Live and Let Die | 
| Director: Guy Hamilton
Actors: Roger Moore, Yaphet Kotto, Jane Seymour, Clifton James, Julius Harris
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $6.19
You Save: $8.79 (59%)
New (50) Used (17) from $3.99
Rating:  181 reviews
Sales Rank: 13768
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Hungarian (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 121 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: MGMDM106634D
UPC: 027616066329
EAN: 0027616066329
ASIN: B000RPCK1A
Theatrical Release Date: June 27, 1973
Release Date: September 4, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
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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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| Customer Reviews: Read 176 more reviews...
 A humorous, intriguing little romp May 1, 2009
S. Nicholas (Virginia)
Although it's understandable why some dislike this film, it's nowhere near the trainwrecks of A View to a Kill, Tommorow Never Dies, or The World is Not Enough. Not exactly my favorite of the series, it's still one I definately enjoy watching.
Live and Let Die is a Bond that tends to grows on some people, not all.
Roger Moore's First Attempt April 23, 2009
E. David Swan (South Euclid, Ohio USA)
Looking back, whenever the producers of Bond insert a new actor the movies tend to be some of the best for their respective era. Goldeneye was Pierce Brosnan's one great film. The Living Daylights was much better than License to Kill and Casino Royale was absolutely spectacular. Roger Moore's initial effort, on the other hand, came during a rather weak period following Sean Connery's one clunker, `Diamonds Are Forever' and preceding the strange and bland `Man With The Golden Gun'. The late 60's and early 70's were an era of experimentation for the U.S. and Britain and the Bond producers seemed to be getting with the times. None of the licensed Bond films are without redeeming qualities but some bury them deeper than others. LaLD has more than a few flaws but I have to say that it has improved with repeated viewings.
My biggest issue with the film is that when you get right down to it Mr. Big/Kananga is nothing more than a glorified drug dealer. It's no coincidence that two of my least favorite Bond films, this one and the abominable License to Kill both pit Bond against a drug kingpin. On the upside the casting is excellent and I have to give a special nod to Yaphet Kotto for his portrayal of Kananga and Jane Seymour is absolutely one of the most beautiful Bond girls ever. Julius Harris and Geoffry Holder were well cast as Kananga's henchmen Tee Hee and Baron Samedi. The one sore spot for me was the nauseating Clifton James as Sheriff Pepper who unfortunately makes an unwanted return in Golden Gun.
There are a few scenes in the movie that are done extremely well. One classic is when Bond walks into the all black `Filet o Soul' dressed in a long black coat with black gloves, parted haircut, speaking in his British accent. This may be the best fish out of water scene in all the Bond movies. After Bond stumbles into Mr. Big's trick booth and finds himself captured, Kotto delivers one of the best lines of any Bond movie. Bond begins to introduce himself and Big responds, `Names is for tombstones, baby! Y'all take this honkey out and WASTE HIM! NOW!' The line works absolutely perfect and establishes Mr. Big as a different kind of villain. Another great scene is when Mr. Big reveals that he and Kananga are the same person. Everything about it works, particularly Kananga testing of Solitaire to see whether or not she had slept with Bond. The plot of LaLD is a bit weak but the dialogue is well written. When Bond stumbles upon the villains underground lair Kananga is there waiting with Champaign in hand. `What shall we toast to?' he asks to which Bond replies, `An earthquake?' That is one of the few times I laughed out loud during a Bond movie.
Live and Let Die reminds me in some ways of the Man with the Golden Gun in that it seems a bit removed from the other Bond films. On some levels including the terrific soundtrack it works quite well. I was never a fan of Paul McCartney's title song but the rest of the music is great. I'm going to give the film a four and it may be a generous score but for some reason the film continues to grow on me unlike many of the more recent Brosnan films that seemed to lose something on repeated viewings.
There is one final scene I thought I would mention. After Bond is taken out to be `wasted' Kananga's henchmen take him to the slums of Harlem behind some buildings strewn with trash. One of the henchmen gives Bond a rough shove from behind prompting Bond to thank him. And he thanks him in a way that sounds 100% sincere. What really struck me about this scene was the realism of it. This was a legit, trash filled, crumbling section of Harlem. There is almost no color in this scene and the thought of Bond being executed in this terrible section of New York City always stuck with me. Again, the film is on the lower end of the Bond scale but there are moments that excel.
 Do do that voodoo April 7, 2009
Jay Dickson (Portland, OR)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
LIVE AND LET DIE, the first James Bond film to star Roger Moore, often gets a bad rap among Bond fans. Stiff and too reliant on the one-liners, Moore was almost no one's favorite James Bond, and this entry in the series is one of the darkest... except for the long chase sequences (one, an extremely extended sequence involving speedboats jumping over dry land and a redneck Louisiana sheriff, would make you want to cringe if it didn't seem like part of a different film altogether.) It's racial politics are also very strangely handled, drawing perhaps too much from Ian Fleming's own bizarre fears about black Jamaican and American culture exploited in his novel on which the film is largely based. But there's much to recommend the film for: even though it draws heavily from popular culture fantasies of voodoo, it is one of the genuinely scariest Bond films, and the dramatic Paul McCartney and Wings theme song is used to fine effect throughout the film, especially in the scary sequence when the likable Gloria Henry, as Bond's first ever African-American romantic partner, realizes she's about to be killed by the villain Katanga (Yaphet Kotto). Geoffrey Holder is also very effective as one of Katanga's henchmen who disguises himself as Baron Samedi, and is featured in the film's final chilling shot. And then there is an extended sequence in a weed overgrown alley between a series of abandoned Harlem tenements that features some of the most breathtaking Gothic images in films of the period. Finally, in Jane Seymour as the prophetic Solitaire, it has one of the most memorable of all Bond women, particularly in that she's one of the more helpless ones (almost all the best Bond women other than Seymour are the ones who can actually fight, like Ursula Andress and Honor Blackman). True, her Seventies couture is often quite laughable, and so is one especially unfortunate chase sequence with Bond driving a double-decker bus while Seymour--for some unknown reason--sits sedately in the back. She has a lovely voice, however, that sounds properly uncanny when she reads her prophetic Tarot cards to Kotto. For all its faults, this is a hard film to forget.
Live or Let Die once again April 3, 2009
Nicko
The movie has been cleaned up for Blue Ray but the biggest change from the regular DVD is the sound. The DTS sound is fantastic.
 Live and Let Die DVD March 20, 2009
K. Schroeck
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
My dad loves James Bond movies and we have them all on VHS, but have been looking to buy them all on DVD. So, in order to create a new DVD collection of James Bond, I bought this DVD for my dad and he loved it! I found this product to be well worth the money! Thanks Amazon!
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