Movie Series Review - James Bond 007 (Roger Moore era)

So after Sean Connery, the next Bond actor Roger Moore, is to date, the longest serving actor to play the iconic role and was a totally different Bond to the one that came from the film series source material, the books. It may have been the way he behaves or the way he tackles things. Either way, we all love him (to an extent) as Bond just like with Sean Connery so let's look at his set of films:

Live and Let Die

So with his first outing, comes one of my personal favourite themes which for you younger folk, you may have heard in the third Shrek film. So in the film, Bond is investigating the deaths of three British agents which leads him trapped into a world of voodoo and gangsters and must stop the plans of a drug baron before this scheme of his, goes into action. As Moore's first film, he gives the role a bit of class in the way he acts it out. Most people have stated that while he has been Bond the longest so far out of all the actors, he also changed the role to something outside of the books which makes this, one of many roles where any actor doing the role can make it their own. Personally I like it when people treat the roles they are given this way as it makes them stand out. Now as for the film, its not a perfect film, but Moore manages to make it very action packed and as I previously mentioned, he gives it some class too. And as I said, the song is one of my personal favourites out of all the 24 films. 8/10

The Man With The Golden Gun

Ever wondered if the late Christopher Lee did a Bond film? Well when you see this, you'll find the answer to be yes. So this time around, Bond is sent to stop a device that can harness the sun, but to do so, he must outsmart and fight "The Man with the Golden Gun" who claims to be his equal. This one is another film that while isn't a perfect film, it let's us see someone who is basically a villainous version of Bond and most of that part they got right. But as far as everything else is concerned, I'm only going as far as calling it OK. Not good, not bad, just OK. 7/10

The Spy Who Loved Me

I don't know if you would call it a milestone as such, but here we have the 10th film in the series. In this one, Bond teams up with a Russian agent to take down a reclusive megalomaniac who plans to destroy the world and build a civilisation under the sea. So many call this another one of the best films of the series and honestly, I can see why. You got some great villains, an easy to follow scenario and a whole array of things for characters to use. Its also very action packed so yeah I like it. 9/10

Moonraker

So back in the late 70s and early 80s, sci-fi was becoming a big thing thanks to the Star Wars phenomenon and everyone wanted to try and make their films be like Star Wars. So it felt natural for the James Bond series to embrace this and thus, we get Moonraker. In this one, Bond goes across the world to investigate the theft of a space shuttle which would lead him into stopping another maniac from wiping out humanity and start afresh with what can only be described as the master race (no not the Doctor Who sort). From a visual perspective, it looks great and still does to this day. It may have lost the realism of other films, but it gives us a great film that's well acted and has a few familiar faces throughout. 9/10

For Your Eyes Only

After Live and Let Die and Skyfall, another theme song that I like from Bond is the one for this very film. In this one, Bond attempts to find a missile system while getting into problems with a group of Greek businessmen and also comes across a woman of which wants to avenge the murder of her parents. So from what I've read up, this film goes back to the roots of the film series to give us something like the films in the Sean Connery era and does it work? In a way yes. The film isn't entirely perfect and not as spectacular as Moonraker, but it still has a few good moments in there. Not many, but a few. 7/10

Octopussy

I know what some of you are thinking. The title today can be seen as a little rude because of half of it being used today as something that I won't go into too much detail because it has something to do with sex. But aside from that, let's crack on. So Bond sets out to follow a general who is stealing things of worth from the Soviet government which leads him into finding out about a forced disarmament in Europe with the use of a nuclear weapon and as you'd expect, he has to stop it before things turn sour. So in this one, there's this scene which is something I see in films a lot which is some guy trying to explain something that's about to go down, but fails to win the person over until he actually shows the thing. I hate that in films, its just another overused cliché and cringeworthy moment. Aside from that, the rest of the film is OK. Its again not a perfect Bond film with a not great villain and a few moments like that scene where you just think its not needed. But other than those, its just OK. Not great and not bad, just OK. Can't say anymore than that. 6/10

A View to a Kill

Moore's final Bond film, is also one of the most controversial in the series as it makes many changes that a lot of people didn't like as well as Moore stating about his female co-star's mother being much younger than him. So in this one, Bond must stop a guy (played by another well known actor with a gangster like voice, Christopher Walken) from destroying Silicon Valley in California. I got to say, as much as people hate this, there is some good in it. The theme is another one I like and the scenario while used before, was executed not well but OK. But everything else is just bad. A villain gunning down many innocent lives is something that no person would want to see in a film like this and with the female co-star, there should really be a rule that states that the actor playing Bond and the female actor need to have not a big age gap but a gap enough to make it all OK. Is it the worst Bond film? Well to me it is up there, but I'd say there's another one that I hate more, but we will talk about that one soon. 4/10

So Roger Moore's Bond has had a very mixed reception with some liking the way he changes the character to someone that isn't from the books, but I think the criticism is towards most of the films in general in that there's things that will make you cringe, things that will make you go "Why?" as well as other things too. But hey, at least we got a few good theme songs from this era. You just can't argue with that. 7/10