Live And Let Die (1973)

A new face can change the character of a legend, for better or worse. Guy Hamilton's "Live and Let Die" introduced Roger Moore as James Bond in 1973. More self-consciously suave and polished than Sean Connery, Moore immediately reshaped 007 into a lighter, less complicated hero for the easygoing 1970s. The film also marks a shift away from the more character-driven stories of the Connery years toward glossier, more mechanical action, with chase after chase and daredevil stunts that made the series feel more like a comic book. What makes that more disappointing is that Hamilton, who directed "Goldfinger," was a skilled filmmaker. Bond takes on Dr. Kananga (Yaphet Kotto), the ruler of a small Caribbean island who is secretly the Harlem drug lord Mr. Big and plans to flood America with free heroin. It's timely on the surface, but hardly on the scale of battling a mastermind like Goldfinger. Jane Seymour is memorable as Solitaire, Kananga's tarot-reading psychic, and Geoffrey Holder is a striking presence as the eerie voodoo figure Baron Samedi. Highlights include Bond escaping a crocodile farm by running across the reptiles' backs and a wild speedboat chase through the Louisiana bayous. Its blaxploitation-era influences also include some dated racial stereotypes. Paul McCartney and Wings' title song earned an Oscar nomination.