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xiayun
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 3:41 pm
Posts: 25109
Location: San Mateo, CA
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 The Man with the Golden Gun The Man with the Golden Gun Quote: The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) is the ninth spy film in the James Bond series, and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. An adaptation of Ian Fleming's novel of same name, the film has Bond sent after the Solex Agitator — a device which can harness the power of the sun. He teams up with agent Mary Goodnight against Francisco Scaramanga — the titular "Man with the Golden Gun". The action culminates in a duel between them.
The Man with the Golden Gun was the fourth and final film in the series to be directed by Guy Hamilton. The script was written by Richard Maibaum and Tom Mankiewicz. The film was set in the face of the 1973 energy crisis, a dominant theme in the script — Britain had still not yet fully overcome the crisis when the film was released in December 1974. The film also reflects the then popular Kung Fu film craze, with several kung-fu scenes and a predominantly Asian location. Reviewers praised Christopher Lee's performance as Scaramanga, but criticised the comedic approach. One of the silliest Bond plots. Christopher Lee is a charismatic villain, but overall I'd rank it the fourth best outing of Roger Moore as Bond (behind For Your Eyes Only, The Spy Who Loved Me, and Live and Let Die). B-.
_________________Recent watched movies: American Hustle - B+ Inside Llewyn Davis - B Before Midnight - A 12 Years a Slave - A- The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - A- My thoughts on box office
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| Wed Aug 30, 2006 3:14 pm |
 
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Maverikk
Award Winning Bastard
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:03 am
Posts: 15310
Location: Slumming at KJ
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A disappointment. Boring. I saw it first when I was too young to really know any better, and I was excited about Bond going up against Christopher Lee, but after I got older, and especially after I read the vastly superior book, I realized what a misfire this was. Probably my second least favorite Bond film.
C-
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| Thu Aug 31, 2006 7:29 pm |
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Dr. Lecter
You must have big rats
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 4:28 pm
Posts: 92093
Location: Bonn, Germany
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Maverikk wrote: A disappointment. Boring. I saw it first when I was too young to really know any better, and I was excited about Bond going up against Christopher Lee, but after I got older, and especially after I read the vastly superior book, I realized what a misfire this was. Probably my second least favorite Bond film.
C- And the least favorite would be? _________________The greatest thing on earth is to love and to be loved in return!
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| Thu Aug 31, 2006 8:10 pm |
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Maverikk
Award Winning Bastard
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:03 am
Posts: 15310
Location: Slumming at KJ
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Dr. Lecter wrote: Maverikk wrote: A disappointment. Boring. I saw it first when I was too young to really know any better, and I was excited about Bond going up against Christopher Lee, but after I got older, and especially after I read the vastly superior book, I realized what a misfire this was. Probably my second least favorite Bond film.
C- And the least favorite would be? Moonraker
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| Thu Aug 31, 2006 8:13 pm |
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Dr. Lecter
You must have big rats
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 4:28 pm
Posts: 92093
Location: Bonn, Germany
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Maverikk wrote: Dr. Lecter wrote: Maverikk wrote: A disappointment. Boring. I saw it first when I was too young to really know any better, and I was excited about Bond going up against Christopher Lee, but after I got older, and especially after I read the vastly superior book, I realized what a misfire this was. Probably my second least favorite Bond film.
C- And the least favorite would be? Moonraker I KNEW you'd say that. Moonraker was dreadful. And laughable. _________________The greatest thing on earth is to love and to be loved in return!
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| Thu Aug 31, 2006 8:16 pm |
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zennier
htm
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2005 2:38 pm
Posts: 10316
Location: berkeley
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Dr. Lecter wrote: Maverikk wrote: Dr. Lecter wrote: Maverikk wrote: A disappointment. Boring. I saw it first when I was too young to really know any better, and I was excited about Bond going up against Christopher Lee, but after I got older, and especially after I read the vastly superior book, I realized what a misfire this was. Probably my second least favorite Bond film.
C- And the least favorite would be? Moonraker I KNEW you'd say that. Moonraker was dreadful. And laughable. Pretty much, yes.
But who doesn't like seeing Roger Moore attempt Re-Entry? 
I'd give this a C. I do recall loving the score.
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| Thu Aug 31, 2006 10:42 pm |
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deathawk
Madoshi
Joined: Sun May 08, 2005 12:35 pm
Posts: 631
Location: Cephiro
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5 posts in this thread and no one has mentioned the most annoying thing about this movie?
Hervé "de plane, de plane" Villechaize.
Good musical score, good title song, the plot does move along, so C- even with all the other flaws. And Hervé.
