Rate Live and Let Die

[Kevin Roegele]

I'm not sure why, by LaLD always crops up in polls for best Bond movie ever, usually in the top five. To me, although there are some very, very cool elements - the theme song, the bad guys, the stunts - it's less than the sum of it's parts.

The pace lags, and the boat chase scene is so long that it has whole other scenes take place within it. The slapstick comedy is woefully out of place. The stunts are exciting but the action scenes are rather flat. Bond's final fight with Kananga is weak, the boat chase lacks excitement.

Having said that, Live and Let Die balances the serious and the outlandish in just the right way that makes Bond what it is. The bad guys are mainly gangsters with guns smuggling drugs, but the henchman is called Tee Hee and has a robotic claw hand. He leaves Bond on a crocodile farm, which is perfect because such things do exist, it's not some made up death trap. Bond works best like this; the general appearence of reality, but with touches of bizarre menace.

 

[pointman]

3/5

 

[Iceburgeruk]

I gave it 3/5. I would have given it 4 or 5 out of 5 but unfortunatly i have read the book. The film is less racist than the book but the ending sucks.

As wikipedia states at the end of the book: In the grand finale, Big ties both Solitaire and Bond up to his boat and attempts to drag them over the shallow coral reef, however, they are saved once Bond's limpet mine explodes.

Now c`mon they would have been much cooler than the ending that was in the film.

 

[Spider - Man]

I gave it 3/5. I would have given it 4 or 5 out of 5 but unfortunatly i have read the book. The film is less racist than the book but the ending sucks.

As wikipedia states at the end of the book: In the grand finale, Big ties both Solitaire and Bond up to his boat and attempts to drag them over the shallow coral reef, however, they are saved once Bond's limpet mine explodes.

Now c`mon they would have been much cooler than the ending that was in the film.

LALD has a very special place in my heart as it is the first Bond film I ever saw. Saw it at the theater when it came out. Missed the first few minutes (the diplomat getting killed) and asked my dad if we could stay for the second show just to see what we missed. We wound up seeing the whole movie again! Great fun! Moore made it look like it was so much fun to be Bond! I was only about 6 at the time but it started my lifelong love of the movies and books! For that I give it 4 out of 5.

That was a cool scene when they finally filmed it for my all-time favorite Bond, For Your Eyes Only!

 

[Kevin Roegele]

I gave it 3/5. I would have given it 4 or 5 out of 5 but unfortunatly i have read the book. The film is less racist than the book but the ending sucks.

As wikipedia states at the end of the book: In the grand finale, Big ties both Solitaire and Bond up to his boat and attempts to drag them over the shallow coral reef, however, they are saved once Bond's limpet mine explodes.

Now c`mon they would have been much cooler than the ending that was in the film.

They used that scene in For Your Eyes Only, and other parts of the LaLD novel are in Licence to Kill.

 

[Iceburgeruk]

They used that scene in For Your Eyes Only, and other parts of the LaLD novel are in Licence to Kill.

The plot parts or the racist parts? Seriously I know it was a different age and had different values but Fleming c`mon i mean can`t you describe people in any other way than saying they are n****r brown or have negroid features. You can tell though that fleming was really making it up with that book when he tries to write the jive talk. Its completly incoherent, its like :
"Ay yah woop s`t shut mu yu shera mta! Me sr`t la boo boo sha?"

What on earth were you basing that on fleming? Y ou wrote every black person like they were having a jive ceisure or something. lol

P.S Yeah i remmeber the bit that was shifted to Licence to kill. For anyone who hasn`t seen it... sharks apparantly find felix`s legs a tasty appetizer. Who woulda thunk it?

 

[CConn]

I really like Live and Let Die for some reason. Sure, it feels like a 70s porno, but it's a fun adventure.

 

[Kevin Roegele]

The plot parts or the racist parts? Seriously I know it was a different age and had different values but Fleming c`mon i mean can`t you describe people in any other way than saying they are n****r brown or have negroid features. You can tell though that fleming was really making it up with that book when he tries to write the jive talk. Its completly incoherent, its like :
"Ay yah woop s`t shut mu yu shera mta! Me sr`t la boo boo sha?"

What on earth were you basing that on fleming? Y ou wrote every black person like they were having a jive ceisure or something. lol

P.S Yeah i remmeber the bit that was shifted to Licence to kill. For anyone who hasn`t seen it... sharks apparantly find felix`s legs a tasty appetizer. Who woulda thunk it?

"He disagreed with something that ate him."

