The Bizarre Death of Dr Kananga in Live and Let Die (1973)

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I'll never understand the obsession with SFX, it's an old film and that bit looks a bit naff but that's to be expected. The shark in Jaws was pretty crumby but at least their was actually something there, instead of someone being chased by a sock on a stick.

Dragonpol

pachazo wrote:

Baltimore_007 wrote:

It's a real shame when (from my perspective) people decide to berate or ridicule this particular release. Ok it's not one for everyone and was hardly Bond release of the century, but it's my own favorite and there's tons of fun to be had. Fair enough, the Kananga exit is ridiculous, on an otherwise quite outstanding adventure

I love LALD and most people in this thread have said positive things about it with a few criticisms along the way. I hear what you're saying though. The Kanaga death scene seems to attract a lot of negative attention to the point where it seems like that's all anyone wants to talk about. It's certainly silly but it doesn't ruin the movie for me.

chrisisall wrote:

CGI augmentation, anyone?

I think most people, myself included, would be against changing the original films by enhancing them with CGI but if there was ever a candidate for it this would have to rank near the top of the list!

On the potential CGI reworking of Kananga death scene - very much agreed there!

chrisisall

Dragonpol wrote:

On the potential CGI reworking of Kananga death scene - very much agreed there!

I'm not even talking about anything elaborate, maybe just an insanely fast zoom in on Kananga's expanding chest before the the balloon becomes SO obvious and throw in a few frames of red, then just some red bits flying about in the next shot of Bond...

Dragonpol

chrisisall wrote:

Dragonpol wrote:

On the potential CGI reworking of Kananga death scene - very much agreed there!

I'm not even talking about anything elaborate, maybe just an insanely fast zoom in on Kananga's expanding chest before the the balloon becomes SO obvious and throw in a few frames of red, then just some red bits flying about in the next shot of Bond...

Yes, that alone would be a vast improvement over what we have at the minute, though the James Bond franchise is not another Star Wars Jabba the Hut type.

Dragonpol

TheWizardOfIce wrote:

Its a great idea for a death but the execution is embarassing.

Also theres no way that something that size could hold such an amount of compressed gas.

Yes, true Ice. I suppose it's bit like the Thunderball "re-breather" in that respect - it worked only as long as you could hold your breath underwater! Who said the older Bonds were more realistic, eh?!

OHMSS69

I always felt that Kananga's death was silly and just not physically possible. A human body would never inflate like a balloon and explode like that.

Should have just had the sharks dispose of him (like in the book) rather than that cartoonish demise.

Baltimore_007

Kotto played a great villain in Doctor Kananga, (although his Mr Big persona actually radiated more menace and was a greater threat on screen) but reading through this again, they spoilt a just about immaculate James Bond movie with an asinine finish by way of the characters eventual demise. I didn't see it in theaters, my first Bond on the big screen wasn't until the year after, despite being a fan since the late 60s, but however you want to view it, I wish in retrospect they had taken a different path. As a previous participant put it, it's implausible that the human body could react in such a manner. Logic dictates that some things just aren't possible

Baltimore_007

How do you define a straight Bond film ?

chrisisall

Baltimore_007 wrote:

How do you define a straight Bond film ?

Where Bond likes women...