Fan Reviews - Live And Let Die
Fan Reviews of the James Bond films can be submitted to MI6 via
the Contribute page, or on
the Reviews board of the "Keeping
The British End Up" discussion forums. The views expressed
on this page are those of the individual and not MI6.co.uk.
"Live And Let Die" by Overkill
Another year, another actor playing James Bond. For the third
film in a row, Eon presented us with a different face. Luckily
this one stuck.
Roger Moore was a huge international star, thanks to his appearances
on TV in Ivanhoe, The Saint and The Persuaders, and had been on
Saltzman and Broccoli’s list for a while before the premature
cancellation of The Persuaders allowed him to step into the famous
tux for the first time.
LALD was, in some ways, a great choice with which to introduce
a new Bond. The book has little continuity to the others (barring
the appearance of Felix Leiter). However, the somewhat dubious
politics of Fleming’s original required a radical reworking
from Tom Mankiewicz, attempting to make up for the disappointment
of DAF two years previously. What he supplied was an action packed,
and above all modern take on what had come before in the series.
This time around Bond doesn’t battle international terrorists
or deformed megalomaniacs, but a very realistic villain in the
shape of a drug dealer who plans to flood America with free heroin,
driving out the competition and then cornering the market. In
his scheme he is aided by a wide variety of henchmen, from the
memorable Tee-Hee (metal arm replacing the one he lost to his
favourite crocodile) to the less memorable Whisper (he whispers
apparently). Also in the mix are, seemingly, every black man in
New Orleans and New York (most of whom dress like Huggy Bear from
Starsky and Hutch) and a clairvoyant, later deflowered by Bond
(in a scene of such villainous cunning it really makes me cringe).
What may be obvious from the above description is that Bond had
to move with the times. The 60’s had already signaled that
‘the times they are a changin’”, so Bond had
to change as well. Out went multi-million dollar sets, and faceless
extras in identical boiler suits. In came gritty location photography
in Harlem and mean looking guys in pimp-gear.
This was also, it must be said, a rather cynical attempt to cash
in on the then popular blaxploitation movies (as typified by Shaft,
Foxy Brown and anything with an Isaac Hayes theme tune). Though
as cynical cash-ins go, this is pretty good stuff. It’s
often noted that Shaft was an attempt to give black people their
own version of Bond (because according to those people, black
people can’t associate with anyone who is white, which is
of course nonsense), so why shouldn’t Bond return the favour.
What’s so good about this, is that, probably for the first
time the series, we see Bond floundering, completely out of his
depth. Check out the look on his face when the cabby tells him
he’s heading into Harlem, and the uncomfortableness at his
first visit to the Fillet o’Soul. Never mind being in another
country, Bond may as well be on a different planet for all the
good his charm and wit does him here.
And it’s this freshness that makes LALD so good, and why
it endures to this day. Yes it looks a bit dated, but it doesn’t
feel cliched or parodic, like so many Moore movies do these days.
The action is good, if at little thin on the ground. Maybe they
put so much effort into the boat chase that they forgot about
planning anything else? And who can forget that boat chase. Still
copied today, it may be a little long, but it crams in so much
you don’t really care.
But really LALD is about Roger Moore. His experience allowed
him to step into Connery’s shoes without feeling intimidated.
The decision was taken early on to play to Moore’s strengths
(suaveness, wit) rather than Connery’s hard man act. This,
of course, was never going to be popular with those who knew the
character from the novels, or even Connery fans, but by 1973,
a whole new generation was coming to Bond with no pre-conceived
ideas about who he should be, how he should act or behave. And
for many Moore is just as much Bond as Connery and Brosnan will
ever be.
Moore also exudes a lot more confidence than any of the other
actors did in their debuts. Sure he may have just roughed up Simon
Templar a bit, but that’s what acting is. His first scene
demonstrates this new approach perfectly. For the first time,
Bond does not appear in the pre-credits sequence, and the first
time we see him he is waking next to a gorgeous Italian spy who
has gone missing (the forever lovely Madeline Smith). On hearing
a knock at the door Moore’s response is “You’re
not married are you?” Perfection. Not only is he confident
and arrogant, but he’s still got a sense of humour.
LALD was vital for the continuation of the series. Had it flopped,
I feel we may never have seen another Bond movie. As it was, all
concerned can hold their heads up and be proud that they took
some major gambles to give the public something different and,
thankfully for us all, the public of 1973 was more than happy
to accept more. Much more. Roger Moore.
Rating
"Live And Let Die" by TimDalton007
With no chance of Sean Connery returning to play 007, producers
Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman had to prove to critics
that James Bond’s time had not come and gone. To do it,
they brought in an actor better known as Simon Templer and Brett
Sinclair on the Saint and The Persuaders, respectively, Roger
Moore. Updating Ian Fleming’s most controversial novel,
Live And Let Die, the producers, writer Tom Mankiewicz, and director
Guy Hamilton choose to embrace the action packed comical Bond
film as seen in the previous Bond film Diamonds Are Forever. Unlike
that film, which turned out to be a very mixed bag, it works here.
Roger Moore’s debut as Bond sets up the tone of the films
to come. Roger is more comic than Connery or Lazenby and in his
later films is stuck with very bad one liners. But here, Bond’s
one liners are mostly well written and while Roger is mostly comedic,
when a serious moment comes, Roger for the most part can play
well. Roger makes his own Bond and steps out of Connery’s
shadow so well that it is extremely hard to make a comparison.
