Another great retrospective. I'm so happy I stumbled across your videos, they have such a reasonable and laid-back atmosphere to them and are a great way to revisit one of my favourite film series. SLJ forever!
I'm so glad you noticed the similarity to DrNo, Saltzman said Diamonds was a rethink of Goldfinger, the franchise now re-treads this idea- Russia/Gun a equal matching foe to Bond, Ball/Spy water theme. Twice/Moon space idea. Majestys/Only revenge for family killing in mountain citadel, Finger/Octo smuggling and a dirty bomb, View is a remake of Never Say with added John Gardner book elements, etc
Deleted a prior comment because yea. This movie still holds up as one of the highlights from Moore's tenure. The efforts taken to avoid comparison with Connery's Bond and focus on establishing Moore's take (I.E having Bond order Bourbon with Water instead of a Vodka Martini) paid off with Moore's gentlemanly depiction being brilliantly set in stone. And as this video says, Live and Let Die is a master at building tension and keeping the bad guys ahead of Bond at every turn. It really makes the moments when Bond avoids death with nothing but his wits even more satisfying. And there's a genuine confidence and energy that was lacking in the previous film that Live and Let Die boasts in spades. Such a fantastic film. (I still stand by my comment about George Martin's score holding up better than Marvin Hamlish's for The Spy Who Loved Me, too, ICYW.)
I mentioned this in posts earlier, and now that you finally got to LALD, I have to state that watching "The Saint" television series will inform your opinion on Roger Moore. He knew what his strengths were. He was a charming, slightly roguish looking character. Cubby and Saltzman had thrown about the idea of Moore as Bond well before LALD but that was never going to happen as long as "The Saint" was such a huge hit. Moore knew he had to rely on his charm. So did the producers. Moore was not the brawler that Connery or Lazenby were, and he was older than Connery. If you were a young person living through the 70s, you couldn't avoid the legacy of the Beatles and Blaxploitation films. LALD got young movie goers interested in Bond again in a way DAF did not. It was the 70s. Car chases were bigger than ever, and people wanted to see what was going to happen next. McCartney's title track was played everywhere. Back then, we had AM and FM radio getting 30/70 attention, so it wasn't just on FM radio. The song got people buying soundtrack albums in a way other Bond films never could approach until TSWLM came out in 1977. LALD was a bit cringeworthy as a book, revealing some of Fleming's racism. As a movie, it was fun and clever, if a little silly in places. I remember watching it and thinking how much Roger Moore was just so cool and relaxed in the face of danger. He was a great Bond.
This was my first James Bond film, and I credit it for so many things, far beyond my instant love of James Bond! It made me fall in love with movies, with action and adventure and I speculate that it even influenced my eventual love of horror, because the film scared the hell out of me at moments (Baron Samedi, obviously, but also just Kananga himself, Yaphet Kotto was such a brilliant actor!) and was _by far_ the most violent film I’d ever seen up until that point in my short life, not that that’s saying much in the grand scheme of things, but still, it was shocking to see so much blood! For all these reasons, despite some of the flaws, it will always be one of my favourites of the series!
An excellent review on an already brilliant start for Sir Roger Moore : Far removed from the "action comedy" Diamonds Are Forever, Live And Let Die was the only feature (on to this day) to feature a lead villain who isn't Caucasian - doesn't make a difference as 007 is out to defeat enemies, not nations. Yaphet Kotto (who was chosen by United Artists Executive David Picker, when 'Across 110th Street' finished production) is fantastic as Moore's opponent - some people, myself included could easily compare this to Marked For Death, as both have a story that includes narcotics and voodoo, where it's partly set in the West Indies - either way this deserves to in the top ten 007 movies and best of its decade.
Great review though I would like to mention one thing that I was a bit surprised that you didn't mention, but that being the whole Blaxploitation angle of the film. The idea that Bond tends to borrow from what's big at the time. Obviously we got Moonraker because Star Wars was... well, Star Wars. Die Another Day honestly feels like at times that EON thought that Vin Diseal's XXX film might become a threat. And then of course with Craig's outing, you can see a lot of Bourne's impact on the series.
LALD is my fourth favorite Moore Bond, after Spy, Eyes, and Octopussy. But I think it’s considerably better than his other three. Thanks for this review!
