Movie Info:
Writers: Ian Fleming, Tom Mankiewicz
Director: Guy Hamilton
Cast: Roger Moore, Yaphet Kotto, Jane Seymour, Clifton James, Julius Harris, Geoffrey Holder, David Hedison, Gloria Hendry, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell
Rating: PG
Studio: Fox/MGM
Release Info:
Theatrical Release: June 27, 1973
DVD Release Date: October 21, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $23.95
I find it hard to get into the Bond films that feature Roger Moore. He had huge shoes to fill when Sean Connery vacated the role, and Moore could never completely fill them. That’s not to say that Moore is a bad actor. He was just miscast as Bond. When it comes to best performances by a Bond star, Moore is near the bottom. In order, of my favorites, I would have to say they are Sean Connery, Daniel Craig and Pierce Brosnan, meaning Moore isn’t even in the top 3.
Of course, this is open to individual interpretation. While most people agree Connery is and always will be the definitive Bond, Moore has a select group of fans who worship him as Bond. I just happen to be one of them that doesn’t. When it comes to the film Live and Let Die, I don’t necessarily think it is a bad film, but I do think that it would have received a much better reception had Connery reprised the role, in this film, as he was asked. This is the first Bond film without Connery in it, and it shows that the writers were trying to shift Bond in a direction Moore could go with the character, thanks to minor changes to the script. Still, I can’t help but wonder what difference Connery would have made in the film.
Moore’s foray into the world of Bond is filled with action. That’s the part of the movie you don’t have to complain about. The film also has a strong plot. If you’ve ever seen a Bond movie you already know it relies on the outstanding action sequences to carry the film. I have no problem with the plot or the action. I do have a problem with Roger Moore. I wasn’t looking for a substandard Bond when watching this film and he truly is second rate to Sean Connery. It’s just impossible to compare the two actors because Connery is leaps and bounds above Moore.
If you can get past this, then Live and Let Die is a fairly enjoyable movie. It’s not as cringe-worthy as I thought it would be. It is still Bond, though, and there is a reason why several actors later, the Bond name and 007 movies are still as popular as they are. I’m kind of glad fans stuck it out through the Roger Moore years, because later Bonds have trumped his performances by revitalizing the role and bringing back the type of charisma and life Connery breathed into it when he originated the role.
The Live and Let Die Plot
Within hours of setting up a monitoring operation on the Caribbean island dictator, Dr. Kananga (Yaphet Kotto), three M16, British agents are found dead, with mystery surrounding their deaths. It just so happens that Kanaga is visiting the city where the first agent was killed, New York. Kanaga, the dictator of San Monique is visiting the UN, which is why he’s in the city.
The Brits decide to send Agent 007, James Bond (Roger Moore) to investigate the death and Kananga’s coincidental visit to New York City around the time of the first murder. It doesn’t take long for Bond’s identity to be discovered/compromised. After arriving in the city, his driver is killed en route to meet with a member of the CIA, Felix Leiter (David Hedison). The car crash, as a result of his driver’s death nearly kills Bond, but he manages to escape relatively unscathed.
Bond tracks the killer of his driver down and he is led on a goose chase to find the gangster, Mr. Big. Big runs a chain of restaurants, Fillet of Soul, across the United States. When Bond finally has the chance to get face to face, he also meets Solitaire (Jane Seymour). Not only is she gorgeous and a virgin, but she also has metaphysical abilities. She is not only a tarot expert, but she can see events in both the future and the present. From there, it isn’t long before he learns the truth about Mr. Big.
With speedboat chases, double agents uncovered, romance (or at least a lot of sex – typical Bond), drug smuggling and production, and a brush with voodoo and the occult, Live and Let Die is more interesting than it should be, considering Sean Connery isn’t in this film!
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Directing:
Audio/Visual:
Live and Let Die does Bond and Blu-ray justice. Rather than going with 2.35:1 the film stuck with the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The 1080p, AVC MPEG-4 transfer offers everything you could hope for where this film is concerned. The picture offers a nice amount of detail, nice facial/skin tones, and good coloring overall. There are moments of graininess, but for the most part this isn’t a huge problem. The positives in this film, visually, far outweigh the negatives.
