Live And Let Die
B+ Great debut for Roger, and the closest we’ll ever get to a 007 horror film. Tad dated now but Yaphet Koto is always good value, Jane Seymour is lovely, and the soundtrack rocks! Also features one of my favourite Moore scenes. Where Rosie says he wouldn’t kill her after what they just did. “I certainly wouldn’t have killed you before.”
fantastic
The Man With The Golden Gun
B There’s nothing really bad about this, it’s just a bit average. As someone said, they ruined the car stunt with a silly sound effect (and I wish someone would reissue the damn thing and take that out). Christopher Lee is great though, Scaramanga is a wonderful villain and he and Bond have some nice scenes together.
The Spy Who Loved Me:
AThe best Moore and probably in the top five of Bonds, which is slightly odd given it is a retread of You Only Live Twice. Very epic and cinematic, the final battle inside the tanker is fantastic (something modern Bond’s have missed if you ask me, the big battle) Barbara Bach is a great foil and it features some of my favourite Moore moments. For someone who people joke can’t act, the flicker of pain that flashes across his face when XXX makes reference to him having been married is great. Similarly his offhand murder of Mr Fekesh (I think) with the flick of his tie. Connery was a thug, you wouldn’t ever be surprised when he acted cold blooded. Moore’s so damn amiable it quite shocks. All this plus the best pre-title sequence ever!
Moonraker:
B+ So easy to be a snob about and hate, and I sure as hell wouldn’t want every Bond film to be remotely this ridiculous, but as a one off this is a hugely enjoyable, fun film. Astronauts, with lasers, fighting in orbit! I watched this again just a few weeks ago and I really wish they’d reissue it because I’d love to see it on a big screen. The effects are wonderful. There is a lot of subtlety to the film, and a few scenes that are outright creepy. Corrine’s death at the hands of Dobermans for example feels like a scene from an Omen film, and similarly Manuela being threatened by Jaws in a giant Rio outfit in the alleyway is decidedly creepy. Roger Moore is the only Bond who could get away with going into space!
For Your Eyes Only:
D+ I want to like this, want to admire it’s back to basics spy thriller roots, but unfortunately I just find it terminally dull.
Octopussy:
B Very underrated Bond film this. The villains are interesting, the settings original (only Bond film set in India? How many have we had in the bloody Caribbean!) the nefarious plot manages to be fantastical yet believable, and they pair Moore with a Bond girl old enough to be his daughter rather than his grand daughter which is a plus.
A View To Kill
C Ok, it’s bad, very bad, but frankly it is at least more fun to watch than FYEO. The Paris scenes are fun, and the airship ending quite well done. It’s so badly realised though, surrounding Bond with really young vital villains just makes Moore look even older than he actually is, and partnering him with (the wonderful) Patrick Macnee just adds to this. Tanya Robert’s audition for worst Bond girl ever doesn’t help matters.