Great review. My favorite Bond film. I don't think it's the best Bond film, it's just the one I like the most. I first saw this when I was about 10 years old, not when it came out but still long ago, and the Mr Big/Dr K thing totally threw me, it was a huge twist. The makeup on Mr Big was much less obvious back then, at least to kid me. Even years later, I still thought it was very well done, since they didn't use two actors (like the fake Bond played by Sean Connery in From Russia with Love). It's only recently, on TH-cam and streaming, that the makeup/latex is much more obvious. As for Solitaire, I never for a moment thought the airport scene was anything other than Solitaire causing a distraction to help Bond escape. The reason why Kananga does not punish her is because to the onlookers she's just some angry woman who, like an idiot, gives Bond an opportunity to escape. He's very suspicious of course, hence the watch scene. With the Tarot card warning sent to Bond, I could never decide if it was Solitaire or Samedi. Solitaire seems like the obvious choice, and I think that is what the script was going for, since it sets up Bond trusting Solitaire from the start, as clearly he assumes she sent the card, although it's odd it never gets mentioned and Solitaire's motivation is unclear. However, Samedi may appear to be working with Kananga, but it's not beyond him to stir things up. I always thought it was very interesting that he's with Big/K a few times but no-one seems to acknowledge him, except when he draws a tarot card for Big/K. I almost wish that part had been left out because otherwise I would question whether he was even visible to everyone present. Maybe only Bond or Solitaire can see him. I doubt that was what they were going for, it just would have been a cool easter egg. Samedi is the reason this is my favorite Bond film. His presence suggests there's more going on than just spies and drugs.
I hear you on there being a difference between best and favorite; I'm a big proponent on that. Good to hear someone else's reaction on the Mr. Big thing. I also never considered Samedi sending the card, but it's an intriguing idea. However, he hands a card to Kananga and the crowd certainly reacts to him in the graveyard, so I doubt he's selectively visible.
For me, Live and Let Die is a film that I was always told was great. During my late teens and early 20's, I found it kind of dull. Well, as I get older (30 next year), I tend to like this film mo(o)re and mo(o)re. I re-watched it in 2022, and found myself very much enthralled by the film. I did my own film ranking last year, and it's squarely in 12th place. On a re-watch last week, I think I would possibly movie it a little higher, but competition is much harder for me in the top 10 films. As a Bond-Blaxsploitation film, I think it's excellent. My biggest issues with it are purely in the form of pacing, as the film feels long, despite not a ton really happening in it. That being said, I think it's still a wonderful film, and one that I think has aged well. It's Roger's #2 Bond film for me, right behind one that you'll be covering pretty soon. Thanks for the review! Always happy to see them pop up in my notification box!
So the stuntman who owned the crocodiles and participated in the movie where the villain's name is Kananaga was literally known as "Ross Kananga"?? That is hilarious.
Just wondering... when James Bond is in his resort room for the first time, and he taps off some sort of message through the radio on his hairbrush... could that be when he asks HQ about Rosie Carver? And, if so, it seems plausible that they would respond-- but as I sit here typing out this comment, it crosses my mind that MI6 might not know about the tarot connection, which brings me back to Solitaire, or even Felix, who might have heard about tarot from Strutter, the CIA agent who helped James Bond escape from Mr. Big's Harlem headquarters. I can understand why filmmakers wouldn't want to spell everything out for the audience, but there are moments where the audience wish they had.
Juste had a rewatch of Live and Let Die as I am making my way once again in chronological order through all the Bonds. What a struggle this time. The pace is terrible. I fell asleep halfway through and had to make a viewing in two days. It’s my least favourite Roger Moore Bond and I can’t believe it’s the same director as Goldfinger. Live And Let Die feels so disjointed and the cast is lifeless. Only Yaphet Koto shines in this film with an engaging performance. No one seems to take the events seriously in this film. It’s Roger Moore’s attitude and it works as long as you have around him a cast that has a dramatic weight. Take the last fight in the train as an exemple. We are so far from the magnetic FRWL counterpart. The Man With The Golden Gun is awkward here and there and has it flaws but at least it has a proper energy and you believe in the locations. In LALD there is this vibe you are watching Pinewood stages too many times. At least there is an awesome song from McCartney.
Greatness of amazing awesome review Roger Moore first James Bond movie adventure live and let die live and let die one my favorite James Bond movie in the list in the series Liv and let die excited bond movies Roger Moore James Bond amazing performance debut with charm is sophisticated cool James Bond the villains are all rememberable and they all get the shine in this movie what personalities fun entertaining villains Jane Seymour aka solitaire interesting character Sierra JW pepper entertaining campy love the George Martin soundtrack music
Another great retrospective. I'm so happy I stumbled across your videos, they have such a reasonable and laid-back atmosphere to them and are a great way to revisit one of my favourite film series. SLJ forever!
