07-29-2022, 11:35 PM
Thought I'd revisit one of my fav Bond films. It barely holds up, but it does...
It was the first Moore film and his sassy depiction of 007 was so quippy dumb that he ruined the character during his watch. He is the epitome of the honky in this flick. During the 70s, blaxsploitation was at its peak, so although all the villains are black and portray so many black stereotypes, it comes off as borderline racist now. The kiling blow is that Sheriff J.W. Pepper (in a role me and my dad through was hysterical) gets earlier placement in the cast than most of the black actors, except for Yaphet Kotto.
What redeems it is the McCartney's theme song, which I'll still argue is the greatest Bond song of them all (mind you, I'm biased because I've heard it live several times and it always transports me to my happy place). I was struck by how much of the boat chase was without soundtrack. But whenever the McCartney L&LD song comes on, it's totally captivating.
The villains are superb. I've always loved the Kotto played both Kananga and Mr. Big. In so many similar movies, another actor plays the 'masked' role (think the Mission Impossible TV series). His mask tearing off reveal remains a powerful scene. The class he exudes as Kananga is top shelf and his bizarre knife fighting style would've cut Moore to ribbons in the real world.
Julius Harris kills it as Tee Hee, the man with the bionic arm. And Geoffrey Holder is always amazing. I always hoped Baron Samedi would reappear, but no, we only get Sheriff Pepper.
Jane Seymour is at her most stunning, her debut role. The Tarot theme still wins me over. The voodoo angle feels a bit stereotyped, but they do say obeah once, which is more appropo to Jamaica where this was filmed.
Yeah, I still disdain Moore, but his first outings as Bond had good villains. I root for the villains in L&LD.
It was the first Moore film and his sassy depiction of 007 was so quippy dumb that he ruined the character during his watch. He is the epitome of the honky in this flick. During the 70s, blaxsploitation was at its peak, so although all the villains are black and portray so many black stereotypes, it comes off as borderline racist now. The kiling blow is that Sheriff J.W. Pepper (in a role me and my dad through was hysterical) gets earlier placement in the cast than most of the black actors, except for Yaphet Kotto.
What redeems it is the McCartney's theme song, which I'll still argue is the greatest Bond song of them all (mind you, I'm biased because I've heard it live several times and it always transports me to my happy place). I was struck by how much of the boat chase was without soundtrack. But whenever the McCartney L&LD song comes on, it's totally captivating.
The villains are superb. I've always loved the Kotto played both Kananga and Mr. Big. In so many similar movies, another actor plays the 'masked' role (think the Mission Impossible TV series). His mask tearing off reveal remains a powerful scene. The class he exudes as Kananga is top shelf and his bizarre knife fighting style would've cut Moore to ribbons in the real world.
Julius Harris kills it as Tee Hee, the man with the bionic arm. And Geoffrey Holder is always amazing. I always hoped Baron Samedi would reappear, but no, we only get Sheriff Pepper.
Jane Seymour is at her most stunning, her debut role. The Tarot theme still wins me over. The voodoo angle feels a bit stereotyped, but they do say obeah once, which is more appropo to Jamaica where this was filmed.
Yeah, I still disdain Moore, but his first outings as Bond had good villains. I root for the villains in L&LD.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse