Review of The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) by Jeff B — 19 Nov 2015

Falling far from the touch of Goldfinger, this silly outing finds the wit and derring-do of the Bond series misfiring horribly when our hero goes from sly spy with a license to kill to second fiddle to a hitman with three nipples. It's in the title, mind you. The film could've been titled James Bond Meets Dracula given Christopher Lee reputation as Hammer Studios' number one go-to monster. Truthfully, it nearly reaches the shear camp of that monstrous title too. Oh, the title character still steals the thunder away from Moore though not for the still-new Bond's lack of trying. Between the lack of the go-go gadgets, numerous exciting action sequences, and a worthy henchman (Tattoo from Fantasy Island remains memorable but not in the right way) expected of the series, however, Golden Gun simply amounts to less--not Moore.

In this PG-rated spy adventure, James Bond (Moore) gets led to believe that he's been targeted by the world's most expensive assassin (Lee) while he attempts to recover sensitive solar cell technology that is being sold to the highest bidder.

Granted, the broken bridge car flip over a twisty Bangkok river truly raises pulses but the film simply puts too many other detours in its own path. Hillbilly Sheriff J.W. Pepper (Clifton James) troublingly gets elevated from bit part to supporting player, turning a slight annoyance into a standout aggravation. Broad and clichéd, his Louisiana good ole' boy grates on your nerves even though the producers swear that he was popular then. Then, there's the climactic shoot-out, which tries to convince you that the world's greatest assassin invested in a funhouse Hogan's Alley rather than a weapons-grade gun range for shooting practice. He might see Bond as the biggest threat to his gold medal title but The Man with the Golden Gun's true usurper ends up to be a reliance on cheap carnival games, which is a great metaphor for this 007 tale as a whole.

Bottom line: Knick Knack Paddy-Whacked.