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| Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:03 pm |
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andaroo1
Lord of filth
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 9:47 pm
Posts: 9566
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Villechaize wasn't in it long enough.
I think the title song is the single worst one in Bond history.
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| Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:18 pm |
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STEVE ROGERS
The Greatest Avenger EVER
Joined: Fri Oct 29, 2004 4:02 am
Posts: 18501
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Re: The Man with the Golden Gun xiayun wrote: One of the silliest Bond plots. Christopher Lee is a charismatic villain, but overall I'd rank it the fourth best outing of Roger Moore as Bond (behind For Your Eyes Only, The Spy Who Loved Me, and Live and Let Die). B-.
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| Fri Sep 01, 2006 2:42 am |
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DIB2
All Star Poster
Joined: Wed Jun 14, 2006 3:57 am
Posts: 4669
Location: Anchorage, AK
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This is the only Roger Moore bond film I've seen, and I thought it was pretty good
B+
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| Sun Sep 10, 2006 4:10 am |
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Johnny Dollar
The Lubitsch Touch
Joined: Thu Jul 21, 2005 5:48 pm
Posts: 11019
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Re: The Man with the Golden Gun Cool premise!
And completely indefensible in any other aspect. What a travesty!
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| Fri Jan 09, 2009 6:19 pm |
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Jmart
Superman: The Movie
Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2004 8:47 am
Posts: 21152
Location: Massachusetts
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Re: The Man with the Golden Gun It's a step down from Live and Let Die, but it has a much better villain. Moore and Lee have few too many scenes with one another, but I liked the cat and mouse game they play when they are on screen together. I also enjoyed the car chase and I thought the script had a few nice laughs. Another thing unique about TMWTGG is the scenery. The villain's lair where the solar energy is stored and harnessed is a little bit of a bore, but the set of the interior in the wreck of the Queen Elizabeth is inspired and Scaramanga's island is beautiful to look at.
The rest of the movie is pretty much uninspired though. With Live and Let Die and TMWTGG. these marked the two films in the franchise where Bond began to stop setting trends and began copying them from other movies. First it was blaxploitation (which worked in LALD) and here it's very clear that the Bruce Lee martial arts films of the early 70s had a heavy influence. The scene at the school where Bond has to be bailed out by the nieces is just short of embarrassing. And it's clear that Roger Moore was given no karate lessons whatsoever because the brief fight scenes he has make him look like an ass. Bond should never look like an ass. And the return of J.W. Pepper, man, one line would've been nice, and it looked like that's all they were going to give him, but then it seems on a last minute decision they decided to give him a couple of more scenes and decided to throw him into the car chase for good measure. His character worked as decent, if on the nose, satire in Live and Let Die, but here he feels woefully out of place.
Also, for the first time in the series the Bond girls are extremely forgettable. Maud Adams and Britt Ekland are very easy on the eyes, but Adams only job is to look gorgeous, while Ekland gives a Denise Richards-esque performance. She does look great in a bikini though.
So that's The Man with the Golden Gun. It has its charms, but it's ultimately one of the more forgettable entries in the Bond series.
**½ (C+)
1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) - ***** (A+)
2. Goldfinger (1964) - ***** (A+)
3. From Russia with Love (1963) - ****½ (A)
4. Live and Let Die (1973) - ***½ (B+)
5. You Only Live Twice (1967) - *** (B)
6. Thunderball (1965) - *** (B)
7. Dr. No (1962) - *** (B)
8. The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) - **½ (C+)
9. Diamonds are Forever (1971) - **½ (C+)
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Last edited by Jmart on Mon Nov 05, 2012 5:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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| Sun Nov 04, 2012 7:35 pm |
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Thegun
On autopilot for the summer
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 10:14 pm
Posts: 21641
Location: Walking around somewhere
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Re: The Man with the Golden Gun This is the first time everything seemed to go wrong, despite the fact that the Golden Gun is probably the coolest prop of the entire series. The action is uninspired, and Moore doesn't really do anything memorable in the film. I did enjoy the funhouse at the end, but thats about it. The song lyric "He has a powerful weapon" is also hilarious.
C-
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| Sun Nov 04, 2012 9:13 pm |
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The Dark Shape
Extraordinary
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 3:56 am
Posts: 12119
Location: Adrift in L.A.
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Re: The Man with the Golden Gun It's actually my favorite Roger Moore Bond film.
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| Sun Nov 04, 2012 10:20 pm |
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Flava'd vs The World
The Kramer
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:36 am
Posts: 23782
Location: Classified
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Re: The Man with the Golden Gun Christopher Lee should have been Bond. I was actually into the movie when he was on screen. Roger Moore is so mid though.
4.5/10
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