Made the year following Roger Moore's incredible success with his first appearance as James Bond in LIVE AND LET DIE, GOLD is in many respects a wannabe Bond film. From the cheesy (and, incredibly, Oscar-nominated at the time) and utterly dated score by Elmer Bernstein, to the stylised titles by Bond veteran Maurice Binder and the behind-the-camera direction from ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE Peter Hunt you can feel the influence of the Bond films throughout. Even Roger Moore plays a Bond-style hero, completely courageous and with a stiff upper lip of course, who spends much of the film's time bedding his boss's wife – who is played by Susannah York.
The film opens and closes with two riveting scenes set inside a gold mine, where cave-ins, explosions, floods, and amputated limbs are commonplace. Although the mine locations are clearly sets, they're altogether realistic and have a really claustrophobic atmosphere. Throw in some racist South African workers abusing the blacks and you have a very volatile and gritty atmosphere. In particular the climax, a race against time in a flooding mine, is edge-of-the-seat stuff, and Hunt doesn't hold back on the horrifying accidents that were commonplace in mines: one poor worker has his face torn off while Roger Moore suffers the most painful injury of his screen career.
Unfortunately, the rest of the film – all of the scenes set above ground, in fact – is unbelievably dull. Things slow down to a snail's pace as Moore engages in a long-winded romance with the singularly unappealing Susannah York. There's some conspiracy involving the world's stock markets and increasing the price of gold, but it's all very mundane and aside from a decent battle between man and car at the film's climax, there isn't a shred of action to enjoy. Indeed the filmmakers come very close to making Moore's hero repulsive, as he ends up cavorting in a lake with York while the men under his command are being killed in the flooded mine.
GOLD is based on a novel by Wilbur Smith, who also co-wrote the screenplay. As you'd expect from this master author, the locations and technicalities are all authentic, although I could have done without the padded travelogue footage of the South African locations. Ultimately the whole film just feels like a lacklustre Bond flick with nothing happening in the middle – and with a two hour running time, you'll really feel the boredom. The film just concentrates on having stars in throwaway parts, like John Gielgud's corrupt financier who has about five minutes of screen time. Bradford Dillman just stands around as the villain, leaving it to Tony Beckley to be imposing, while at least Ray Milland has fun as the gruff, shouty mine owner. Simon Sabela particularly shines as King, a courageous worker who wins a solid gold helmet for his heroism! Aside from the mine sequences, GOLD is a real bore; perhaps FOOL'S GOLD would have been a better title.
The film opens and closes with two riveting scenes set inside a gold mine, where cave-ins, explosions, floods, and amputated limbs are commonplace. Although the mine locations are clearly sets, they're altogether realistic and have a really claustrophobic atmosphere. Throw in some racist South African workers abusing the blacks and you have a very volatile and gritty atmosphere. In particular the climax, a race against time in a flooding mine, is edge-of-the-seat stuff, and Hunt doesn't hold back on the horrifying accidents that were commonplace in mines: one poor worker has his face torn off while Roger Moore suffers the most painful injury of his screen career.
Unfortunately, the rest of the film – all of the scenes set above ground, in fact – is unbelievably dull. Things slow down to a snail's pace as Moore engages in a long-winded romance with the singularly unappealing Susannah York. There's some conspiracy involving the world's stock markets and increasing the price of gold, but it's all very mundane and aside from a decent battle between man and car at the film's climax, there isn't a shred of action to enjoy. Indeed the filmmakers come very close to making Moore's hero repulsive, as he ends up cavorting in a lake with York while the men under his command are being killed in the flooded mine.
GOLD is based on a novel by Wilbur Smith, who also co-wrote the screenplay. As you'd expect from this master author, the locations and technicalities are all authentic, although I could have done without the padded travelogue footage of the South African locations. Ultimately the whole film just feels like a lacklustre Bond flick with nothing happening in the middle – and with a two hour running time, you'll really feel the boredom. The film just concentrates on having stars in throwaway parts, like John Gielgud's corrupt financier who has about five minutes of screen time. Bradford Dillman just stands around as the villain, leaving it to Tony Beckley to be imposing, while at least Ray Milland has fun as the gruff, shouty mine owner. Simon Sabela particularly shines as King, a courageous worker who wins a solid gold helmet for his heroism! Aside from the mine sequences, GOLD is a real bore; perhaps FOOL'S GOLD would have been a better title.