Review of The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) by Corey B — 28 Jun 2009

Probably my least favourite Bond film despite having one of the best villains and a pretty cool lair. Too bad anything not involving Christopher Lee and his island is pretty awful.

To begin with, Bond has a real identity crisis in this film. I'm guessing that because Moore didn't really click in Live and Let Die, director Guy Hamilton thought his Bond had to stand out somehow. Well, instead of playing up Moore's strengths (his comedic, relaxed nature which would serve him well after this movie), they decided to make Bond a flat out jerk and play up his aggressiveness.

Moore is clearly uncomfortable in many scenes, the most obvious being the horrible scene where he essentially beats and terrifies Maud Adams to get information (a scene made even worse by the fact that we later learn she's in an abusive relationship already and wants out). It's probably the lowest point in the whole series. But Man With the Golden Gun doesn't stop there. Bond throws a beggar child out of his boat and shoves Britt Ekland in a closet for two hours. They're weird choices that would seem out of place even in Daniel Craig's grittier films.

And the action is pretty lame. Sure there are some great stunts, including the corkscrew jump, but there's a slide whistle sound effect and reaction shot by the worst supporting character in all of Bondom, JW Pepper (who gets to show off his racist personality while vacationing in Thailand).

Thankfully Christopher Lee adds a touch of class, and Scaramanga is one of the most memorable villains. He genuinely admires Bond, and seeks a worthy adversary to hunt. This leads to an exciting and surreal finale where Bond and he have a duel in his funhouse.

My advice - just watch the last half hour. If the rest of the movie had lived up to that this could have been great.