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Live and Let Die Appreciation

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  • fire_and_icefire_and_ice
    Posts: 6,432
    Great movie, first bond film i watched and i certainly watched it alot. My favourite Moore film also, great soundtrack, great cast, great locations. Does look a bit dated though does not bother me in the slightest, the film is alot of fun with excellent set pieces.
  • dramaticscenesofQOSdramaticscenesofQOS
    Posts: 1,280
    The title song is great...especially when it slows down toward the end when a new Bond is being introduced to the series. It lets the audience take it in bite the bullet for all Connery fans and live and let die.

    First Bond film I saw.
  • 00130013
    edited February 2013 Posts: 1,817
    "For twenty buck, I take you to a Ku Klux Klan cockout".
    "I got me a regular Ben Hur down here".
    Some of the funniest lines in the series... but overall is not one of my favorites. The music is great and the villain underrated. But it's not Moore's best performance. It wasn't even Fleming's best story.
    My favorite scene is the briefing at Bond's flat. Since then I have always wanted a Pavoni machine for my espresso.
  • identigraphidentigraph
    Posts: 1,052
    My love for this film will never die, if people don't like it, that's fine but for me it is an occasional number one in the rankings but always top 5, I ended up watching it about five times over a few days on Sky Movies 007 over christmas and I never got bored, always sucked me in. Also my Mrs favrouite Bond film!
  • OddjobOddjob
    Posts: 82
    i also love this movie. Whats there not to love great title song,bond girl(solitaire), over the top henchman tee hee, cool villain etc. It is in my top 10 movies around 8-10
  • dramaticscenesofQOSdramaticscenesofQOS
    Posts: 1,280
    Baron Samedi was a great villain. Too bad they didn't bring him back. Saltzman was good at keeping oversight on production because he found ways to make any doubters get used to the characters in his films, as different his Bond actors were from SC. The situations he got them in and the intense scenes of tension were enough to make u wonderif this new guy would survive in the story. I heard that Geoffrey Holder familiarized the cast with the traditions of Yoruban culture while on set.
  • Batman23Batman23
    edited February 2013 Posts: 72
    It was very different compared to all the other Bond movies. I loved the supernatural theme reminded me of Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom. It was dark, campy but in a good way, felt like an awesome comic book. Kananga was ok but samedi is one of the best Bond villains. Of course Roger Moore made the movie more exiting with his new approach to the role different from Sean. Yeah for Moore I rank this one as my second best only behind The Spy Who Loved Me.

    BTW favourite bond song ever is the one from this movie by Wings
  • GetafixGetafix
    edited February 2014 Posts: 11,425
    Watched LALD again recently for the first time in years and it really was a bad as I remembered. Little to redeem this first entry from Sir Rog. I seem to remember I felt the same way about TMWTGG, last time I saw that. Rog didn't really hit his stride until TSWLM, IMO. Spy, FYEO and OP are my favourite Moores films.

  • thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
    edited February 2014 Posts: 12,837
    It does annoy me a bit in LALD how every villain is black. This'd be fine, if there were some black good guys to balance it out. But even Rosie turns out to be working for the villains. And then there's that bit where Bond's in the cab and a bunch of randomers on the street are revealed to be in league with the villain: and every one of them is black. Kananga, Tee Hee and co fair enough but does every black man in Harlem need to be working with them? There was Quarrel Jr but he wasn't much of a character and I'm not sure he really evens it out. I don't really get worked up about it though because it's of it's time. Same as the dodgy bits in Flemings books.

    Anyway, not a huge fan of LALD but there is stuff to enjoy. There are tons of great characters (Tee Hee and Baron Samedi being my favourites) and although I don't think Moore quite nails it (doesn't do that until TSWLM imo), he does put in a good performance. Jane Seymour is fit, the score is my favourite outside of Barry and Arnold and then there's the brilliant theme song. Not only the best Bond theme but one of the best songs of all time imo. Some of the action is quite good too and there are some funny bits.

