Bonding with Bond, Day 9: Live and Let Die

Playboy Slim on 10-29-2008 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.

aconline on 10-29-2008 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!

ck100 on 10-29-2008 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".

The Great One on 10-29-2008 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

planetawesome on 10-29-2008 06:19 PM

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

Shawndorman on 10-29-2008 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.

indiefilmfan2 on 10-29-2008 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.

RT-Ryan on 10-29-2008 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.

Playboy Slim on 10-29-2008 06:31 PM

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

Boyo on 10-29-2008 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!!)

Sputnik99 on 10-29-2008 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.

Comment on 10-29-2008 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.

buckeyes1186 on 10-29-2008 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.

golrush007 on 10-29-2008 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.

markbart0305 on 10-29-2008 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.

RT-Ryan on 10-29-2008 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.

bawiseconsulting on 10-30-2008 04:30 AM

Ryan, your entry on George Lazenby as "Bond" in On Her Majesty's Secret Service was written well. I believe George would be happy about your comment regarding his role in this movie.

When you and your readers get a chance, browse through http://rottentomatoes.com/vine/j/bawiseconsulting and give me some feedback.

Lawrence C. on 10-30-2008 08:56 AM

I always had major issues with Roger Moore, but didn't realize it until decades later after I had read all the original novels -- If you watch what Roger Moore wears and how he acts and you are aware of his The Saint performances, all of a sudden it clicks: Roger Moore was playing the Saint masquerading as James Bond.

Think about it.

James Bond smokes cigarettes and wears tailored suits with narrow ties. Women are unavoidably attracted to him.

The Saint smokes cigars and wears sport coats with wide ties. He chases women.

Roger Moore's Bond overly relied on gadgets -- his best Bond performance was in For Your Eyes only, which minimalized the gadgets and focused on the characters. Strangely enough the major elements of For Your Eyes Only are taken from the novel Live and Let Die such as being dragged through the reefs.

The final straw was From a View to a Kill which was in actuality a poor remake of Goldfinger, replacing gold with the silicon chip. It was such a parody, that at one point Bond says to a policemen, "I'm James Bond" to which the cop replies, "yeah, right." And the cop was right -- no way anyone would believe Roger Moore was James Bond.

Playboy Slim on 10-30-2008 03:15 PM

By the way, I'm not dead!- Paul on The Simpsons.

mjprogue on 10-30-2008 05:08 PM

Well Lawrence C....since Moore was in line to be the original Bond...but couldn't accept because of his contract to play the Saint...I'm not surprised he brought a similar character to the table. The Saint was popular and it was the performance which attracted the producers to Moore in the first place (it was also a fantastic show in its own right).

As for gadgets, writing, etc....I don't know how much of that you actually think Moore had any control over. Hate the era...not the Bond!