On the down side, the more comedic 007 doesn’t help the
film in the realism department and that hurts the film quiet a
bit: that Bond simply isn’t believable.
In the casting of Solitaire, Jane Seymour fits Ian Fleming’s
description of the character to perfection. Not only does Seymour
look the part, she also plays the part well. Given that in both
the novel and the film, Solitaire is a poorly defined character
who Bond saves at every possible chance, Jane Seymour plays the
role with believability that is rarely matched by an any other
Bond girl. While some of the lines are cliché, the tarot
card and ESP abilities of Solitaire give Seymour a chance to show
off her considerable talents that have only improved over the
years since this film.
In Doctor Kananga, we get the first African American villain
in a Bond film. Yaphet Kotto brings considerable menace to the
character that is turned on and off as Kananga is both a public
figure and then as drug lord Mister Big. It must be noted the
well done plot twist of Mister Big being Kananga, though it doesn’t
make a lot of sense. Two things ruin an otherwise memorable character:
his plot and his death. What is earth-shattering problem that
created by dumping free heroin on America’s streets? It
isn’t as big as say irradiating Fort Knox or unleashing
a biological weapon on the world. His death is completely absurd
and doesn’t even seem realistic.
The supporting cast is mainly African American actors and actresses
playing villains. That fact brings out the fact that while this
a 007 adventure, it is also jumping on the blaxplotation bandwagon
of the early 1970’s and serves to date the film. Those actors
are underwritten and way too often used for comic relief. Tee
Hee and Whisper are two examples of this. Despite numerous attempts
to kill Bond, they fail and Bond eventually gets rid of them easily.
Rosie Carver is another example. She is an interesting character
who is underwritten to the extreme and we come off not caring
that she is dead.
While on the subject of the supporting cast, it should be note
that David Hedison makes a great Felix Leiter. The bad memory
of Norman Burton’s Leiter as this Bond and Leiter share
a very believable friendship. It is only a shame that the character
doesn’t appear again for 14 years as he could have added
a lot to the Moore films. If there is one outstanding example
of a bad character in this film, it has to be Sheriff J.W. Pepper.
This type of character is out of place in a Bond film and one
almost wonder’s what everyone was thinking when this character
was added. Most if Pepper’s lines are cringe worthy, though
the scene at the end of the boat chase where Pepper confronts
Bond is the film’s best comedic moment.
The film can be best viewed as a chase film. The film is really
a bunch of chases that the plot revolves around. While this is
usually the kiss of death for any film (look at 1997’s Tomorrow
Never Dies for example), it works here. The chases are well done
and, despite thirty plus years of other action films, are exciting.
The tension in the film is primarily found in these chases and
fights that test’s the abilities of 007. While humour fills
these chases, which ruined many chase sequences in Diamonds Are
Forever, it works here. If there is anything to complain about
these chases, it is the occasional lack of music. This is no more
apparent than in the film’s best chase: the boat chase.
The boat chase is the film’s lengthiest sequence and with
good reason. The boat chase takes us across the buoy and showcases
some amazing stunt work. The chase is occasionally hampered down
by appearances by J.W. Pepper and his merry band of idiot cops.
The chase is one of the better sequences to appear in the series
and has truly stood the test time.
The music for the film marks a milestone in the Bond films. This
was the first time ever John Barry didn’t compose any music
for the film. George Martin, a long time Beetles producer, was
hired to the score and he created the best non-Barry Bond score
until David Arnold’s score for Tomorrow Never Dies 24 years
later. The score has a great feel to it and doesn’t feel
dated at all. Martin is however guilty for leaving some of the
action un-scored. The boat chase is for the large part un-scored,
but when the music comes on the excitement. Martin does a very
good take on the James Bond Theme, giving it a much-needed boost
for the film and it is so un-dated that it appeared in trailers
for The Living Daylights 14 years later. The film’s score
is built around an excellent main title song. The song is an unabashed
rock song, but it fits very well with Maurice Binder’s title
sequence. It is an excellent song and a truly classic song.
With a good main cast, a shaky supporting cast, good action sequences,
an excellent tile song and a wonderful score by George Martin,
Live And Let Die saved James Bond. Though when it is viewed in
context with the rest of the series, it comes off as above average.
Rating
"Live And Let Die" by Tubes
One of the last Bond films that I needed to see to complete
the series, it immediately dropped to the bottom of my list. After
a few years, I saw it again. It went all the way to number 5.
Why the large jump? One of the main reasons that it is so good
is Kananga is such a great villain. No, scratch that. Two villains.
Yaphet does such a great job in playing both parts. Not only that,
but Roger immediately is James Bond. Not an actor playing him,
not a scared rookie in his first major film (television is different),
but James Bond. He is so natural a the role that its, well, unnatural.
Jane Seymour does a decent job on her big screen debut. She doesn't
really miss a beat. And the goons! The entourage of goons that
Kananga has is a classic group of henchmen.
The boat chase is another classic Bond moment. It is filled with
moments of suspense (boat graveyard) and comedy (the wedding).
Not only that, but the films itself is filled with the same formula.
When Bond has a "nasty turn in a booth", the waiter
takes his information money and downs Bond's drink as Moore puts
on the classic look of "Oh sh*t!"
George Martin puts together a decent score. Nothing of John Barry's
quality, but a respectable substitute. My only problem is that
the boat scenes without music are slightly boring.
In conclusion: A must watch and the only bright spot in the otherwise
dreary early to mid 70's
Rating
