James Bond Live and Let Die Funny Scenes
Here Bond's trademark introduction of "Bond, James Bond" is brushed off with a witty remark, "Names is for tombstones, baby!"
I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs. Revisited it recently. This is the eighth film in the Bond series and the first to star Roger Moore as James Bond. Here 007 is sent to New York to investigate the deaths of three British agents, leading him to Kananga n Mr. Big, thereby trapping him in a world of gangsters, dictator, drug traffickers and voodoo occultists.
Here Bond faces Dr. Kananga, Baron Samedi (a paranormal entity), ferocious crocodiles, a venomous snake, Tee Hee, a henchman who has a pincer for a hand, Dambala, a henchman with a penchant for snakes and wears a goat pelt on his head, Whisper, a fatty who cannot speak properly and various henchmen in red tshirts and blue pants.
Bond gets to cool off with Madeline Smith, Jane Seymour and Gloria Hendry, a babe with an amazing toned obliques n rectus abdominis.
The film has a lovely boat chase which is amazingly well photographed in Louisiana around the Irish Bayou. I am a big fan of movies shot in the marshy areas n the bayou of Louisiana.
In the novel, Tee Hee is a henchman without the metal claw and he breaks the little finger of Bond's left hand.
In the novel, Whisper's quiet voice is attributed to a bout of tuberculosis during infancy.
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Positively surreal Blaxploitation Bond
And none the worse for it, since every Bond film needs a fresh spin on the same old formula. Roger Moore's first outing as JB is, in equal measures, comical and action-packed. You'll never get bored. But it's definitely the weirdest Bond ever with loads of utterly bizarre moments.
It begins with M turning up at JB's house in the early hours while he's pumping some Italian agent for information (don't you just love his initialled dressing gown). Before sending him to America to investigate a Harlem pimp known as Mister Big he delivers some gadgets from Q-Branch, including a very useful watch. Q himself, or Major Boothroyd if you want to call him by his proper name, doesn't make any appearance in this one.
Standing out like a Muslim in an airport, almost every single black person JB encounters in Harlem is on Mister Big's payroll. And they've got a seemingly endless bag of tricks to play on him. The funny thing about Moore is that he's very proper and British and doesn't think anything of walking into a tough Harlem bar while dressed up like the Duke of Edinburgh. His stunned reactions when they mess with his head are seriously funny.
The action then moves to Lousiana and a savage Caribbean island as JB uncovers a massive heroin plot. There's a particularly long speedboat chase across a bayou where JB encounters Sheriff J.W. Pepper, the most stereotypical southern redneck ever. Think of Texas Businessman from The Simpsons and you get the idea. JB also gets to dodge a hundred hungry Gators and do, many times over, Solitaire, Mister Big's Tarot card reader.
I'm not sure what kind of formidable villain uses a Tarot card reader to help him do business but when you also surround yourself with a hook-handed maniac called Tee-Hee, a quiet fat guy called Whisper and a seemingly unkillable voodoo high priest called Baron Samedi then you really do become a serious baddie. Right? He even goes on a big speech about how his master plan works before attempting to kill JB slowly. Obviously this makes much more sense than just shooting him right away. When will they learn?
Despite being the oldest actor to debut as Bond (at 46), Moore does look younger than Connery. And while Sean was gruff and Scottish, Moore is perpetually calm and refined, even in the face of danger (fingers being chopped-off, snake in the bath, being eaten by gators/sharks). Everything that the British once thought they were. He has a certain sarcastic edge that the other Bond actors lacked. While some of his films may have been the sillier of the franchise, Moore has always been my favorite. And the massive revolver and holster he uses at the end is so much more masculine than the usual, wimpy as hell, Walther PPK.
And, as much as I am no fan of Paul McCartney, you gotta love that theme song! Exciting and iconic at the same time. And also yet another juxtaposition in the weirdest Bond movie ever.
MI6, Harlem, Pimps, Paul McCartney, Gators, Heroin, Voodoo, Snakes, Sharks, Clairvoyance, Rednecks, Afros, Fake Afros, Fillet of Soul, Human Scarifice, Scarecrows and a small-headed man in a Top-Hat who lost a fight with chickens. Is this a Bond film or did the whole world just go insane?
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A new era for James Bond, and a fairly effective and enjoyable opening film.
Warning: Spoilers
Live and Let Die ushers in Roger Moore as the new James Bond. Prior to this movie, Bond had been played most often by Sean Connery, with the one exception being George Lazenby's short-lived stint in 1969 (On Her Majesty's Secret Service). Moore is very different to Connery and Lazenby. He plays Bond as a more relaxed, charming, humorous character. Over the years, many people have said that the Moore incarnation of Bond lacks the brutality of Connery's and the hard masculinity, but actually Moore is not the kind of actor to do Bond in that manner. He's merely playing to his own strengths, and creating a Bond that is akin to his acting style. I feel that Roger makes a perfectly likable 007, admittedly different to the character of the novels, but still a rousing screen hero.
