Live and Let Die...
O07
Oxford, EnglandPosts: 50MI6 Agent
Is there anyone on this board who would dare to say that Live and Let Die is not a great Bond film?
Roger Moore hits the ground running as Bond, it's like he's been the character for years already. Notice how there appears to be an attempt to distance Moore from the Connery Bond, for instance there is no meeting with M/Moneypenny at the office and no scene in which Roger wears a tuxedo. Roger is so cool and gives us a good showing of what his Bond is about in the scenes in which he tails some villains to the Fillet of Soul restaurant in Harlem, gets caught and introduces himself to Solitaire, Mr. Big and the gang. He is so exceptional, he really is. He's stoney cold too, he's more than happy to kill Rosie unless she talks. The moments in which she runs off from his ultimatum and to her death are spectacular. Roger is really the tough guy here.
The addition of the Occult in Bond added a fresh element, apparently played as "real" too, there are a number of pieces that cannot be explained, Baron Samedi for one, he truly appears to be the man who cannot die! Jane Seymour as Solitaire is an incredible Bond Girl, Tee Hee and Whisper are cool henchmen the plans from the wonderful boss Kananga are very plausible... it's quite a gritty film actually, adult themes, with the occasional sprinkle of lightness that Moore delivered better than anyone.
Roger M007e nailed the character first time out, kudos to the Man.
Sean who?
Anyone dare speak out of turn about Live and Let Die?
Roger Moore hits the ground running as Bond, it's like he's been the character for years already. Notice how there appears to be an attempt to distance Moore from the Connery Bond, for instance there is no meeting with M/Moneypenny at the office and no scene in which Roger wears a tuxedo. Roger is so cool and gives us a good showing of what his Bond is about in the scenes in which he tails some villains to the Fillet of Soul restaurant in Harlem, gets caught and introduces himself to Solitaire, Mr. Big and the gang. He is so exceptional, he really is. He's stoney cold too, he's more than happy to kill Rosie unless she talks. The moments in which she runs off from his ultimatum and to her death are spectacular. Roger is really the tough guy here.
The addition of the Occult in Bond added a fresh element, apparently played as "real" too, there are a number of pieces that cannot be explained, Baron Samedi for one, he truly appears to be the man who cannot die! Jane Seymour as Solitaire is an incredible Bond Girl, Tee Hee and Whisper are cool henchmen the plans from the wonderful boss Kananga are very plausible... it's quite a gritty film actually, adult themes, with the occasional sprinkle of lightness that Moore delivered better than anyone.
Roger M007e nailed the character first time out, kudos to the Man.
Sean who?
Anyone dare speak out of turn about Live and Let Die?
Comments
The plot of the movie was just too hokey. Between the "Mr. Big" disguise to Solitar's virginal powers.
The book was better, though about 1000 times more racist.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
I wouldn't call it any better than Octopussy or Man with the Golden Gun. It just sold more units. LALD does have a strong cast of actors, some nice atmospheres and its a strong debut for Moore. This movie really helps makes a case for Moore being the best (or one of the best) Bond actor.
The problem is that the plot is so formulaic, in every way shape and form. For example, why does Dr. Kananga have an evil lair and a pit of evil-killer sharks? Oh, because that's what Thunderball and You Only Live Twice does. And then we delve into the movie's racially ignorant bits, as well using the character of Solitaire to basically say "you're totally useless after a man has taken your virginity".
Simply put, if LALD was the 6th Moore film instead of the first, it would've had much less impact.
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A fantastic henchman Tee Hee, with a metal arm. -{ , a stunning set piece in the
Boat chase. No wonder it made a fortune at the box office.
That said, now I feel that Moore is akward with his dialogue, it seems written for Connery who could send up the smart ass British stuff, whereas Moore seems awfully pleased with himself.
The film is a great bit of afternoon fun, and somehow it skirts around some unfortunate or potentially uncomfortable stuff. I mean, today it might come across as 'cocky white boy steals black pimp's gal because he is the better lover' but back then, because it somehow seems innocent, like a ghost train experience. Bond copping off with Solitaire doesn't have any kind of racial subtext, it was a time in TV or cinema when sex meant you just take your clothes off for convenience when getting into bed, and not much else...
