Live And Let Die (1973)
Guy Hamilton
Bond, James Bond: Roger Moore
Arch Rival: Dr. Kananga (Yaphet Kotto)
Bond Girl: Solitaire (Jane Seymour)
Live And Let Die (1973)
It is now time to change the lead as Roger Moore steps into the shoes of the English spy and becomes the third man to don the coveted role. Live And Let Die takes our hero back to the Carribean where certain unwanted killings of fellow agents have taken place and a person named Kananga seems to be connected to all the mystery. He runs his opium business using his vast fertile fields of the island and also with the psychic help of Solitaire, a tarot reading beauty who has been held by Kananga for predicting future. Kananga intends to use his huge produce to monopolize the business and own the economy. There is also Mr. Big, the distributor of the drug that Kananga grows. Bond meets up with Solitaire, rescues her and burns down the opium fields. But not all his enemies go down with the fire.
Bond’s adventures range from crocodile dodging to high speed motorboat chases with the latter being the only high point of the film and even perhaps, the only reason to make the film. Roger Moore is good and carries on the elegance of the character well but ultimately makes no registering impact. Some over the top scenes (even for Bond!) unintentionally produce laughs and make this debut of Roger Moore, a very passable one (except for the title song by Paul McCartney!). An easy mission for Bond and hence an unentertaining one.
The Seventh Art 