With Sean Connery finally leaving the role of James Bond, Englishman Roger Moore became his successor. While Moore would eventually leave his own stamp on the part, he is much too stiff and tentative here. He does not resemble Sean Connery in looks or mannerisms. Bond is way too nice to his adversaries, often conversing with them as if they are his good friends. Sean Connery's Bond would never say thank you after being roughed up and shoved out a door. This problem stains the entire movie, and led me to question Bond's good judgment. Moore would get better, but he is caught in a weak plot involving drug smuggling and the voodoo nonsense of Baron Saturday.
The air of absurdity materializes as early as the pre-title sequence, where a British agent watches a funeral procession that turns out being his own. This is one of three rather ludicrous killings that melt into Paul McCartney's famous title song. Unfortunately, the best theme in the series is the high point of the movie. Any hope that will improvement will come thoroughly dashed within fifteen minutes.
Bond starts an investigation of the three aforementioned murders, all connected to Dr. Kananga (Yaphet Kotto), the prime minister of a small island nation. Bond's mission takes him to Harlem, where he discovers a link between Kananga and criminal mobster Mr. Big, both later revealed to be the same person. Aiding Kananga/Mr. Big is a lusciously beautiful tarot card reader named Solitaire (Jane Seymour) and a vast organization of stereotyped cronies.
"Live and Let Die" is a flop in nearly every way. In addition to Moore's poor rendition of Bond, the action is lackluster, the characters are irritating, the soundtrack is terrible, the style is incongruous, and the film is racist. All the black people use fractured "blackspeak" and are either drug dealers or mob enforcers. Adam (Tommy Lane) orders some lazy henchmen to chase Bond saying, "The man who gets him stays alive! Now MOVE YOU MOTHERS!" Later, he encounters hick Sheriff J.W. Pepper (Clifton James) and risks his organization's entire plot by not shooting him.
Pepper is also an annoying, negative stereotype who undermines the film's best scene. Writer Tom Mankiewicz says he included Pepper so he could make fun of all groups equally. Since when are the Bond films about making fun of people? I bet Albert Broccoli would have shuddered if he heard during the making of "From Russia with Love" that the series would one day come to this.
Finally, the movie's climax is poorly written and executed. Bond carelessly leaves one of his weapons lying around for anyone to find, leaving him defenseless. It is the second time that he essentially allows himself to be captured. Maybe Mankiewicz and director Guy Hamilton were just looking for an excuse to create a brawl. Moore was never particularly good at brawls.
Despite its myriad of flaws, "Live and Let Die" has three positives. The most obvious one is Solitaire, Kananga's radiant mistress and the film's best character. Solitaire is intentionally vulnerable, and Seymour understands that well. As for the eye candy, Solitaire is arguably the most physically attractive Bond girl.
The other two positives are Kananga and his aide Tee-Hee (Julius W. Harris). Not surprisingly they are the only two non-stereotyped blacks. Kotto plays Kananga as an intelligent, well-expressed man who is in complete control of his emotions. Only Max Zorin is a more effective Moore era villain. Bond and Tee-Hee's train fight at the end is one of the few jewels of Moore's time although it does not approach the original in "From Russia with Love." The idea of a bad guy trying to kill Bond after the victory is won occurred in five of the eight films by this point and lost its appeal.
As far as 007 adventures go, "Live and Let Die" is one of the worst despite its three good characters. Moore would improve, and but it would take until 1977 to undo the damage from the film and its successor.
The air of absurdity materializes as early as the pre-title sequence, where a British agent watches a funeral procession that turns out being his own. This is one of three rather ludicrous killings that melt into Paul McCartney's famous title song. Unfortunately, the best theme in the series is the high point of the movie. Any hope that will improvement will come thoroughly dashed within fifteen minutes.
Bond starts an investigation of the three aforementioned murders, all connected to Dr. Kananga (Yaphet Kotto), the prime minister of a small island nation. Bond's mission takes him to Harlem, where he discovers a link between Kananga and criminal mobster Mr. Big, both later revealed to be the same person. Aiding Kananga/Mr. Big is a lusciously beautiful tarot card reader named Solitaire (Jane Seymour) and a vast organization of stereotyped cronies.
"Live and Let Die" is a flop in nearly every way. In addition to Moore's poor rendition of Bond, the action is lackluster, the characters are irritating, the soundtrack is terrible, the style is incongruous, and the film is racist. All the black people use fractured "blackspeak" and are either drug dealers or mob enforcers. Adam (Tommy Lane) orders some lazy henchmen to chase Bond saying, "The man who gets him stays alive! Now MOVE YOU MOTHERS!" Later, he encounters hick Sheriff J.W. Pepper (Clifton James) and risks his organization's entire plot by not shooting him.
Pepper is also an annoying, negative stereotype who undermines the film's best scene. Writer Tom Mankiewicz says he included Pepper so he could make fun of all groups equally. Since when are the Bond films about making fun of people? I bet Albert Broccoli would have shuddered if he heard during the making of "From Russia with Love" that the series would one day come to this.
Finally, the movie's climax is poorly written and executed. Bond carelessly leaves one of his weapons lying around for anyone to find, leaving him defenseless. It is the second time that he essentially allows himself to be captured. Maybe Mankiewicz and director Guy Hamilton were just looking for an excuse to create a brawl. Moore was never particularly good at brawls.
Despite its myriad of flaws, "Live and Let Die" has three positives. The most obvious one is Solitaire, Kananga's radiant mistress and the film's best character. Solitaire is intentionally vulnerable, and Seymour understands that well. As for the eye candy, Solitaire is arguably the most physically attractive Bond girl.
The other two positives are Kananga and his aide Tee-Hee (Julius W. Harris). Not surprisingly they are the only two non-stereotyped blacks. Kotto plays Kananga as an intelligent, well-expressed man who is in complete control of his emotions. Only Max Zorin is a more effective Moore era villain. Bond and Tee-Hee's train fight at the end is one of the few jewels of Moore's time although it does not approach the original in "From Russia with Love." The idea of a bad guy trying to kill Bond after the victory is won occurred in five of the eight films by this point and lost its appeal.
As far as 007 adventures go, "Live and Let Die" is one of the worst despite its three good characters. Moore would improve, and but it would take until 1977 to undo the damage from the film and its successor.