    I fancy watching it now, haven't seen it for ages.
  • WillyGaloreWillyGalore
    Posts: 6,396
    Indeed. Strutter and Quarrel are the only black guys on the side of good. It's a shame the producers didn't have the balls to stick with the original idea of making Rosie white and Solitaire black.
  • GetafixGetafix
    edited February 2014 Posts: 11,425
    The soundtrack and song is good, as are the titles. There are some nice moments, but generally speaking I found it pretty tedious. I read somewhere that they originally wanted Solitaire to be played by Diana Ross. Solitaire has somehow become an almost iconic Bond girl, which I don't really get. She looks good, but her performance is pretty bland. May be Ross would have added a bit more excitement to the mix.
  • MayDayDiVicenzoMayDayDiVicenzo Here and there
    edited February 2014 Posts: 5,080
    I'm looking forward to my next viewing of Live and Let Die. I have always thought of it as the most average Bond film, but recent viewings of scenes from the film (especially clips of the fantastic Geoffrey Holder as Baron Samedi), have sparked a new interest for the film.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited February 2014 Posts: 11,189
    Getafix wrote:
    The soundtrack and song is good, as are the titles. There are some nice moments, but generally speaking I found it pretty tedious. I read somewhere that they originally wanted Solitaire to be played by Diana Ross. Solitaire has somehow become an almost iconic Bond girl, which I don't really get. She looks good, but her performance is pretty bland. May be Ross would have added a bit more excitement to the mix.

    It might have caused a Chain Reaction at the time though ;) The main Bond girl black? Never. Fleming would be rolling in his grave
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited February 2014 Posts: 11,189
    double post
  • thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
    edited February 2014 Posts: 12,837
    WillyGalore wrote:
    Indeed. Strutter and Quarrel are the only black guys on the side of good. It's a shame the producers didn't have the balls to stick with the original idea of making Rosie white and Solitaire black.

    Never knew that Solitaire was meant to be black and Rosie white, that's quite interesting. Thanks for that tidbit @WillyGalore. I agree it's a shame that the producers felt the need to change that.
    Getafix wrote:
    Solitaire has somehow become an almost iconic Bond girl, which I don't really get. She looks good, but her performance is pretty bland. May be Ross would have added a bit more excitement to the mix.

    I think it's because the character is interesting and unique. A fortune teller Bond girl. We'll probably never see one of those again.

    And yeah, she is quite fit too. You always see her at the top when people talk about the best looking Bond girls.
  • GetafixGetafix
    edited February 2014 Posts: 11,425
    It's interesting how with the exception of Wai Lin, the Bond films have actually gone back to the girls being pretty much always white. Berenice is mixed race, but basically looks white. And I don't think Moneypenny counts, does she?

  • thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
    edited February 2014 Posts: 12,837
    I wouldn't count Moneypenny, but there was Jinx too.
  • GetafixGetafix
    Posts: 11,425
    Ah, yes... I kind of blanked her out.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited February 2014 Posts: 11,189
    Jinx/Halle Berry was mixed race.

    I like Solitaire even if she is very much a damsel in distress for a large part of the film. Jane Seymour is so cute.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,037
    RogueAgent wrote:
    was my first 007 movie! I think one of the main reasons for me loving this film so much was the Whole voodoo and Baron Samedi theme! And also the fantastic score! :D
    Mine as well; I was 10 years old and live in New Orleans to boot.

  • Baltimore_007Baltimore_007
    Posts: 5,634
    Fail to see sometimes why any detractors have an issue with this particular release

    # Best Bond Girl (Seymour)

    # Best theme intro (McCartney and Wings)

    # Moore at perhaps his most plausible

    # Relentless in vigor, action and suspense

    # Takes a different approach from all then hitherto released James Bond movies

    and so on

    Can appreciate why it's not a title for everyone, but usually jump to its defense with any harsh words spoken in its general direction. Must try and grab another watch of this again sometime when time permits itself
  • identigraphidentigraph
    Posts: 1,052
    Getafix wrote:
    Watched LALD again recently for the first time in years and it really was a bad as I remembered. Little to redeem this first entry from Sir Rog. I seem to remember I felt the same way about TMWTGG, last time I saw that. Rog didn't really hit his stride until TSWLM, IMO. Spy, FYEO and OP are my favourite Moores films.

