James Bond in review - Live And Let Die (Guy Hamilton, 1973)

"I know who you are, what you are and why you have come.
You have made a mistake. You will not succeed."

Quite the opposite in fact. After the cold reception afforded Connery's last outing as Bond in the frightful Diamonds Are Forever, Bond's die hard fans had to prepare themselves for a new Bond - the third in the space of 10 years. Enter Roger Moore with his tongue in cheek, English gentleman approach to the role, as far apart from both Connery and Lazenby's interpretations of the character as possible...and rightfully so.

Moore's Bond faces interrogation from crime lord Mr Big

Live and Let Die marks a controversial entry in the series for many reasons, the principal one being the abundance of black actors cast in villainous roles. It is an engaging and very entertaining eighth outing for the secret agent and Moore takes to the proceedings with plenty of smirks and a clear sense of a man on a mission to make this his own Bond (he would eventually have 12 years to show the world that his Bond was the Bond to remember). Let Die boasts an atmospheric, sometimes intense story centering on drug profiteering and voodoo curses. Yaphet Kotto proves a formidable match for Bond and one of the more surprising of the Bond villains. Geoffrey Holder's Baron Samedi grabs the audience's attention and there is a great shroud of mystery surrounding his character - giving him the film's final shot is an inspired stroke of genius of the filmmakers - and Jane Seymour is also more than competent in her first lead film role as the virginal heroine Solitaire. In summarising Live and Let Die it would be wrong not to commend George Martin's frenetic score which seems to fit the tone of the film perfectly and most importantly Paul McCartney and The Wings' title song for the film, one of the very best of the series, over some of Maurice Binder's most creative title graphics of skulls and fire.

One of the more intriguing bit characters in the Bond series', the mysterious Baron Samedi

There are a lot of similarities between Connery and Moore's first outings as Bond. Dr No sees Bond at an airport before embarking on his mission, as does Moore in Live and Let Die. Both are "taken for a ride" in two "death" cabs, Quarrel Junior is Bond's ally in Live and Let Die; it was his father Quarrel who assisted Bond in Dr No, and there was also a rumour around the time of release that Ursula Andress would return as Honey Ryder in the film as a cameo! Both Connery's debut and Moore's debut stand up as two of the most engaging Bond adventures.

Live and Let Die ultimately grabs the viewer by the jugular from the get go. Although it takes Moore nearly 25 minutes before he projects the now world famous line "The name's Bond...James Bond", audiences accepted the face of the new Bond with open arms and we welcomed Roger Moore to the hot seat. As Moore insists in the film, "let's just wing it!"