Roger Moore 1927-2017
..... Long ago, on a thread far, far away .........
Well, to be fair, you could also say it's similar to Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice. A lot of the Bond films are similar to each other, because, well, that's the Bond formula. For a big debut, they wanted to play it safe with what works.
But I do see the specific similarities. Quarrel and Quarrel Jr. Bond going on a foreign island to investigate the death of a colleague, finding a number of spooky things to scare off the settlers and stumbling into the villain's evil lair.
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For "formula" Bond films see YOLT, DAF, TSWLM, MR, TND, DAD. They are all rather similar, basically all feature rather insane plotlines which see's a variation of Bond teaming up with a Female agent from a different country to avert World War 3. Giant villain bases, Space lasers, gadgets in Cars, Watches and all other sorts of ridiculous items. Now THAT is formula.
LALD certainly goes against the established formula for the majority of the film IMO. It's almost deliberately anti-Bond, indeed the anti-hero was a big thing in the early 70's.
I note the similarities with Dr. No, but hey, aren't the books similar?
Thanks TP, that would be this one: http://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/43128/similarities-between-dr-no-and-lald/ Some of the similarities are more than formula, I'd say.
Now it's my turn: I would certainly like LALD a lot better if JW Pepper's scene was reduced to just the one boat jump. That chase drags on a bit too long and JW really starts to get on my nerves.
You say "formula" like it's a bad thing. There's quite a few Bond trademarks I miss in LALD, but I can respect they were doing something different. Good post. -{
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
It's also a damned good book, despite the casual 1954 racism...
Agreed -{
I can agree with the OP, i'm not a huge fan of LALD myself. It's a mixed bag to me and looking at it, it's probably my least favorite Roger Moore movie, closely followed by AVTAK. I'm not such a huge fan of neither the novell nor the movie, the voodoo theme doesn't work well together with 007 for me. Rosie Carver is annoying, having a supernatural man that never seems to die is weird and the death of Kananga is a big joke, I don't find Sherrif Pepper that funny in this movie either, I find him funnier in TMWTGG even though he seemed so much more out of place in that one.
Roger Moore himself cracks me up in this movie, he's so casual when he gets taken away by Mr. Big's goons, and him tricking Solitaire into bed is hilarious
But looking at the whole thing in retrospective for some reason there's something that doesn't appeal to me enough, it ended up being in my lower half of Bond movies. Atleast watching it after DAF shows you that it's FAR superior to that, but on it's own, to me it ended up being a very mediocre entry.
(Just my two cents, going to hide in a cave before Jarvio arrives in this thread now
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Likewise, the trademark Barry swagger is not really needed for Dr No, as it is not quite a Bond film yet somehow. It sort of is, but just finding its feet a bit. I mean, it is more CR than CR, as we see Bond as a cool dude thrown into an unusual situation and holding his own. He does nothing that superhuman or amazing for much of the movie, he is just incredibly cool, and that is enough. It is as if No is the making of him. That said, I must contradict myself cos the Bond theme arranged by Barry (ahem!) is just totally Bond, it doesn't get any more Bond than that.
Some critic called No the 'first fastest and best' Bond film which seemed ludicrous to me as a kid but watching it now imo it stands up far better than many of the others because it is not overburdened by expectations and its own history. It does not overload the plot or offer too many diversions or sub plots, or naff gadgets which seemed cool at the time (i.e. all of Thunderball really).
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Having recently moved to the land of swamps, alligators, and rednecks, I thought I'd fire up the DVD player, pop in Live and Let Die, and see how it strikes me. To my surprise, I found myself paying less attention to what I wanted to--the locations--and more to the plot; and one question kept popping up: WHY? To my mind, much of the film flat-out doesn't make sense, and this contributes to the fact that LALD has never been one of my favorites. So, what are those "whys?" Well, here we go:
WHY, at the beginning of the film, are Kananga and Mr. Big (then thought to be separate characters) being monitored? Both the British and the Americans are spying on Kananga while he's in New York, but we are never told what he's suspected of doing or why he even should be watched. (This being the age of Shaft, maybe we're to assume The Man has it out for the brothers?) Likewise, why is Mr. Big's Fillet of Soul restaurant in New Orleans being watched? At this point in the movie, no one suspects Kananga of being involved with Mr. Big--witness Felix's comment, "Mr. Big? Where does he fit into this mess?"--so is the monitoring of Mr. Big a separate activity?
