The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) Reviews

• Scaramanga's trademark weapon was a single-shot, gold plated, 4.2-caliber handgun…

  Nazi_Fighter_David2005-07-09

  In Guy Hamilton's 'The Man With the Golden Gun', James Bond still enjoys a good cigar, and prefers Dom Perignon '62 above the '64 offered... He sure does love Swedish babes, and dares to kiss a talented dancer's 'magnificent' abdomen... He slaps a tall, graceful slim girl, and he slaps her hard... He attempts to overtake Scaramanga's car by crossing a canal with no bridge in sight, and pilots a small seaplane to let us see those incredible prehistoric islands off the coast of Thailand... Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee) is a world's class assassin who has stolen a prize solar energy device, but who only needs one bullet to finish a job... He likes Tabasco sauce, gold jewelry, and a girl in a bikini... He caresses his lover with a golden gun, and loves to kill for a million dollars a shot... He has a 'sign' of great sexual prowess... He perverse love/hate relationship with a mischievous French-speaking assistant, and admires Bond so much that he even keeps a mannequin of him at his island retreat... He claims to be an artist, and challenges 007 to 'a duel between titans' on the sunlit beach... A man of taste, his AMC Matador car suddenly sprouted wings and jetted off into the blue sky… Britt Ekland spends most of the film either locked in the trunk of Scaramanga's flying car or stuck in the closet of Bond's hotel room while 007 makes love to Andrea (Maud Adams). Maud Adams remains the only exotic woman to have starred in two different Bond features, and would also have a brief cameo in "A View To A Kill." This Swedish beauty is sick of Scaramanga's sadistic games… It was she who sent the gold bullet to M16 that set Bond on Scaramanga's tail… Nick Nack (Hervé Villechaize) perfectly proves that the smallest of Bond's adversaries can easily give 007 big trouble... He annoyed 007 right up until the very end of the mission… His tiny mannerisms perfectly fitted the fantasy tradition of the Bond movies... He's seen so quick on his feet as he plays with the controls that operate the 'fun house' on Scaramanga island… 'The Man With the Golden Gun' remains thin and obvious 007 extravaganza with conventional expensive excitements... The boat and car chases merely reprise sequences in both 'Live and Let Die' and 'Diamonds Are Forever.' Last note: After being absent in 'Live and Let Die,' Desmond Llewelyn returns as the beloved Q, but provides 007 no fantastic gadgets and weapons this time...

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• Bond #9: Scaramanga turns on the light

  unbrokenmetal2008-07-09

  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."

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• Enjoyable Bond adventure, but not one of the very best.

  barnabyrudge2003-08-19

  The Man With the Golden Gun ditches the original novel almost completely (the book was set in Jamaica, for a start, whereas the film is located in the Far East). However, it is still a fairly entertaining entry is the long-running series, and features three strong reasons for tuning in: 1)a classic Bond villain in the shape of Francisco Scaramanga 2)a classic villain's henchman in the shape of psycho dwarf NickNack, and 3)a stunning Bond girl in the shape of Mary Goodnight. There'a also the most outrageous car stunt ever seen in a motion picture, rendered all the more impressive by the fact that it is not a computer enhanced sequence but was filmed for real (including that infamous loop-the-loop in the red sports car). Bond is played by Roger Moore for the second time. Moore is relaxed and easy-going in his usual manner, but shows a bit of the old Connery toughness during a couple of martial arts fight sequences. His mission is simply to stay alive this time, having been targeted by world renowned hitman Francisco Scaramanga (chilling Christopher Lee). Moore decides that rather than waiting around to be shot, he will hunt for Scaramanga himself, and his search takes him to Beirut, Macao, Hong Kong and, finally, a privately owned Thai island. En route, he discovers that Scaramanga has bigger fish to fry than simply killing 007, as he also plans to use a powerful solar device to power-up a deadly laser gun that he has had built. It's a surprisingly slow-moving film for a Bond flick, with more talky scenes than is customary. However, the action when it comes is pretty memorable. The comedy relief provided by Clifton James (you may remember him as a mouthy cop from Live and Let Die) is somewhat irritating and hurts the film more than it helps it. Lulu's title song is dated, but catchy. I would rate this an an enjoyable Bond escapade, definitely worth catching for series completists and fans of action bonanzas, but it isn't really the best of the bunch and isn't even the best of Moore's films in the series. If you're only going to see five minutes of the film, though, you simply must tune in for that afore-mentioned car stunt.... awesome!

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• Beautiful landscapes in a so-so Bond adventure

  michelerealini2005-10-04

  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.

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• Golden Gun is Golden Surprise!

  aclasschris2006-01-06

  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'.

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