Roger Moore's first stint as James Bond, 007, embarks on a different kind of series of films based on the adventures of debonair, wise-cracking, sexually active, and seemingly impeccable at thinking on the spot when all hope seems lost British Intelligence super agent, going for a definite tongue-in-cheek, totally absurd approach. I have always liked Moore's Bond and For Your Eyes Only can be used as a 007 film that shuts up his critics who consider him a failure as the elusive secret agent.
Yaphet Kotto is in fine form as Ambassador of a Caribbean island of San Monique, with a major heroine operation extending to both American cities New York and New Orleans. Kotto's Kananga has eyes/gunmen/spies everywhere, his advanced network has quite the tentacles so Bond will certainly have his hands full. While I cringe at the Voodoo culture exhibited on display as the cultural stereotypes are exploited to their maximum, there are characters who make the most of their roles, such as claw-handed Julius Harris as Tee Hee, Geoffrey Holder (and that devious smile) as dangerous Voodoo Priest, Baron Samedi, and the seemingly a sweetheart agent in the Caribbean, Gloria Hendry (who turns out to be working both sides out of fear of what Kananga will do to her). Others show up such as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea's David Hedison as Bond's New York, American CIA contact, Clifton James in an ill-advised tobacco-chewing hick sheriff, JW Pepper (always spouting "Boy!" to everyone he finds egregious) , and the incredibly beautiful Jane Seymore as Kananga's tarot card reader, clairvoyant Solitaire (who becomes Moore's Bond girl).
The action sequences include an extended motor boat chase (that seems to go on forever, played for humorous effect, such as when it flies across roads causing wrecks by those chasing him, leading one boat into a rich man's pool, another into Pepper's cop car, and a third through a wedding reception!), Bond's ingenious (if totally ludicrous) escape from encroaching crocs, and Bond's use of a Cessna plane to avoid Kananga's boys killing him. A funeral procession in New Orleans cleverly is used by Kananga to rid himself of spies guarding his headquarters, Bond puts a "magnetic watch" to good use on several occasions when in hairy situations, and how a "gas pellet" is used to "pop" Kananga has to be seen to be believed. That double decker bus and hand glider establish the kitchen sink rule that the filmmakers wanted Moore's Bond to use every form of transportation possible in his first outing as 007.
Yaphet Kotto is in fine form as Ambassador of a Caribbean island of San Monique, with a major heroine operation extending to both American cities New York and New Orleans. Kotto's Kananga has eyes/gunmen/spies everywhere, his advanced network has quite the tentacles so Bond will certainly have his hands full. While I cringe at the Voodoo culture exhibited on display as the cultural stereotypes are exploited to their maximum, there are characters who make the most of their roles, such as claw-handed Julius Harris as Tee Hee, Geoffrey Holder (and that devious smile) as dangerous Voodoo Priest, Baron Samedi, and the seemingly a sweetheart agent in the Caribbean, Gloria Hendry (who turns out to be working both sides out of fear of what Kananga will do to her). Others show up such as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea's David Hedison as Bond's New York, American CIA contact, Clifton James in an ill-advised tobacco-chewing hick sheriff, JW Pepper (always spouting "Boy!" to everyone he finds egregious) , and the incredibly beautiful Jane Seymore as Kananga's tarot card reader, clairvoyant Solitaire (who becomes Moore's Bond girl).
The action sequences include an extended motor boat chase (that seems to go on forever, played for humorous effect, such as when it flies across roads causing wrecks by those chasing him, leading one boat into a rich man's pool, another into Pepper's cop car, and a third through a wedding reception!), Bond's ingenious (if totally ludicrous) escape from encroaching crocs, and Bond's use of a Cessna plane to avoid Kananga's boys killing him. A funeral procession in New Orleans cleverly is used by Kananga to rid himself of spies guarding his headquarters, Bond puts a "magnetic watch" to good use on several occasions when in hairy situations, and how a "gas pellet" is used to "pop" Kananga has to be seen to be believed. That double decker bus and hand glider establish the kitchen sink rule that the filmmakers wanted Moore's Bond to use every form of transportation possible in his first outing as 007.