The Man with the Golden Gun

This is the second film for Roger Moore in the role of "Agent 007" and even though this particular movie isn't the best it happens to be my favorite James Bond movie of them all. Essentially, the world's #1 assassin named "Scaramanga" (Christopher Lee) has sent a golden bullet to James Bond indicating that he is his next target. So rather than waiting around for Scaramanga to choose the time and place James Bond decides to find him first. This leads him to Beirut, Macao, Hong Kong and Bangkok in an attempt to find information that might be helpful in that regard. Now, rather than reveal the rest of the story I will just say that this movie does a good job of combining both action and comedy. As a matter of fact, I think this is probably the most humorous James Bond film ever made as it features nifty one-liners from James Bond along with "Sheriff J. W. Pepper" (Clifton James) and a midget named "Nick Nack" (Herve Villechaize). It also features two quite attractive women in Maud Adams (as Scaramanga's mistress, "Andrea") and Britt Ekland (as "Agent Goodnight"). Again, it might not be the best James Bond movie but I found it to be quite entertaining and recommend it to all fans of the series. Above average.

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."

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 exciting ninth Bond entry gets the greatest villain named Scaramanga , an awesome Christopher Lee , here's his biography : he was born in a circus , his father was ringmaster and mother a English snakes charmer . He was a spectacular trick-shot artist when ten and a local Rio gunman at 15 . The KGB trained him in Europe where he became an overworked and underpaid assassin . He went independent in the late 50s , his current price : one million dollars a hit . No photograph on file and unknown domicile but he does have on distinguishing feature,however : a superfluous papilla and mammary gland,a third nipple . He always uses a golden bullet , hence ¨Man with the golden gun¨ . He sends a golden bullet to MI6 with number on 007 and a note requesting special delivery to Bond , it's initialled with a ¨S¨ and Scaramanga's fingerprints were on it . Scaramanga tries the death of 007 , face to face , a duel between titans : The golden gun against Walther gun . James Bond is assigned to retrieve a piece of equipment named Solex that can be used for a device to create the sun's energy . Bond explains when he kills it's under specific orders of government and those he kills are themselves killers .

Roger Moore is a sympathetic and magnificent Bond , he earns in irony , suavity and smoothness . In an interview Moore tells about the shooting : ¨It looks a paradise on the screen but it was terrible hot,the entire unit had boils because you could never take a shower . It was uncomfortable ,it looks romantic and then they went over Macao . We're shooting all those scenes of gambling and so that's all go over there and we've got tables going over there with the Blackjack and he made quite money at the gambling table during the five months of shooting¨ .

The film contains spectacular fights , the lieutenant Hip's nieces were students of the karate school , the scene was played for laughs , but the women cast were Tae-Kwon-do champions and very accomplished athletes . The struggles were carefully choreographed and performed like a dance routine requiring each participant to hit their mark at the correct time . Film is made by Eon Productions Limited on location in Hong Kong , Macau , Thailand and Pinewood Studios , London , England . The atmosphere is faithful to the actual location but the interiors on a set at Pinewood Studios . The motion picture was well directed by Guy Hamilton .

The year after Roger Moore first appeared in the role of James Bond in 1973's "Live and Let Die", marking the beginning of his twelve-year stint in the role, he returned for the ninth film in the franchise, and his second of seven. Recently, knowing that this wasn't the most widely praised of all the official Bond films, I watched it with fairly low expectations, but I think my expectations were at least slightly surpassed. Like the first film starring Moore, this one didn't blow me away consistently, but I found a lot of it entertaining, mostly later in the film (if it wasn't for that, I doubt I could rate it any more than a 6/10).

Francisco Scaramanga is a renowned hit-man who uses a golden gun with golden bullets, which is why he is known as "the man with the golden gun"! MI6 receives a golden bullet with "007" on it, which suggests that James Bond is Scaramanga's next target! Because of this threat, M decides to dismiss Bond from his duties until the problem is solved. Nonetheless, Agent 007 sets out in search for Scaramanga, and during his search, he witnesses the assassination of a man who turns out to be a scientist creating a device that can harness the sun's power! Bond must track down this machine, and on his mission, he must go through Andrea Anders (Scaramanga's mistress), and Nick Nack (the hit man's servant), as he is assisted on the mission by Mary Goodnight, a mission which eventually leads to a showdown between the secret agent and his main foe!

Like "Live and Let Die", this one has some tedious moments, unsurprisingly, and for a while, it seemed to me that it was turning out to be slightly inferior to Moore's first Bond film, but like I said, I was more impressed later in the film, with a decent amount of suspense and humour. They brought back Sheriff J.W. Pepper, the stereotypical Southerner introduced in "Live and Let Die", for comic relief in this movie. The character made me laugh in the 1973 Bond film, once again gave me some laughs this time, and as I stated in my comment on the first film featuring him, I don't see why I should feel guilty for finding Sheriff J.W. Pepper amusing if I'm willing to laugh at Canadian stereotypes. One very memorable sequence is where Bond chases after a car with Pepper inside with him, which is both suspenseful AND humorous (humourous thanks to the presence of Pepper). After that, a lot of suspense takes place on the island.

Like "Live and Let Die", this second Bond film starring Roger Moore is rather polarizing with Bond fans, but both films, while not the best, I have found to be reasonably satisfying, and in my opinion, while Moore can't quite match Sean Connery (the first actor to play Ian Fleming's famous character, as I'm sure you know), he was a decent replacement, unlike George Lazenby, who was only in one film in the franchise (1969's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"), in between Connery's last two (1967's "You Only Live Twice" and 1971's "Diamonds Are Forever"). Christopher Lee is also impressive as the main villain in this particular movie. So, while I wouldn't watch "The Man with the Golden Gun" expecting to be blown away, I would say it's worth watching, though some would obviously disagree.