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LIVE AND LET DIE 40th ANNIVERSARY

hullcityfanhullcityfan Banned
edited June 2013 in Bond Movies Posts: 496
As we have on for Octopussy we might as well have one for Sir Roger Moore's first Bond film 40 years on. 40 years ago on the 27th of 1973 Live And Let Die came out (in the USA , 6th of July for the UK).
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Comments

  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    live_and_let_die_poster_by_comandercool22-d689szp.jpg
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    Indeed. A brilliant film. I just viewed it recently. Happy 40th LALD. I must get that review done.
  • StrangwaysLetterboxStrangwaysLetterbox
    Posts: 45
    Ah, released in the same year I was born. One of my favourite Moore Bond movies.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,801
    I just watched it on Father's Day. Wow was it great to see it again after so long a hiatus...
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    chrisisall wrote:
    I just watched it on Father's Day. Wow was it great to see it again after so long a hiatus...

    Yes, it still really holds up very well as a James Bond film 40 years on. It's much better than its predecessor, DAF.
  • hullcityfanhullcityfan Banned
    Posts: 496
    Dragonpol wrote:
    chrisisall wrote:
    I just watched it on Father's Day. Wow was it great to see it again after so long a hiatus...

    Yes, it still really holds up very well as a James Bond film 40 years on. It's much better than its predecessor, DAF.

    DAF is a good film but the bit in California bores me a bit.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,801
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Yes, it still really holds up very well as a James Bond film 40 years on. It's much better than its predecessor, DAF.
    Honestly, I like BOTH of Moore's following films better than DAF. And I think I'd have liked DAF better if Roger was in it instead of Sean... both DAF & NSNA were too much into the comedy thing for a Bond that fought Grant.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,217
    I was 10 years old and Live and Let Die was my first Bond film that I saw in a theater; add to that that I live in New Orleans. I know what I'l be watching tonight.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    talos7 wrote:
    I was 10 years old and Live and Let Die was my first Bond film that I saw in a theater; add to that that I live in New Orleans. I know what I'l be watching tonight.

    Wow! A classy fan there. That must have been quite something.
  • RogueAgentRogueAgent
    Posts: 12,526
    Murdock wrote:
    live_and_let_die_poster_by_comandercool22-d689szp.jpg

    oh happy birthday LALD!!!! ^:)^ My first ever experience of 007 thanks to my dear old mum! I have never been the same since! :-bd
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    chrisisall wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Yes, it still really holds up very well as a James Bond film 40 years on. It's much better than its predecessor, DAF.
    Honestly, I like BOTH of Moore's following films better than DAF. And I think I'd have liked DAF better if Roger was in it instead of Sean... both DAF & NSNA were too much into the comedy thing for a Bond that fought Grant.


    Agreed - mostly why I dislike DAF so very much.
  • myworldisenoughmyworldisenough
    Posts: 1,143
    Mad to think LALD is 40 years old. Great movie and great introduction to Sir Rog. He plays it super cool and smooth with witty lines to boot. Memorable villians too.
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    edited June 2013 Posts: 8,217
    How about a nod to George Martin's score. It's one of the non-Barry scores that I really like. It's manages to be Bondian yet non-traditional at the same time.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    talos7 wrote:
    How about a nod to George Martin's score. It's one of the non-Barry scores that I really like. It's manages no be Bondian yet non-traditional at the same time.
    It is one of the better score of the Series. :)
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    talos7 wrote:
    How about a nod to George Martin's score. It's one of the non-Barry scores that I really like. It's manages to be Bondian yet non-traditional at the same time.
    I think it's great. While you do hear some obvious signs that you're listening to 70's music it doesn't go too far with it. It manages to capture that classic Bond feel and offer something fresh and exciting too.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    hullcityfan wrote:

    DAF is a good film but the bit in California bores me a bit.

    What you mean the 2 minute scene with Felix at the airport and where the hearse drives to the funeral home? Yeah that protracted sequence always really drags for me too.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,801
    Murdock wrote:
    It is one of the better score of the Series. :)
    Oh yeah. I still don't know why he didn't do at least one more. God, he'd have made FYEO SO much better....
    :-\"
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,217
    chrisisall wrote:
    Murdock wrote:
    It is one of the better score of the Series. :)
    Oh yeah. I still don't know why he didn't do at least one more. God, he'd have made FYEO SO much better....
    :-\"
    I agree 100% ; Conti's score almost makes FYEO unwatchable for me.

  • AlexanderWaverlyAlexanderWaverly
    Posts: 2,115
    HMSS Weblog's post on LALD's 40th anniversary:

    http://hmssweblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/01/live-and-let-dies-40th-the-post-connery-era-truly-begins/
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    Posts: 8,217
    AlexanderWaverly wrote:
    HMSS Weblog's post on LALD's 40th anniversary:

    http://hmssweblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/01/live-and-let-dies-40th-the-post-connery-era-truly-begins/
    Thanks, that's a good read.