The story has James Bond sent to solve the killing of three British agents. One was killed in New York, one in New Orleans, and the third on a voodoo-practising Caribbean island. Bond's starts his mission in New York, where he runs across a nasty black gangster named Mr Big and his gorgeous, tarot-reading accomplice Solitaire (Jane Seymour). Bond heads down to the Caribbean, where he "connects" Mr Big with a drug-smuggling big-shot named Dr Kananga. Then it's off to New Orleans, where Bond discovers that Kananga's master plan is to provide huge amounts of free heroin to the junkies of the world, creating a massive drug-reliant population and setting himself up as a supplier with a worldwide monopoly on the drug trade.
The title song, sung by Paul McCartney and Wings is one of the best of the series, a lively and powerful tune which fits the style and period of the film perfectly. Yaphet Kotto is a decent bad guy (his death scene at the end is both funny and memorable); Seymour is superb as the Bond girl. There are good set pieces as we have grown to expect from the Bond series, most notably a spectacular boat chase around the Louisiana bayous, a scene involving a bunch of hungry crocodiles, and a slick sequence featuring Bond's escape from corrupt island police aboard a slow and lumbering double decker bus. The film has some negatives, but not too many. The character of Baron Samedi doesn't fit in the film (check out that ludicrous closing shot, which seems to be hinting that Samedi is somehow immortal), and Clifton James's brash southern cop is an immature and irritating character who might just as well have been left out of the final cut. On the whole this is a good start to the Moore era, though. One point of interest:- Live and Let Die also features a scene in Bond's house at the very start..... only once before have we seen where Bond lives, and that was at the start of Dr No.
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Bond Over Easy, Cool But Dumb
Was Roger Moore channeling Austin Powers in 1973? There's a scene in this, his first go-round as 007, where Bond is tied up and his arm is cut to draw blood and attract some hungry sharks swimming below. Moore twitches his eyebrow and asks: "Perhaps we can try something in a simpler vein."
Those sharks don't need any frickin' laser beams on their heads to get you to smell the Austin. Moore gets a lot of blame for turning the Bond movies into weakly-plotted farces, ignoring that the series had been moving in that direction since "Goldfinger" and that the previous installment, Sean Connery's final EON bow "Diamonds Are Forever," was every bit as goofy. Also, Moore could deliver a more serious Bond when the script allowed, and two of the finest Bonds ever, "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "For Your Eyes Only," were his.
But there's no getting around this, "Live And Let Die" is a dumb movie. The gadgets are silly, the villain's scheme is ill-defined, the storyline is frenetic and unengaging, the action is plodding and overlong. Moore starts out not quite know how to play Bond here, while the movie requires him to play the fool sauntering through Harlem in a double-breasted suit like the Prince of Wales waiting for some natives to show him around.
But this film makes me smile, in part because I'm young enough to remember what it was all about when it came out. If this was Bond for the cheap seats, it at least delivered the goods, with some vivid supporting characters, a knockout visual style, amazing title music from Paul McCartney, and most importantly for Moore's future in the series, drop-dead quips. My favorite is when the nasty Tee Hee twists his pistol muzzle out of shape with a metal pincer arm, then giggles when he hands it back: "Funny how the least little thing amuses him."
Julius Harris is menacing but charming as Tee Hee, mostly mute except when he sticks Bond in a gator pond and suggests the best way to disarm the beasts is to try and pull out their teeth. Chief villain Yaphet Kotto has his moments, too, but with odd shifts of character. In the beginning, he's stone-cold Ron O'Neal in "Superfly," and at the end, he's plummy Charles Gray in "Diamonds Are Forever." Jane Seymour is Bond's love interest, and why she goes off with him is another of those things best not thought about long.
There are two great characters in this movie, though, bigger than just about anything seen in a Bond movie before who kind of work in tandem in overhauling any objections about this film being too "cartoony." Clifton James is redneck sheriff J.W. Pepper, who throws off one madman line after another while Bond is off on one of his long silly chase scenes. James mugs through every scene he's in, rolling his tongue around, playing off everyone and everything, and delivering every hackneyed Southern stereotype to such righteous perfection it's enough to make cotton sprout out of his ears. Bond purists who whine should just take their vodka martinis shaken not stirred and let the rest of us enjoy the craziness. The series is supposed to be fun; if you want serious espionage go watch "Smiley's People." (I grant you Pepper shouldn't have returned in the next Bond film; that was a mistake.)
The other great outsized character is Geoffrey Holder as perhaps the most mysterious figure in the whole series, Baron Samedi. Is he supernatural? Is he just crazy from the heat? He's certainly different, a guy who sides with the bad guys without quite being one of them. The always-eerie quality of his appearances, either dancing in a big hotel production number or quietly sitting in a cemetery playing a flute, make you question whether there ain't something to that voodoo after all.
It's silly bashing Pepper but praising Samedi, they are both equally so unreal, in a way that's in tune with the rest of the movie. The best thing to do is enjoy the different kinds of fun on offer. Frankly, not having these guys around might push this film on the bad side of Spinal Tap's "fine line between stupid and clever," the side where "A View To A Kill" and "Moonraker" are on.
