Review of The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) by Bobby D — 31 Mar 2012

Christopher Lee makes the perfect Bond villain, and even though his name is a bit cheesy, his dastardly plot and freaky henchmen (namely his own evil Tattoo named Nick Nack) played well into the pop culture of the day. After shifting Bond from Connery to Lazenby and back to Connery for one film, the franchise finally settled into a groove with Roger Moore, and this film really laid the groundwork for the continuing franchise that spanned two healthy decades. The Man with the Golden Gun serves us plenty of novelties to keep its two hours moving: the leaning remains of the Queen Elizabeth in Hong Kong Harbor turn out to be an MI6 base, and Bond competes with martial artists before his showdown with Scaramanga on his private island in Red Chinese waters. If it wasn't already apparent, the climax makes explicit that the core inspiration for Scaramanga is less, say, Carlos the Jackal than General Zaroff of Richard Connell's short story "The Most Dangerous Game." "My golden gun against your Walther PPK," Lee purrs, though the modular golden gun isn't his only toy; he also has a deadly funhouse and a fully-stocked Chinese junk.

VERDICT: "In The Zone" - [Mixed Reaction] These kinds of movies are usually movies that had some good things, but some bad things kept it from being amazing. This rating says buy an ex-rental or a cheap price of the DVD to own. If you consider cinema, ask for people's opinion on the film. (Films that are rated 2.5 or 3 stars).