 

[The Chairman]

I love Live And Let Die, not the best but one of my favorites. Moore really settles into the roll quite well, Seymour is one of the best Bond girls, and the villian is one of the few I've ever found genuinely creepy. The plot is a bit thin, and the blaxpoitation elements don't necessarily mesh with the general Bond feel, but it's still a very fun movie and it was interesting to see them take it in a bit of a new direction.

Oh, and the theme song beats every other Bond theme to a pulp.

4.5 / 5

 

[Agentsands77]

I don't really like LIVE AND LET DIE all that much. Roger Moore, while he would grow to own the role, gives his worst performance here. The story sucks and has no drive. The action is dull. It looks very cheap. It drags.

The best thing about it is the theme song.

 

[livrule]

One of the few Bond movies that is difficult to show to the kids!

 

[Irony-Man]

LALD has a very special place in my heart as it is the first Bond film I ever saw. Saw it at the theater when it came out. Missed the first few minutes (the diplomat getting killed) and asked my dad if we could stay for the second show just to see what we missed. We wound up seeing the whole movie again! Great fun! Moore made it look like it was so much fun to be Bond! I was only about 6 at the time but it started my lifelong love of the movies and books! For that I give it 4 out of 5.

That was a cool scene when they finally filmed it for my all-time favorite Bond, For Your Eyes Only!

My God,that was my experience also. In fact until I was 13 I didn't realize that movies didn't start five into the story and then replay the opening after an intermission when everyone but us left and new people came in.

 

[SpyderDan]

I don't really like LIVE AND LET DIE all that much. Roger Moore, while he would grow to own the role, gives his worst performance here. The story sucks and has no drive. The action is dull. It looks very cheap. It drags.

The best thing about it is the theme song.

I agree entirely. I gave it 1/5 and that's only because of the theme song.

 

[TheCaretaker]

4/5 one of Moores best outing as Bond.

 

[DACrowe]

3/5. A silly bad movie, but one that really entertains. I like Bond in it and I think the action with the crocs for example is a lot of fun. The ending is incredibly stupid like the movie but very fun. And Solitare is easily one of the better Bond girls too.

A movie that should be bad but epitomizes what Moore's Bond was about in a good way though.

 

[MLX]

3/5 Good intro for Roger Moore, but that's about it IMO.

 

[Josh Bond]

Are your guys joking? This was one of the best Bond films ever! The boat scene did drag on a bit, but the final part of it was realy cool. Also the aligator farm sequence was a classic!
5/5 all the way!

 

[Everyman]

LALD is indeed a mixed bag, it has too many comedic elements and the plot lacks spy/Cold War background. It is often too much of a blackploitation movie. Some action scenes are great, some are sloppy and borderline amateurish. I enjoyed Moore's performance, but he often comes up as somewhat incompetent.

 

[Furious Styles]

I just rewatched LALD. And for some reason, it seems to work inspite of itself. It has a great assortment of baddies (Kanaga, Tee Hee, Whisper, Baron Samedi) decent action scenes (the boat jump, the crocidile escape) and the music is a departure from John Barry's usual style. When the film comes to a close, you say to yourself, "wow, I enjoyed the last two hours," but find yourself hardpressed to come up with a definitive reason why.

I suppose it has a distinct enough style that people remember it moreso

 

[OddBob]

My favorite of the Moore era. 4/5

 

[The Chairman]

I just got finished watching Live And Let Die. It still holds up really well. And the way Kananga gets it in is quite funny.

And also, I now think Seymour is the hottest Bond girl.

 

[Batman Beyond]

I feel the same way as many of you do about LALD. Mixed feelings. BUT, Moore is pretty good as Bond in this one. Not much gimmickry - yet. Its odd, but he does pass himself up as Fleming's Bond. Its later that he becomes Roger Moore's Bond... Anyway, fun film!

 

[gamemiester]

2/5

 

[Rizor]

I think LALD is alright, but the voodoo and stuff kinda turns me off of it. Such elements didn't really bother me in Indy and the Temple of Doom, but the blaxploitation element and everything... It doesn't seem to hold up well. And that Sherff JW Pepper really ruined a good action sequence.

 

[PWN3R]

This is one of those films that you either love it or hate it. I LOVE, love this film. I read some of your complaints about the opening pre-credits not featuring Bond, but c'mon, that scene was so creepy/cool.

"Who's funeral?"

"Yours."

Then everyone starts dancing, so awesome. And I agree, Seymour was the hottest Bond girl.