Live And Let Die [DVD] [1973]

I'm making my way through all the recent Bond on Blu-Ray releases, and strangely enough as I move through the franchise from the oldest (Dr.No), the image quality seems to be very slowly deteriorating. That's not to say that the image is poor; it is in fact excellent, but Dr.No's was astonishing and is over a decade older. The colours appear a Little muted compared to the earlier films, and the picture is more grainy, particularly in the garish red walls of Mr. Big's Fillet of Soul hideout. However, there is plenty of detail in the close-ups of the actors faces, and the materials of the clothing are rendered so well you could almost feel them. In general it is still a great improvement over the Ultimate Edition DVD (and that was pretty good for a start off).

The sound however seems to be improving as I move through the series (apart from a little dip for From Russia With Love), and for the first time Live and Let Die has a properly working surround treatment to my ears. There is real activity in the LF channel, with explosions now having real impact, and there is some decent use of the rear speakers as well, with only a few occasions sounding a little contrived (the birdsong in the Bayou scene for example). Effects steering is also very believable. The score is delivered beautifully, with plenty of audible detail particularly in the percussion, it also swells nicely into the rears to envelope you as you watch. I did notice however that in a couple of scenes the music drops into mono (the boat race just before the disruption of the wedding for example), this is pretty noticeable and sounds a little strange.

I didn't experience the worryingly long loading times I had with the earlier Bond films, which is an improvement. The extras appear to be identical to the Ultimate Editions, although the major docs have been bumped to HD which is nice.

I may be biased because this was the first Bond film I saw, and the film that introduced me to the full cinema experience, but I rate this as the best Bond movie. With a new lead, all concerned seem to be trying that little bit harder, the style of the film is pitched just right - not too much humour to outweigh the sense of menace, and the speedboat chase must rate as one of the top action sequences of the series - wild, yet still not quite implausible, which is one of the problems with the more recent films - constantly out to outdo themselves until the stunts are so ridiculous that all credibility is lost. Also the bad guys with their sinister voodoo scarecrows add a chilling touch that few of these films have. all this and the priceless Sheriff JW Pepper... stop reading this rubbish and just buy it!

Roger Moore's tenure as James Bond lasted from 1973 to 1985, during which time the Bond series turned more towards a comic style and Bond became more known for one-liners than for being a spy and assassin. Some of Moore's films were, on the other hand, much more balanced with regars to humour. Live And Let Die is my favourite Roger Moore James Bond film. Although much of Ian Fleming's novel is abandoned, the film still carries a Fleming-esque flavour. This is in part due to the Caribbean setting. Filmed in Fleming's beloved Jamaica, LALD is Moore's first effort as Bond and he is most convincing as Ian Fleming's secret agent. He is a little more ruthless here, and although he has some tongue in cheek dialogue, it doesn't go overboard. The only time the comic side of the picture gets out of hand is when Clifton James is on screen hamming it up as Sheriff J.W Pepper. Also the death of the villain, Kananga is very far fetched, and doesn't look convincing on screen.

The film's strongest points are probably the score and the henchmen. The score was composed by Beatles producer George Martin and really gives the film an interesting. The title song is used as the main action theme and Martin also composed some other good themes which appear regularly in the score. As much as I am a fan of John Barry, I'm not convinced that he could have done a better job than Martin on this film. In fact, I can barely imagine the picture with a more traditional Barry score.

The villain's henchmen are excellent. Tee Hee, a tall sadist armed with a mechanical hook. Baron Samedi, a voodoo priest with a wonderful sadistic laugh. Whisper, an overweight, almost mute henchman. The villain himself is Dr. Kananga, a politician who also operates as a Harlem gangster. The plot revolves around heroin, and Kananga's efforts to gain the monopoly in the heroin trade.

The DVD itself is very good. I didn't own the Special Edition, but I really like this Ultimate Edition. Although, looking at which features were present on the previous release. I'm not sure whether it would be worth buying this if you already have the previous version. But if, like me, you only had the VHS previously, this is a must buy. The library of extra features is rather good. The usual 'Making Of' documentary, narrated as always by Patrick Macnee. Also, worth looking at is the 'Bond 1973' documentary. Another behind the scenes look at LALD, but not as good as the Patrick Macnee one. Also of interest is the Bond circa 1964 piece, showing Roger Moore appearing as 007 in a 1964 TV program. It is a very nice comic piece between Bond and his Russian female counterpart, both just trying to have a holiday, but enable to shake off their suspicions about each other.

Overall, this is one of my favourite Bond films and an equally good DVD release. One thing that puzzles me though, why did they put a picture of Roger Moore in Octopussy on the label of Disc 1. He barely looks like the same person that he did in LALD, as the pic was taken a decade later. Oh well, a minor slip, but it cerainly doesn't ruin this very good DVD set. Go on, buy it. You won't regret it.