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EON's 8th James Bond film was also the advent of the Roger Moore era of seven appearances as 007, and love him or hate him, he was a mainstay as the beloved spy and will be forever associated with the series. George Lazenby's effort four years earlier in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) and Connery's brief returning stint in Diamonds Are Forever (1971) left the franchise with an aura of uncertainty, and it was only with the casting of the always reliable English actor that the dedicated Bond audience had something to look forward to. It is fair to say that aside from a couple of misfires, which were the fault of various screenwriters, Moore's Bond was always very consistent and his debonair rawness was born here. Like Connery before him, Moore constantly tried to make 007 his own even if the scripts were as wacky as Moonraker (1979) at times, and despite an understandable nerve-wracking debut here, he delivers in this "marmite" picture.
Fans are mostly split on what they think to this adventure. I personally like the film, citing the references to the blaxploitation era of the 1970s with the excellent villains, a strong heroine in Solitaire, and wonderful American locations as the main reasons. However, some followers of the series get disgusted with the dim-witted introduction of Sheriff J.W. Pepper and the exclusions of Q and a vodka martini in particular. Nevertheless, the film is obviously going to break with tradition slightly because of the introduction of a new Mr Bond and the efforts of the producers to deliver something more original. We have a realistic plot which makes for a relatively forgettable ending, but when you have Yaphet Kotto's Mr Big giving off a rare (as far as Bond villains go) impression of reasonable evilness, and director Guy Hamilton's flair radiating so well with the thrilling boat chase and reptile farm sequences, one realises that the film revisited its origin in Fleming's book with success.
The extras
All three of the commentaries on the first disc are excellent, especially the one with director Guy Hamilton as Jane Seymour and Yaphet Kotto also contribute. Like all seven of his films, the addition of a Roger Moore commentary is very welcome. On Disc 2, the mediocre '1973: The Lost Documentary' featurette does include a fascinating couple of minute insight into the black and white stuntmen industry. A strange 1964 comedic performance of Roger Moore as James Bond is surreal, and the 30 minute 'Behind the Scenes - Inside Live and Let Die' featurette is nothing special apart from showcasing how much of a nutter the owner of the crocodile farm used in the film actually was. The sound and picture quality is fantastic, but the extras on the whole are just relatively average compared to others from the 'Ultimate Edition' series.
The summary
Roger Moore dons the famous tuxedo for the first time and the result is well executed on screen, translating the voodoo elements well from the original story whilst incorporating the right recipe of Bond to maintain old and introduce new fans to the series.