But "Live And Let Die" is a winner. It's a fun movie that brings me back to younger days, when my heart was an open book. It's a nice transitional film for the series in that Moore managed a mostly smooth entrance to the role of Bond. And it has one of the best final shots in movie history. That's all I'll say there; you know it if you saw it.
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Good Bond movie with a good line in bad guys
Several British agents are killed in America and in the Caribbean. Despite the difference in how the murders occur they seem linked together by drugs. Bond begins to investigate and finds links between the American drug dealer Mr Big and the mysterious owner of a Caribbean island Kananga. While investigating Bond falls foul of both despite gaining the affections of Kananga's beautiful mistress Solitaire.
Roger Moore's first Bond is one of his best. The film wisely steps away from those regular bad guys the Russians and gets a new feel by actually having non-white main characters. The plot is pretty good and doesn't have the usual `take over the world' feel to it. There is plenty of silly stuff of course but the stunts are quite good and Bond has a new line in `eyebrow raised' humour.
Moore will never be the best Bond but he did make the role his own – adding an element of self-deprecating humour to the role. Yaphet Kotto is a good actor and makes a good bad guy. Jane Seymour isn't convincing as the mystic property of Kananga – she really should have been played by a black actress and it shows a lack of bravery on the side of the producers that they went with a white face as the lead Bond girl. Julius Harris is good as Tee Hee and Clifton James adds some comedy value as J.W. Pepper.
Overall this is one of Moore's best Bond movies and certainly stands out from previous films with numerous Russian baddies. Also the theme music is a really fun song from Wings.
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A Solid First Entry for Roger Moore
Live and Let Die was a solid way to bring Roger Moore in as the new man to play Bond, and is yet another pretty good movie in the series.
James Bond (Roger Moore) is investigating murders three agents, and then closes in on a new target, who is a powerful leader, Kananga. He plans to create a global threat using self made heroin. Bond must demolish his plan, and he also meets the beautiful Solitaire (Jane Seymour), who is an excellent card reader that has magic that can be very crucial.
Although Live and Let Die is the first Roger Moore Bond film, it would be my least favorite simply because this one's story was good but I feel like the other ones are more interesting than this. But that doesn't mean the movie is bad. It is still pretty good.
Roger Moore is a great new addition to play Mr. Bond. He may not be as incredible as Connery, but he has the talent and the personality to play Bond himself. Seymour did an excellent job playing Solitaire, and she is one of my favorite Bond girls in the series. She's beautiful and has a very wicked personality.
This one also had some solid action. Kind of like the story, the action in the other Moore films get better. But this had some satisfying action to say the least.
In conclusion, Live and Let Die is a solid first Roger Moore James Bond movie, and things get better after this one.
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Roger Moore introduction as a likeable and sympathetic James Bond in this spectacular adventure
Various agents MI6 have dead . M (Bernard Lee) sends 007 (Roger Moore , he was forty-five when he made this his debut as Bond) with license for kill to investigate it . Suspicion lead to Doctor Kananga (Yaphet Kotto at 33 as Big/Dr. Kananga is the youngest actor to play a main Bond villain) whose public image is a humanitarian person who defends his country in the United Nations . He governs tyrannically the island of San Monique . There lives Solitaire (Jane Seymour) , being totally submitted from infancy by Kananga. She is a tarot-cards reading psychic and doesn't know about life and acts as a marionette , craving her own way of life. His tutor (Kotto) believes that her virginal state originates to her a sixth sense and he trusts this quality as an expert guesser to dodge the law enforcement . Others characters appear in the film are the followings : Baron Samedi (Geoffrey Holder) . He's a Voodoo's chaman who controls the San Monique people for executing the Kananga's orders . He takes his name of death's Voodoo God . The villainous Tee Hee (Julius Harris) , a giant killer , posteriorly copied in other Bond films (Richard Kiel in ¨Spy who loved me¨) . He deeply enjoys murdering with his steel arm that hooks the victims . Rosie Carver (Gloria Hendry) is an explosive and sexy CIA agent who brings to Bond towards the lush jungle of the perilous island. James Bond will confront numerous dangers , odds ,risks , as the taking on starving crocodiles located on a breeding place where there's a poster captioning : ¨Trespassers will be eaten¨. Besides, a breathtaking speedboat pursuit by leaps and bounds , developed on everglades (in New Orleans , Louisiana) , including intervention a headstrong sheriff (Clifton James) who pursues them by a police car . As always , 007 will use several gadgets delivered by ¨Q¨ (Desmond Llewelyn) , such as : a prodigious as well as magnetic wristwatch , Roger Moore's personal favorite , and air bombing cartridges, both objects with special importance in the film.
Sir Roger Moore as a new James Bond is cool , lacked coldness and toughness characterized by Sir Sean Connery ; however , earning in irony , suavity and smoothness . Sean Connery turned down the then astronomical sum of five and a half million dollars to perform James Bond. Sean Connery gave Sir Roger Moore his personal seal of approval for inheriting his character , calling him "an ideal Bond¨ and making him the oldest actor to do so. The youngest was George Lazenby , who was twenty-nine in 007 On Majestic's secret service (1969). It contains spectacular and exciting final confrontation between Bond and enemies in the underground cave that was paced in moving and stimulating manner . Agreeable and catching title song sung by Paul McCartney and his band Wings , and sensational musical score by George Martin. Colorful and brilliant cinematography by Ted Moore. The movie was well directed by Guy Hamilton who also made other James Bond films.
