Live and Let Die [Region 2] buy bestselling dvd movies, videos find reviews, ratings, prices
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![Live and Let Die [Region 2]](/pictures/Live-Die-y.jpg) |
Features
• PAL
In Theaters : 27 June, 1973 |
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Live and Let Die [Region 2] description
Roger Moore was introduced as James Bond in this 1973 action movie featuring secret agent 007. More self-consciously suave and formal than predecessor Sean Connery, he immediately reestablished Bond as an uncomplicated and wooden fellow for the feel-good '70s. This film also marks a deviation from the more character-driven stories of the Connery years, a deliberate shift to plastic action (multiple chases, bravura stunts) that made the franchise more of a comic book or machine. If that's not depressing enough, there's even a good British director on board, Guy Hamilton (Force 10 from Navarone). The story finds Bond taking on an international drug dealer (Yaphet Kotto), and while that may be superficially relevant, it isn't exactly the same as fighting supervillains on the order of Goldfinger. --Tom Keogh |
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Live and Let Die [Region 2] Customer Reviews
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I was young and my heart was an open book...
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I used to say live and let live. Then I saw this Roger Moore fiasco. It makes me give in and cry, This movie must die!...They had a job to do and didn't do it well, they put this fellow through hell!
Ok, enough of twisting Paul McCartney's great song to offer up my point of view. I am a recent convert to James Bond movies. I took a chance and watched Casino Royale and I was very impressed with what I saw. Then I picked up Goldfinger, followed by Die Another Day, GoldenEye, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, A View to a Kill, Dr. No, Octopussy, and The Living Daylights. Some of these movies were great and some were good or ok. But none of them made me do what this one did all by itself, none of the others made me put a temporary halt on my exploration of the Bond movies.
So where to start with this movie? Oh dear, where can I start? Since I am unable to stomach another viewing of this mess of a movie I'll just mention what sticks out in my mind. First of all the acting, mainly from the supporting cast, is so over the top and silly that it has clearly crossed the line into campiness. I grew up on Batman, especially reruns Adam West's portrayal of the character, so I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the 60s series. I could never understand why some Batman fans hated the series. But thanks to Live and Let Die it all has become perfectly clear. For someone like me, who loves Casino Royale, going back to this movie is like a Batman Begins fan picking up the Adam West Batman movie in their local store's cut out bin and hoping for more of the same. It may be possible for one to enjoy the movie, but if you don't know what you're in for, then you're likely to be disturbed by what you see. I was bothered enough that I feel like a survivor of this movie who is attempting to come to grips with what he suffered through.
Second of all are the characters involved in this production. (Well, one in particular mainly.)Ian Fleming made a bold move to have all black villains in his original novel. This caused some controversy of course and the film makers decided to attempt to counter act the move in an effort to appease the masses. How did they do this? By introducing an over zealous, white, redneck, stocky Southern Sheriff, complete with accent and chewing tobacco. I always wondered what inspired a TV series I enjoyed as a kid, the Dukes of Hazzard, and now I know. Yes, I am rather certain that we'd have no Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane if it hadn't been for the Sheriff in this movie. The big difference is that Coltrane fit in with the other characters instead of sticking out like a sore thumb.
The Sheriff here is one of the biggest, and most unwelcome, distractions to a movie since I endured Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars: Episode I several years back. In both cases I couldn't wrap my head around the thought process that was going through the minds of the people who gave a green light to what was going on once they saw the dailies of the films. A severe lack of sleep must have affected the judgments of these people.
The action sequences are rather dismal as well. We are treated to a battle between Bond and the Baron towards the end of the movie, but it is brief and hardly worth what you must sit through prior to this sequence. One of the longest action segments belongs to a boat chase. Long chases can be ok if they're well planned and shot in a manner that enhances the action, but that is not the case here. Instead the chase comes across as the film maker's effort to maximize the expense of obtaining the water craft used in this film.
My own review here is in danger of becoming as long and drawn out as the actual movie, so I'll end it here. I could go on and on about how bad this thing is, but I've wasted enough time on it already and saying more about it will never get back the two hours I spent with this badly done live action Disney cartoon. |
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