ROTTEN TOMATOES: Bonding with Bond, Day 9: Live and Let Die

Bonding with Bond, Day 9: Live and Let Die

Community Manager Ryan Fujitani is watching all of the James Bond films in order.

by Ryan Fujitani | October 29, 2008

James Bond gets yet another makeover with a third actor, Roger Moore, in Live and Let Die. Read on to see what I thought about the 8th official film and Moore's performance as 007.

Live and Let Die

Whether it was due to my own personal lowered expectations or the subpar quality of Diamonds Are Forever, my first experience with a Roger Moore film turned out to be rather pleasant. As I stated with George Lazenby, it was certainly different, but it was pleasant nonetheless. Yes, Live and Let Die did have its unbelievable moments, and yes, it did get silly, but there were enough other redeeming qualities to allow me to enjoy it.

The first thing I've noticed, partially because I've been paying attention to it in every film thus far, is that this was the first entry in the Bond series where 007 is hatless in the classic intro. Maybe it was because we had officially entered the 70s (a fact that would be strongly reinforced by other elements of Live and Let Die) and fedoras were no longer chic, but maybe it was also a way to tell audiences subtly, "We are entering a new era of James Bond."

I really enjoyed the title song as well, something I haven't touched on yet. I understand there are some who have great affection for some of the earlier Bond title songs, but this was the first one I heard that I felt could have stood on its own merits. Not only that, I thought I detected something distinctly Beatles-esque about it, so I wasn't surprised to discover it was by Paul McCartney and Wings.

Then Roger Moore makes a rather anticlimactic debut screen appearance as Bond, lying in bed with an Italian agent. I thought it was effective to introduce him so nonchalantly, as the grand reveal of George Lazenby in OHMSS felt a little strange to me. Overall, as I did with Lazenby, I found Moore to be an acceptable Bond. I will admit it took me a little while to become comfortable with his slight build and gentler demeanor; he felt classier, if not as smooth as his predecessors. For me, the progression of Bond from Connery to Lazenby to Moore was a gradual transition into the more gentlemanly Bond that I had always pictured, so ultimately I was willing to accept it and move on.

As for the quality of the film itself, I was prepared for the camp, so I wasn't surprised by the goofier elements. The African-American stereotypes that inundate especially the early scenes didn't shock me as much as they would have otherwise; I was willing to go along with the idea that this diplomat/crime boss would rely on tarot readings so heavily; and I hardly batted an eyelash at the oddball scenes of comic relief (the bug-eyed flight student woman, for example). I did little more than chuckle dismissively when the incredible boat chase later in the movie devolves into "The Dukes of Hazzard" on water.

Speaking of which, the action in the movie is very watchable, particularly the aforementioned boat chase. The only problem I had with them is that the bad guys in Live and Let Die have got to be some of the worst drivers ever. They're flying motorcycles off ramps and dying, veering off roads and into rivers, destroying planes in hangars due to a refusal to slow down during sharp turns, speeding boats into trees and cop cars. They're conveniently handicapped in judgment when they're behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. Nice for the action choreographer, but a little nonsensical nonetheless.

Jane Seymour is Solitaire, the tarot reading Bond girl who works under the film's villain, Mr. Big, and another "bad girl turned good" by Bond. I didn't recognize her at first, because I'd never seen her at this point in her career; she was really quite stunning, though I might consider her more "cute" than "sexy" here. On top of that, she was one of the few Bond girls with legitimate acting chops, which is more than I can say of the other Bond girl who gets significant screen time, Rosie Carver (played by Gloria Hendry). Geez Louise, she could not act her way out of an invisible box. It was absolutely embarrassing to watch her on screen, and I was almost relieved when she was finally offed by the silliest voodoo scarecrow I've ever seen.

In conclusion, while Live and Let Die was a far cry from the earlier Connery films, I still found it more enjoyable than not. I can see that Bond will be taking a very different tone now, and it seems the makers of the films are very self-aware about this. If they're willing to push things to the limit, fine, I'm willing to match them step for step and go along for the ride. I am well prepared to receive the rest of the Roger Moore films, so I say, "Bring it on!"

My favorite line: "Get me a make on a white pimpmobile!"

My favorite moment: Mr. Big, who in my opinion was an interesting but relatively forgettable villain, is engaged in the final struggle with Bond. Bond places a special capsule in Mr. Big's mouth, causing him to expand like Professor Klump, float to the ceiling, and explode. Wow.