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The perfect Bond movie
Warning: Spoilers
Yes! Probably my favourite Bond film of all time sees Roger Moore (who will always be the best Bond in my mind, light years ahead of former milkman Sean Connery) taking up the mantle of the British secret service agent, investing his character with an amusing tongue-in-cheek aspect only hinted at in Connery's movies, and propelling him on with an impeccable dress sense, effortless charm, and plenty of charisma. The two hour film is packed with all of the incredible aspects that the Bond film is famous for, from Paul McCartney's catchy and exciting theme music to the clever gadgets, intense action sequences, chases and plenty of cool stunts. The light plot is little more than an excuse to string together all of the action and one-liners, but when the action is staged this well then who's complaining? The story shifts from New Orleans and Harlem to San Monique and back again, taking in delightful locations and plenty of local atmosphere along the way.
The blaxploitation aspect of the film was a sure fire hit and makes for some very interesting characters for the villains. Yaphet Kotto plays the dual role of Mr Big and Kananga and proves to be a worthwhile opponent for Moore to face - not only does he have a developed character with an imaginative plan (to flood the world market with heroin, causing its collapse, and then make a packet selling his drugs to all the newly-made junkies) - but he's also a good enough actor to face Moore in their various exchanges. The various henchmen are also imaginative, from the obese Whisper to the genuinely creepy Baron Samedi (think Ainsley Harriott on acid and you'll be there), although my favourite is the always-laughing Tee Hee as played by Julius Harris, who menaces Bond with his metal arm and pincer hand.
The movie is loaded with exotic characters and plenty of comedy, including Clifton James as dumb Sheriff Pepper who has some fine caricatured one-liners and proved a hit with audiences. Then there are the requisite car chases, fight sequences, shoot-outs, and a climactic speedboat chase which is particularly excellently staged. Special effects range from numerous explosions to a magnetic watch and a hilarious demise for chief villain Kotto, which has me bursting into laughter every time through the sheer cheesiness of it. It's good to see various characters returning - Felix Leiter is back, this time played by David Hedison - and Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell as M and Miss Moneypenny respectively get a brief double-act. In fact the only person missing is Q. A Bond film wouldn't be a Bond film without the glamorous ladies and here we get a very young and attractive-looking Jane Seymour as a virgin tarot card reader, Gloria Hendry as a controversial black love interest, and the delectable Madeline Smith as an Italian agent. Everything gels in this film and it's the Bond movie I've seen the most times, which must tell you something. I don't think I'll ever get tired of watching it - for me, this is cinematic perfection.
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Great Bond film with offbeat elements
With no amount money able to lure Sean Connery back for another Bond film, Roger Moore was free ( he had been contracted to play the Saint and the Persuaders when Cubby had offered him the coveted role) to play 007 at last, and boy, does he hit the road running in this fast-paced, colourful adventure, which is packed with exciting action set-pieces and stunts galore. The villains are very memorable, Jane Seymour is the epitome of an English rose, Yaphet Kotto eats up the scene with menace, as does Julian Harris as TeeHee. There are great locations, too. I always found Roger Moore Bond films highly entertaining and absolute fun. I always watch his films the most. You always get the feeling that he really loved the role, and he always improved in each film. From the time he appears in the post-title sequence, he exudes charm, suaveness, confidence, wittiness, elan, and he has a hint of steel. Unlike Connery, he doesn't act like a bull in a china shop, and is perpetually calm in the face of danger and also comes across as cunning, especially in the action scenes (I.E: when chucking paint in a thug's face during the boat chase). Live and Let die isn't a perfect Bond film - which Bond film is? - and it has an offbeat ( some would say bizarre) element but that's adds to film, refreshes the franchise as well as widening the range of what a Bond film can be. Most of all, it's highly entertaining, and that's the most important thing.
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Live and Let Die
Warning: Spoilers
Roger Moore's first stint as James Bond, 007, embarks on a different kind of series of films based on the adventures of debonair, wise-cracking, sexually active, and seemingly impeccable at thinking on the spot when all hope seems lost British Intelligence super agent, going for a definite tongue-in-cheek, totally absurd approach. I have always liked Moore's Bond and For Your Eyes Only can be used as a 007 film that shuts up his critics who consider him a failure as the elusive secret agent.
