James Bond Series Rewatch: 'Live And Let Die'

Live and Let Die finds 007 “Sent to stop a diabolically brilliant heroin magnate armed with a complex organization and a reliable psychic tarot card reader.” (from IMDB). It’s the eighth entry in the spy series, and the first to star Roger Moore as the suave secret agent. It’s also the first not to feature an appearance from Q.

Bond: Roger Moore
M: Bernard Lee
Moneypenny: Lois Maxwell
Director: Guy Hamilton
Song: “Live and Let Die” by Wings

Live and Let Die was a bit of a letdown for me. It was never one of my favorite Bond movies, but I always liked it okay. But it was a lot more boring than I remembered it being. It has its fun, for sure, like any Bond movie does. But it was missing some excitement that these movies need. Granted, it was Moore’ first time playing the suave super spy, so it would make sense if it took one movie for him and the studio to find their footing.

Opening scene

Ugh, miss me with this one. A rare miss in the collection of 007 openings. Give me action, chaos, destruction, maybe some humor too. It was okay as far as set up goes, but the opening scene should set the tone for the rest of the movie. And I guess to its credit, it does. Though it’s a very exciting tone as far as Bond goes.

Opening scene, part deux

After the credits roll, we see M show up at Bond’s house late at night. This part was fun for a couple reasons. One, we rarely see Bond in his actual home, so it’s nice to get even a slight glimpse of what that looks like.

But the second, and stronger, reason is what actually happens in this scene.

We often see Bond in bed with some random woman in the beginning scene or two. And he usually has to rush off to save the world. But it’s usually Bond receiving a message that causes him to leave, not having his boss show up unannounced at his home. I mean, this is straight out of a sitcom. It’s not something I’d like to see overused (and to my memory, this is the only time it occurs) but as a one-time – or even once in a while – change of pace, I love it.

Boat chase

The whole scene goes on a bit long, but it still ends up being one of Live and Let Die’s more exciting sequences. There’s some good traditional chase tropes, humor, campy fun, and of course the introduction of one J.W. Pepper (more on him later).

Embrace the camp!

Roger Moore’s time as Bond is well known for being campier than his James Bond counterparts. And Live and Let Die is no exception. And for all of its faults, it does have some great campy moments. In one of the weaker entries in the series, this saves it from ending up even lower.

Hang gliding murder

The fact that I couldn’t find a video clip of this is beyond disappointing. One of the campiest moments in a movie – and series – filled with them, this is right at the top of the list for best parts of Live and Let Die.

Airport scene

I mean, this one pretty much just speaks for itself.

Crocodiles

Live and Let Die doubles down on the stereotypical villain animals by featuring both crocodiles and sharks. While the sharks don’t do anything all that great (the scene, which we’ll get to later, though, is fantastically hilarious), the crocodile scene manages to dip into the campiness of the rest of the movie.

Sheriff J.W. Pepper

The first of two appearances by the Louisiana sheriff, J.W. Pepper is a caricature of Americans. And it’s hilarious. Yeah, he’s disgusting and possibly (almost certainly) a little bit, maybe a lot a bit, racist. But he’s such a doofus that he manages to be slightly more endearing than unlikable. This was a good introduction, but I think his time in The Man with the Golden Gun tops this one.

Train scene

As we’ve come to know, Bond movies love a good train fight. It comes in hot, with Tee Hee cutting himself out of a mail bag. How the train workers loaded that particular bag without realizing it was about 180 pounds heavier than most of the other bags is maybe a question worth asking. But it’s also a Bond movie, so maybe it’s not a question worth asking.

Kananga Balloon

I mean, come on. Absurd, hilarious, ridiculous. Any word you want to use to describe this death scene is probably going to be apt. It’s right up there with the pigeon double take from Moonraker for most ridiculous Bond moment.

The occult and voodoo

This is where Live and Let Die really loses me. Yes, some of the occult and voodoo and Baron Samedi aspects are revealed to be fake, but then there’s Baron Samedi riding on the front of the train at the end of the movie, after having seemingly been killed by Bond. At the end of the day, it’s a one-off in a series of 24 films, so it’s not that big of a deal. But still, including something like this just doesn’t feel like Bond. And that’s what I’m looking for out of these movies. There’s just a certain feel you get from watching 007 go out and save the world in absurd, entertaining ways, all while (mostly) staying within the true realm of possibility. Adding something like Baron Samedi goes beyond that in a way that doesn’t feel necessary.