No under a mountain of guano.

I didn't like Tom Mankiewicz (sp?) scripts, I thought he hammed it up too much, use some insensitive humor about gays, blacks, etc., but at least they had action. I LIKE the boat chase, not every action scene or getaway has to wrap up in 3-5 minutes. There's some good character suspense and dialog,... e.g. Mr. Big/Kananga demanding to know if Bond "messed with dat." At least ... there wasn't an overflowing slop bucket of snide, wink-at-the-audience humor every 10 minutes. (Still laugh at "Butterhook!") I like that, though not looped in post-production, J.W. Pepper clearly says, "What the f---" when the boats go flying over him. That, and the flying student saying, "Holy s---," had everyone laughing in the theater, a good scary action flick needs some humor. DIE HARD is a great example of ultraviolence and a restrained sprinking of humor keeping the audience from getting bored.

And of course ... that Rolex 5513.

And ... taking cover directly after this ... I really disliked how old Moore got in the role. I liked the return to Fleming story elements in FYEO, but watched my BD recently and groan at a "field agent" twice his ladies' age running up all those stairs, free-rope climbing, diving,... I'd even have a hard time believing Dalton or early Brosnan being quite so athletic. If the Star Wars-inspired inanity of Moonraker wasn't bad enough, Moore was doing all this at an age where he'd be a desk analyst, or retired grandpa. I stopped going to see them after Octopussy; had never seen FAVTAK in its entirety until this summer.

And of course ... this was one of those films in which Bond was obscenely promiscuous. Caruso, Carver, seducing Solitaire through trickery and innuendo ("But honey, the cards SAID we'd be lovers! So c'mon, spread 'em...."). Okay, not so bad actually. But I preferred that Bond was a little more attentive to his mission, his secrecy, and keeping his wick dry until he wasn't on the company's time. I know, that ended in Goldfinger.... That's another thread. 8-)

Addendum:

Yes, I always liked that the occult element was a part of the story ... and wasn't just ruled out as BS for the stupid locals ... who WAS Samedi? ... gave the film a nice, darker quality. Samedi's alive and laughing right at us on the train, giving the ending a bit of a "no one's really safe" feeling.

You’ve summed up perfectly why I like the film.

After MWTGG Moore seemed to play things more for laughs. He was more serious in LALD and MWTGG than in later films. Though he did have some serious moments in FYEO and VTAK. But LALD was his best, I thought. It was also a sort of reboot, as you suggest.

As an adult, when I see it now, obviously some of it is corny, but as a kid this was all gripping stuff for me, as the producers no doubt intended.

osris

Silhouette Man wrote:

Yes, its got a haunted quality - an inner darkness - it's rather special. I like my James Bond as an Eton drop-out and Moore captures this better than anyone else, IMHO!

Yes, Moore’s Bond was a sort of Eton drop-out to Connery’s more “international man” portrayal.

Silhouette Man

And let's not forget the scene where Bond throws petrol in Adam's eyes, causing his boat to go out of control and to crash in a fireball - Bond at his most grim?

I do think so.

Silhouette Man

osris wrote:

Silhouette Man wrote:

Yes, its got a haunted quality - an inner darkness - it's rather special. I like my James Bond as an Eton drop-out and Moore captures this better than anyone else, IMHO!

Yes, Moore’s Bond was a sort of Eton drop-out to Connery’s more “international man” portrayal.

Both two valid interpretations of Fleming's James Bond character, although there are by this stage very many others!

osris

Silhouette Man wrote:

And let's not forget the scene where Bond throws petrol in adam's eyes, causing his boat to go out of control and to crah in a fireball - Bond at his most grim?

Good point.

mpoplawski

I do have a soft spot for LALD also. It was the first movie with Roger Moore who I liked in The Saint series. It was the last Bond movie I saw with my father. We went to see it with the idea that he couldn't be as good as Connery, and we were surprised. We left the theatre impressed with Moore's interpretation. I thought that Connery screwed up by leaving the series, I was 16 at the time. Little did I know that most of the later Moore movies were going to be really bad, almost unwatchable. But at that moment, and taking into account the blacksplotation films, I really did enjoy this one. It may not be Moore's best Bond movie but to me it is the most enjoyable and watchable of all his Bonds.

Peppermill

I really like Live and Let Die it ranks somewhere in the middle of my top 23. It has a lot going for it IMHO. Moore is giving a good performance as Bond, Mr. Big is one of the best villains ever and the score is really good. I do not like the way 007 gets Solitaire to come over to his side though, that was just a 'nasty' move by Bond. A lot of people don't like J.W. but I think he works pretty good in this setting. I remember from the Inside LALD documentary or the DVD commentary that Pepper was put in the film as a counter measure to all the villains being black.

Moore Than

A blog from the Huffington Post on Live And Let Die. The author is a big fan of the film, but it is his interview with John Wardley that you will probably be more interested in. Wardley was part of the special effects team, he talks about the work involved on the sequence where the double decker bus drives under the low bridge and the top half gets sheered off. Also, the scene in the Fillet of Soul restaurant where the table Bond sits at disappears into the ground.

Live And Let Die - 40 Years On and Still the Best Bond
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/mike-peake/live-and-let-die-still-the-best-bond_b_2481652.html