Product Description: With DR. NO the first of the James Bond films director Terence Young and leading man Sean Connery set the precedent for what would become one of the most popular influential and long-lasting series ever made. Bond makes his first famous introduction "Bond James Bond" in an upscale casino to a saucy brunette named Slyvia Trench (Eunice Gayson) who he promptly coaxes into a dinner date. Back at Secret Service Headquarters M (Bernard Lee) assigns Bond to a mission in Jamaica. An agent who was investigating strange activity with nuclear weapons in Cape Canaveral has disappeared and Bond is to take up where he left off. His contact CIA operative Felix Leiter (Jack Lord) reminds Bond that his title "007" means he has license to kill not be killed. This advice comes in handy in Jamaica as assassins relentlessly emerge from the woodwork desperately trying to bring Bond down. Bond makes his way to Crab Key Island to find evil scientist Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman) the primary suspect. There he is met with the obstacle of Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) a deadly beauty who emerges from the sea in a tiny bikini with a knife holster slung about her hips in one of the most seductive Bond-girl moments of all time. With a striking lack of gadgets DR. NO is a heartier mystery than subsequent films in the series providing for some excellent adventures in which Bond must rely on his own clever spy skills to get out of sticky situations.System Requirements:Running Time: 122 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: PG UPC: 027616066329 Manufacturer No: M106634
Amazon.com: 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
The Name Is Bland . . . James Bland If you want to pinpoint where the 007 series took a nosedive into unadulterated silliness, look no further than "Live and Let Die" (1973). Roger Moore makes his debut as James Bland in this ridiculous blaxploitation-style thriller with slapstick action sequences. The only redeeming aspect is Paul McCartney and Wings' Oscar-nominated song, which deserved a far better film.
Good movie, horrible tape quality A good 007 movie, but I could only see it three times. It didn't want to run anymore on my VHS player. It got stuck forever
I was young and my heart was an open book... 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.
Shocked at these positive reviews.... Has anyone who loves Live & Let Die ever seen another Bond movie? Where do I start with this extremely weak film? Other than the theme song, a cool voodoo/graveyard sequence and the alligator pond, this is one of the low points in the franchise. Short on action and exotic locals, but packed with ghetto slang, goofy characters and an overall lack of secret agent "coolness". The 1960's were at an end and this movie is just way too early 70's looking (and sounding). Overall it's more dated than Dr No (made 10 years prior) if that's even possible. The Spy Who Loved Me is the film that won me over as far as the Moore years go. This (for me) was a terrible start for Roger Moore. It's like a long episode of Starsky & Hutch....but boring.
Shaken, not stired What can I say, its James Bond 007! I am glad they released these separate for us who can not dump a large sum for the whole set at once!
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