Live and Let Die offers similar audio options to other Bond films. You can listen to the mono audio or the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 version. The biggest problem here is that you will spend a large portion of the movie playing with the volume. The soundtrack is incredibly loud and the dialogue and sound effects fall on the quiet side. With the music as strong as it is, it makes the much quieter action sequences fall short in an auditory sense. Two Spanish audio tracks are available in Mono and DD 5.1. Subtitles are available in English and Spanish.
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Bonus Features:
If you own the 2006 Ultimate Edition release you will find that most (if not all) of the special features in that set were ported over onto this Blu-ray. The good news is that there are some pretty decent features here for the most part. The bad news is that with substandard audio and the same features, it becomes somewhat pointless to buy this Blu-ray if you already own the Ultimate Edition DVD.
Three commentaries are available on the disc. There is an ensemble of interviews by John Cork, a commentary by Sir Roger Moore, and a commentary by Tom Mankiewicz. The cast and crew interviews are by far the most interesting commentary here. Mankiewicz focused on the screenwriting challenges, which made for a rather dry listen and Moore talked about a variety of things, though it was obvious that his charity work was the most important topic he could think to bring up.
“Inside Live and Let Die” lasts for 30 minutes. Patrick Macnee serves as the narrator of this documentary, which also serves as the making of for the film. There is a variety of information that is offered here. Some interesting topics include shooting in New Orleans, having a new Bond, script issues, and the fact that Burt Reynolds was heavily considered as the next Bond at the time. A good selection of interesting outtakes wrap up this fun documentary.
“Bond 1973: The Lost Documentary” This serves more as a promotional piece, but it’s interesting to watch considering the vintage nature of it. It gives audiences a chance to prepare for Moore in the room of James Bond.
“Roger Moore as James Bond, Circa 1964″ shows us that this film is not the first time that Moore had a chance to play Bond. Of course, the first time he did do it was when he was on the comedy show, Mainly Millicent. Whether any of this is funny or not will depend on you.
“Live and Let Die Conceptual Art” is narrated by Michael Wilson and gives you a look at various early poster designs that were used for the film.
“On Set with Roger Moore: The Funeral Parade” is a short interview with Moore that deals with him arranging a cameo appearance for a friend.
“On the Set with Roger Moore: Hang Gliding Lessons” lasts for a few minutes and shows some footage of Bill Bennett dealing with the stunt for the hang gliding scene.
“007 Mission Control” is supposed to be an interactive guide for the movie, but what it really ends up being is a menu for scene selections.
Things wrap up with a theatrical archive of various trailers, some television broadcasts, a couple of audio spots, and a rather large gallery of retro images.
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Bottom Line:
As far as Bond movies go, Live and Let Die is pretty good. The biggest problem I have with this film is the fact that Roger Moore is a part of the cast. I am not fond of him as Bond. If you can look past this seemingly large problem, you will enjoy Live and Let Die. As far as Blu-rays go, this one is okay. It’s not how you’d expect a new Bond movie to look, but it’s a lot better than other releases from this time period. Ultimately, you’ll have to decide if this is worth the purchase or not, based on how you feel about Roger Moore (as Bond). If you like him, you’ll want to pick this up right away.
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Technorati Tags: Live and Let Die, Blu Ray, DVD Review, MGM, Fox, James Bond, Roger Moore, Jane Seymour, Spy, Ian Fleming
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Written by Dominick - Visit Website
Dominick Evans is in his late 20's. He spends his days working as a full time writer/editor and a part time musician/composer. His passions in life include music, directing films, watching movies, reading books, watching sports, wheelchair football, politics, his religion (Hellenic Reconstructionism) and spending time with his family (fiancée Ashtyn, son Robert, and shih-tzu Oliver). Other interests include being an advocate for the disability and GLBT communities.
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