Review of Live and Let Die (1973) by Easton K — 30 Mar 2013

Bond Blaxploitation! Not the strongest bond film, and pretty messy as well, yet Roger Moore's first outing as Bond is a highly entertaining one. This was probably the first "classic Bond I've seen when I was younger, probably because I liked the song, and I had to view it again for a review.

What I like about it would probably be the title song by Wings, the cast of villains, the main Bond girl, and Roger Moore himself. The comedy was pretty good for the most part as well. Dr. Kananga is a fairly menacing yet mostly soft spoken main villain, Tee Hee makes for one of the best obligatory henchmen, and whisper was competent while also being kind of funny, but my favourite of the whole cast was the literally immortal Baron Samedi.

Talk about dangerously funny. Solitare used to be my favourite Bond girl, and I'd still keep her high on the list. Not as interesting as Tracy Bond or Vesper Lynd, but every bit as beautiful. Jane Seymour gives a lovely performance, and she has a great voice.

Roger Moore was a couple years older than Sean Connery, yet he looked much younger than Connery did in his last few films. Roger has excellent comic timing as well, without getting too campy like in later films.

For the most part the film is not too campy and not too serious. Unfortunately, what drags the film down is supporting characters such as the wodden Rosie Carver and the annoying yet occasionally funny JW Pepper, and the pacing is all over the place.

Fortunately, it's arguably better than what was to come. The score by George Martin, producer of the Beatles and many others, gives the film an unabashed 1970s feel, and for nostalgia's sake, I enjoy it.

Once again, props to the film for having the first ever rock theme in a Bond film!