  • OHMSS69OHMSS69
    Posts: 2,341
    As we all know this was Roger's first outing as Bond. Though he was 45 he looked about 35 and was in top form, handsome, dashing.
    The movie came out as the Blaxplotation era was winding down but the movie still stands out and mixes with many of those films of that day.

    The film took a lot of hate from writers who complained of racism and the fact that all the villains were black but I never saw that as a problem. I found the black villains just as cool, cunning and dangerous as any previous Bond villains. And they were enjoyable rogues. Kananga, Tee Hee, Adam and others are memorable. The New Orleans funeral march is an enduring memory from this movie.

    Jane Seymour was great. Beautiful with an innocence and that killer body. She is one of my favorite Bond girls.

    Mankiewicz wrote the screenplay and the villains plot is kinda flimsy but the movie is not short on action, stunts (yes real stunts, not the cheesy CGI we see nowadays) My only problem is with Kananga's death. It was just silly and that is not physically possible. Why not just let the sharks kill him?

    Paul McCartney's song was played by most radio stations that summer. I understand that Harry Salzman liked the song but wanted a female black entertainer to perform it. He finally gave in.
  • bondsumbondsum
    edited June 2013 Posts: 3,333
    OHMSS69 wrote:
    The movie came out as the Blaxplotation era was winding down but the movie still stands out and mixes with many of those films of that day.
    I'd say LALD came out at the very peak of Blaxplotation. It was a good few years after LALD's release that the genre began to run out of steam, namely 1976.

    I always loved this movie and was glad Harry Salzman was back at the helm rather than Cubby on this production.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    I read the title of this thread and my first thought was, God am I old!
    40th anniversary?! Ah well ...

    LALD rocks with a fantastic score and theme song. A solid Bond movie and a very good debut for Roger, who did look many years younger than his actual age then.
  • fjdinardofjdinardo
    Posts: 1,970
    Cant bleieve its been 40 years. I plan on watching the film on the 27 itself to celebrate
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited June 2013 Posts: 18,281
    Was it 6th July 1973 for the UK and 27th July 1973 for the US, then? I could drop my articles on LALD sooner than planned, then, to celebrate its 40th Anniversary.
  • OHMSS69OHMSS69
    edited June 2013 Posts: 2,341
    There is a great youtube video that shows the filming and many takes of the escape from the crocodile farm. The owner of the farm, Ross Kananga performed the stunt and it is quite funny to watch the many screw ups during the filming.

    Nowadays they would use CGI for the crocodiles but that was one thing about earlier films, the stunts were actually performed by real stuntmen.

    It was his name that Mankiwicz used for the main villain, because fans of the book will recall that there was no Kananga/Mr.Big in the book only Mr. BIG
  • fjdinardofjdinardo
    Posts: 1,970
    OHMSS69 wrote:
    There is a great youtube video that shows the filming and many takes of the escape from the crocodile farm. The owner of the farm, Ross Kananga performed the stunt and it is quite funny to watch the many screw ups during the filming.

    Nowadays they would use CGI for the crocodiles but that was one thing about earlier films, the stunts were actually performed by real stuntmen.

    It was his name that Mankiwicz used for the main villain, because fans of the book will recall that there was no Kananga/Mr.Big in the book only Mr. BIG

    I like the name Kananga better then Mr. Big for the villians name
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited June 2013 Posts: 11,189
    I'm not wild on LALD but I think its a decent enough flick and very much a film of its era. I'd probably rate this mid table in my rankings. The Sheriff Pepper stuff looks rather silly today as does the whole "Mrs Bell" sequence. Nonetheless its a reasonibly fun entry and the crocodile stroll is simple yet jaw dropping.

    I think my problem with most of the 70s films is that they seem quite horribly dated in 2013. The 60s films actually seem to stand up far better.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    BAIN123 wrote:
    I'm not wild on LALD but I think its a decent enough flick and very much a film of its era. I'd probably rate this mid table in my rankings. The Sheriff Pepper stuff looks rather silly today as does the whole "Mrs Bell" sequence. Nonetheless its a reasonibly fun entry and the crocodile stroll is simple yet jaw dropping.

    I think my problem with most of the 70s films is that they seem quite horribly dated in 2013. The 60s films actually seem to stand up far better.

    Well all that said it's still much much better than DAF - I find it much harder to watch all of the way through.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    edited June 2013 Posts: 11,189
    Diamonds has its funny moments but yes I agree it's dated considerably more than LALD.

    "Camp" dates more than "serious" on the whole.

    LALD doesn't have long moments of dullness that Diamonds does either (IMO)
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