    What's so bad about LALD and TMWTGG? I understand when people have gripes about MR and AVTAK but not these two, for me Rog is great from his first moments on screen and is in very good shape in his first two entries, LALD has a different feel to it and is a standout entry for me.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited February 2014 Posts: 11,189
    LALD is decent but it's never been one of my favourites. Golden Gun has a couple of excellent scenes (the dinner table verbal stand-off being a big highlight) but is brought down hugely by a fairly uninspired direction, the incredibly annoying Britt Eckland and some truly horrid comedy. I'm not sure whether its Moore's character or his performance but he seems more rigid in GG too. I prefer him in LALD.

  • Pajan005Pajan005 Stockholm, Sweden
    edited February 2014 Posts: 432
    I can't understand why some say that Moore's performance wasn't that good in this one. I think he is really good in everyone of his films.

    I do agree that his introduction was a bit weak though.
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    I love LALD. It was the first Bond film that I watched over and over again. I taped it off TBS in the late 80's (remember when they used to show Bond films regularly? remember VHS for that matter?) and I absolutely fell in love with it. It was just so different than anything else that I had ever seen. Roger Moore will always be my favorite Bond and I think he did a great job here. He redefined the character (not to everyone's liking) and proved that there was life after Sean Connery. Jane Seymour is absolutely stunning and it boasts one of the best casts of villains in the entire series. It's not a perfect Bond film when I watch it through the eyes of an adult but it's very entertaining and definitely Hamilton's second best effort.
  • hildebrand_rarityhildebrand_rarity
    Posts: 316
    LALD has always been a funny one to me (am I the only one who dislikes the song? I love the beginning and chorus, but the rest, find it weird and schizophrenic). MOst of the elements are in place and I really love them. Solitaire is one of my favorite Bond girls, I think Kananga is a good villain, and I really like all the supernatural/voodoo stuff. I was never bothered by all the villains being black (though the scene in Harlem was too much). They're from San Monique, where most of the population is black, so why would they be white? Also, bond has black allies in quarrel jr and the CIA agent who gets assassinated like the guy from the beginning. However, I just always thought the film was simply kind of boring. The only decent action scene is completely ruined by Sheriff Pepper, who I'm pretty sure is the single worst character in film history, and the comedic tone doesn't fit the story, which when you think about it is actually pretty heavy stuff (I.e. Kananga's abuse of solitaire, drug trafficking, etc). I think if they had made the film a little more serious and engaging, gotten rid of Sheriff Pepper, and spiced up the action sequences it would be much better, but I'd still call it a solid entry.
  • thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
    edited February 2014 Posts: 12,837
    One thing I did like about LALD was the voodoo stuff, makes the film feel sort of super natural, something we've never had before or since. I love the ending.
  • Baltimore_007Baltimore_007
    Posts: 5,634
    thelivingroyale wrote:
    One thing I did like about LALD was the voodoo stuff, makes the film feel sort of super natural, something we've never had before or since. I love the ending.

    While it's my favorite of all the James Bond titles, it's not necessarily because of the above. Sure it gave any given James Bond release hitherto seen at the time a darker edge, but what really puts its on a plateau above all others, is the always mentioned theme song, Main Bond girl, Moore as most feasible, and so much to indulge in. It's one of the very few titles in the entire series, say with Moonraker, TMWTGG and possibly Octopussy, where you never get bored and there's so much to enjoy during the whole duration. That doesn't always make for an immaculate James Bond film, but on this occasion, it just about works. License to Kill was also dark and edgy, as was QOS, but I didn't enjoy those particular releases quite so much, as what we have here

  • dramaticscenesofQOSdramaticscenesofQOS
    Posts: 1,280
    Solitaire was too young. Diana Ross would have not only broken barriers for being the surviving Bond girl but also would have made the film less racially-biased.

    Regardless, the villain character of Baron Samedi was well done. Too bad they never brought him back nor did they ever explain what he was doing at the front of the train in the end.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,698
    dramaticscenesofQOS wrote:
    Solitaire was too young. .
    You have found yourself.
    :))
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