A film in which a supreme white kills dozens of blacks is hardly a blaxploitation film.
It is actually the opposite.
Apart from that, Live and Let Die is indeed one of the best Bonds (which does not mean that it is a great film). Moore’s other great Bond is of course The Spy Who Nailed Me, a surprisingly stylish film. Followed with Moonraker by a surprisingly un-stylish film (even more surprisingly from the same director), which is together with A View to A Kill the worst Bond.
But I think that Moore’s Bond films feel generally now more dated than those by the other Bond-actors
Octopussy is good fun. Far better than the shortly thereafter released last Connery Bond Never Say Never Again. I also prefer Octopussy meanwhile to For Your Eyes Only, which is pretty blandly directed.
Actually from the Bonds of the 70s and 80s it is one of the better ones.
Octopussy suffers from some of the usual weak stuff of other Moore Bonds, but the story has potential and there are some fine action scenes.
He says ‘darling’ too much in Live and Let Die, thats the only problem I have with it.
The only one I don’t like is Spectre, which thinks its really clever and serious but is probably the dumbest of all of them, imo… Christoph Waltz as Blowfeld is one of the least menacing villains i’ve seen, hopefully he doesn’t return like the ending suggests
I wasn’t too fond of it when I watched it for the first time (I preferred Never say Never Again back then), but in retrospect it’s one of the better Bonds. It mainly suffers from those silly, stupid visual jokes, which were typical for the period (and the Bond movies from that period). Never say never again on the other hand, is in retrospect a rather dull movie, with a few good scenes and moments
A while ago a network was showing all Bonds again. I picked up a few, among them Moonraker, that I had not seen in decades because I thought back then that it was hopeless. It hadn’t improved much, but otherwise it’s funny that preferences change over the years. For Your Eyes Only isn’t too bad, has its moments, but also its uninspired moments
For Your Eyes Only is one that had lost for me. That what was great then (like the ski action) is not that great any more, and the worse things are still there. But unlike Moonraker it is one I can still enjoy.
For me the old Bonds have not changed that much over the decades, the ones which once were the best, are more or less still the best.
But as you know, Quantum of Solace is an incredible masterpiece of a quality I never expected to find in a Bond film.
Mendes tries also to make more complex Bonds, but he has no real feeling for that. Skyfall and Spectre are pretty uneven and inconsequent films concerning style and story.
I haven’t picked up any of the old Bonds recently (watched half an hour over You only live twice though), so I can’t say if my preferences have changed. I was mainly interested in rewatching the ‘middle Bonds’, so to speak. I used to like You Only Live Twice, but when I re-watched it 6-7 years ago (when we were discussing all Bonds) I felt disappointed. Don’t really know why I liked it much better 30 years ago. I can still enjoy some things, but it’s simply not a good movie
You Only Live Twice is my favourite with Connery even though it contains his worst performance. I also think For Your Eyes Only is a near perfect Bond film. The only thing I can’t stand is the parrot at the end. The main reason why Octopussy is my least favourite is because I can’t forgive the writers for putting Bond in a clown suit. Terrible idea!
I liked the first half of Moonraker but the second half is too ridiculous for me. I can understand why a lot of people don’t like A View to a Kill but it’s an enjoyable film for me. Love Christopher Walken’s character. It’s a pity they didn’t make it a bit darker and offer it to Dalton, although we wouldn’t have had the wonderful St. John Smythe part.
Moore’s best to worst for me:
The Spy Who Loved Me
Live and Let Die
For Your Eyes Only
The Man With the Golden Gun
A View to a Kill
Moonraker
Octopussy
I think it will stay at the bottom. I did enjoy most of the film but the combination of the clown suit and Stephen Berkoff ruined it for me. It is definitely better than Never Say Never Again though, which would get my vote for the first Bond film if it wasn’t for the existence of Day Another Day, a film I wish was just a bad dream. Such a shame since I think Brosnan was absolutely fantastic but they gave him the worst scripts beyond belief.
My favourite Bond film at the moment is The Living Daylights. I never watched Dalton when I was a kid. I started with Connery, then Moore and finally Brosnan but Dalton got me back into these films and he’s most likely going to remain my favourite Bond.
The only thing which bewares A View to a Kill from the bottom is the enthusiastic performance by Walken. I wish he had got a better Bond for one of the finest villains of the series.
And then Dalton: I would put The Living Daylights to the Octopussy group, and License to Kill to Live and Let Die.
Actually You only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever are (just like The Living Daylights) also more or less already Moore Bonds, only without Moore.
I never did like Roger Moore as Bond, he just didn’t look the part for me… I call him as the soft Bond.
IMO, Patrick McGoohan should have been the next Bond after Connery, he was a better actor and way cooler than Roger boy.
Anyways, for Moore or Less.
1.For Your Eyes Only
2.Octopussy
3.The Spy Who Loved Me
4. Moonraker
5. The Man with the Golden Gun
I was a huge fan of the Bond movies, though I gave up after Octopussy (the jokes just got way too silly, and unfunny)
Can’t stand Brosnan … he plays it like a narcissist, completely in love with himself, or is that just the man himself?
I always though the Bond series should be period pieces, set 1950s, like the majority of the books, then we could have all the delicious non pc material without filmmakers getting in trouble for being sexist or racist (as it’s creator certainly was)
Anyway, it’s just a money making machine these days with no real excitement or surprises. I’d watches Dr.NO 10 times in a row before I’d consider watching another rehash.