This article originally appeared onDen of Geek UK.
This is the one whereJames Bonddoes Blaxploitation.
Its Roger Moores debut.
The One with All the Voodoo.Live And Let Dieis memorable for numerous reasons.
Switch off after BondsCrocodile Dundeemoment, just before the looooooooong boat chase.
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In other respects, Kananga is a fairly typical villain.
He repeatedly and unsuccessfully tries to feed Bond to various unpleasant creatures.
He has an unrequited crush on the Bond girl, and an exceptional array of henchman.
Loses points for a particularly stupid demise but that isnt his fault.
She is alarmingly passive however: entirely at the mercy of Kananga, utterly reliant on Bond.
At no point is Solitaire remotely helpful.
Silent when threatened, during the climatic fights she just cowers.
To be blunt, Solitaire seems a little dumb.
Roger Moore isnt the best Bond but hes the most fun.
Hes also the most generous, willing to do anything to ensure everybody has a good time.
Dress up as a clown?
Drive a gondolier through the streets of Venice?
Roger is happy to do stuff all the other Bonds would deem beneath them.
Hes willing to play the fool.
His biggest problem is his greatest strength.
Watch Live and Let Die on Amazon
Most of the James Bonds wouldnt be much gas at parties.
Brosnan is charming yet a little tortured, wincing slightly when you mention a trusted friend.
Craig is curt and always seems on the verge of killing you.
But Roger Roger is the life and soul!
Roger instigates drinking games, performs magic tricks, starts up a conga line.
And, clasping hands to your pounding head, you mutter, Okay Roger.
See you for brunch.
However, Rog stuffs Miss Caruso in the closet and shows off his coffee machine to the boss.
Which heretically or not many certainly dont.
The pre-credits purge of the diplomats is brilliant.
Particularly fun is the funeral parade and empty coffin ready to pick up the recently knifed spy.
Heaven knows how they worked that out logistically Everybody ready?
Sad faces, people!
I dont mention the songs much but for me Paul McCartneys number is the best of the lot.
It is a thrilling piece of music that grabs you by the throat and doesnt let go.
Recurs throughout always a good sign.
Good to see Sir Paul harbored no grudges over theGoldfingerjibe.
More than most Bonds,Live And Let Dieis a triumph of mood over plot.
Essentially no plot exists, certainly not in the traditional sense.
Kananga plans to flood America with free heroin and reap the benefits once everyones addicted.
Its an, um, interesting business model that definitely stands up to economic scrutiny.
Then again, hes not trying to recolonise the planet from space.
read more: Everything you gotta Know About James Bond 25
The villains are a strength.
The film needed a strong threat and the quietly menacing Kananga provides.
The film misses a trick by not exploring his double-life as Mr Big.
Perhaps the premise falls apart if examined too closely but I feel a novel idea was sold short.
Mr Bigs self-referential line: old Kananga, he believes all that voodoo crap raises a particularly tantalising question.
He certainly appears to, as does Solitaire of course.
But then he also manipulates voodoo to protect his drug empire.
Is the result of his duel-identity that he believes as Kananga but not as Mr Big?
Fertile ground left entirely unmined.
Portly, rasping Whisper could easily be chief sidekick in another film.
Instead the role goes to Tee Hee, the right-hand man who doesnt have one.
Tee Hee is one of my favourite heavies.
Charismatic and garrulous, Tee Hee is a refreshing alternative to the typical monotone goon.
The great henchmen Oddjob, Jaws, Necros tend to be strong and silent types.
Hopefully Mr Hinx and successors follow Tee Hees example and talk rather than glower.
But Baron Samedi steals the show.
Firstly, lets be blunt: the goodies are white and the baddies are black.
Some goodies are also black Quarrel Jr, Strutter although no baddies are white.
This isnt actually as bad as it sounds.
(Naturally, their competency has a blind spot when it comes to killing Bond.)
Theyre Bond villains of course theyre evil).
That Kananga remains the only black villain to-date is a stain on the series, not this film.
Solitaire is another matter.
A white woman kept by evil black masters is the stuff of Ku Klux Klan fantasy.
The scene where she is threatened by Kananga and Tee Hee is particularly discomforting.
However, the lines blur.
Is the repellence a question of morals or race?
Regardless of the films intent, its hard to watch the scene and not see the latter.
Kananga and Solitaires relationship throws up another issue.
Bond bedding the villains woman is hardly new; fromThunderballtoSkyfall, its a fairly standard development.
What makesLive And Let Dieunique is the insistence the villain himself has not bedded the woman.
The film makes Solitaires virginity a central plot-point to ensure clarity on the matter.
The sexual relationship between a black man and white woman is sidestepped.
We do get the first interracial relationship of the series between Bond and the highly annoying Rosie Carver.
This is progress, I suppose.
Really, Solitaire should be black.
Literally: Rosie, Mayday, Jinx and Eve Moneypenny.
Yet compared to the black villains they are legion.
read more: Ranking the James Bond Villains
Right, thats enough.
And the subtext is too extensive for a paragraph.
So, the crocodiles!
The boat is a masterstroke throwing a lifeline, then pulling it back.
Surely watching a man get eaten alive is Tee Hees idea of fun?
Unfortunately the crocodile escape marks the point of decline.
The chase lasts for approximately 12 minutes.
Thats 10% of the entire film!
Nor is it particularly invigorating large swathes involve nothing more than a boat being followed by some other boats.
Let the drone of the engines lull you into slumber.
By this point the younger, older, or more hungover viewers may be dead to the world.
Wisely, the film intercuts the boat with alternative action.
Sheriff Pepper is a loud, boorish Louisiana lawman who does for Southern Americans what Borat did for Kazakhstan.
He is the first major-ish character of the series to be used solely for comic relief.
I admit that raises a smile.
Less amusing is when Pepper stops Adam in his car and immediately gets heavy-handed and armed.
Post-Ferguson and others it really isnt comfortable viewing.
The actual climax feels rushed and there is no sense of events reaching a head.
That is the problem when the villains plan is business rather than destruction.
I do like the superficially relaxed conversation between Bond and Kananga before Bond is fed to the sharks.
(Seriously, K: stop trying to feed Bond to things!
It doesnt work!)
One does wonder where all Kanangas henchman vanish to?
Surely summoning some back-up, just in case, would be a wise course of action?
Or simply keeping hold of a gun?
The escape itself, incidentally, is a massive cheat.
Bond uses a gadget saw in watch that the film didnt previously reveal.
Kanangas death is monumentally inane.
Inflating like a balloon is completely unrealistic and betrays an otherwise fine villain.
The line between elaborate and ludicrous may be fine but nobody could doubt where this demise falls.
Almost as stupid is Solitaire asking Wheres Kananga?
just so Bond can spout a terrible line about him always having an inflated opinion of himself.
Instead a whole new chapter began.
Sure, it might verge on unreadable in places, but the story would rarely be dull.
Best Bit:Cant look past the crocodiles.
Worst Bit:Any moment Sheriff Pepper is onscreen.
Final Thought:Where did Bond get all those Lovers tarot cards from?
Did he buy fifty packs and carefully extract the relevant card from each one?
