The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

Director:

Guy Hamilton

Writers:

Richard Maibaum (screenplay) and
Tom Mankiewicz (screenplay)

Release Date:

20 December 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

He never misses his target, and now his target is 007.

Plot:

Bond is led to believe that he is targeted by the world's most expensive assassin and must hunt him down to stop him.

Plot Keywords:

Assassin | Golden Gun | Bullet | Gold | Island

Awards:

1 win

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Roger Moore	...	James Bond
Christopher Lee	...	Francisco Scaramanga
Britt Ekland	...	Mary Goodnight
Maud Adams	...	Andrea Anders
Hervé Villechaize	...	Nick Nack (as Herve Villechaize)
Clifton James	...	Sheriff J.W. Pepper
Richard Loo	...	Hai Fat
Soon-Tek Oh	...	Hip (as Soon-Taik Oh)
Marc Lawrence	...	Rodney
Bernard Lee	...	M
Lois Maxwell	...	Miss Moneypenny
Marne Maitland	...	Lazar
Desmond Llewelyn	...	Q
James Cossins	...	Colthorpe
Yao Lin Chen	...	Chula (as Chan Yiu Lam)

Also Known As:

Ian Fleming's The Man with the Golden Gun (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)
The Golden Gun (International: English title) (informal short title)

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Thai

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | USA:PG (certificate no. 24040) | Iceland:L | UK:PG (1987) (video rating) | South Korea:15 | Brazil:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Canada:14A (video rating) | UK:PG (tv rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Ireland:PG | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1974) | Peru:14 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16 | UK:A (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Andaman Sea, Thailand

Company:

Eon Productions

Trivia:

Britt Ekland stated she was terrified when they shot the scenes of Roger Moore and her escaping from Scaramanga's island. There is one particular shot where the pair of them are running, she slides to the floor, and Roger grabs her by the arm to hoist her back up; according to her that wasn't acting.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Bond lands the car from his spiral jump, you can see the figure of JW Pepper in the passenger seat. It goes to the next scene and JW Pepper is now in the back seat of the car.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Francisco Scaramanga: Nick Nack! Tabasco!
Nick-nack: Right away, Monsieur Scaramanga.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Men Behind the Mayhem: The Special Effects of James Bond (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

The Man With The Golden Gun

Beautiful landscapes in a so-so Bond adventure

Let me say I like Roger Moore very much, because I grew up watching his films -he's the first Bond I've ever seen. Many people prefer Sean Connery, who is really unique, true... But how can I say Roger Moore is not good? I've also a lot of affection for Moore because I watched on TV, when I was a kid, "The Persuaders" series.

Although that his second Bond outing is not very good. That's not his fault at all, the screenplay is not good and the story itself is not very interesting. Everything is a little slower than usual, the film has neither the liveliness of "Live and let die" -the first Moore Bond flick- nor the liveliness of the previous episodes.

Here Bond has to face a refined assassin -that's all, there isn't a real thrilling intrigue

On the other hand landscapes and John Barry score are fantastic. Also the cast is strong, because Christopher Lee and Britt Ekland bring a lot of glamour. It's a pity that the movie doesn't match the usual standard.

At the time producers Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman didn't get along well with each other any more. In '75 their partnership broke up and let Broccoli alone at the command of 007 empire. Maybe this tensions had an influence on "The man with the golden gun", who knows...

Luckily in 1977 Bond came back with one of the best films of the series -"The spy who loved me", a real classic, the definitive Roger Moore entry as Bond.