Review of Live and Let Die (1973) by Sarah G — 15 Jul 2008

The Merits: A really creative pretitle sequence leads into a kick-ass title song, one of my favorite pieces of music in existence. In his first outing as Bond, Roger Moore turns in an upbeat, energetic, delightfully snarky performance that just might be his best of the series. This movie is filled with colorful and entertaining villains, particularly Kananga (memorably played by Yaphet Kotto), Tee Hee (Julius Harris sporting an unforgettable hook-arm) and Baron Samedi (who really defies description and has to be seen to be believed). It also has one of the best boat chases ever put on film.

The Demerits: As fun as the villains are, they are just petty drug dealers and not the kind of megalomaniacal would-be world conquerors we like to see Bond go up against. The film's racial politics are dated and more than a little offensive (apparently every black person in both New Orleans and Harlem knows each other and is employed by the same villainous drug lord. And I could have lived without Felix Leiter using the N word for laughs). Redneck southern sheriff J.W. Pepper makes his first of two revolting appearances in the series and serves to draw attention away from the fantastic boat chase with stupid redneck antics. And although she has some very unique character attributes, Bond girl Solitaire is not terribly interesting as played by an inexperienced Jane Seymour.