James Bond: A Review - The Roger Moore Films
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the 007 franchise based on and inspired by the novels by Ian Fleming. Fleming wrote 14 books starring the character Commander James Bond of Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Two of those are short story collections. There are 25 films in the franchise, 17 of them are based on Fleming’s stories and novels. Seven men have portrayed the character since 1962.
I plan on reviewing and ranking each of the films in a series of articles broken down by one or two different eras at a time, totaling 5-7 films each. I will conclude with an article that will also break down and rank all of the elements of the James Bond movie: the pre-title sequence, the opening title sequence, the theme song, the Bond girl, the villain, and the henchmen. I hope to determine the best and the worst of these elements in the final article.
We started with a look at the Connery and Lazenby films. We continue with the Roger Moore era, which lasted for 12 years from 1973 to 1985.
Live and Let Die (1973)
James Bond investigates the disappearances of operatives in Louisiana and the Caribbean. Unlike George Lazenby’s appearance, Roger Moore makes no fuss about his appearance as Connery’s replacement as the next Bond. He pretty much gets right down to business. Then again, he doesn’t appear until after the title sequence. We’re given a bit of a sinking feeling about this film right from the start with a pre-title sequence that jumps around from the United Nations to New Orleans to a fictional island in the Caribbean with zero context or cohesiveness. It all feels random rather than exciting.
The story takes Bond to Harlem and New Orleans and ends up being about smuggling and dealing heroin. Now, there is a case to be made that this isn’t even a crime plot that would concern Her Majesty’s Secret Service and therefore not involve 007, that this should be more of a Felix Leiter case. That is a valid argument, but it is, unfortunately, the least of this film’s problems.
There are two major crimes this film commits as a James Bond movie. The first and most important is the stunts and action are rather silly and tepid. There’s a car chase. There’s a boat chase. There’s a couple of fist fights. There’s really nothing that interesting here and the stakes are often pretty low in each. That’s a major problem for a Bond film. The second major crime is Rosie the CIA agent (Gloria Hendry). She’s the absolute worst and totally incompetent. A generous reading would be her incompetence is an act as it’s revealed she actually works for the villain Dr. Kananga (Yaphet Kotto). Yet the way Hendry performs the character I never believe for an instant any of it is an act. She just sucks. Add to that she is one of the first black Bond girls and it just pours salt on the wound.
There’s more: the film feels like a watered-down version of the source material intended to capitalize on the growing blaxploitation genre of the time. As such it’s quite offensive as it depicts black people not as real people like Bond or any of the recurring characters, rather as one-dimensional stereotypes who primarily speak jive. The only exceptions to this are Rosie and Kananga. But Rosie has issues of her own. Kananga… well, he’s competent as a villain in a blaxploitation film, but not in a Bond film, despite having an elaborate underground lair in a Caribbean island. There are two other exceptions: the henchmen Tee Hee and Baron Samedi. Both mostly smile and laugh. Tee Hee has a claw for a hand that is clearly fake and added to an actual hand. There is a fight in a train that feels like an attempt to mirror the fight with Grant in From Russia with Love, but is not nearly as thrilling.
Lastly, there’s the character Sheriff J.W. Pepper, the racist southern sheriff whose path crosses a boat chase later in the film. He further adds to the cartoon feel of the film with just about every line being a whiny, yelling southern-fried jaw-dropper. I can only guess he was intended for comic relief. Usually comic relief is created, because it is necessary and, when done well, is welcomed. Pepper is most unwelcome and unnecessary, adding nothing to the plot and adding further distraction.
It’s also worth noting that this never uses the iconic ‘James Bond Theme’, further establishing the Moore era as having an identity of its own and distancing it from the established franchise. When you add that to a list that includes an out of place plot, poor depiction of black characters, tepid or silly action stunts, and the character Sheriff Pepper you have the making of a film that gives Diamonds Are Forever a run for its money as the worst Bond film of all time. Live and Let Die is truly a bad film. Great song, though…
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
While investigating a MacGuffin solution to the ‘70s energy crisis, Bond crosses paths with a notorious and admiring assassin (Christopher Lee).
