Live and Let Die [Blu-ray]

Paul McCartney wrote a catchy pop tune for this jaunty romp by James Bond and the usual suspects, though this Bond is a bit different in that it involves a somewhat more realistic scenario of events. No cold war threat precipitated by some genetically aberrant, dysfunctional, one eyed, rubber gloved megalomaniac (with or without a cat) in this Bond flick. Nope; this time around, it's a megalomaniacal drug lord who wants to rule the world, Kananga, played with homicidal bravado by Yaphet Kotto. Hey, folks, whatever happened to Yaphet Kotto? He's been on television a lot, but why hasn't he made more movies? So, here we have a relatively fresh Roger Moore, looking fairly youthful, suave, debonair, and physically able enough to play Bond. The action starts off with three plausible murders of British Agents in different locales around the globe. It's actually believable; well, except for the snake dance in the Caribbean where one of the agents is done in. But, for the most part, it's not overblown. I love the funeral procession in New Orleans where the band breaks out in a Dixie Land style number after one of the agents is murdered, and the agent is surreptitiously ensconsed in a coffin with a false bottom and carried away. The cast of characters provides much humor and even a scare or two. Julius Harris as Tee Hee is especially enjoyable with his nasty disposition and even nastier hook arm. Ouch! Yaphet Kotto is always good; hence my lament above. "Across 110th Street" where are you? Yeah, those were the days. But, I digress. This is a Bond movie and it's fun and frivolous like a Bond movie should be. After all, we're not talking about Graham Greene or Robert Ludlum, or even Tom Clancy for that matter. Bond movies should be fun and exciting, shouldn't they? And this is one of the funnest. The special effects were still done manually for the most part in those days. I love the scene where Bond hops, skips, and jumps atop the bodies of several hungry alligators and crocodiles (when are alligators and crocodiles ever not hungry?) in his successful attempt to evade their snapping jaws. Mmmmm, mmm, good, tasty British Agent for dinner; Yummy! I think a stunt man may actually have lost a foot or part of one performing that stunt; at least that was the rumor going around at the time. Ah, yes, the excitement of real stunts performed by real people. I also like the ending where Bond rams that super powerful aerosol device into the mouth of Kananga and he expands like a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon until he pops. I wonder how Monsieur Kotto feels when he thinks back upon that scene. And I like the second ending during the epilogue, after all the derring do is supposedly finished and it's time for Bond to have a little R&R with his girlfriend, where he encounters Tee Hee on the train and, after a struggle, incapacitates him by clipping the wires of his mechanical arm, and then thrusting him out of the train window. Without belaboring the point, this is a Bond movie and pretty much follows the Bond movie formula: Once again Bond is summoned from his bed and love interest du jour to save the world from the exploits of evil men; Bond fights evil men; Bond meets various women and seduces them; Bond meets Main Squeeze and seduces her; Bond defeats evil men; Bond and Main Sqeeze bed down for the end of the film. So it goes. Hey, I like this movie. Unless you have lived in a cave for the past thirty years, I'm sure you've seen this flick at least once. And, unless you have no sense of humor you can't help but like this film. The high speed boat chase around the bayous of Louisiana is a vintage chase scene a la the best film chase scenes, and on the water no less. Sheriff J.W. Pepper, The redneck sheriff, played to the hilt by Clifton James, milks the scene with tobacco spitting, scenery chewing bravado. It's a great time. And, of course, Bond wins as always. This was a time when critics and audiences welcomed some levity and ridiculousness in the Bond series; and before the ridiculousness became banal, expected, and tiresome. And the levity was a welcome change after all the ultra-seriousness of the Connery Bond films, at least by yours truly. Also, Sir George Martin of Beatles fame wrote the score for this one. It's one of the few scores not written by John Barry (at least at the time) and it's quite good. This film is notable for the pop hit tune, "Live and Let Die," by Paul McCartney, which still has a catchy ring and staying power today. The title captures the Bond aura perfectly and delineates the James Bond, "007, License to Kill" persona supremely. Everybody is young in this movie. Of course they're young; this flick was made over thirty years ago. I especially like to watch films that I initially saw when I was much younger mainly to marvel at the youthfulness of the actors and actresses; and to see who may or may not have had plastic surgery since. Yeah, well, I'm getting old just like everybody else. Come to think of it, someone should get either Roger Moore or Sean Connery to reprise the role and cast no one under the age of 70. That would be a hoot. The resulting film might be titled: "007: Golden Ager." In conclusion, this movie is a "purely escapist, nonsensical, turn your brain off for a couple of hours" diversion. It's probably the only film in the series where some guy refers to James Bond as Jim when Bond is hijacked in a taxi cab by one of the evil drug thugs. I also like the mysterious bald guy, Geoffrey Holder of "7-Up, Uncola" fame, as Baron Samedi, or, for those of you who took high school french, "Baron Saturday." He dances around with snakes and enigmatically appears and disappears throughout the film and winds up sitting on the front of the train locomotive at the end of the film, wearing that exquisite top hat, and laughing his wonderfully sonorous, reverberating laugh. There's magic, which hints at Voodoo, and some clever dialogue throughout the film and, as usual, Bond gets the girl, a young, very pretty Jane Seymour this time around, starring in her first film as the mystic virgin fortune teller, Solitaire, who loses her powers after 007 seduces her. Lucky girl. There's always a silver lining, right? As for the new issue and the digital remastering of the film and all the extra junk that is included on the DVD, I don't really care about that stuff as long as the movie is sharp, clear, and crisp, which it is. Otherwise, it's simply a marketing ploy to get more dollars for the same old product. So, there. I think I've said enough; too much, probably. So, I'll stop before the wind has a chance to continue.