Yaphet Kotto is in fine form as Ambassador of a Caribbean island of San Monique, with a major heroine operation extending to both American cities New York and New Orleans. Kotto's Kananga has eyes/gunmen/spies everywhere, his advanced network has quite the tentacles so Bond will certainly have his hands full. While I cringe at the Voodoo culture exhibited on display as the cultural stereotypes are exploited to their maximum, there are characters who make the most of their roles, such as claw-handed Julius Harris as Tee Hee, Geoffrey Holder (and that devious smile) as dangerous Voodoo Priest, Baron Samedi, and the seemingly a sweetheart agent in the Caribbean, Gloria Hendry (who turns out to be working both sides out of fear of what Kananga will do to her). Others show up such as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea's David Hedison as Bond's New York, American CIA contact, Clifton James in an ill-advised tobacco-chewing hick sheriff, JW Pepper (always spouting "Boy!" to everyone he finds egregious) , and the incredibly beautiful Jane Seymore as Kananga's tarot card reader, clairvoyant Solitaire (who becomes Moore's Bond girl).
The action sequences include an extended motor boat chase (that seems to go on forever, played for humorous effect, such as when it flies across roads causing wrecks by those chasing him, leading one boat into a rich man's pool, another into Pepper's cop car, and a third through a wedding reception!), Bond's ingenious (if totally ludicrous) escape from encroaching crocs, and Bond's use of a Cessna plane to avoid Kananga's boys killing him. A funeral procession in New Orleans cleverly is used by Kananga to rid himself of spies guarding his headquarters, Bond puts a "magnetic watch" to good use on several occasions when in hairy situations, and how a "gas pellet" is used to "pop" Kananga has to be seen to be believed. That double decker bus and hand glider establish the kitchen sink rule that the filmmakers wanted Moore's Bond to use every form of transportation possible in his first outing as 007.
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Great Bond film
Live and Let Die is a great Bond film and solid start to Roger Moore's run as 007 that's fun, witty and thrilling. Roger Moore gives an incredible and extremely charming lead performance. Jane Seymour and Yaphet Kotto are both great. Guy Hamilton's direction is also great, it's extremely well filmed with solid set pieces. It's well paced and the music by George Martin and the song by Paul McCartney are both amazing. However, it's brought down slightly by some moments that are too over the top.
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Moore introduces his trademark cigar into his interpretation of 007...
Warning: Spoilers
'Live and Let Die' is the only film that matches Bond exclusively against African-American drug czars... It is the only other movie besides 'Dr. No' with no briefing with Q, no meeting in M's office, and no musical score from the great John Barry... The motion picture begins with one of the most arresting openings of any Bond film, the killing of three British agents: one in Harlem New York, one in New Orleans and one on the island of San Monique...
Bond is called to investigate the deaths of the three British spies... He is menaced by a venomous snake in his hotel room, and cornered in the middle of a pool full of alligators... He stumbles upon a heroin trade operation presided by two contrasting personalities, Dr. Kananga and Mr. Big...
Yaphet Kotto is ruthless and calculating as the black master criminal... His position is shored up by the application of fortune-telling and magic charms... Under the alias of Harlem hood Mr. Big, Kananga plans to flood the US with free heroin... His entourage includes the mystical Baron Samedi (Geoffrey Holder) who may or may not be a supernatural being, and Tee Hee (Julius W. Harris) one of the best henchmen in a Bond film... Tee Hee is an intimidating giant enforcer with quite a 'right hand'... He seems amused by 'the least little thing,' after he twists Bond's gun barrel...
Before he became James Bond on screen, Roger Moore was a successful television actor who was respected for his work in such series as "Maverick," "The Persuaders," and, especially, "The Saint."
In his first appearance as 007, Moore wears a refined black jacket, dark gloves, and a magnetic wristwatch... He carries a shark gun that fires compressed-air bullets, and drinks the martini shaken not stirred... He enjoys a large cigar after a hot bath... He tries hard to conceal the presence of his early "guest," and goes into trouble when he tricks a mystical mistress using a fake deck of tarot cards... He claims to be a 'gentleman' when he refuses to tell his interrogator whether or not he's deflowered his chaste priestess... He becomes highly in danger in the land of black magic and fetishes...
Jane Seymour looks innocent in the ways of the world... She is lovely as the clairvoyant heroine Solitaire, whose powers fade after being romanced by the suave, and handsome English 007 Spy...
Rosie Carver is Playboy bunny Gloria Hendry, the weak CIA agent whose loyalty is controlled by a few bloody feathers...
Madeleine Smith is the voluptuous Miss Caruso who's undone by Bond's sheer magnetism... She is seduced with the aid of a watch that magnetically tugged down her zipper...
This eighth James Bond film is an entertaining spy adventure which went so far as to fail to include Q, forever played by actor Desmond Llewelyn...
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Yaphet Kotto Does That Voodoo So Well
My favorite essayer of James Bond debuted in this film. Live And Let Die marked the debut of Roger Moore as intrepid British secret agent 007. I've always thought that Moore perfectly fitted the public's idea of what to expect from James Bond than any other actor who portrayed him, although purists who faithfully have read the Ian Flemming novels would no doubt disagree.
Moore was in an interesting position with this film. With Sean Connery finally and as he thought irrevocably never playing 007 again and with George Lazenby not capturing the dollars of the movie going public, if Moore had failed in the role, no doubt the James Bond series would have come to an end.