This film is based only on part of the last book Fleming wrote before dying. It wasn’t a finished product at the time of his death, but it was completed and published less than a year after Fleming died. The film mostly works and is an improvement over Live and Let Die, featuring a crackling pre-title sequence that introduces the villain Francisco Scaramanga and his henchman Nick Nack (Herve Villechaize) and a theme by Lulu that’s more in the tradition of ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘Thunderball’.
Lee’s villain is one of the most interesting in several films since he is an assassin who takes pride in his work, feels a kinship to James Bond, and is curious which of them is the best. Nick Nack, while far from a formidable henchman, is certainly memorable. As far as action there is one notable car chase with a fairly cool jump stunt, but most of the film is about the investigation and matching wits and skill with Scaramanga. And that works well enough.
The film is not without its issues. There is a point where someone is assassinated in front of Bond and Bond is immediately taken to M under the pretense of being arrested. The entire sequence makes no sense and adds up to the good guys letting the bad guy get away for no reason. Sheriff Pepper shows up, this time on vacation with his wife in Thailand and crossing paths with Bond during a boat chase and then again in a car chase. Pepper serves the role of ‘racist guy who yells during car chase’ and nothing more. He keeps calling Thai people ‘Pointy Heads’. Once again he is pointless and perhaps the worst addition to the entire franchise.
Maud Adams plays Andrea Anders, Scaramanga’s mistress. She has a surprisingly brief role in the film and her role as a ‘bad Bond girl’ is mostly unnecessary. Britt England, however, plays Bond’s assistant Mary Goodnight. My understanding is this is the first we’ve seen or heard of the character Goodnight (she was a recurring character in the books). She is, no doubt, among the sexiest Bond girls thus far. But she is a bit of a dope, allowing herself to get kidnapped and nearly kills Bond by touching a button with her butt. She has some of the best screen presence of any Bond girl so far, but is about as frustrating as Rosie from Live and Let Die.
The Man with the Golden Gun is not among the best Bond films, but with the great Christopher Lee as one of the best villains so far in the franchise, a memorable henchman, and a focus on solar energy it is certainly an improvement on the past couple films in the series.
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
So, The Spy Who Loved Me takes the name from one of Ian Fleming’s novels, but, because Fleming thought the novel so awful, the rights to adapt the story were denied. Instead we have a story involving a megalomaniac who thinks he can destroy the world via nuclear missiles and create a new underwater society. Sounds plausible, right?
Believe it or not this is mostly a good film with a few notable characteristics:
it isn’t as cheeky as the previous two films.
the cold open features a gender reversal with a KGB agent.
it is the first Roger Moore film to make reference to any of the pre-Moore films, particularly On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
The first two thirds of the film make for a decent Bond film that even bests a couple of Connery’s films. It even introduces one of the greatest henchmen in the history of the series: Jaws (Richard Kiel), a silent giant of a man with metal teeth who can withstand electric shock, falls, punches… pretty much everything - and is strong enough to tear a car apart!
It isn’t until the last third that introduces a car sub where things slide back into wacky territory. But the biggest problem with The Spy Who Loved Me that prevents it from being great, ultimately, is the villain Karl Stromberg. Apparently, there was a draft of the script with a completely different story that brought back Ernst Blofeld and S.P.E.C.T.R.E. That is strongly felt throughout the film, as Stromberg feels like a Blofeld replacement. He even has a secret lair with an army of henchmen as with You Only Live Twice. Alas, Stromberg is a forgettable villain who never feels that formidable. The henchman Jaws is far more formidable and threatening than Stromberg!
Ultimately, The Spy Who Loved Me lives up to its reputation so far as the best of the Moore films. But that isn’t a high bar to clear in the first place.
Moonraker (1979)
Then we have the exact opposite end of the spectrum from The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, a film based on Fleming’s fourth novel, but moved ahead of the planned For Your Eyes Only in order to exploit the popularity of Star Wars and the sci-fi boom of the late ‘70s.
