[6]

The stakes are lower than usual and the action in short supply, but Roger Moore’s second outing as James Bond almost makes up for it in character. The colorful supporting cast includes Christopher Lee as a three-nippled baddie and diminutive Hervé Villechaize (TV’s Fantasy Island) as his lethal handy-man. Britt Ekland and Maud Adams are the Bond girls this time around, and I’d rank both of them pretty highly as far as Bond girls go. (Adams would return in Octopussy.) I could have done without the gratuitous return of Clifton James’ bayou sheriff. He left an indelible mark in Live and Let Die but his broad humor is out of place this time around. A lot of the film takes place in Lee’s island hideout, a location in Thailand that is among the most beautiful ever filmed for the series. Lulu opens and closes the show with one of the franchise’s less memorable theme songs, and John Barry (thankfully) returns for the scoring duties.