Rating: 
Summary: Good Debut for Moore
Review: Unlike Sean Connery, Moore's earlier Movies were his weakest and got better as they came along, where as Connery's earlier films were his best. Roger Moore of course had big shoes to fill when he took the role of 007 and did rather well giving Bond a new look and a different kind of charm, and adding a little more humor to the Bond films. My favorite part of this movie has got to be the alligator farm stunt when 007 runs across the heads of the crocks, and "Sheriff J.W. Peppa" who brings lots of laughs in his very short role in the movie, if it wasnt for him this film would have gotten 2 stars rather than my 3. I didn't like M going to Bond's home to give him his assignment and his gagets instead of Q. Where was Q in this film? Overall it was an enjoyable film, not one of the best in the collection but still enjoyable to watch.
Rating: 
Summary: Moore debuts in Bond ala Superfly
Review: Investigating the mysterious deaths of British agents in New York, New Orleans and the carribean island of San Monique, Bond find himself in the sights of a multi-national crime cartel using techniques borrowed from SpECTRE to push drugs worldwide. Following the trail from Manhattan to New Orleans by way of the Carribean, Bond finds the cartel - headed by a shadowy "Mr. Big" and allied with San Monique's president (Yaphett Koto) - surrounds itself with a supernatural mystique. With a tarot-dealing seer (Jane Seymour) ready to deal the death card for Mr. Big's enemies and the legendary Baron Samedi (Geoffrey Holder, the 7-up guy) as a mascot), the cartel pushes fear of the unknown with a healthy dose of heroin (which it intends to flood the west with in an attempt to wipe out the competition and enslave the world).This was Moore's first stint as 007, and the change marks a new direction - with car chases, visual sight gags and elaborate stunts. The broad humor seemd a good idea atthe time (LaLD was followed up by "The Man With the Golden Gun" which not only expanded on the comedy but even unwisely returned the comic-relief: Clifton James as Sherriff Pepper). The real joke is the flavor which is early 1970's blaxploitation, harlem, afros, soul food and Bond about as out of place as a Ku Klux Klan cookout at the Appollo Theater (a variation on the line uttered by one of the charachters in this film - I couldn't make that up!). Watching the film you keep thinking that the producers had dreamt up the whole thing after a night of one-too-many Vodka Martinis. Be aware though - if you watch the film waiting for Bond to strut around Manhattan to the theme to "Shaft", you're in a for a dissappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: Double "O" Dud
Review: I hadn't seen Live and Let Die for years. Thank my lucky stars I rented it on DVD rather than buying it. It's a real piece of garbage from start to finish. They must have been sweating bullets when they handed this film to United Artists for distribution - it's that bad and plenty Moore. Several misteps take place early in the film. For example, Q drops by Bonds house to give him an assignement. I don't know about any of my readers out there, but to me it's taboo to show Bond's house. It takes so much mystery away from the character. In my opinion, Bond shows up for violence and sex -- he doesn't serve expressos to his boss. Finally, the depiction of black mobsters in this film is clearly from the UK perspective. At one point, "Bond" offers a cabby a $20 tip if he takes him into Harlem. The black cabbie says "I would take you to a Klu Klux Klan meeting for that." People scoff at later Roger Moore Bond films, but Live and Let Die proves they started out bad from the get go.
Rating: 
Summary: The Best, And the Funniest
Review: As an ardent Bond fan, I find it surprising that this is not seen as a true Goldfinger-style classic. The music, far better than any other bond movie music, defines the tension 100% and the voodoo plot, which could easily have been silly, is handled sensibly and is extremely dark, where both Bond and the audience know nothing. Moore is superb, probably in his best performance before he got too old, and the villain, very humanly played by Yaphet Kotto, is not with silly frailties like in the exceptional novel (he suffered from accidie, greying skin and his head was enormous, amongst other things). Admittedly silly characters like the irritating JW Pepper and Rosie Carver ruin some of the tension, but this hardly matters looking at the big picture. Moore's hilariously bad one-liners and generally likeable and squeaky-clean persona is the perfect contrast to the voodoo world. The only real problem with this movie is the boat chase scene- with half this length and no Sherriff Pepper it would only just be passable, but it doesn't stop the audience (or at least me) wondering what is really going on, and wanting more, Roger Moore. A pity he followed up with The Man With the Golden Gun, a frankly laughable effort.
Rating:
Summary: The Deck was Slightly Stacked
Review: This is the oddest-looking James Bond film. It doesn't look or feel like any of the other films in the rest of the series. Cinematically "Live and Let Die" is an entity unto itself. Every effort to disassociate Roger Moore from Sean Connery was made in this film and in doing so the entire film also became disassociated from the rest of the series. It was a real jolt to fans when it came out. I even have a hard time watching this film today. However, to new fans just coming aboard the 'Bond-wagon' it was a very humorous and entertaining film. At its core it still contained enough elemental bear bones of the James Bond series and other entries from the tongue-in-cheek spy film genre to differentiate it from other movies on the market. And that being said there are elements of this film that I do like. Derek Meddings' miniatures of Kananga's poppy fields exploding near the film's climax were excellent. Julius Harris as Tee Hee, Roy Stewart as Quarrel Junior and Arnold Williams as the Cab Driver were all good in their roles. The fight scene between Bond and Tee Hee aboard the train wasn't bad and led up to a great one-liner. One of the better scenes in the film was the confrontation between Bond and Kananga when he 'reveals' himself in his New Orleans lair. I found Geoffrey Holder's choreography much better than his role as Baron Samedi, a great character that was never developed. The film's best innovation was having Paul McCartney and Wings perform their hit tune over Maurice Binder's titles. To everyone's heartbreak it was a shame that Desmond Lewelin as Q never appeared in this film. And that being said the best gadget in this film was James Bond's coffee machine. As Bernard Lee as "M" commented, "Is that all it does?"