This is a film that takes Bond from California to Venice to Rio de Janeiro to the Amazon River to space. This is a movie where a French gondola suddenly has a motor and can turn into a hovercraft, where Bond casually hovercrafts his way through a public square with onlookers (including pigeons) slack-jawed and wondering if they drank too much. This is a movie that climaxes with a space battle where American Marines are sent to space to shoot lasers at the villain’s space army. This is a movie with the following song queues:
‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’ from 2001: A Space Odyssey
Tchaikovsky’s ‘Romeo and Juliet Overture’
‘Main Title’ from The Magnificent Seven
the five note sequence from Close Encounters of the Third Kind
This film is where the Moore era takes a sharp turn and leans heavily into camp and silliness. These elements were present in the previous movies. Roger Moore always turned his quips into winks at the audience, leaning more into the cheesy character of his lines. While Connery and Lazenby felt like secret agents who could take care of business, Moore feels like a charming gentleman and, frankly, far from a threat to the likes of Jaws.
While Moonraker avoids offensive moments like those found in You Only Live Twice and Live and Let Die it still manages to be one of the worst James Bond films so far. None of the action sequences are thrilling. The villain once again fails to be interesting or formidable, rehashing the same scheme as Stromberg’s just with a different environment. And, while Lois Chiles and Corinne Clery are incredibly attractive, the Bond girls here are among the more forgettable. Moonraker lives up to its reputation.
For Your Eyes Only (1981)
So, the 12th film in the series is interesting, because at this point Roger Moore was in his fifties and it seemed possible he wouldn’t return. So, there was a cold open (a.k.a. pre-title sequence) with Bond laying flowers on Tracy’s grave and becoming imperiled shortly after in a helicopter controlled by Blofeld. This was written with the intention of connecting the next Bond to the previous ones. Moore decided to stick around and the opening sequence remained. Overall, it’s fairly silly, because 1) it establishes that Blofeld is still around after all and 2) it has a somewhat cartoonish feel that ends in essentially killing Blofeld by dropping him in a smoke stack. BUT that first moment by the grave is notable for its emotional weight, which is rare in the Moore films.
It’s also worth noting that two key ingredients of the series were missing this time: composer John Barry and Bernard Lee, also known as M. Barry was unable to participate, so Bill Conti (Rocky) was hired. Surprisingly, that was a mistake, because Conti integrated some dance and funk elements to the score that have not aged well. Lee passed away before he could perform his scenes for the film. So, out of respect, his scenes were re-written with the character being on holiday and the Minister of Defence and the MI6 Chief of Staff giving Bond his orders.
For Your Eyes Only composites two of Fleming’s short stories and is about a missile command system and the man who wants to sell it to the Soviets. Overall, it is one of the better Moore films, but it has its issues. The biggest really is what appears to be a Winter Olympics series of sequences that involve a variety of winter sports - from ski shooting to bobsled to hockey. These make up the action sequences of the second act and are more hokey than thrilling. We get these sequences, because the main villain is sponsoring an ice skating protege (Lynn-Holly Johnson), who quickly develops the hots for Bond. Julian Glover’s big bad, Aristotle Kristatos, is the other problem with the film. He’s barely more interesting than Stromberg (The Spy Who Loved Me) and Largo (Thunderball).
However, the film has many more strengths that outweigh these elements. The biggest strength is Carole Bouquet as Melina Havelock, a woman determined to avenge her parents’ deaths. She wields a crossbow and is pretty dang awesome, killing about as many bad guys as Bond throughout the film. What’s also interesting about Melina is she really isn’t interested in Bond until the very last scene (the obligatory “kiss off” scene while Bond’s superiors are trying to contact him). She is exclusively focused on her mission and is willing to work with Bond if it achieves her goal.
Also, Sheena Easton provides one of the best theme songs of the Moore era, a piece that feels cool, but of its time without allowing any musical trend of the period to overwhelm it. It manages to be both a solid song on its own and a really good James Bond theme. It’s also notable that Easton is the only performer to appear in the title sequence of the series.
There’s also some impressive and intense stunts in the third act with Bond climbing (and falling from) a mountain. In fact, the entire third act is thrilling and makes all of the film’s shortcomings easy to overlook. Overall, For Your Eyes Only has its flaws, but is one of the most recommendable and enjoyable of Moore’s run.
Octopussy (1983)
The series takes another step backward with its 13th film. Based on elements of the posthumous short story collection Octopussy and the Living Daylights, this film has Bond chasing after antiquity smugglers and a plot to set off a nuclear weapon that would enable Soviet Russia to conquer Europe… if it wanted to. The plot here is both meandering and flat compared to other Bond films. At one point the title character seems to be the one in charge. That was a promising prospect, as the series had yet to see a woman in the position of primary villain. But then it turns out the men working with her want to double-cross her and are the real villains after all (but we knew that already, didn’t we?).
