The Man with the Golden Gun

Altho there's a lot of hate for this second Moore 007, I never understood it. For a change, most of the witty dialogue works well. I think it's one of Moore's best Bond performances.

So let's break it down: The Good: - Roger Moore is witty and action ready. His fight scene in the belly dancer's room is pretty good. Tough and violent. Don't know about that cigar, but it adds a little extra somethin'.

• Herve Villechieze as Knick Knack. Not threatening, but a fun memorable sidekick with lots of playful malevolence. I love it when he shushes Bond.

• Christopher Lee. Nuff said, tho they didn't build up this character to the level they could have. Where are those deleted scenes between him and Moore (from the trailer and photos)that obviously exist?

• John Barry. Yes, Lulu's song is ridiculous. Still, I love the brassy music and this is one of Barry's most memorable catchy Bond scores. Especially during the karate scenes and the jazzy swing of Scaramenga's fun parlor.

• Kung fu. The Bond films always lucked out when it came to latching onto the culture of the day. 1974 was the height of kung fu exploitation and Bond was there. Still have BLACK BELT magazine featuring this on the cover...

The Bad: - Miss Goodnight. Giving Bond a ditzy helper...well, bad night.

• Lack of compelling plot. The energy cell and Scaramanga are too loosely tied together and the film shouldn't have tried to pull a Blofeld at the end.

• Production design. Ken Adams is sorely missing here. And what's with that ONE GUARD in the massive solar laser set? Missed opportunity there.

The Ugly: - JW Pepper.

• Slide whistle.

This is Roger Moore's second time portraying Agent 007, where he meets hit man Scaramanga (Christopher Lee), aka the Man with the Golden Gun. Bond decides to go track down Scaramanga and find a device that can make harnessing the sun's energy possible.

Moore continues to give us his own unique brand portraying James Bond, but staying true to the character with his armor of wits, quick one-liners and cynicism. The action scenes are in abundance, and some exciting car chases, including the one in the streets of Bangkok.

Bond had some unforgettable chemistry with Bond girls Goodnight (Britt Eklund) and Andrea (Maud Adams), a trademark role in his seductive yet charming ways with the Bond Girls. Somehow, the writers saw it was fitting to squeeze in the loud-mouth character Sheriff Pepper (Clifton James), whom I thought was out of place for a spy movie. He was borderline annoying, but other more memorable characters like Hip (Soon-Tek Oh) made up for this flaw. And, to cap it off, there is an exciting cat-and-mouse chase leading to the climax of the film, keeping the audience engaged in this two-hour-plus movie.

Overall, another descent Bond film, which I thought wasn't as good as the Live and Let Die (the first 007 adventure with Moore), but certainly one to enjoy on a Saturday night.

Grade B

Often cited as one of the worst James Bond films, THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN is one of my favorite of the series. Though I've seen every 007 films, some several times, I cannot describe myself as being an avid fan, so I can't be bothered with who was the best Bond and which film was most faithful to the books and which Bond girl was the best, etc. Differentiating one Bond film from the next is almost like differentiating one Twinkie from another Twinkie: simply put, it's formula film-making. With GOLDEN GUN, I can sorta see why some might think it's not up to the usual 007 extravaganza: it just doesn't follow the formula like other Bond films. There are no gadgets here and the ending is not as spectacular as other Bond flicks or some characters (the sheriff) might seem trite but of all other 007 adventures, this is the most down to earth one. I love the fact that there's no huge battle at the climax or ridiculous gadgets (the invisible car in DIE ANOTHER DAY, for example). This a Bond adventure that can actually be described as being sorta believable, which is no mean feat.

What's remarkable about GOLDEN GUN is the cinematography. The composition, the natural colors, the realism of it all. I've just watched the latest DVD edition and the image is clear and beautiful. Gone is the grubby cinematography of LIVE AND LET DIE. But it's also not as super-slick as other Bond made before or after this one. It's an odd thing to cite beautiful cinematography for such a commercial project as this one. The most stunning scenes are at the end, when Bond flies to Scaramanga's secret base.

