"Who would pay a million dollars to have me killed?" "Jealous husbands, outraged chefs, humiliated tailors, the list is endless!" It's 1974 and time for Moore's second outing as Bond. The Man With The Golden Gun, originally set for release as the follow up to You Only Live Twice, would eventually be filmed in 1974 after complications in location scouting. The film itself is considered by many as the weakest entry in the series for its overt humour and lazy story. The seventies were slowly becoming a decade of excess for James Bond and here would be the last time Broccoli and Saltzman would work together in the series.
Bond and Scaramanga, mano a mano
There are some good moments in Golden Gun and Moore keeps the pace of the film from flagging too much by being at home with the one liners and providing just enough charm to bypass some fairly banal acting and dialogue. The moments that stand out are any featuring Bond and the ill fated Andrea, a pleasant surprise of a Bond girl when compared with Ekland's badly written, disappointing Mary Goodnight. It is a great shame when Adams' Andrea is killed off two thirds into the film. It is Christopher Lee, Fleming's cousin, who provides the best entertainment in the film as the mysterious Fransisco Scaramanga. Like the best Bond villains he doesn't interact with Bond for a great portion of the screen time but when on screen, his presence is felt. Though his fun house and henchman are completely over the top and leave a lot to be desired, Lee's interpretation of the menacing, assured contract killer is, by contrast, sophisticated, to the point and never over done. The moment at Scaramanga's dining table is one of the few fine moments the film offers.
Assembling his golden gun, Scaramanga surprises Hai Fat
Essentially, Golden Gun is a whimsical entry in the series. After Diamonds are Forever and Live And Let Die largely played Bond for laughs, it would have been naive to think that this notion should dissipate with Moore's second outing as 007. There would still be more outrageous Moore moments to come in his later entries in the series but thankfully, following a very lukewarm reception garnered by Bond's ninth outing, Broccoli and his crew would take two and a half years before premiering The Spy Who Loved Me, a return to classic Bond. Spy's plot may be recycled but just be thankful we don't have to put up with Sheriff J W Pepper and Nick Nack anymore!
Bond and Scaramanga, mano a manoThere are some good moments in Golden Gun and Moore keeps the pace of the film from flagging too much by being at home with the one liners and providing just enough charm to bypass some fairly banal acting and dialogue. The moments that stand out are any featuring Bond and the ill fated Andrea, a pleasant surprise of a Bond girl when compared with Ekland's badly written, disappointing Mary Goodnight. It is a great shame when Adams' Andrea is killed off two thirds into the film. It is Christopher Lee, Fleming's cousin, who provides the best entertainment in the film as the mysterious Fransisco Scaramanga. Like the best Bond villains he doesn't interact with Bond for a great portion of the screen time but when on screen, his presence is felt. Though his fun house and henchman are completely over the top and leave a lot to be desired, Lee's interpretation of the menacing, assured contract killer is, by contrast, sophisticated, to the point and never over done. The moment at Scaramanga's dining table is one of the few fine moments the film offers.
Assembling his golden gun, Scaramanga surprises Hai FatEssentially, Golden Gun is a whimsical entry in the series. After Diamonds are Forever and Live And Let Die largely played Bond for laughs, it would have been naive to think that this notion should dissipate with Moore's second outing as 007. There would still be more outrageous Moore moments to come in his later entries in the series but thankfully, following a very lukewarm reception garnered by Bond's ninth outing, Broccoli and his crew would take two and a half years before premiering The Spy Who Loved Me, a return to classic Bond. Spy's plot may be recycled but just be thankful we don't have to put up with Sheriff J W Pepper and Nick Nack anymore!
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