James Bond U.S. Poster Rankings: No. 10

With the latest entry in this series, we enter the top ten of best domestic James Bond posters.  The following was found in U.S. theaters in 1971 to promote Roger Moore's debut as British superspy 007.

 

 

10. Live and Let Die

The marketing department did a really good job this time of combining the necessary elements of any James Bond poster, which includes the star himself, the women, and the action.  But what makes this poster better than most is that it includes a major theme of the film, which is tarot card reading.  As you can see above, different characters are portrayed on each of the cards, with many elements of the film's violence and action set pieces at the bottom of the frame.

 

I also like the use of a knife as an "I" in the word die.  This hasn't been utilized too much by the Bond team when promoting their films, unlike finding ways to incorporate "007" in different words, like what is found on the Live and Let Die poster with Roger Moore's name.  That marketing technique is used ad nauseam in the 53-year history of the film's franchise.

 

The artwork used above can be found on the majority of posters throughout the world to advertise Moore's first Bond feature, so instead of something better, which I couldn't really find, I will include some appealing fan art.

 

 

This first one is interesting in that it features a side character who truly stole the show, even from Moore himself.  Baron Samedi, or the voodoo God of Death, was portrayed by the late Geoffrey Holder and quickly became a fan favorite.  He doesn't get much screen time, but as you can see above, his legacy in the series was strong enough that fan art would make him the primary focus of a poster about James Bond.

 

 

The final piece of fan art plays off of the film's poster by using the tarot cards, but instead of featuring the actors from the movie the artist drew their own portrayal.  Likely this is something created to promote Ian Fleming's novel more than it is the movie, but it still works well.  The afroed skeleton is quite chilling and a good centerpiece feature for the poster/book cover.