The Man With the Golden Gun continues Roger Moore’s turn in the role of Bond as he scours the globe in search of the world’s greatest assassin Francisco Scaramanga, the eponymous Man With the Golden Gun. He’s named that because of his deadly custom gun designed to fire gold bullets, which he charges his clients $1,000,000 a hit.
When one of his golden bullets shows up at MI6 headquarters with “007” inscribed on it, Bond must begin investigating the reclusive killer for hire before he becomes the next victim. He also has to track down the “solex agitator,” a device which allows for the creation of basically limitless solar energy (if only, right?)
Bond travels across the world, specifically to Southeast Asia (Thailand, Hong Kong, and Macau) on Scaramanga’s trail. The film culminates with what Scaramanga has desired the entire time: a duel with Bond on his private island.
So, what’s good? This list must begin with Christopher Lee. He’s great, as he is in most things he’s in. Trivia: Christopher Lee is the cousin of Ian Fleming, the writer of the Bond novels, and had originally been recommended for the role of Dr. No. Scaramanga is a good villain in one sense– obsessed with beating Bond, always one step ahead of everyone else, and deadly skilled with his weapon of choice. At the same time. . .isn’t that a little silly? A golden gun? I think Swankmotron mentioned before that he doesn’t expect movie physics to exactly mirror real life, but don’t press your luck. That’s exactly how I feel here– a secret weapon that is, in fact, entirely implausible, impractical, and dare I say, impossible? Also, in the final reckoning, Scaramanga kind of goes out like a little bitch. Despite those problems, Lee’s performance is the best part of this film.
The action gets pretty fun, too. This has one of my favorite stunts in all of Bond– where he flips an AMC Hornet over a river, flipping the car on its axis on the way. I know I just complained about movie physics, but, believe it or not, this was completely real. However, it was completely ruined by the inclusion of a slide whistle as the jump happened. Just watch and listen:
“>httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6iksKTURlA
The other awesome part of this movie is Bond’s sidekick for the movie, the Hong Kong policeman Lieutenant Hip, ably assisted in a few points by his giggling nieces. . .who end up kicking some major ass. Because of the setting, there is a lot of martial arts in this movie. At one point, Bond fights an entire dojo of ninjas.
The girls in this film are passable, though not outstanding. Maud Adams plays Andrea Anders, Scaramanga’s assistant, and a femme fatale who decides to turn on her employer to help Bond. Adams would return as Octopussy in the film of the same name. Bond is also aided by rookie agent Mary Goodnight, who is passable but spends most of her time captured after attempting to put a tracker on Scaramanga’s car and is, instead, put into the trunk of Scaramanga’s car. . . which turns into an airplane in one of the more fun (and plausible?) vehicular transformations in the Bond films.
Speaking of vehicles, I mentioned the AMC Hornet stolen by Bond and the AMC Matador Scaramanga drives and converts into an airplane. While not as iconic as the Aston Martin or the Lotus, I liked the simplicity of these cars. I also bring up AMC because of their former President and CEO George Romney. . .and the fact that has a son running for President this year. It was a little detail I couldn’t overlook.
What’s not so great? Well, take my least favorite part of Live and Let Die, racist sheriff J W Pepper, and put him in Bond’s pathway yet again for an extended chase scene? Ugh. Aside from the slide whistle, it was his color commentary that nearly ruined that otherwise awesome chase and stunt scene.
And while there is something about his performance, the character of Scaramanga’s dwarf manservant Nick Nack (played by Hervé Villechaize, also known for his time playing Tatoo on Fantasy Island) was more silly than great, especially by the end. But still incredibly memorable and somewhat fun in its own way.
Overall, despite the ridiculousness of the golden gun itself, Nick Nack, and the mcguffin of unlimited solar energy, this film seemed more plausible, more grounded, and a basic spy story compared to a lot of the other Moore-era Bond films. While many rate this among their least favorite Bond films, I liked it for what it was. Just a straightforward 2 martinis, and a shot of Goldschlager for good measure.