As with my reviews for MOONRAKER and GOLDFINGER, I am a little biased toward giving this movie a higher review simply for the nostalgia that it was one of the ones the local TV stations ALWAYS seemed to be airing when I was growing up.Well, if you are going in order, this is of course the film that introduces us to Roger Moore as James Bond. Though he is not the first to replace Connery (George Lazenby did it first in the excellent ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE), he is the one to whom the torch truly passed, and he would occupy the role over the next 12 years, producing seven Bond pictures. I'm not going to get into the battle of who is the best Bond - I'm simply going to say that, of all the actors, Moore is the least like Bond. I like Moore and I like his movies - I just don't think they are really "Bond" movies the way Connery's and Dalton's were. Moore brought much more humor to the role - and of course, he seemed much older, even in this debut film, which always brought a slightly "dirty old man" feel to his movies, especially the last two or three.However, Moore didn't really bring his full character to the franchise until SPY WHO LOVED ME - in this outing, he seems to be keeping rather aloof from the role, as though he's putting his toe in the water (much the way Brosnan die with GOLDENEYE). That's not to say it is a poor performance, just a little held back.For Moore's debut, the producers picked Ian Fleming's second novel, and kept a very loose interpretation of it. The major change is that Mr. Big has no ties to the Soviet Union nor to SMERSH as he did in the novel. Here, he's just a drug runner. This would be Bond's first time out after an individual enemy, rather than against a spy syndicate as was the case with the Connery films. In fact, once the Connery era ended, so did the Spy vs. Spy plot of the films, only to return a handful of times down the road. So there are two big changes ushered in with this, the 8th film in the series.But let's move along - Bond is absent from the opening scene for the first time since FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE - instead, we get a few murders of agents to set up the tension, reminescent of DR. NO. As the film progresses, Bond moves between New York and New Orleans (I think) trying to track down Mr. Big. Along the way, he becomes infatuated with Ms. Solitaire, Big's mistress. Jane Seymour fills the role as a young and attractive Bond girl who can actually act.Other characters include the annoying Rosie Carver, a henchman who may in fact be an immortal Shaman, and another henchman with a metal claw for a hand.The action is fairly sparse, but it leads to a lengthy and very well executed boat chase down a back-water Louisiana bayou. For all the gadgetry and explosions of some of the later boat chases, this one is still one of my favorites because of simple pace, editing, and those great shots of Bond jumping the roads from one pond do the next! LOVE THIS SEQUENCE!Other action includes a fairly exciting chase on a Double Decker bus, a less-than-impressive car chase on a small airbase, and the usual shoot-out ending, this time in some VooDoo cult encampment.Like I said, the film moves pretty slow overall, and it isn't always clear why Bond is involved with some simple drug-smuggling case, especially since they removed the SMERSH connection that made the book much more sensible - but it's still a cool movie if only for just giving Moore a chance to explore the character.Like I said, I give it three stars for what it is, and a fourth star for simple child-hood nostalgia!(Finally, in response to the previous review charging this movie with being racist - I just think it is interesting that in twenty other movies, Bond has toppled 20 other white villains and their white syndicates. Now there is this ONE black villain with his black syndicate (1 out of 20, mind you) and suddenly it is racism?! Well . . . anyway . . . I'll let you draw your own conclusions from there.)

