No Moore please, this one bored the Living Daylights out of me! (Live and Let Die (DVD))

Member Name: sewbizzie

Product:	Live and Let Die (DVD)
Date:	29/10/09 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Erm............

Disadvantages: poor acting, effects and daft storyline at times

Well it seems quite strange to say that hubby chose this film as it does not star John Wayne but I have to say I think I would have perhaps preferred him to this drivel I had to endure.

Roger Moore takes on the role of 007, James Bond in this film. He is set to uncover the mysterious deaths of 005 and 006 and soon he finds he is tracking a drug lord. He stars off in New York where he is chased and threaten but during this he meets Solitaire, a tarot card reader who is able to predict the future and things which are about to happen, who he instantly find attractive. Bond soon finds his investigations lead him to Louisiana's Bayou Country where he uncovers some very powerful men and again he meets Solitaire and vows to help her escape from the Drug Lord.

Will Bond be able to save himself from the drug Lord and his men and will he be able to help Solitaire?

Now I know the plot summery which I have been given sound very brief but taking away Bond bedding the women and some very bad action scenes this really is all which happens. I was initially put off from this film as I do not like Roger Moore in the role of Bond as for me I grew up only knowing Pierce Brosnan playing him and for me he is by far better. I found the character of Bond to be too slick and a ladies man and this really did put me off viewing some parts of the film. I mean there is no way he would always get the girl as he is nothing special to look at. I thought Roger Moore did do ok in places but this was about as good as he got.

There were a lot of supporting actors and actresses in the film, the most popular one being Jane Seymour, hubby thought she was wonderful but for me she seemed very wooden and constantly nervous. I did find there was certainly no chemistry between her and Roger Moore and this is what made me cringe when they were together. The character of Tee Hee was the best in the film for me. His arm was so apparently false and his constantly laughing and giggling actually made for some fun viewing. He did the best job by far in the film.

The film was filmed in Jamaica and so as you can imagine we do get some lovely views over the island and sea and for me this did make the film slightly more watch able. The music throughout the film was ok but I have heard a lot better in other Bond film. I did enjoy the intro song which was sung by Paul and Linda McCartney and think this rates highly among the Bond themes so far.

Once Bond was on the island there was a voodoo feel and for me this was completely out of keeping with the rest of the film as was so far fetched at times is was cringe worthy to watch but again hubby liked this aspect of the film apposed to me hating it.

Now for the gadgets, well as this film was made in 1977 you can imagine that in today's standard they are awful and so old fashioned. There was no authenticity to them and they all just looked so fake and out of place. If these tried to be used in a current film they would be laughed at all the way to the bin. The action scenes were just as bad as the gadgets and throughout the fights we could clearly see that they were staged and the characters were not actually touching each other. This for me was a real let down and disappointment.

The DVD which we have does have some special features which include:-

Feature Film with frame by frame digital restoration and DTS 5.1 Audio
Newly recorded audio commentary featuring Sir Roger Moore
Audio commentary featuring Director Guy Hamilton and Tom Mankiewicz

As the film had no impact on me then I did not allow hubby to make me sit through these as well so I am unable to make comment on them.

The running time of this film is 116 minutes which I felt was much too long and thought this could have easily been shortened to 90 minutes and still not have lost anything from the storyline. The certificate is a PG, the film dopes contain moderate violence and sex references but nothing which would offend and I do say this is suitable for older children to view.

We paid £5 for this DVD in Tesco and personally I think it was a waste of money but on the other hand hubby rates this as one of his favourite Bond film of all time so I will recommend it if you like Roger Moore playing Bond but just do expect too much from it at all.

Summary: Roger Moore takes the role of Bond to bring down a Drug Lord