My personal favourite Bond Movie (largely because of nostalgia) and along with Moonraker, the most bizarre outing for the secret agent. Where Moonraker failed though, Live And Let Die succeeds. There are good set pieces, fights, girls, funny moments (not as over the top as they would become) and unusually for a Bond film, it is actually quite scary in parts, especially for the younger viewer.
When Bond is sent to America to investigate the deaths of several British Agents, his search leads him to Mr Big, a Harlem crime lord. With further investigation, Bond finds a drug-smuggling link between Mr Big, and Dr. Kananga, a mysterious man from a Caribbean island. Bond flies to Kananga’s island to stop the massive Heroin dealing. There he meets the beautiful Solitaire played wonderfully by Jane Seymour, a virgin who has been enslaved by Kananga as her mystical powers bring him success. Bond soon finds himself entwined in voodoo forces he can barely fight, and struggles to complete his mission.
Plenty of stunts and action sequences, chases and humour make this an instant Bond classic, but the characters and performances of Yaphet Kotto and his various goons make it one of the best. Tee Hee is mysterious, Whisper is memorable, and Baron Samedi is a strong Villain as he seems to be immortal. This marks the appearance of Sheriif GW, and his comic escapades which are either annoying or very funny depending on your point of view. Moore gives a good performance, bringing the series in a different direction, and Seymour is one of the most beautiful Bond girls. There are many memorable moments, including the famous train fight, and Kananga’s explosive end. Probably the most scary Bond film so far, in fact there has not been another one like it, and when i was young it was always the one i most looked forward to seeing. There are flaws- it does have more slapstick humour than previous outings and Bond does not seem as tragic or cold a character as before.
The features, like all of the Ultimate Editions are excellent, along with impressive picture and sound restoration work. There are trailers, documentaries, and an interesting early sight of Moore as Bond.
Feel free to leave your comments on the movie and review- is this one of your favourite Bond films or do you think it’s another embarrassing Moore outing? Don’t forget to check out my other Bond reviews in the DVD section.
The Spac Hole 