Live and Let Die Blu-Ray Review
Posted by Shawn S. Lealos on 11.01.2008
It's Roger Moore's first outing as James Bond. With voodoo and Jane Seymour, how does this Bond film's arrival in high definition hold up?
Director: Guy Hamilton Writer: Tom Mankiewicz Cinematographer: Ted Moore
Cast:
Roger Moore ... James Bond
Yaphet Kotto ... Kananga/Mr. Big
Jane Seymour ... Solitaire
Julius W. Harris ... Tee Hee
Geoffrey Holder ... Baron Samedi
David Hedison ... Felix Leiter
Roy Stewart ... Quarrel Jr.
Gloria Hendry ... Rosie Carver
Earl Jolly Brown ... Whisper
Live and Let Die owes less to the James Bond movie franchise and more to Val Lewton classics. There is even a scene in a Jamaican bungalow that looks like it came straight out of I Walked With a Zombie. As a matter of fact, I would say this film looks like the offspring of Val Lewton’s I Walked with a Zombie and William Friedkin’s The French Connection.
Live and Let Die tells the story of a heroin dealer named Mr. Big who uses voodoo to help plan out his criminal activities. What hurts this movie is the racial undertones of the time period. They mention in the commentary that the original novel was full of these racial undertones based on the paranoia of the time. This film was released at the same time as blaxploitation pictures such as Shaft and in the world of Bond it comes across as extremely racist. Watching the movie today, it is hard to appreciate, as all the villains are black and the movie paints the picture that all black people are the enemy. If I remember right, only two African American males were actually good guys and even the Bond girl played by Gloria Hendry (Rosie Carver) turned out to be evil as well.
Once you get beyond the racial undertones of the story, you end up with a very strange addition to the Bond catalogue. This would be Roger Moore’s first foray into the world of 007. With the switch of actors from Sean Connery to Roger Moore, the dynamics of James Bond had to change. Connery was a bad ass and you knew, when he came into the room, there was going to be trouble. Moore played the character with a more suave bemusement.
Take the scene where he finds a hat left as a voodoo warning and quips “It’s just a hat belonging to a small headed man with limited means who lost a fight with a chicken.” This is a much more fun attempt at the character of Bond that displays an enthusiastic humor. This makes the movie a fun ride through the character development stages that are usually a bore awaiting the next action sequence.
What I never cared about Moore’s portrayal of Bond is his inability to recognize trouble. Roger Moore’s 007 always seems to fall into traps and remains one step behind the bad guys throughout the entire movie. He is more of a reactive person trying to be proactive. He walks into trouble and finds that his enemies are always waiting for him. It makes Bond look stupid but at least putting him in constant danger makes the chase all the more fun.
The main Bond girl in this film is Solitaire, played by a young Jane Seymour. She is a fortune teller who is used by Mr. Big to forecast the future and aid him in his illegal activities. Her performance is solid and she remains an excellent Bond girl. She is the second of the Bond girls in the movie, following the evil Rosie Carver. Bond is at his best when dealing with these women, as he uses them for his own devices, only caring about getting laid and then getting information - in that order. Bond is manipulative and at his coldest when dealing with women despite his suave demeanor. He is the ultimate wolf in sheep’s clothing.
The bad guys are hit and miss. The main baddie, Mr. Big, is kind of boring and not much of a threat on his own. The henchmen are much more dangerous than their boss. Tee Hee, who looks eerily like Isaac Hayes, is not as great a nemesis as Jaws but, with his metal hand, is definitely a precursor to the iron jawed baddie. The most memorable character from the movie is the henchmen named Baron Samedi, the voodoo priest. He is posed as a dangerous man and hulks over our hero, but at the end of the movie is used as comic fodder. He is more iconic than evil.
The action sequences are solid, a boat chase through the swamps of Louisiana a highlight. Unfortunately, the boat chase was interrupted by a sheriff named J.W. Pepper who is as dumb and racist as you could ever expect from a hillbilly. I mentioned the racist undertones of this movie but this character pushed it over the top. I guess the producers liked the character because they stupidly allowed him to return in The Man With the Golden Gun. It was a huge misstep that almost crippled this film. There are a couple of other eye rolling scenes, including Bond’s escape from a pit of alligators and the demise of Mr. Big, but those type of scenes are part of the James Bond canon. Sheriff J.W. Pepper should have been excised before the movie was ever released.
