Mission Summary

Three British agents investigating drug trafficking are murdered within 24 hours to arouse the suspicion of MI6. James Bond (Moore) is sent to New York to investigate. After being a target himself in Harlem, he suspects that Mr. Big and a U.N. delegate Dr. Kananga (Yaphet Kotto) are behind the killings, but he can't find a link between them or a reason for the killings. He gets a lead from Kananga's fortune-telling mistress Solitaire (Jane Seymour) to head to the island of San Monique, where nothing is as it seems.

Analysis

Rank: 11

Roger Moore makes his debut as 007 in this film, and it didn't take long to realize his portrayal of Bond would be nothing like Connery or Lazenby. Initially, Moore was supposed to be cast as Bond in "Dr. No," but was considered too young at the time. I understand why he was a good choice for the easy-going '70s, but I always disliked his Bond, since he never shows any emotion and seems to respond to any situation with a throw-away one-liner. Another problem is the film feels really dated today, especially surrounding the depiction of African-Americans and the stereotypes shown in the film. It's a little unsettling to watch certain scenes, but it sadly reflected the opinions of the time.

With a new Bond comes a relatively unique plot for the Bond series. Drug smuggling was a growing problem in America by the end of the 1960s, so it was quite relevant and a welcome move away from SPECTRE's world domination plots from the Connery days. In fact, Blofeld doesn't make an appearance again until "For Your Eyes Only" and isn't mentioned by name. While drug trafficking doesn't pose the worldwide threat that hijacking nuclear weapons does, it was the right move to get away from Cold War plots for awhile. Unlike later Moore films, this is the most realistic plot and a mission you could see a real-life British spy being called upon to investigate.

The defining action sequence in the film is the boat chase through the Louisiana Bayou. It includes some pretty cool stunts, where Bond jumps over a police car on a bridge and driving the boat across a small peninsula. Aside from that, the movie doesn't offer too much more unique action that a few hand-to-hand combat situations. One scene, although more suspenseful than exciting, is Bond trapped on an island surrounded by crocodiles, where he steps on them to escape. On the whole, most of the time is spent watching Bond investigate the network of Mr. Big's criminal empire, so there is more suspense than action.

I could continue to go on about Moore's lifeless performance, but will save that for another time. Needless to say, he is the master of tongue-in-cheek. I have a hard time imaging him as the actor the producers originally wanted for "Dr. No," since he seems almost silly at times. I will say that this time around, he does a decent job with the character and is believable as a spy. The character Solitaire is one of the more interesting Bond girls, since she is heavily involved in the plot and the writers developed quite an elaborate character for her, even with a family history. One nitpick I have is the tarot cards she uses have the 007 logo on the back, an obvious marketing attempt. The idea of one man being two different villains was an interesting one, but Mr. Big wasn't played up enough to make it effective. Mr. Big probably has about five minutes of screen time and he is almost forgotten by the time Bond realizes who he really is. This was also the only African-American villain in the entire series to date, although there have been numerous African-American henchmen. And for better or worse, this film introduces redneck Sheriff J.W. Pepper, who returns in "The Man with the Golden Gun."

As far as Moore's films go, this is somewhere in the middle. Since it was his first role as Bond, he hadn't quite perfected his nauseating smugness in later films. The supporting cast was quite good with a unique storyline revolving around heroin in various locations. As probably the most famous person to perform any of the Bond themes, Paul McCartney provides vocals to one of the best songs in the series. Although Kananga's death is the most ridiculous in the entire series, the rest of the movie is very well grounded.