The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

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.

Fmovies: Bond is back and he has to out smart a hit-man who charges $1,000,000 a shot (Christopher Lee) is the man with the golden gun, and he has the usual delusions of world domination and a thirst to pit himself against the best spy in the business.

The plot in this one does have its holes and the script has a little too much silliness and comedy to make it a classic bond film, but if it's entertainment your after then this hits the mark without question, and it still has one of the most awesome car stunts ever.

It's not the best in the series, but there's enough here to entertain you, and Christopher Lee makes a great Bond bad guy.

7/10

What can I tell you? When I first got acquainted with all Bond movies some 25 years ago (say around 1987), I was quick to consider this movie to be one of the worst film of the series ever. I watched it again and again, and my opinion remained the same for a very very long time. I came back to it recently upon release of the Blu Ray disc, and I must say I am now most impressed with it. I have seen it several times in the last 6 months and it's quickly becoming one of my favorite Bond movies. Why? Because it's extremely well crafted, has beautiful locations and an interesting and fun music. Also, the plot is not completely out of this world and Roger Moore is very good as Bond in this movie. I would dare say it may even be his best Bond performance.

To sum up, I urge you to (re)discover this movie. It's rather subdued in tone, may be abnormally so for a Bond movie. It's definitely no extravaganza like, say, the Spy who loved me or Die another Day, but an attentive viewing of the Man with the Golden Gun should prove very rewarding.

The Man with the Golden Gun fmovies. 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.

Roger Moore's second outing as Agent 007 puts him against the evil trick shot artist/assassin, Scaramanga (Christopher Lee). Hailed by many Connery fans as the film that marked the downfall of the 007 franchise, 'The Man With The Golden Gun' turns out to be one of the most pleasant surprises of the entire series and one of the 'better' Roger Moore films. 'Gun' does take some getting used to, in fact, more times than not, you need to see it a few times to really begin to enjoy the film.

The cast is great, one of the better ones of the entire series. There are two leading ladies in this film, the wonderful Maud Adams, who would later star in Octopussy (1983), and the terrible Britt Ekland who just acts so dumb and hopeless that it almost angers viewers. The villain Scaramanga is top notch as well as his comical, yet silently evil assistant, Nick Nack, played by French painter Herve Villechaize. The plot of the film is very interesting, the locals are exotic (which is always an extremely important part of a bond film), and Roger Moore continues to develop his character from a Connery-clone to putting his own, charming spin on 007.

All-in-all, 'Gun' is another good 007 adventure and is quite possibly the 4th best Roger Moore Bond film. Any fan of the series should give it a second look before they hail it as 'bad'.

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.