When you think of some of the plans of world domination that Sean Connery foiled in his films that SPECTRE had, Moore's assignment in Live And Let Die is kind of minor league stuff. Three British agents are killed almost simultaneously in different parts of the world, one at the United Nations in New York, one in the New Orleans French Quarter, and one on the Caribbean island nation of San Monique that is ruled by Yaphetto Kotto. That's what 007's mission is, to find out what links these deaths in these disparate areas of the globe.
Kotto is our head villain and while his ambition isn't quite SPECTRE domination of the world, it's still pretty extensive. He has some connections with a Harlem racketeer and also with some voodoo priests in all these areas. In fact voodoo and the fear of it forms a great piece of his method of keeping power and part of the plot as well.
Roger Moore and Jane Seymour who was 'introduced' in Live And Let Die have more narrow escapes in this film than they did in some of those old movie serials. His wrist watch becomes a very valuable weapon in his arsenal. And not only does 007 have to deal with human predators, Moore has to both play tag with some alligators and nearly swim with some hungry sharks.
Live And Let Die got an Academy Award nomination. The title song written by Paul and Linda McCartney became one of the biggest songs to come from a Bond film. It lost however to the Barbra Streisand classic title song, The Way We Were in 1973.
Because it introduced Roger Moore as 007 to the movie going public, Live And Let Die has an enduring significance in film history. But even if it were not a milestone film, Live And Let Die is one of the best of James Bond films to come out with any actor playing 007.
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One of Roger Moore's Best Contributions to the Series
Although I have always regarded Sean Connery as the best of the actors to play Bond, I have never (unlike some Connery diehards) regarded the casting of Roger Moore as his successor as a mistake. Moore brought a different interpretation to the role, one which owed something to parts he had played in two adventure series on television, Simon Templar in "The Saint" and Brett Sinclair in "The Persuaders". Whereas Connery's tough, gritty Bond allowed something of the hard man below the surface to show through, Moore played the character much more as a suave, sophisticated English gentleman. (Connery's Bond, like the actor himself, was definitely Scottish).
The villain of "Live and Let Die" is Kananga, the leader of the small Caribbean island of San Monique. (Shouldn't that be Sainte Monique?) For a Bond villain, Kananga's ambitions are surprisingly limited, with no scheme for world domination. He has, however, close links to the New York underworld, and has hatched a plot to flood the American market with heroin. Kananga is deeply superstitious, and employs the services of Solitaire, a beautiful young woman with the power to foretell the future through the use of tarot cards. As with a number of the other films, much of the plot of this one revolves around Bond's ability to win over the villain's female accomplice.
The Bond films, of course, are all dependent upon a stylised formula involving adventure (especially chase sequences), exotic locations, beautiful women, evil villains, memorable music and a generous (but preferably not too generous) helping of humour. When all the elements of the formula come together, the result can be a highly enjoyable piece of entertainment. "Live and Let Die" has, by and large, got most of the elements right. Its main asset is the lovely Jane Seymour, one of the most beautiful as well as one of the most talented of the Bond Girls, as Solitaire. She was one of the youngest of the Bond Girls, being only 22 a the time the film was made (Honor Blackman and Maud Adams, for example, were both in their late thirties when they starred in a Bond film), but despite her lack of experience turns in a very good performance. Her Solitaire is not a strong action heroine like Pussy Galore or Anya Amasova, but a passive figure, melancholy and fatalistic, troubled by her psychic powers but at the same time frightened of losing them. As such she has rather more depth than the average Bond heroine.
Roger Moore is also good in this film; in 1973 he was still clearly youthful enough to be convincing in the role and makes the most of it. As the villainous Kananga Yaphet Kotto is adequate, but he does rather suffer the fate of being outshone by the two secondary villains, his henchman Tee Hee (the man with the metal arm and claw for a hand ) and Baron Samedi with his demonic peals of laughter. (Curt Jurgens suffered a similar fate in "The Spy who Loved Me", where Richard Kiel's Jaws turned out to be more memorable than his own Stromberg). There are some exciting chase sequences, particularly the one in the old bus across San Monique, and the waterborne one through the Louisiana bayous. I didn't much care for the character of J W Pepper, a rather stupid redneck Louisiana sheriff with a thick Deep South accent who was obviously intended as the film's main comic relief. (He makes another appearance in "The Man with the Golden Gun"). Nevertheless, there was some successful use of sardonic humour, such as the scene where a man, watching a traditional New Orleans jazz funereal, asks "Whose funeral is it?" and is told "Yours" immediately before being stabbed to death. The music was also good, especially Paul McCartney's brilliant theme song. My overall view is that this is, together with "For Your Eyes Only", the best of the Roger Moore Bond films. 7/10
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Why Is This One Always Rated So Low?
I've never understand the generally disparaging remarks passed on LaLD (and it's followup, Golden Gun). It's an adequate performance by Moore in first Bond movie. The villains are what steal the show, however, from Yaphet Kotto as a major villain who isn't an obsessed psychopath, to the enigmatic Geoffrey Holder, to the menacing Julius Harris, and even the soft-spoken Earl Jolly Brown. Plus David Hedison is the only Felix Leiter to be called back. Quite frankly, the plot is a welcome relief from the typical "rule the world" schemes of previous (and subsequent) Bond villains.
