Just seen this film again for the first time in a few years. Definitely one of the best.
For my money it’s in the top two of Roger Moore’s - tough call which I prefer between it and For Your Eyes Only. Moore’s debut here was quite excellent. After the previous film, Connery’s last, Diamonds Are Forever, was too overblown, they needed to go back to basics. And that’s what this film does. Sure, it has the usual gimmicks that we associate with the Bond films, but nothing is overdone.
Because this film marked the appearance of a new actor in the lead role, as I said, the usual gimmicks are there, and in particular, everything that makes us think Bond is toned up. The action, the music, the beautiful women, the one-liners - everything about this film just screams Bond. It’s one of the most Bond-like of all Bond films, if that makes sense. Along with Connery’s debut, Dr No, it’s one of the best embodiments of the genre (George Lazenby’s only outing in the role, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, also has a lot of extra-Bond-like qualities, for much the same reason as this film, they wanted to reassure the audience that it might not be Connery but it was still Bond).
A word about the music - which reunited Paul McCartney with his old producer George Martin, who composed the incidental music and produced the song. Again, the fact that it’s George Martin is very apparent to my ears. I recognise his sound - check out Paul’s 1982 album Tug Of War, again produced by Martin, in particular the songs “Wanderlust” and “Here Today” (the latter being Paul’s tribute to John Lennon, this was his first album after his ex-bandmate’s death). Live And Let Die is the only Bond theme I have seen live - I saw Paul live back in 2003, and he did this near the end of the show, it was the last solo song he did that night before the big finale of Beatles classics. And it’s pretty damn awesome, embodying the variety that The Beatles were famous for, a ballad verse and chorus, a rocking instrumental break and a reggae bridge. Still one of the best Bond themes ever.
The fact that the villain’s plot here is something different to the usual world domination is a refreshing change. The heroin plot is well thought out. It feels plausible.
Actually this brings me onto the comparisons and influences on this film. Puppet On A Chain, a novel by Alistair MacLean and then film in 1969 and 1971 respectively, is also about heroin smuggling, albeit not on quite such a grand scale as this - and the film also features a speedboat chase (which apparently inspired the makers here).
But the biggest external influence on this film, it occurred to me today, is a little bit older, older even than the first Bond film. There are many comparable moments between Live And Let Die and Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece North By Northwest. The death at the UN building is very reminiscent, then the chase through the poppy fields pursued by the helicopter is very reminiscent of Cary Grant’s mad dash through the crop field pursued by the plane. And of course the final scene where he seduces the heroine on the train!
Not to say that this film doesn’t have memorable moments in its own right - the crocodile farm in particular, of course. That sign, “Trespassers will be EATEN” is one of the greatest moments in the entire Bond canon, and Bond’s quick dash over the waiting crocs, using them as stepping stones, is wonderful without being too far-fetched. That’s the thing about Bond films - they come in cycles, and usually reach a trough where they get too overblown, and then quickly recover with a back-to-basics approach the next time. This is that back-to-basics recovery.
All in all, this is one great movie!