Going along with that, WHY does Kananga have Hamilton the New Orleans agent and the New York agent killed? Baines the San Monique agent at least found something incriminating; but the other two agents are just keeping their eyes open. What better way to announce that you're up to no good than by executing three SIS agents within a 24-hour period? That said,
WHY are the British even involved in this case? Is San Monique a member of the British Commonwealth? Other than that, no explanation is provided for why it's in the interest of HMSS to keep an eye on an island dictator--remember, until Bond discovers it, no one knows about Kananga's heroin-growing operation, and even his plan there involves addicting AMERICANS, not Brits--nor do we know why the Americans needed Hamilton in New Orleans. Surely the Yanks have one agent who can hang around across the street from Fillet of Soul? In all respects, this should be an AMERICAN operation.
WHY does Bond need Solitaire on this mission? When he swoops into her house he claims he wants her to tell him where Kananga is (uh, Bond--Kananga was just AT THE FREAKIN' HOUSE!), and the next day he has her take him to the spot where Baines was killed, even though Solitaire has apparently never been there! The more I think about it, the more I believe Bond drops in on her simply to slip her the deck of stacked cards and to get it on.
WHY, when Bond gets near the poppy field, does Kananga say, "If he finds it, kill him"? Kananga had been trying to kill Bond from the minute he arrived in New York--shouldn't his order be, "Whether or not he finds it, KILL HIM!"?
WHY is Bond sent to San Monique with only Quarrel Jr. to take out Kananga? First of all, again, why aren't the Americans taking care of this? Second, why is Bond sent in alone? In the previous five films Bond had attacked the enemy's HQ as part of an army--has Bond become such a superman that he can take on all the henchmen all by himself? Or are the budget cuts at the CIA (and for the movie) so extensive that they can pay only one guy?
And, finally, WHY is the business with the shark pellet even in the film? OK, I can understand that Bond needs the pellet because he thinks he's about to be eaten by a shark; but once he breaks free of his bonds and leaps away from the pool, why does he keep the pellet in his mouth, even while Kananga attacks him with a knife? Was he thinking, "OK, Plan B: force Kananga into the pool, make him swallow the pellet, and blow him up, so I can make a witty quip about his inflated opinion of himself"?
I have a few more "why's," but they're pretty minor in comparison. Thanks for reading.
George Martin's score for LALD is fantastic, and it fits well with the film. But I think it's the only Bond film that wouldn't be improved with a Barry score. A Barry score, however, could definitely have helped Dr. No feel more polished. The best parts of the score are the Bond theme, which was arranged by Barry, if not partially or completely written by him. Barry's sound was still a big part of the Dr. No score, but Monty Norman's scored parts are really weak. His songs were great for the film, but a Barry score could have elevated the film and made it feel more like the Bond you think is developing in the film. There really is no development of Bond in Dr. No like there is in CR.
I agree that Moore's Bond didn't suit the brass (nor the guitar), and I like how Barry changed that for the four Moore Bond films. MR's score is brilliant! It's the only thing that tries to keep the film down to earth. If MR had a Bill Conti score I think Bond fans would start putting it below the bottom of their rankings!
I though three British agents were killed at beginning - the guy at the UN, the guy in N'awlins and the man at the voodoo festival.
Surely three deaths would perk M's interest?
Three British Agents were killed, and that would give MI6 Cause to investigate.
My own thoughts on LALD - its a bit of a mixed bag but the good far outweighs the bad.
It was definitely my favourite and most memorable Bond film when I was growing up. If it was on TV I had to watch it..... Bond defeats a metal armed man with a pair of nail scissors! He leaps to safety by jumping on the backs of crocodiles!! He blows a man to bits with a shark gun pellet!!!
Now that I am older but probably no wiser its not my favourite anymore, but I will always look back on this film fondly
AOS and Broadshoulder, what about my original question--what were those British agents DOING THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE?
But Hamilton and Baines Involvement is never explained.
But yes, we never do find out why three British Agents were there in the first Place.
James Bond went from Michael Moore to Roger Moore.
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