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Live and Let Die (1973) **1/2
Roger Moore takes on duties as James Bond for the first time in this strange and unconventional 007 outing. This one can be tossed into the "mediocre" bin of Bond adventures, and there are so many reasons for this that it's difficult knowing where to begin. The story is rather confusing, for a start. It seems that a British representative at the United Nations in New York has been killed along with another one in New Orleans and one more on the island of San Monique, so this takes Bond on an investigation into New York City, including uptown Harlem. There he first runs afoul of a black crime boss operating as the pimp-like "Mr. Big", and then journeys onward to the voodoo island of San Monique, where he squares off with an African leader named Kananga (Yaphet Kotto). Kananga's woman and Tarot Card consultant is the beautiful young Solitaire (Jane Seymour), and his "right-hook man" is Tee Hee (Julius Harris) who lost one of his hands to the crocodiles and sports a deadly metal hook in its place. Somehow the usual plot line of drug trafficking also figures into all of this, don't ask me how.
With the dawn of the 1970s we first got to see the change into a more comic book direction for the Bond franchise with the previous film DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER; but LIVE AND LET DIE really takes it to a whole new level. This film plays more like an early seventies blaxpoitation pic, where you'd expect to see Pam Grier or Shaft arrive into any next scene. Black characters recite such stereotypical lines as: "man, for twenty bucks I'd take you to a Ku Klux Klan cookout!" (said gleefully by a taxi driver when 007 offers him a twenty to follow another car), and "keep your hands up, Honkey!" (when Bond is approached at gunpoint). Not that any of this in itself is a bad thing for the times, because I do dig these types of films, man; it's just that James Bond himself seems so uncomfortably out of place in such an untypical environment. This is made even more obvious when having newcomer Moore in the role for such a storyline, as he is much more refined and gentlemanly, not nearly as dangerous and street-smart as Sean Connery, or even George Lazenby, were. Roger would get better as his tenure in the series would progress, but here he has some big shoes to fill and is just finding his footing. To his credit, Moore sensibly didn't try to imitate Connery, but his own brand of Bond would require a few films to perfect. One thing Roger was excellent at was giving little comical quips and one-liners, and here he delivers a few good ones ("butterhook" he non-chalantly throws Tee Hee's way while the henchman fumbles trying to take Bond's watch off his wrist).
One of the best sequences in the movie is when Bond is left standing on a small island in the center of a group of hungry crocodiles and alligators. Unfortunately, another sequence involving speed boat chases goes on much too long and does not have the desired effect of enthralling us. Kananga's ultimate fate in the end comes off as utterly ridiculous and laugh-inducing in the way it's handled, even if the idea itself was inspired. The worst offense of all, though, has to be the addition of a really stupid and annoying backwards southern sheriff named J.W. Pepper, who is an embarrassing disgrace to this series as a comedic foil, and who was incomprehensibly brought back for next year's THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN! I wonder if he was the inspiration for Jackie Gleason's character in SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT?
The best thing about LIVE AND LET DIE turns out to be the classic title song by Paul McCartney. Too bad it wasn't used to accompany a better Bond film. Former Beatles producer George Martin takes on the score, but it's not a very good one. The constant re-use of the "Live and Let Die" instrumental theme becomes grating after awhile. **1/2 out of ****
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Vintage Bond with a blaxploitation twist
Roger Moore's first outing as the suave 007 is an entertaining instalment in the spy franchise.
With not a tuxedo (or Q) in sight, Bond is plunged into an adventure where the stakes are lower than normal but no less interesting. There are no politically correct sensibilities here, Bond is very much a '70's incarnation of Fleming's creation.
There are a lot of things to enjoy in this movie. The pace is spot on, there's a memorable speed boat chase, and some classic characters grace the screen.
Veteran actor Clifton James gives a standout performance as the frustrated Sheriff Pepper, and Geoffrey Holder steals every scene as the voodoo master Baron Samedi.
Yaphet Kotto is a solid Bond villain and this movie gives him the opportunity to stretch his acting chops with not one but two performances!
Jane Seymour is truly stunning as Solitaire.
8 out of 10. A Bond film that has me grinning from ear to ear.
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Best Roger Moore Bond.
This is my favorite Roger Moore Bond movie. It doesn't skimp on anything. It's fast-paced all the way. Which is something to be said since this was Roger Moore's first Bond movie. Great action sequences and characters,this is in my top three!
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My Childhood Favourite Bond Film.
Warning: Spoilers
For years growing up this was my number one Bond film, Moore is still my favourite Bond actor and I still love a lot about this movie. The younger me loves the fact this movie is just constant fun, it has a ton of great action scenes. It has the best Bond song, the best Bond Girl and my favourite Bond actor and my favourite Felix Leiter, I also think it has some of the best henchmen, great locations and style plus I like the inclusion of tarot/voodoo.