This is actually quite a decent Bond flick. When this was made in 1973, Roger Moore was still young and handsome and made for an attractive new Bond after Connery's departure from the franchise. The story set in and around New Orleans and on a fictitious Caribbean island is intense and quite dark and the humour which has become a trademark of the Moore era is still rather restrained. While the irate Sheriff is huge fun, he does not distract from the spectacular speed boat chase. I personally really enjoyed the imaginative voodoo scenes, but for young or sensitive viewers these may be disturbing. Also worth mentioning is the theme song by Paul McCartney, one of the best in the entire series.One word of warning: This is very much a product of its time (the early 1970s) and if you're looking for political correctness, stay away from this film. It does feature instances of racism and blaxploitation. Then again, if you're big on political correctness, you should probably stay away from Bond altogether - the films, the books, the character.

Sean Connery finally said goodbye to Bond, the character that had made him famous, with `diamonds are forever'. So for Bond's eighth big screen outing we were introduced to Roger Moore (and his eyebrow) in the lead, the third actor to play the part on the silver screen.Known for his roles in Ivanhoe and The Saint, Moore was a good choice. He had the on screen presence and mannerisms to carry it off, but was no Connery clone His Bond was just different enough to Connery to stand out, and it is this attempt to be different that was the secret of his success in the role. Moore's Bond seemed a more human construct, slightly less remote and dangerous but still ruthless when it comes to getting the job done.In this film Bond is sent to America in order to sort out some drug smugglers. Along the way we have fun as we see the typical Englishman deal with the mean streets of Harlem, there is the excellently staged and thrilling bug boat chase through the Florida everglades, and the immortal stunt with the crocodiles. Into the mix there is a large dose of voodoo, and it sometimes seems that Bond's antagonists are not of this world. After the almost embarrassing attempt to be hip with the last film, the producers got it largely right this time, and largely because of the change of actor the humour and seventies fashions work a lot better.There are notable performances: Yaphett Koto as the villain - a very underrated actor Koto gave this role his all and made a memorable Mr. Big, and Jane Seymour as Solitaire, the voodoo priestess who finds the tarot cards stacked against her... There is also an excellent score featuring Wings, it is up there with any of Shirley Bassey's themes for the series and fits the mood and style of the film to a tee.It is a film which is full of atmosphere, entertaining in terms of thrills and humour and a great way to pass a couple of hours.Notable in the Bond canon that it is the second film not to feature Q, and Bond carries a Magnum rather than the usual Walther PPK.This ultimate edition really is the best version of the film I have owned. The picture has been lovingly restored and cleaned up, and looks amazing. Really, I am not just saying that. It looks superb. The sound has been similarly treated and there is an option to listen to it in 5.1 DTS surround, which is truly exceptional.As well as the superb presentation of the film, there is also a host of extras, original trailers, informative audio commentaries and the such. These are exhaustive and some of them quite interesting. But these really a garnish for the main course, which is the film itself. This is an excellent release, and does the film justice. This series of `Ultimate editions' really sets the standard for film releases. It really does not get any better.

This was Rogers first James Bond and I think he was the correct choice as he was well known to the British public in popular TV series such as the Saint. I enjoyed this 121 min REGION B/2 DVD with the highlight being the boat chase. Several British Agents are killed in a short space of time, during routine surveillance of dictator Dr Kananga (Yaphet Kotto). Bond is sent to New York to investigate and falls into a trap by gangster Mr Big thanks to his tarot card reader Solitaire (Jane Seymour)

Amazing transfer both in picture and 5.1 surround knocks you off your seat. brilliant Soundtrack and Roger Moore in , really the only 007 film he presented himself with some sort of serious nature, unlike all the others he did that were far to silly in my opinion, although did like Moonraker, as Drax was one of the better baddies, and the way he spoke was always charming, which made him one of my favourite baddies. Lois Chiles was very nice Eye candy too!:) "You know him"? "Not socially"," hes called Jaws, he kills people"!

Scared the wits out of me back in the day, and still does to a point, but love Jane Seymour.Watch those 'fixed' tarot cards, Solitaire! That suave, smooth talking, Mr Bond (Roger Moore)!Single DiscDVD1973