I'm so glad you noticed the similarity to DrNo, Saltzman said Diamonds was a rethink of Goldfinger, the franchise now re-treads this idea- Russia/Gun a equal matching foe to Bond, Ball/Spy water theme. Twice/Moon space idea. Majestys/Only revenge for family killing in mountain citadel, Finger/Octo smuggling and a dirty bomb, View is a remake of Never Say with added John Gardner book elements, etc
Deleted a prior comment because yea. This movie still holds up as one of the highlights from Moore's tenure. The efforts taken to avoid comparison with Connery's Bond and focus on establishing Moore's take (I.E having Bond order Bourbon with Water instead of a Vodka Martini) paid off with Moore's gentlemanly depiction being brilliantly set in stone.
And as this video says, Live and Let Die is a master at building tension and keeping the bad guys ahead of Bond at every turn. It really makes the moments when Bond avoids death with nothing but his wits even more satisfying. And there's a genuine confidence and energy that was lacking in the previous film that Live and Let Die boasts in spades. Such a fantastic film.
(I still stand by my comment about George Martin's score holding up better than Marvin Hamlish's for The Spy Who Loved Me, too, ICYW.)
I mentioned this in posts earlier, and now that you finally got to LALD, I have to state that watching "The Saint" television series will inform your opinion on Roger Moore. He knew what his strengths were. He was a charming, slightly roguish looking character. Cubby and Saltzman had thrown about the idea of Moore as Bond well before LALD but that was never going to happen as long as "The Saint" was such a huge hit. Moore knew he had to rely on his charm. So did the producers. Moore was not the brawler that Connery or Lazenby were, and he was older than Connery.
If you were a young person living through the 70s, you couldn't avoid the legacy of the Beatles and Blaxploitation films. LALD got young movie goers interested in Bond again in a way DAF did not. It was the 70s. Car chases were bigger than ever, and people wanted to see what was going to happen next. McCartney's title track was played everywhere. Back then, we had AM and FM radio getting 30/70 attention, so it wasn't just on FM radio. The song got people buying soundtrack albums in a way other Bond films never could approach until TSWLM came out in 1977.
LALD was a bit cringeworthy as a book, revealing some of Fleming's racism. As a movie, it was fun and clever, if a little silly in places. I remember watching it and thinking how much Roger Moore was just so cool and relaxed in the face of danger. He was a great Bond.
love it
Aww yeah, starting to work our way through the Moore era.
keep making James Bond vidoes :) amazing work
Roger Moore is my favorite bond. There I said it.
This was my first James Bond film, and I credit it for so many things, far beyond my instant love of James Bond!
It made me fall in love with movies, with action and adventure and I speculate that it even influenced my eventual love of horror, because the film scared the hell out of me at moments (Baron Samedi, obviously, but also just Kananga himself, Yaphet Kotto was such a brilliant actor!) and was _by far_ the most violent film I’d ever seen up until that point in my short life, not that that’s saying much in the grand scheme of things, but still, it was shocking to see so much blood! For all these reasons, despite some of the flaws, it will always be one of my favourites of the series!
An excellent review on an already brilliant start for Sir Roger Moore : Far removed from the "action comedy" Diamonds Are Forever, Live And Let Die was the only feature (on to this day) to feature a lead villain who isn't Caucasian - doesn't make a difference as 007 is out to defeat enemies, not nations.
Yaphet Kotto (who was chosen by United Artists Executive David Picker, when 'Across 110th Street' finished production) is fantastic as Moore's opponent - some people, myself included could easily compare this to Marked For Death, as both have a story that includes narcotics and voodoo, where it's partly set in the West Indies - either way this deserves to in the top ten 007 movies and best of its decade.
Great review though I would like to mention one thing that I was a bit surprised that you didn't mention, but that being the whole Blaxploitation angle of the film. The idea that Bond tends to borrow from what's big at the time. Obviously we got Moonraker because Star Wars was... well, Star Wars. Die Another Day honestly feels like at times that EON thought that Vin Diseal's XXX film might become a threat. And then of course with Craig's outing, you can see a lot of Bourne's impact on the series.
LALD is my fourth favorite Moore Bond, after Spy, Eyes, and Octopussy. But I think it’s considerably better than his other three. Thanks for this review!
Great review. My favorite Bond film. I don't think it's the best Bond film, it's just the one I like the most.
I first saw this when I was about 10 years old, not when it came out but still long ago, and the Mr Big/Dr K thing totally threw me, it was a huge twist. The makeup on Mr Big was much less obvious back then, at least to kid me. Even years later, I still thought it was very well done, since they didn't use two actors (like the fake Bond played by Sean Connery in From Russia with Love). It's only recently, on TH-cam and streaming, that the makeup/latex is much more obvious.
