What a stinker.

As usual, there are a lot of chase scenes. Here comes a double decker, which goes through under a low bridge. Obviously, the upper deck cannot go through. I wonder what will happen to the upper deck. Amazingly, the bridge knocks off the upper deck, which falls down behind the bus. I cannot help but laugh my head off. Then James Bond gets into a cessna and must take tha plane out of the hanger. Suddenly, the enemy is about to close the door, which almost shuts up when the plane reaches the door. There isn't enough space for the plane to go through the closing door. What will happen to the cessna. James doesn't stop the plane and gets it out of the door by all means. Naturally, the whole thing is just too big for the closing door. Both wings break off and I cannot help but laugh my legs off.

Encore

After "Diamonds are Forever" (which seemed to last about as long), we strap the franchise to the table and run about a million amps thorough the thing by presenting a new actor! HOORAY! It's alive! Roger Moore is slim, trim, attractive (-ish) and energetic. Oddly, he's the oldest any Bond has been when they've started, so this energy thing shouldn't be present. Ah well, it works, so why question it? It's important to remember that this was made in the mid-'70s, otherwise you look at this film and think "how in the HELL can they use dialogue like that to denote the 'urban black culture'?" There's some down-right awful stereotypes here, including a southern Sheriff, but it's likely that any of them are accurate to some degree even at the time of filming, to the detriment of *everyone's* dignity. Additionally, if it's any comfort, the book uses far broader of a brush when it comes to "them coloured folks", so perhaps we should count out blessings. The action and editing is equally zippy and the gadgetry is kept to a tiny minimum, thus keeping the story moving. The instigation of the plot is a bit odd (agent killed by Voodoo, UN ambassador deafened), but really all you have to do is say "something dangerous has happened, Bond, so find out what it is" and you're on your way, let's face it. As much as it fits with the boo, the involvement of the Voodoo plot mechanism isn't really as integrated as it ought to be. As it stands, it's really just a hindrance. Solitaire could simply be an Tarot Reader and leave it at that, cut out the whole crazy snake charming and grave site stuff, you'd save a good 30 minutes or more, and nothing would be harmed, really. I suspect that Moore will never be as good, as trim, or as focused as he is is in this film. Bit of a left-handed compliment, however. It is easily the least of my favourite bond casting choices, after all.