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Title: The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Roger Moore | ... | ||
| Christopher Lee | ... | ||
| Britt Ekland | ... | ||
| Maud Adams | ... | ||
| Hervé Villechaize | ... |
Nick Nack
(as Herve Villechaize)
|
|
| Clifton James | ... | ||
| Richard Loo | ... | ||
| Soon-Tek Oh | ... |
Hip
(as Soon-Taik Oh)
|
|
| Marc Lawrence | ... | ||
| Bernard Lee | ... | ||
| Lois Maxwell | ... | ||
| Marne Maitland | ... | ||
| Desmond Llewelyn | ... | ||
 |
James Cossins | ... | |
|
|
Yao Lin Chen | ... |
Chula
(as Chan Yiu Lam)
|
Scaramanga is a hit-man who charges a million dollars per job. He becomes linked to the death of a scientist working on a powerful solar cell, and James Bond is called in to investigate. As he tracks down Scaramanga, he realises that he is highly respected by the killer, but will this prove to be an advantage in the final showdown? Written by Graeme Roy <gsr@cbmamiga.demon.co.uk>
Yes, of all the Bond villains in the over twenty films, Christopher Lee is by far my favorite. This is probably due to the fact I enjoy seeing Lee in general. He also does one of his best acting jobs here, it just seems he is utterly thrilled to be in this film and that he is happy to not being Dracula again. Of course, despite the fact that Lee is my favorite Bond villain and Roger Moore does great as Bond here and most of the cast do a wonderful job it still does not rank as one of my favorite Bond films. This is mainly due to the fact I just think they could have crafted a better story around the assassin whose skill set matches Bond and they could have and should have omitted a return character from the previous Roger Moore film. Of course, this film also boasts the return of Q as he was absent from Live and Let Die. So all in all a good Bond film, but had they done some different things with the story it could have been one of the best.
The story has Bond being sent a bullet made of gold. This bullet may be a warning that he is the next target of Scaramanga, the man with the golden gun. He is a feared assassin and with Bond being in his sights M has no choice but to take Bond off his assignment; however, he hints that Bond should go out and find the assassin first thus improving his odds for survival greatly. Bond soon finds himself in Hong Kong where he soon learns that he is not Scaramanga's target and that a solar energy device is at the center of everything.
This film has some good action in it and some great scenes, but as I said, they could have crafted a better story around the man with the golden gun. They also did not need to have a return performance from J. W. Pepper. Sure his character made perfect sense in the previous film, as it was set in Louisiana, but this time we're in Hong Kong...I seriously doubt a redneck sheriff is going to want to vacation in Hong Kong. Also, it makes little sense that Bond goes, "Oh no" when he sees the sheriff as he had virtually no interaction with Bond in Live and Let Die. Pepper ruins what should have been an awesome car chase scene with his lame humor and he just drags the film down.
Overall, I enjoyed this film. Seeing Lee's Scaramanga and Moore's Bond interact is the best parts of this film as Lee seems more than happy to be a Bond villain. The Bond girls are attractive and Herve's henchman Nick Nack is also a nice character. Just a shame they had so many good characters, but they just could not make the story considerably stronger. The film does feature some nice action sequences, but a couple of times they are undercut by everyone's favorite sheriff. Still, it was a nice second film for Roger Moore as Bond as by now he seems like a veteran of several Bond films.