Finally, the best part of the movie is the music score. From the opening theme by Paul McCartney, Live and Let Die, to the score by George Martin using themes from that title song, the music fits the action perfectly. It is one of the best scores in any film, much less any Bond film. I reviewed this movie after reviewing For Your Eyes Only, and the difference a score can make in the enjoyment of a film is astonishing.
The Video
The picture is excellent as should be expected from the Bond Blu-Rays.
The Audio
I complained that For Your Eyes Only was not leveled properly and I had to continuously adjust my sound to compensate for dialogue scenes and action sequences. I did not have that problem here. It sounded fantastic in DTS HD 5.1 Master Lossless Sound.
The Package
Commentary by Sir Roger Moore - Moore prefers a more laid back conversational dialogue. It can sometimes lead to a complete void of dialogue as he sits back and watches the film. Much of what he says is simple observations, but occasionally he slips in some prime piece of trivia. Very interesting is when he talks about how he got the role of James Bond. It is always nice to hear Moore discuss his most famous role.
Commentary by Director Guy Hamilton - This track is led by a narrator who gives most the trivia and information and only cuts to the director, as well as others (including Jane Seymour) when he has something specific to address. There is way too much blank space in this track and is kind of disappointing because of that.
Commentary by Tom Mankiewicz - This is a much better track than the one with the director, as the writer talks about the movie and its place in the series. He wrote for both Sean Connery and Roger Moore and does a bit of comparison between the two actors. It is nice to hear the writer state the differences between writing for Moore compared to Connery.
Bond 1973: The Lost Documentary (21:41) - This is the original making-of documentary from the time they made the film. For a feature made over thirty years ago, this is a really good addition to the DVD. It talks to the principal cast members and it’s great to listen to them talk during that period of time. I don’t know how long this documentary was lost, but I am glad it was found.
Roger Moore as James Bond, Circa 1964 (07:44) - This was taken from a television show called Mainly Millicent, which was a sketch that spoofed the James Bond franchise with Roger Moore playing James Bond nine years before he took the role for himself. It is pretty funny, showing what spies do when they are on vacation.
Live and Let Die Conceptual Art (01:39) - This is a feature with producer Michael Wilson talking about creating the poster for Live and Let Die and includes a number of pieces that were never used as well.
007 Mission Control- Pretty much a “go to a specific scene” option with choices such as 007, Women, Allies, Villains, Mission Combat Manual, Q Branch and Exotic Locations.
Inside Live and Let Die (29:47) - This is the second making of feature on this movie, but unlike the fun Bond 1973, this one is a current feature looking at the movie and its place in history. I love these documentaries because, while short, they are too the point and don’t skip a beat. The best part of this feature is showing the five takes it took a stuntman to jump across alligators in a swamp, and the fourth try when one of them got his shoe in its mouth. Did I mention the stuntman was wearing alligator shoes?
On the Set With Roger Moore: The Funeral Parade (01:42) - Roger Moore talks about the opening parade sequence while watching it being filmed from a balcony overhead.
On the Set With Roger Moore: Hang Gliding Lessons (03:58) - In this featurette we hear from Bill Bennett, the man who developed the stunt with the hang glider, and then watch as he gives Moore instructions on the set.
Ministry of Propaganda - There are two theatrical trailers - Much More ... Roger More (02:52) and Everything You Ever Loved in a Bond Film (01:47). There are three TV broadcasts - UK Milk Board Commercial (01:01), It’s a Matter of Life, It’s a Matter of Death (01:00) and It’s a Matter of Life and Death (00:32). There are two radio spots - Livelier, Deadlier (00:33) and All Against One Man (01:01).
Image Database - Over a hundred photos from the making of the film, broken into short sections. I really wish there was an option to view them all in one sitting without having to switch to each section.
The 411: In Roger Moore’s first outing as 007, he set the template for what the character would become over the next twelve years. Out was the dangerous Sean Connery styled “Man with a License to Kill” and in was the suave, humorous Bond who would be more apt to kiss the women than kill them. With the danger of Bond lessened, this movie created a new pattern for the Bond character as he would be prone to fall into trouble rather than face it head on. Roger Moore worked his part well in this very racist movie filled with obstacles that would cripple a lesser story. Despite the poor villain, the movie succeeds thanks to the great performance by Moore, a solid Bond girl and a fantastic music score. It isn’t one of the great Bond movies, but it holds its own and is a nice debut by the new Bond, James Bond.