Other Articles:

Day 1: Dr. No (1962)
Day 2: From Russia With Love (1963)
Day 3: Goldfinger (1964)
Day 4: Thunderball (1965)
Day 5: Casino Royale (1967)
Day 6: You Only Live Twice (1967)
Day 7: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
Day 8: Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Day 9: Live and Let Die (1973)
Day 10: The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Day 11: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Day 12: Moonraker (1979)
Day 13: For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Day 14: Octopussy (1983)
Day 15: Never Say Never Again (1983)
Day 16: A View to a Kill (1985)
Day 17: The Living Daylights (1987)
Day 18: Licence to Kill (1989)
Day 19: GoldenEye (1995)
Day 20: Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Day 21: The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Day 22: Die Another Day (2002)
Day 23: Casino Royale (2006)
Day 24: Quantum of Solace (2008)

(1-20 of 28 posts) | Reply

ledawg1138 writes:
on Oct 29 2008 05:43 PM

Pimpmobile away! Roger Moore is a frequent Bond, so get used to him. Although, once again I haven't seen this but I will. Good article Mr. Fujitani.

(Reply to this)

aconline writes:
on Oct 29 2008 05:56 PM

Moore's first film is one of his best. FYEO is my favorite. I do love the 70's stereotype of Harlem. Something that you have not mentioned yet is that no actor has play Felix twice. David Hedison is the only person, until now's Jeffrey Wright, to play him twice. David's other film is yet to come. There is another actor before he returns. It is odd how they switch them out. This is also one of my favorite songs. It is also the first time a group performed the theme instead of a soloist, food for thought. Keep going Ryan, I anticipate your every post!

(Reply to this)

ck100 writes:
on Oct 29 2008 05:59 PM

Nice review. This is probably my least favorite of all the Bond movies. Namely because of the dated elements and some of the campy stuff. But still, the action is all right and it's not so bad to watch. Looking forward to tomorrow's entry on "The Man With The Golden Gun".

(Reply to this)

The Great One writes:
on Oct 29 2008 06:01 PM

I'll admit it, I'm a Live and Let Die fan...and I'm actually a fan of Roger Moore's Bonds, not as serious films, but consistently entertaining action fare...I know I've seen at least some of Man with the Golden Gun, but don't remember much...The Spy Who Loved Me is probably Moore's best, although I do love me some amazingly odd Moonraker

(Reply to this)

ck100 writes:
on Oct 29 2008 06:16 PM

In reply to this comment (#2101654)
The Man With The Golden Gun has Christopher Lee and that "The Plane! The Plane!" midget dude from Fantasy Island.

(Reply to this)

planetawesome writes:
on Oct 29 2008 06:19 PM

My god man, this is the first time you'd heard 'Live and Let Die' by Wings?

(Reply to this)

Shawndorman writes:
on Oct 29 2008 06:23 PM

HAHAHAH your favorite line was also my favorite line from the movie. My friends and I had the brilliant idea of watching every James Bond movie up until the first explosion, then we'd turn it off. For Live and Let Die, it wasn't until about an hour into the movie and I hated every second of it. It's one of my least favorites, but absolutely hilarious. That aside, the theme song is probably my personal favorite of the Bond themes. The Man with the Golden Gun turns up the camp even more, if that's possible. However, the Spy who Loved Me really is a great James Bond movie and my personal favorite of Moore's.

(Reply to this)

indiefilmfan2 writes:
on Oct 29 2008 06:24 PM

This was a major step up from Diamonds Are Forever, but Moore would go on to bigger and better Bonds. At least, the Bond films had started to adapt to 70's pop culture. There is certainly some influence from Shaft and The French Connection here, which debuted just a year or two before this. And the Paul McCartney song is one of the few Bond songs that I occasionally hear on the radio and rightfully so. Judging from your comments Ryan, I think you will be pleasantly surprised with most of Moore's films.

(Reply to this)

ZiGyStRdUsT writes:
on Oct 29 2008 06:24 PM

In reply to this comment (#2101673)
hahaha, I agree. You've been living under a rock if you have not heard that song before.

(Reply to this)

RT-Ryan writes:
on Oct 29 2008 06:25 PM

I actually have noticed that Felix has been played by several actors, and to some extent, this has bothered me, as he's usually never in any of the films long enough for me to latch onto anything consistent in his character, so I keep getting a little confused when I see a new Leiter.

planetawesome,
I'll admit, I'm not familiar with the music of Wings at all. However, I did recognize the song itself as it played through. I knew I had heard it before, but I never knew who sung it, where I had heard it, or when. Now I have some context, and that helps.

(Reply to this)

ledawg1138 writes:
on Oct 29 2008 06:31 PM

Hey! Paul McCartney, Live and Let Die! I just realized! Not subtle!

(Reply to this)

vashfanatic writes:
on Oct 29 2008 06:37 PM

In reply to this comment (#2101690)
actually, if you watched the Simpsons' episode where Lisa becomes a vegetarian and the McCartneys guest star, Apu mentions "Live and Let Die," so...

