007 adventure, is a time capsule of 1973. Created to capitalize on the blaxploitation genre, the movie feels like an outsider's view of the craze, with several stereotypes being used in the film. However, it has a pervasive charm that makes it a firm favorite for Bond fans.
Obviously, the movie was inspired by the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, with the movie being somewhat faithful to the novel. That said, there's a lot left on the cutting room floor, some of which was picked up and inserted into other Bond films.
Placement
The eighth Bond movie was released after the middling Sean Connery. Though that was a successful venture, it further muddled the series' timeline accuracy.
Live and Let Die was Fleming's second James Bond novel, following after the hit novel Casino Royale. If someone jumped into the book after Bond's first adventure, they certainly would be in for a rather jarring experience, to say the least.
The MacGuffin Is Different
The movie's plot involves a mysterious drug kingpin by the name of Mr. Big (how original) attempting to gain a monopoly on the drug market by giving out free heroin. Meanwhile, the novel's plot sees Bond attempt to stop Mr. Big's smuggling operation as he has gotten his hands on a lot of gold coins from the 1600s.
Both heroin and gold are pretty much MacGuffins, as they honestly have little involvement in the plot. Regardless of this, both MacGuffins showcase how different the eras the two versions of the story are.
Quarrel
Many characters were invented for the film, including Baron Samedi, Sheriff J.W. Pepper, and Quarrel Jr. The son of Quarrel from Dr. No, Quarrel Jr.'s inclusion in the movie happens to be because his father made his debut in the Live and Let Die novel.
Quarrel in the novel trains Bond how to scuba dive, leading to a frankly bizarre training montage. As Quarrel Sr. died during the runtime of the first Bond flick, it meant that the writers of Live and Let Die had to create the character's son to serve his father's role.
Bond Travels To Florida
After evading death at the hands of Mr. Big's men, Bond, Felix Leiter, and Solitaire travel to St. Petersburg, Florida to investigate one of Mr. Big's warehouses.
The Sunshine State isn't featured in the movie, with New Orleans more or less taking up its role. The scene where Bond investigates the warehouse served as the inspiration for a similar scene in License To Kill, which wasn't the only thing Timothy Dalton's last Bond movie borrowed from Live and Let Die.
Bond Fights A Giant Squid
In a scene that Fleming would later copy for the novel version of Dr. No, as Bond makes his way to Mr. Big's lair, he encounters some hostile sea-life including a rather large squid. The scene is somewhat ridiculous, so it is a bit odd that it didn't make it into the already pretty ridiculous movie.
As previously stated, the scene was copied in Dr. No, with Bond being trapped in a maze of pain by the titular foe. One of the many challenges that await Bond is a massive squid, which he similarly avoids.
The Racial Stereotypes Are Worse In The Novel
Many have criticized how the film Live and Let Die handles its Black characters, with most of them being villains. While the movie's racial issues are a bit problematic to a modern viewer, they're nothing compared to the flat-out racism in the novel.
Outside of Mr. Big, all of the Black characters in the novel are written in a stereotypical fashion. While the books were written at a different time, given recent issues, that excuse is getting a bit played out.
Kananga Doesn't Make An Appearance
Mr. Big, who turns out to be Caribbean dictator Doctor Kananga, is considered to be one of the best Bond villains in the film series. While Yaphet Kotto's character's deception is a nice beat in the movie's plot, in the novel, what you see is what you get.
Mr. Big is actually a pretty good villain in the novel, but there isn't a reveal with him, as he turns up fully formed. Fun fact, the character was named after Ross Kananga, the owner of a crocodile farm the film was shot at, who also served as a stuntman for a certain scene.
The Climax
The climax of the novel sees Mr. Big and crew drag Bond and Solitaire at high speeds across a shallow coral reef so that that their injuries will be capitalized by hungry sharks. However, a mine ends up destroying Big's boat, with the villain being devoured by said sharks.
This doesn't happen in the movie, but instead, it happens in For Your Eyes Only. Though it does not take place at the end of the film, the scene is translated nearly verbatim from the novel's climax.
Mr. Big's Death Is More Low-Key
Again, Mr. Big meets his demise at the hands of sharks in the waters of Jamaica. Though a similar fate is implied to be what happens to the villain in the film, the tables are flipped and Big meets a far more outlandish demise.
Bond and Doctor Kananga do battle at the heart of the villain's lair which leads to both men tumbling into shark-infested waters. Bond shoves an air pellet into Kananga's mouth, leading to him turning into a Kananga balloon and exploding into meat confetti. A far more...ambitious fate.
Felix Leiter's Encounter With A Shark
David Hedison's Felix Leiter fills a minor role in the movie, but his role is far more showy in the novel. The novel sees Leiter help Bond out with his investigation of Mr. Big's affairs, however, he ends up being captured.
While captured, Leiter is fed to a shark, losing half a leg and an arm, but surviving nonetheless. This scene may not appear in the film, but it does occur in License To Kill, which served to further cement that movie's darker tone.