This film is a mixed bag. It alternates between a straight-forward spy action film and a goofy action comedy. There will be a thrilling chase in Delhi, but then a bit later Bond will be swinging on vines in a jungle with the Tarzan cry in the soundtrack. It’s tonally confused. But when it’s good, such as the train sequence, it’s really good.
Even the title character played by Maud Adams, who returned to the series after playing a Bond girl briefly 10 years before in The Man with the Golden Gun, is undercut. Octopussy is a successful smuggler with a cult of followers. Men are subservient to her. She is set up to be one of the coolest women in the series. But then she turns out to not be that bad after all, falls for Bond, and is even under threat of assassination by her subservient men, effectively softening the character and directing the attention to the men. Those men, by the way - Louis Jourdan’s Kamal Khan and Steven Berkoff’s General Orlov - aren’t nearly as interesting or memorable as Octopussy. It’s a bit underwhelming.
On top of it all, Rita Coolidge provides the worst theme song thus far in the series, the snoozer ‘All Time High’.
Overall, Octopussy’s quality is split down the middle. There are just as many ridiculous moments and frustrating elements as there are great ones.
A View to a Kill (1985)
So, at the age of 58, Roger Moore ended his tenure with this film about a genetically-modified genius (Christopher Walken) who plots to destroy the burgeoning Silicone Valley in order to wipe out any competition in the tech field and reap the profits. The critics at the time were savage towards Moore’s age. But that’s not the film’s biggest problem.
This is a film that has straight-laced action sequences which are undercut by things like Bond suddenly snowboarding up a wall with no instigating forward momentum while The Beach Boys’ ‘California Girls’ plays suddenly in the background or a car breaking in half after being hit once by another car - and Bond continuing to drive the surviving half of the car! There are a handful of examples like this.
One of the film’s biggest action sequences involves Bond eluding arrest by the San Francisco Police Department by stealing a fire engine that was aiding in a near-fatal building fire and climaxes with police cars crashing into each other a la The Blues Brothers. It is absurd that this sequence even exists in a Bond film.
Then there’s Tanya Roberts as Stacey Sutton, the film’s chief Bond Girl. There have been a handful of annoying or idiotic female characters in the series. It’s not that Sutton is a poorly-written character. It’s that Roberts is such an awful actress that she makes Sutton nearly insufferable.
This might all be redeemed and shaped into a decent film if not for Walken and his villain. One would think that if Christopher Walken was cast as a Bond villain then the potential for a fun and thrilling Bond film would increase exponentially. Unfortunately, Walken is mostly wasted here. He never really gets a chance to revel in the part and do much with it. The only reveling we see from him here is in a scene where his character is mowing down dozens of innocent miners with a machine gun for two minutes. It’s fairly upsetting and sadistic rather than ingenious or thrilling. For many critics at the time, that marked a low point in the series.
There are three strengths in the film. The first is the theme by Duran Duran and its title sequence. These are among the best in the series at this point. The second is Grace Jones as May Day. While it’s debatable whether or not the character lived up to her potential, Jones has an unforgettable screen presence that makes her one of the best henchmen of the Moore era. And third, the climactic Golden Gate bridge sequence is effective and thrilling.
There isn’t a lot else to praise in this film that even Moore regretted doing due to his age and its plot elements. So far, no one who has played Bond more than once has gone out on a high note in the series.
The Ranking:
For Your Eyes Only
The Spy Who Loved Me
The Man with the Golden Gun
Octopussy
Moonraker
A View to a Kill
Live and Let Die
Roger Moore’s era is a distinct one in the history of the Bond series. It marks a sharp turn towards camp and overt silliness. One could imagine how some would enjoy a few of these films for their ridiculous elements. But, when measured up against the films that establish the series and its tone - as well as each film’s other elements - as Bond films this era fails to compare to the best of what came before.
What are your thoughts? Comment below.
Next we’ll be taking a look at the films starring Timothy Dalton and the Pierce Brosnan era.