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The
Man with the Golden Gun
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Review
by
Brian Lindsey
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6
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9 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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The
Man with the Golden Gun
is one of the most exotic and offbeat of the Bond
films. Very much a movie of the '70s,
be prepared for kung fu battles, leisure suits,
bellbottoms and positively the goofiest theme
song of the 007 series to date. The fight scenes
are generally sub-par for a Bond flick. What elevates
the film is one of Roger Moore's more serious
turns as the British superspy and Christopher
Lee's portrayal of Scaramanga, the title villain.
He's the 'dark side' of Bond, a sort of anti-007,
with even cooler gadgets than Bond has! This guy
isn't plotting to take over the world or destroy
London; he just enjoys the good life — and killing
people for fun and profit. Lee's Scaramanga is
definitely one of the series' more interesting
supervillains.
When James Bond is mysteriously
sent a golden bullet with '007' etched on it,
secret service chief M (Bernard Lee) concludes
that his top agent is the next target of Francisco
Scaramanga — the elusive, never-photographed professional
hitman who's the highest paid assassin in the
world, known as "The Man with the Golden
Gun" for his distinctive weapon. But who
would pay a cool million for Bond's death? And
why send the bullet as a warning? Intimidation?
As Bond tracks Scaramanga from Beirut to Bangkok,
our hero discovers that the Man with the Golden
Gun is somehow tied in with the disappearance
of Professor Gibson, the world's leading solar
energy researcher. Soon Bond is battling thugs
at a karate school and jumping a car over a river
in pursuit of his nemesis, who never needs more
than one shot to make a kill. Will Scaramanga
get the drop on 007? A mano a mano duel
to the death on the assassin's exotic private
island will determine the victor.
A middling entry in the Bond
series, The Man with
the Golden Gun suffers
from a reduced budget, particularly in comparison
to lavish spectacles The
Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker.
As mentioned, it features what is undeniably the
worst theme song of the entire franchise, belted
out with brassy gusto by British pop singer Lulu
("To Sir, with Love"). Irritating redneck
American sheriff J.W. Pepper (Clifton James) makes
a totally unnecessary appearance, running into
Bond while on vacation in Thailand. (Just because
he was perceived as amusing in Live
and Let Die didn't mean they had to bring
him back.) And the stunning "barrel
roll" car jump stunt is ruined by a cartoonish
slide whistle sound effect. Yet the film keeps
its head above water with the interplay between
Roger Moore and Christopher Lee, culminating in
a cat-and-mouse game to the death between their
characters.
A lot of Bond fans like this
one, despite its many faults. Besides... the bikini-clad
Maude Adams (Octopussy,
Angel III)
and Brit Ekland (The
Wicker Man) are very easy on the eyes.
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MGM
does its customarily excellent job with this entry
in its line of 007 DVD releases (which were pulled
from the market in 2001; this title and 6 others
are to be re-released next month). Documentaries,
audio commentaries, and snazzy animated menus
will delight anyone into Bondage.
Of special note is Double-O Stuntmen, showcasing
many of the series' most spectacular stunt pieces
and the technicians/artisans/athletes who made
them happen.
Note:
The "9" rating for the DVD is conditional
on MGM having fixed the bug that plagued its 1999
edition, which caused
the disc to lock up in many DVD-ROM computer drives.
Golden Gun (along
with Dr.
No, Goldfinger,
The
Spy Who Loved Me, Licence
To Kill, GoldenEye
and Tomorrow
Never Dies) is slated for release as
part of a
7-disc box set on
October 22nd, 2002. 9/24/02
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OOP for a couple of years, The
Man with the Golden Gun was reissued in
November 2006 by MGM. This completely remastered
2-disc edition — with new, additional bonus features
— is a part of The James Bond
Ultimate Collection Vol. 1, which also contains
four other 007 films. (Audio/visual quality is simply
stunning!) |
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