Review of Live and Let Die (1973) by Butterz B — 12 Nov 2009

Roger Moore's first outing as James Bond is perhaps his finest, as not only does he look and sound the part throughout (something he would begin to lack as the series went on), but as a film this has all the hallmarks of a classic of it's type.

It has at it's base a good story, dispensing with Blofeld and SPECTRE (finally) the series was able to move on and make itself more contemporary, which it did with a central 1970s vibe throughout and a storyline about the then very hot topic of heroin dealing in the USA.

You still get all the old villainous cliches, with Dr Kananga at the end of the film uttering the immortal line "let me tell you exactly how it all works", but with this you have a story that is more believable than many before it and sounds like the sort of thing Bond should be tackling.

This also has great henchmen, with Tee Hee and Whisper being characters rarely bettered by subsequent baddies. With all of this you also have, in my opinion, the best looking Bond Girl the series has ever had in Jane Seymour, which adds even more enjoyment to the film as a whole, if you are a man at least.

It may not be as slick as other films in the series, or even some of it's contemporaries in the same genre, but the sense of fun that Moore brought to the role pushes it ahead of the pack and makes watching it both thrilling and funny, although one or two of the puns I probably could have done without.

Overall, for a film made 35 years ago it holds up remarkably well, and that is as much a testament to the story as it is the directing. Plus, any film with Sheriff J.W Pepper in has to be worth a watch.