What has changed? Well not a lot apart from growing up a little and the film having aged that bit more, looking back at it now. It's a very 70's movie, definitely influenced by the blaxploitation era although I would hestitate to label it with other films of the genre. Rosie Carver just seems like a useless character, I appreciate that she's there to double cross Bond then fall for him in the space of an afternoon but the film offered plenty without her.
Live and Let Die has three major flaws for me, firstly while Yaphet Kotto is a fantastic actor and did great with Kananga I felt his character could have been involved even more or made to be more threatening, basically I wanted to see more of him. I also feel that his death scene was too cheesy, the shark gun joke is funny but the build up has Bond bleeding swimming amongst sharks. It's very intense then all of a sudden Kananga becomes a cartoonish balloon animal, a little anticlimactic for a serious villain.
Secondly, the sheer fact they tease that Baron Samedi isn't dead and nearly 50 years later nothing has come from it. If I were to bring back an idea if and when they conclude the new films with Spectre and Blofeld, this is the next film i'd want. It's a little silly and I think it would be harder to make a serious film about an immortal voodoo villain but done right it could be great.
Finally, the release of another Bond film... my "new" favourite. I haven't reviewed it just yet, all I can say is that it took until the 90's to top this one.
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Roger Moore's Bond Premiere
This film is much like a pilot for Roger Moore. His first bond girl is Jane Seymour, not a bad way to start. This is kind of like dreaming to me as Jane is wonderful in her role. I appreciate the way Jane is stacked as well as the stacked deck that goes with her.
The plot in this one is a little different as it is the one Bond that deals with the occult, Tarot Cards, & Voodoo. It is one of the first Bonds more centered with the revenge of losing an agent & illegal drugs, & less centered on saving the world as a plot device. David Hedison (from Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea) is the latest Felix Lightner of the CIA.
The stunts are very well done as veteran Guy Hamilton is in charge of the directing. Moore's sense of humor is gotten into the script. This film tells you right away this is not you Sean Connery type of Bond. The action does get a little comic strip in the Crockodile escape sequence.
This film features all the regulars from M's Bernard Lee, Moneypenny, & of course Q. Overall, this pilot proves that Moore can do Bond quite nicely. The stunts other than the comic one have plenty of good action. While this is not Connery, not Goldfinger, it proves to be a fun trip & for Moore's fans, a great pilot for him.
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Go Roger
Warning: Spoilers
I like the bit where he runs across the alligators and the boat chase.
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One of my favorite James Bond movies
I can't understand why some other people didn't like it. Actually this is the first Bond movie I've seen, it made a big impression on me and it still does. I found this movie being one of the most colorful Bond movies. There were few colorful villains, lots of action, some humor, and of course - Roger Moore who is my favorite James Bond. The story isn't typical for James Bond movies, it's more mystical this time, but I liked that. Of course nowadays when you watch this movie it may look cheesy in some scenes, but the action sequences where very exiting. Another reason why I liked this movie was the main theme song - Paul McCartney's Live and Let Die, which is yet my favorite James Bond theme.
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One of the very best!
This Bond outing is one of the very best in the franchise. Bedides having one of the best Bond theme songs in the franchise written and performed by Paul McCartney and Wings, Live and Let Die boasts an array of interesting characters, played by some of the famous actors of the Era (Yaphet Koto, Jane Seymour, David Hedison, Jeffrey Holder and of course in the role he made his own, Roger Moore) . I enjoyed seeing New York City in the gritty early 70s. For a Bond movie, this one had an interesting story which is easy to follow and wildly entertaining. The best is that you need to be a bond fan to enjoy Live and Let Die.
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Best James Bond film (and that's saying something!)
It has it all. Most stunning actress (Jane Seymour), a totally carefree and composed Bond (Roger Moore), an incredible array of supporting actors and characters, the best chase scene (boats), moments that have me laughing in hysterics "secret agent... on whose side?"... I could go on and on, but it's one of my favourite films of all time!
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fair start to the Roger Moore era
Roger Moore is taking his first turn as the iconic Bond. Bond is called in to investigate the killing of British agents. In New York, Bond is attacked, and we're introduced to Kananga (Yaphet Kotto) the dictator of San Monique, and his virgin tarot card reader Solitaire (Jane Seymour). It turns out that Kananga or Mr Big controls large concessions of businesses in Harlem and beyond.
The title song from Paul McCartney jolts the series into the 70s. It is indeed a start of a new era. There is a definite black urban influence at work in this one. I love the juxtaposition of the impeccable Lilly white Bond clashing with the hip black culture. I also love Yaphet Kotto but I wish he had more to do. Baron Samedi (Geoffrey Holder) has to be one of the most interesting looking villain ever. Even better than Tee Hee (Julius Harris) with his claw hand.
Lois Maxwell is showing her age as she becomes more of a mom figure to the younger Bond. There is a chance of Bond doing the same. He is certainly out of place. So Roger Moore is playing a lot of this off as a joke. It's a different take on Bond than the one from Connery. And this franchise is now part parody especially with the comical Sheriff Pepper (Clifton James). This is an interesting start to the Roger Moore era.
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Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070328/reviews