007 # 08 Live and Let Die - Collector's Edition

Action, Adventure, Thriller

Roger Moore	James Bond
Yaphet Kotto	Kananga/Mr. Big
Jane Seymour	Solitaire
Clifton James	Sheriff J.W. Pepper
Julius Harris	Tee Hee
Geoffrey Holder	Baron Samedi
David Hedison	Felix Leiter
Gloria Hendry	Rosie Carver
Bernard Lee	M
Lois Maxwell	Miss Moneypenny
Harry Saltzman

Director	Guy Hamilton
Producer	Harry Saltzman; Albert R. Broccoli
Writer	Tom Mankiewicz; Ian Fleming

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