M, looked across the courtyard at James Bond. He'd known retirement would ruin him, see him go to seed. Too much time on his hands and 007 throws himself into wild indulgences without paying the price.'Why I've retired from all that,' Bond said.'These day I prefer somewhat less dangerous pursuits. Isn't that right, girls?' The four girls giggled and continued to fawn over James Bond. He raised an eyebrow and to a girl they all blushed.
It was not what M wanted to hear. 'But England needs you, 007.' He said. 'This new guy's a thug. He's got no respect, looks like Gollum from Lord of the Rings and on his last mission he even broke someone's nose. And what's worse is that these days I'm a woman and Q and Moneypenny have been airbrushed out of the picture.'
Bond raised an eyebrow in disgust. ' I must say that's not cricket.' He stood up and worked a kink out of his aged back. 'Can't have someone running around using my name and actually hurting people. Why I never hurt anyone, maybe I ruffled a few people's hair, electrocuted the odd henchman in the teeth, tossed people off cliffs, ships,buildings and even out of the odd helicopter. But I never went around hurting people. The very sight of blood makes me queasy.'
With that Bond vanished into his luxurious apartment and emerged a split moment later ready for action. It really was amazing what a black polo neck and tight trousers could do.
'Take me to this Daniel Craig person,' he said. 'I'll show them there's only one Bond.'
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Live and Let Die came at the beginning of the 70's and followed on in the lighter vein started off with Diamonds are Forever. It marks the successful début of Roger Moore in the role and makes for a great antidote to the overly grim and dark latest entries in the long running series.
The theme song sung by Macca's pretty good too.
There are many action set pieces - the bus chase, the aeroplane chase, the leaping over the crocs to name but a few of the many highlights. I doubt very much if the latest Bond movie will be remembered as fondly as this classic. Maybe the current producers should look back to a time when Bond led and others followed, rather than copying the Bourne films.
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8 comments:
Enjoyed Casino Royale so much, I'm almost dreading the certain disappointment of Quantum of Solace.
Well I found it so tedious I walked out after forty minutes - the film makers should be done under trades description calling this Bond.
"Live and Let Die" was a great film, though I have to admit to being a fan of Daniel Craig's Bond as well - probably because I like the books so much.
Yep, Roger Moore will always be my Bond
Rafe - I too love the Fleming books but the new screen Bond is not faithful to the books at all - Bone was always a snob, never a thug and there was always a surreal humour running through the entire thing. I really think this new appraoch will damage the franchise in the long run. Let me know what you think og QOS - I'd be interested to know.
Arch, sorry to go off-topic, but I wanted your feedback on an idea I had. Would it be cool if for each L'Amour story I read, I did a "Cast of Characters" at the end, or do you think people wouldn't find that very interesting? It would mostly be for archival purposes, i.e. cataloging all the names. What do you think?
Chris - I think that's a good idea and of course the more data you build up the more useful it will become.
While I did enjoy Casino Royale, I've got some trepidation about Quantum of Solace. I miss my more classic Bond. I love the Connery and Moore films. Moore was actually the first 007 I saw on the big screen. That was For Your Eyes Only. I did always love Live and Let Die. It was a great start to Moore's run as 007.
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