As for Solitaire, I never for a moment thought the airport scene was anything other than Solitaire causing a distraction to help Bond escape. The reason why Kananga does not punish her is because to the onlookers she's just some angry woman who, like an idiot, gives Bond an opportunity to escape. He's very suspicious of course, hence the watch scene. With the Tarot card warning sent to Bond, I could never decide if it was Solitaire or Samedi. Solitaire seems like the obvious choice, and I think that is what the script was going for, since it sets up Bond trusting Solitaire from the start, as clearly he assumes she sent the card, although it's odd it never gets mentioned and Solitaire's motivation is unclear. However, Samedi may appear to be working with Kananga, but it's not beyond him to stir things up. I always thought it was very interesting that he's with Big/K a few times but no-one seems to acknowledge him, except when he draws a tarot card for Big/K. I almost wish that part had been left out because otherwise I would question whether he was even visible to everyone present. Maybe only Bond or Solitaire can see him. I doubt that was what they were going for, it just would have been a cool easter egg. Samedi is the reason this is my favorite Bond film. His presence suggests there's more going on than just spies and drugs.
I hear you on there being a difference between best and favorite; I'm a big proponent on that.
Good to hear someone else's reaction on the Mr. Big thing. I also never considered Samedi sending the card, but it's an intriguing idea. However, he hands a card to Kananga and the crowd certainly reacts to him in the graveyard, so I doubt he's selectively visible.
For me, Live and Let Die is a film that I was always told was great. During my late teens and early 20's, I found it kind of dull. Well, as I get older (30 next year), I tend to like this film mo(o)re and mo(o)re.
I re-watched it in 2022, and found myself very much enthralled by the film. I did my own film ranking last year, and it's squarely in 12th place. On a re-watch last week, I think I would possibly movie it a little higher, but competition is much harder for me in the top 10 films.
As a Bond-Blaxsploitation film, I think it's excellent. My biggest issues with it are purely in the form of pacing, as the film feels long, despite not a ton really happening in it. That being said, I think it's still a wonderful film, and one that I think has aged well. It's Roger's #2 Bond film for me, right behind one that you'll be covering pretty soon.
Thanks for the review! Always happy to see them pop up in my notification box!
When talking about the final fight, I'm surprised you didn't bring the rather goofy way in which Kanenga dies.
Oh, I have been waiting for this!
So the stuntman who owned the crocodiles and participated in the movie where the villain's name is Kananaga was literally known as "Ross Kananga"?? That is hilarious.
Good One
Just wondering... when James Bond is in his resort room for the first time, and he taps off some sort of message through the radio on his hairbrush... could that be when he asks HQ about Rosie Carver? And, if so, it seems plausible that they would respond-- but as I sit here typing out this comment, it crosses my mind that MI6 might not know about the tarot connection, which brings me back to Solitaire, or even Felix, who might have heard about tarot from Strutter, the CIA agent who helped James Bond escape from Mr. Big's Harlem headquarters. I can understand why filmmakers wouldn't want to spell everything out for the audience, but there are moments where the audience wish they had.
Adiboo..:)
Juste had a rewatch of Live and Let Die as I am making my way once again in chronological order through all the Bonds. What a struggle this time. The pace is terrible. I fell asleep halfway through and had to make a viewing in two days.
It’s my least favourite Roger Moore Bond and I can’t believe it’s the same director as Goldfinger.
Live And Let Die feels so disjointed and the cast is lifeless. Only Yaphet Koto shines in this film with an engaging performance.
No one seems to take the events seriously in this film. It’s Roger Moore’s attitude and it works as long as you have around him a cast that has a dramatic weight. Take the last fight in the train as an exemple. We are so far from the magnetic FRWL counterpart.
The Man With The Golden Gun is awkward here and there and has it flaws but at least it has a proper energy and you believe in the locations.
In LALD there is this vibe you are watching Pinewood stages too many times.
At least there is an awesome song from McCartney.
Roger Moore is mostly good, but as I imagine many agree his nearly winking at the camera with the humour can get a bit much.
Jane Seymour is so hot
Greatness of amazing awesome review Roger Moore first James Bond movie adventure live and let die live and let die one my favorite James Bond movie in the list in the series Liv and let die excited bond movies Roger Moore James Bond amazing performance debut with charm is sophisticated cool James Bond the villains are all rememberable and they all get the shine in this movie what personalities fun entertaining villains Jane Seymour aka solitaire interesting character Sierra JW pepper entertaining campy love the George Martin soundtrack music