Live and Let Die (1973)
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Agent 007 must navigate a world of gangsters and voodoo to stop a corrupt Caribbean dictator from establishing a heroin monopoly.
The story
After three British agents are killed under mysterious circumstances in New York City, New Orleans, and the Caribbean nation of San Monique, James Bond is dispatched to investigate. Bond's investigation leads him to a mysterious drug lord in Harlem known as Mr. Big. He soon discovers that Mr. Big is actually the alter ego of Dr. Kananga, a corrupt Caribbean dictator. Bond must navigate a dangerous landscape of organized crime and mystical elements to uncover the truth behind the deaths and stop Kananga's ambitious plan to dominate the drug trade.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Following the mysterious deaths of three agents in New York, New Orleans, and San Monique, James Bond is sent to investigate. He encounters Mr. Big in Harlem, who is revealed to be the dictator Dr. Kananga. Bond meets a psychic named Solitaire and travels to San Monique, where he encounters the agent Rosie Carver. After a series of dangerous encounters, Bond and Solitaire flee to New Orleans, where Kananga's true identity is revealed. Kananga plans to flood the market with free heroin to destroy his competition before raising prices. Bond eventually escapes a crocodile farm and a voodoo sacrifice, destroys Kananga's poppy fields, and defeats the villain in a final confrontation. The film ends with Bond and Solitaire escaping on a train while the voodoo priest Baron Samedi watches from the front.
- First release year
- 1973
- Runtime (minutes)
- 121
- Production countries
- United Kingdom; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Guy Hamilton
- Writers
- Tom Mankiewicz · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Roger Moore · James Bond; Yaphet Kotto · Dr. Kananga / Mr. Big; Jane Seymour · Solitaire; Clifton James · Sheriff J.W. Pepper; Julius W. Harris · Tee Hee Johnson; Geoffrey Holder · Baron Samedi; David Hedison · Felix Leiter; Gloria Hendry · Rosie Carver
- Genres
- spy film; action thriller; Blaxploitation
- Themes
- drug trafficking; voodoo; fate
- Tone and mood
- action-packed; mystical
- Premise and plot tags
- spy; action; adventure
- Source material / true-story basis
- Ian Fleming's 1954 novel
- Franchise connections
- James Bond
- Content notes
- racial epithets
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Original Song · nomination
- Production trivia
- The film features a title song performed by the band Wings.; The film was the first Bond movie to feature an African American Bond girl.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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