Rating:
Summary: The "Doomesday Machine" gets started
Review: "What are you? Some kind of doomsday machine boy?" asks sheriff J.W. Pepper after James Bond has distroyed every police car in his county as well as created chaos on the river that runs through it. The question remains unanswered although the response should have been a most definite "yes". For this is the most destructive of the Bond series, probably to hide the lack of plot and characterization. Made in 1973 it went to almost desperate lengths to distance Roger Moore's interpratation of Ian Fleming's superhero from that of Sean Connery, who had departed after "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971). The glitzy Las Vagas locations of the latter film are replaced by semi derilect Harlem; the smooth (and somewhat camp) Charles Grey by the altogether rougher persona of Yaphet Kotto and the white Tuxedos by business suits. Incredibly one review I read when it came out commented favourably on how modern and trendy Moore's suits were when compared with the ones Sean Connery sported in "From Russia With Love" (1963). Now after all these years Sean appears like the epitemy of Savel Row class whereas Roger's attire resembles something out of a thrift shop. The music is also different with Paul & Linda McCartney's rip roaring theme, not to memtion it's famously clumsy grammar ("In this ever changing world in which we live in"), and George Martin's score having graduated from imitation Bond music in "Help" to the real thing here. It is the best of the non John Barry scores and compliments the action very well. It is in many respects a remake of "Dr. No", as Bond is initally sent off in the dead of night to investigate the disapearance of some agents and stumbles upon something more sinister - namely heroin production - and then destroys everything in sight. I don't believe that it is possible to grow heroin poppies in tropical climates but perhaps Blofeld geneticaly modified some for Mr.Big in his lab in Switzerland while he was in between takes in OHMSS. The action tends to dominate what little plot there is but it is well handled by veteran bond director Guy Hamilton (although I noticed in his commentary that there were vast chunks of the film during which he has nothing to say about his creation). However, much of the drama simply doesn't work; for instance when Mr. Big peels off his rubber mask to reveal he is in fact Dr. Kananger no one, not even Bond, is suprised. One thing that people tend to comment upon is the absence of "Q". Actor Desmond Llewellyn was, at the time of production, staring in the TV adaptation of Monica Dickens' "Follyfoot" books and thus was not available for "Live And Let Die". I hope that clears it up. In any case there were very few gadgets for him to explain, with the exception of the ridiculous Rolex with it's "magnetic beam". Although the film has many faults - and I've only had time to highlight some of them - it is still fun to watch and has always worked better on television than in the cinema. The print is excellent and the extras on this DVD make it an essential part of any Bond fan's collection. One thing that worries me though is the fact that my seven year-old nephew thinks it's the coolest film he's ever seen!
Rating:
Summary: New bond, and new style -- more like the books?
Review: As mentioned in the included documentary (DVD version), the Bond conglomerate revamped much of the then-moribund formula that served, then smothered, Sean Connery. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER screenwriter is back, as is Bond veteran Guy Hamilton (GOLDFINGER, DIAMONDS), and production designer Ken Adam. Much of the bombast of YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE and DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER were abandoned (too bad they returned after MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN). What I remembered loving in 1973, and still do, about LIVE AND LET DIE was the very fresh approach to the story, and Bond. Moore, acting hard to NOT duplicate his Saint persona, plays Bond in a very different vein. The production design was hipper. The milieu and script was forceably hipper (to the point of clunking terribly in parts). And George Martin's blaxploitation-infused score left no mistake that this was a NEW Bond for the 1970. I still like the music, particularly the coup of having Paul McCartney score the punchy title song. The addition of a pure comic element, Clifton James' Sheriff J.W. Pepper, was as fun as it was unexpected. Does it measure up? There are two camps: those that like the early, classic years, and the later campy, send-up years. I'm in the former. LIVE AND LET DIE was a nice anomaly, bridging the character driven suspense (Bond and Solitaire, Solitaire and Kananga) and growing expectation for outlandish stunts. Like FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and ON HER MAJESTYS SECRET SERVICE, this film skirted some of the obvious cliches and made unexpected choices. Many of the trademark "Bond touches" that Terence Young introduced were omitted because they were strongly associated with Connery. The result? A pared down Bond character that I find more in keeping with the books. And of course, these DVDs come packed with extras, so they're a bargain for Bond aficionados. ;)
Rating:
Summary: Moore did a fine job
Review: I thought Live And Let Die was a very good Bond film.Not the best,but very good.It's got a good villain named Kananga,and a gorgeous Bond girl called Solitaire.It also features a great henchman with a steel arm that has a claw for a hand.(his real arm was bitten off by an alligator!)The theme song by Paul McCartney and Wings is a classic.Overall,while not being Moore's best outing as Bond,I thought he did a fine job,and it's a very good movie.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Bond Film
Review: Roger Moore brings a necessary personality change to Bond, making him a more loose, comedic and fun Bond. This is perhaps the campiest James Bond film, which only makes it better. The plot concerns two double-o agents getting killed; one in the Carribean island of San Monique, the other at a United Nations meeting. Bond goes to New York to investigate, and is immediately met with trouble. On his way to meet Felix Liter, the driver of the cab he is riding in, Charlie, is shot. He then investigates a voodoo shop, which Kananga (aka Mr. Big) is "waving a flag in." This leads him to the Harlem Fillet of Soul resturaunt, from which, he later learns, is one in a chain of Fillet of Soul resturaunts that Kananga is based in, with the rest of his heroin-smuggling chain. I'm not going to give away any more, but it's an excellent film for Bond fans, and I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: live and let die
Review: This movie ruled in every way. Roger Moore rules too, so watch live and let die
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