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Jul 13, 2014lukasevansherman rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
The 8th Bond film (after 6 with Connery and one with poor George Lazenby) and the first with Roger Moore, who was considered earlier for the role, but was committed to "The Saint." After setting trends for a decade, Bond films of the 70s started following them: this capitalizes on the then current Blaxploitation craze, "Golden Gun" incorporated kung-fu, and "Moonraker" was set in space. This entry also represents the gradual Americanization of Bond, as he drinks bourbon instead of martinis and spends most of the film in the U.S. and the Caribbean. Moore isn't bad, but he is a little cheesy and so is the movie, with unnecessarily long chase scenes (involving a boat), bad puns, and a ridiculous redneck sheriff character. He seems totally lost in Harlem ("Honkey up in Harlem" was a rejected title) and gets captured like 18 times. He's a terrible spy, as everyone knows who he is. Luckily the bad guys are equally terrible at killing him, employing a series of unreliable animals, including a snake, gators, and perennial favorite sharks. Yaphet Kotto is a good actor, but too understated to be a Bond villain and really he's just a drug-smuggling gangster. You could see the use of a large black cast as both progressive and a little stereotypical, as there is some voodoo stuff and a scene with a white woman being threatened by a black horde. What it does have going for it is a great theme song, cool opening titles, and the lovely Jane Seymour in her debut. It's entertaining, but disappointing after the Connery ones. Guy Hamilton, who directed three other Bond films, is behind the camera. Followed by "The Man With the Golden Gun."