My mother says that Roger Moore is the bond she always found most attractive.

(Reply to this)

Boyo writes:
on Oct 29 2008 07:48 PM

I love Live and Let Die, you should read Moores diary that he wrote while filming, it's a great read.

I know that your watching these for the first time and your seeing the gradual progression from serious to fun, but it's interesting to read the notes in the DVD, where it says that the Bond films needed to be a bit lighter because audiences needed a bit of light entertainment to escape from such things as Watergate and Vietnam - interesting.

Theres something else that's interesting with Live and Let Die, and thats the references with the book. As other people have commented, the films now start to really veer away from Flemings books, but there are three scenes that are in the book that come up. The first is where Tee Hee is instructed to snip Bonds fingers - in the book he breaks Bonds fingers one at a time, it's hard to read! The second comes up in For Your Eyes Only, (and I won't give out any spoilers to Ryan!!), the third comes in Licence to Kill, which, as has been mentioned, has the same Felix Leiter.

The producers wanted to have Honey from Dr. No in this movie - that would have been weird!

A few people have been talking about the stunts, and being a record. In this film it was a World record jump for a speedboat - 120 feet. The next film also has a record stunt.

And yes, Rosie Carver has to be one of the worst.

Other than that, great movie, I'm really glad you enjoyed it. The next films are also really enjoyable. Keep it going Ryan - I'm loving these write ups! (By the way, I slowed down my Bond marathon so you could catch up, you now have, so we're both watching Golden Gun tomorrow!!)

(Reply to this)

Sputnik99 writes:
on Oct 29 2008 07:53 PM

My favorite part is when Bond runs across the gators. That part has a great story behind it. It's in the extras. Poor stuntman.

Great analysis of LOLD. I agree 100%. Except about the favorite part. So, 98%. Sorry.

(Reply to this)

ck100 writes:
on Oct 29 2008 08:05 PM

In reply to this comment (#2101690)
Perhaps you've heard the Guns N' Roses version of "Live and Let Die", RT-Ryan?

(Reply to this)

Comment writes:
on Oct 29 2008 08:11 PM

Is this the movie that starts off with the dancing funeral/parade in the street? That was the best scene out of any bond film.

(Reply to this)

buckeyes1186 writes:
on Oct 29 2008 09:05 PM

So Ryan, what did you think of Sheriff J.W. Pepper? In my opinion, he's the very worst character in the entire James Bond film series. And unfortunately, you're not done with him yet.

As a fan of the books as well as the films, it's really hard for me to accept Live and Let Die. It's so dramatically different and so damn silly that it just disgusts me at times. With that said, it's definitely not one of Moore's worst, but it's not extraordinary by any means.

(Reply to this)

golrush007 writes:
on Oct 29 2008 10:28 PM

The first time I saw this film it completely fell flat for me. Cut to a couple of years later, and I saw it for a second time. Basically I loved every minute of it - Moore's gentlemanly, but cocky performance and youthful looks. George Martin's funky 70s score, and the overall tone of the film was well balanced. LALD has it's poor moments - Sheriff JW Pepper is amusing, but a little annoying. He's better here than in The Man With The Golden Gun though. The major point for me is the death of Kananga - it's quite a novel idea, but the effect on screen is quite unconving. Other than that, one of my favourite Bonds - I rank it 5th overall, and my favourite Roger Moore film.

(Reply to this)

markbart0305 writes:
on Oct 29 2008 11:13 PM

I really love Roger Moore's likable sense of humor and smoothness on-screen. Sure, he's not as aggressively masculine as Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan, or gritty and realistic like Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig, but he made the role his own, and fit the 70's era of Bond films well. With that said, he did outstay his welcome with A View to a Kill, as it was clearly time for another Bond to enter the picture.

My favorite Moore Bond film is The Spy Who Loved Me. Not only does it avoid most of the campiness that was a staple in the Moore era, but it featured a memorable Bond girl, a terrifying villain (Jaws), and incredible set pieces.

(Reply to this)

RT-Ryan writes:
on Oct 29 2008 11:52 PM

ck100, I may have heard the Guns N Roses version, but I'm not sure. I'll have to check it out again to see if I recognize it.

A few of you have mentioned Sheriff Pepper, and yes, I did feel that his appearance in the film was a little strange. He took the campiness of the movie to a whole new level, and I didn't throw in the reference to Dukes of Hazzard simply for amusement; that was really the first thought I had as he waddled about, spitting tobacco and slathering his southern drawl all over the screen. He really seemed to come straight out of a 70s sitcom, and didn't entirely fit with the tone of the rest of the movie.

(Reply to this)

Live and Let Die

Related Links

Live and Let Die

Related Articles

Most Discussed

Latest News

Latest Interviews

Latest Features

Sponsored Links