The other great thing about GOLDEN GUN is casting Christopher Lee as Scaramanga. It's his best role/performance ever. And he's the best villain in any 007 film. Scaramanga is a real character, not a cartoon villain like 90% of Bond villains. The fact that the story is about two men going mano a mano is also a nice change from the tired "villain who wants to dominate the world" plot line. Casting Lee as Scaramanga was a stroke of genius. He's what makes THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN so memorable.

Lastly, the other memorable element is John Barry's score. It's one of his most evocative for a James Bond film. When I hear it, I can't get it out of my mind.

As Bond girls, Britt Ekland and Maud Adams are absolutely gorgeous. Though Adams' acting can be described as stiff, she's one of the classiest and is the saddest Bond girl ever (her actions propel the story) while Ekland is funny as the ditsy operative. The belly dancer at the beginning was, hmm, scary looking though.

The film's biggest weak points are: the script, which is sorely underwritten in some spots; the re-introduction of JW Pepper character, which even if he's quite funny here, is just too improbable; and the blatant AMC product placement. The last two points almost make GOLDEN GUN "jump the shark" but after the excellent climax, all is forgiven.

But the big glaring mistake in THE MAN WITH GOLDEN GUN, and probably the main reason why so many Bond fans don't like this film, is the fact that Bond doesn't appear before the opening credits. No kick-ass intro action scene with Bond in a jet-pack or falling out of plane without a parachute that sets the tone for the rest of the film. I have to admit that the film seems to be missing something because of that.

Even so, there are still many other reasons why GOLDEN GUN is my favorite: the entire karate school scene, which is the high point of the film. The abrupt "kick to the head" joke was even copied years later with Indy shooting the big man with the big sword in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK; the arena scene (excellent direction there); the whole 1970s look; a confident Roger Moore who gives his best performance as 007 and says some of the funniest one liners of the series with impeccable timing. And let's not forget about Herve Villechaize as Nick Nack. He almost steals every scene he's in, which is either good or bad, depending on how you like him. In closing, THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN has just the right balance of seriousness, action, acting, exotic locations and humor.

The killer Scaramanga (Christopher Lee) uses a special golden gun for his assignments and has a rare birthmark on his chest. That's about the only things the movie has in common with the novel which played in the Caribbean region whereas the movie takes us to Thailand where Scaramanga secretly works with solar energy. Casting Herve Villechaize was an attempt to create a sidekick for Scaramanga like Oddjob had been to Goldfinger - a bit too silly in the end. Being a child of its time, "The Man With the Golden Gun" couldn't resist some kung fu - you see better martial arts in Hong Kong productions, though. Somehow parts of the movie seem too artificial, especially the mirror labyrinth where Scaramanga likes to practice the art of killing. But the beautiful islands will stick to your memory, and there is the most fabulous car stunt so far! There's an interesting promo photo for the movie, by the way: Lee and Moore back to back, gun in hand. This is not just a duel, this is also illustrating the idea of Scaramanga being a "dark Bond", his mirror image as a bad guy with the same skills, but different ideology. "We have so much in common, Mr Bond", Scaramanga says. "Ours is the loneliest profession."

The Man with the Golden Gun wasn't a bad movie. I actually thought it was better than Ian Fleming's novel (quite a few of the movies adapted from his books are better than them, in my opinion). I thought it started out pretty well but it did kind of lose steam by the end in my opinion.

I liked Christopher Lee and Maud Adams. Roger Moore's my favorite Bond but I didn't like him here as much as in just about all his other movies. Britt Ekland was okay but not great. And I'm usually easily pleased by most Bond girls (I actually liked Tanya Roberts's character in A View to a Kill).

The climax was pretty disappointing. The fight between Bond and Scaramanga should have gone on longer. The flying car was kind of dumb. And I thought it was kind of pointless to have Sheriff J.W. Pepper in this movie. And I was kind of hoping he'd meet that kid somehow and give him the 20,000 bahts (it is a Roger Moore Bond movie, after all, so it's not like it would have been an unbelievable coincidence).

Overall, it wasn't wonderful but not that bad either.