Synopsis:

Roger Moore's first foray into the spy world of Bond was a pretty good start in terms of seriousness, but some of the outdated slang and J.W. Pepper really kills the feeling of this being a classic James Bond movie. Also, the boat chase was like 20 minutes long.

Intentions:

This has been a project I've wanted to get to for a long time. Live and Let Die is one of my least favorite Bond movies of all time. After editing it, it's a bit easier to swallow. J.W. Pepper being completely excised is enough to make it more enjoyable!

Change List:

Released in 1973, Live and Let Die was Roger Moore's first foray into the popular spy franchise and it took Bond to the exotic locale of.....New York City. Along with the the seedy underbelly of Harlem featuring lots of dated slangs being thrown around, we have Jane Seymour's first film role. In all honesty, this is my least favorite of the Moore era, which is why I'm glad I'm going in order of release. In relation to later entries, this one had a lot less of the cringey one-liners and outside of J.W. Pepper, this managed to be a bit more serious. The only plot point that I found to be a letdown was that most of the characters believed in the supernatural voodoo aspects except for Bond and then Baron Samedi appears in a scene towards the climax and is blown away like he is made of porcelain only to come back again, get knocked into a case full of venomous snakes and then reappear with his signature laugh at the very end of the film (where they initially had plans to feature him again, but that never came to fruition). My cutlist will reflect that Bond didn't buy into the supernatural and was right about at least the Baron being a sham.

Additional Notes:

- With this being a new Bond's first appearance, I was surprised they didn't include him before the opening titles. I have moved things around so that our new Bond appears as M is coming to give him his mission while Bond is hiding the fact that he has a woman in his apartment. The titles kick in as Bond uses the magnetic watch to undress his lady friend. - Bond's car ride as he arrives in NYC kicks into high gear as Whispers shoots a dart at the driver. I've trimmed things so that as soon as the driver is shot the car immediately loses control. Originally the dead driver was maneuvering in traffic really well for a dead guy. - Cut dated dialogue between Bond and his cab driver (Bond literally refers to someone as a jukebox). - Cut people calling Bond a honky and a cue ball. - Cut Rosie Carver completely - Cut Bond talking about handing the case over to Felix and then contradicting that in the next scene. - Cut old lady at the air field - Cut the next scene that references the old lady in the air field - Make a cleaner cut from what the movie had going from Bond being lowered under the stage compared to what was there. - Cut Bond saying "watch your step" before being cuffed to the chair. It just felt out of place. - Cut Bond saying "butter hook" to Tee Hee when he was trying to take Bond's watch off. - Cut Bond saying "oh I was counting on that" to Tee Hee when he's being left with the crocs - Rework the whole speed boat chase, cutting out JW Pepper completely as well as the henchman driving his car after Bond as grabbing JW Pepper's relative's speed boat as well as Bond crashing a wedding and grabbing their boat. - Add music to new speed boat chase - Cut Baron getting shot by Bond and exploding - Cut "keep the change" line - Trim the quick fight scene between Kananga and Bond so that Kananga comes right at Bond without stopping to raise the knife in the air leaving himself open to getting punched or kicked which Bond doesn't do. - Cut inflatable Kananga. Now we see him flail around after swallowing the compressed air dart and then we see the water explode. - Cut Bond's terrible line after Kananga blows up - Cut after Bond loses at cards as he immediately goes right in for the sex - Add music to fight with Tee Hee - Cut Baron sitting on back of train at the end.

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