1974 | Dir. Guy Hamilton | 125 Minutes
"You see, Mr. Bond, like every great artist, I want to create an indisputable masterpiece once in my lifetime. The death of 007, mano a mano, face to face, will be mine."
When MI6 receives a death threat against James Bond from eccentric assassin Francisco Scaramanga in the form of a a golden bullet with "007" etched into it. Bond follows Scaramanga's trail through Macau, Hong Kong, and Thailand, uncovering the villain's plot to steal a solar energy device, the key component to a weapon of mass destruction, and sell it to the highest bidder.
The Man with the Golden Gun is a significant low point in Eon's James Bond film series. The action is mostly by-the-numbers, Scaramanga's scheme is incredibly underwhelming, and the humor that characterizes Roger Moore's tenure as Bond falls miserably short. The doomsday weapon on Scaramanga is mostly an afterthought and exists solely to justify a MacGuffin chase that fills in the film's hollow plot. The narrative inevitably builds to a duel between Scaramanga and Bond, a contest that ultimately fails to meet even the most modest expectations. The set pieces are some of the least impressive of the franchise. The river boat sequence is far less engaging than the one in Live and Let Die that it was clearly designed to replicate, and Scaramanga's fun house that serves as the battleground for his duels is absolutely impractical and completely absurd.
Attempting to emulate popular kung fu films of the time, The Man with the Golden Gun features a martial arts sequence that's poorly realized and mostly embarrassing for everyone involved. The Asian representation in this film is highly problematic in its gross inauthenticity. Having Japanese sumo wrestlers appear in a Chinese-speaking Thai industrialist's compound in Bangkok not only demonstrates a clear lack of attention to detail, but also blatant disrespect to vastly different East Asian cultures.
At least Roger Moore looks like he's having fun in this one, his dopey performance perfectly encapsulated in the scene where Bond accidentally swallows a golden bullet he extracted from the navel of belly dancer with his lips. As Scaramanga, film villain extraordinaire Christopher Lee does his best with the material despite its many inherent shortcomings, giving the part much more gravitas than it deserves. Lee's dignified presence runs in stark contrast to Hervé Villechaize's ultra campy performance as Scaramanga's dwarf companion Nick Nack. Britt Ekland is lifeless in the admittedly thankless role of incompetent secret agent and love interest Mary Goodnight. By comparison, Maud Adams leaves more of a lasting impression than Ekland as Scaramanga's doomed mistress Andrea Anders, an unfortunate stock Bond character in the very worst way. Korean-American actor Soon-Tiak Oh is just fine as Hong Kong cop Lieutenant Hip, Bond's token ethnic ally on this particular adventure, though clearly he isn't fluent in English or Chinese. Inexplicably, the worst Bond movie character ever returns as Clifton James reprises the role of the racist Louisiana sheriff J.W. Pepper from Live and Let Die, this time with even more screen time, eventually partnering up with Bond for a mostly forgettable car chase featuring one incredible stunt that's played for laughs. Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell's appear for the ninth time as M and Moneypenny, operating out of an absurdly designed secret base located in the wreck of the RMS Queen Elizabeth in Hong Kong Harbour with everything tilted at an angle. In his seventh series appearance, Desmond Llewelyn's Q amusingly berates Roger Moore's Bond for the first time. James Villiers appears uncredited as MI6 Chief of Staff Bill Tanner, a recurring character in later entries of the series.
Thoroughly uninspired and generally kind of dull, The Man with the Golden Gun is among the worst Bond films. This one is just barely worth watching for a fun performance from Christopher Lee as the titular villain.
THE COLD OPEN
One of the worst cold opens of the series with an out-of-place old-timey gangster in an even more out-of-place fun house murdered by Scaramanga in a terribly staged duel.
THE THEME SONG AND OPENING TITLES
Lulu's "The Man with the Golden Gun" is possibly the most irritating Bond opening theme song with shrill vocals and seemingly haphazard structure. The alternate reprisal version the song played during the end credits is shorter, somehow cornier, and not much better. To make matters worse, Maurice Binder seems to phone it in for the opening title sequence, lazily interspersing shots of the Scaramanga's golden gun and models with a wavy water effect overlayed on top.
THE BOND GIRL
Mary Goodnight's name is a stupid as the character, completely useless as an MI6 operative and becoming Scaramanga's hostage by basically delivering herself to him. For a franchise that infamously mistreats women especially in its early days, The Man with the Golden Gun is particularly bad.
THE BOND VILLAIN
Scaramanga's motivation is divided in such a way that detracts from the character overall. On one hand, he is driven to kill Bond in a duel for fame and glory, a simple but intriguing and unique low-stakes goal for a Bond villain. His hunt for the Solex device, and his dealings with Hai Fat and Communist China raise the stakes but are decidedly incongruous to his duel with Bond. Admittedly, there wouldn't be much of a movie without the fate of the world hanging in the balance, but it is nonsensical for a hired killer like Scaramanga to have any global-minded ambitions.
FEATURED HENCHMEN
Nick Nack is a memorable secondary villain for his small stature alone. For cheap comedy, he is placed in several undignified positions throughout the film that have become tougher to watch as time moves on.
FEATURED GADGET
Scaramanga's golden gun comprised of disguised fountain pen, lighter, cigarette case, and cufflink is one of the more creative and memorable designs for a Bond movie prop.
FLEMING FIDELITY
Adapted from Ian Fleming's final Bond novel of the same name published posthumously in 1965, the film discards everything from the source material except the titular villain and his famous weapon. Following the events of 1964's You Only Live Twice, which ended with an amnesiac Bond leaving his Japanese lover for Russia in hopes of recovering his memory, the book opens with a brainwashed Bond attempting to take M's life. MI6 successfully de-programs Bond and M sends him on a difficult mission so that Bond may prove himself. Bond assumes the identity of Mark Hazard to dispatch Cuban assassin Francisco "Pistols" Scaramanga, a prolific criminal associated with a syndicate of American gangsters and KGB engaged in various illicit enterprises that undermine Western influence in the Caribbean. With help from Felix Leiter, Bond takes out members of the syndicate along with Scaramanga.
FRAGMENTS
- The Prodigy's "Mindfields" which is prominently featured in the Wachowskis' The Matrix samples "Hip's Trip" from John Barry's score for this film
- Chinese action star Yuen Qiu, perhaps best known to contemporary Western audiences as the chain-smoking landlady from Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle, plays one of Hip's nieces prominently featured in the scene where they rescue Bond from the martial arts school
- At the bottom of the end credits, the film advertises that "James Bond will return in The Spy Who Loved Me"
