Sequel City — The Man With the Golden Gun
Published by Pop Bunker, November 24, 2010
It’s Thanksgiving time again here in America, and that means a lot of things—family gatherings, turkey, even more football than usual, complaining about how soon stores are blasting Christmas at us this year, etc. For me, and a group of not-so-select people, it’s also when the new James Bond movies come out.
I am a Bond fan. The best Bond films combine incredible action, hot women, exotic locations, future-world gadgets, imaginative villains, and awesome spy plots—all delivered with a wink and a wry smile. This is sexist no doubt, but I see it as escapism for guys, a filmed paradise where the mature meets the juvenile, where action, sex, humor, and cool all get rolled into one tuxedo-wearing package. When it all works, the films have no peer, as far as I’m concerned. Most often they don’t completely work, but the results are usually good anyway.
In honor of this franchise—or continued line of sequels, if you will—I present you with The Man With the Golden Gun from 1974.
Cue the music and the gun credits!
Bond movies always start with cold opens, usually of Bond himself. Not this time. This time we’re at an island paradise hideout with a shady goon arriving to kill someone. The killer is met by butler Herve Villechaize (the little person from Fantasy Island for you old timers), and he gets to work. Only the goon is actually the hunted, not the hunter. The hired killer is shot by villain Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee), who owns this crazy island house/fort/lair combo. We find out that Scaramanga actually wanted the guy to show up, and that it was sport to him, arranged by the charming and creepy Villechaize.
Next, James Bond’s bosses at Her Majesty’s Secret Service receive a golden bullet with his famous “007” code scratched on it. The message seems clear since world-class assassin-for-hire Scaramanga is the only man who uses gold bullets: he wants Bond dead. Bond (Roger Moore in this film) is taken off the case of the early ‘70s energy crisis to look into the bullet.
The trail leads from Beirut to Hong Kong, where Bond meets up with fellow agent and blonde hottie Britt Eckland (“Britt Eckland!” Coupling, anyone?) Bond is lured to a strip club in Hong Kong, where Scaramanga is waiting outside. But instead of shooting Bond, which he absolutely could have done, Scaramanga shoots another man walking out of the club. Oddly enough, the victim was a key figure in the energy crisis assignment. And the device the man was trying to sell on the black market is now missing as well. D’oh!
James Bond has to solve the case of the missing device while dealing with the dangerous Scaramanga. In true Bond fashion, this involves prolonged car (and boat) chases, fight scenes of varying quality, stupid one-liners, and a couple of hot Bond girls. And Herve Villechaize running around causing trouble.
By this point in the review, I have to make this clear: The Man With the Golden Gun is not a good movie, nor is it even a good Bond movie. There are at least fifteen better ones in the series. This has a promising start, a plodding middle, and a decent end.
So why cover it? Because, like all series of anything—books, television shows, actors, favorite bands, red carpet dresses, sexual positions, whatever—there are always great moments amid the crap rubble. And these moments remind you of the best times of whatever it is for you.
In this movie, it’s mainly the villain, played wonderfully by Christopher Lee. Evenly mannered, effortlessly competent, just the right touches of charm, inhumanity, sadism, and egoism. Perfect
If you see a recap of the plot of this movie, you find out about the boring and fanciful energy do-hickey called a “solex agitator,” the MacGuffin of the story, if you will. That’s fine, but it’s not what is interesting here, or particularly enjoyable. What’s interesting is that this movie is the closest that Bond comes to facing someone of his own capabilities. Scaramanga is a former spy himself and is reputed to be the deadliest assassin in the world. Unlike other Bond villains, he’s not a fat old rich guy bent on unspeakable riches or a brilliant geeky doctor-type bent on world domination. Scaramanga isn’t even particularly mentally unbalanced. Like Bond, he’s just an elite hitman who shoots people for money—lots of money—and is excellent at it.
The real plot is a duel among equals, the Golden Gun vs. the Walther PPK, Christopher Lee vs. Roger Moore. And not really good vs. evil, as most Bond movies are.
(By the way, the Golden Gun has become a fetish object with gamers ever since the superlative GoldenEye 007 was released on Nintendo 64 in 1997. The Golden Gun is a special, little, one-shot weapon—and if that one shot hits anywhere on your body, you die. Lots of faux 3D pixilated fun with that!)
There’s more to touch on here—more on Bond elements/clichés, a pros and cons list of Roger Moore as 007, for starters—but I’m going to save those for another time. If you haven’t seen a Bond picture, or have just seen bits and pieces on cable, do not start with this one. Go immediately to any of the ‘60s Sean Connery entries, or perhaps the more recent GoldenEye with Pierce Brosnan. However, if you have seen a couple and just never bothered with The Man With the Golden Gun, check this one out some time. Here are some reasons why:
Entertaining Scenes:
Overlong, silly, but cool opening sequence. Bad guy Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee) hunts the most dangerous game inside his whacked-out island hideout.
Roger Moore is 007, and he’s mixed up with a belly dancer in a bar and her henchmen. Decent fight in very closed quarters.
Hott Bond Girl turns up in Bond’s hotel room. In the most respectful and consensual manner possible, he roughs her for some information.
Scaramanga shoots someone standing near Bond using the Golden Gun, but not Bond himself. WTF?
Bond has to fight sumo wrestlers. Tough gig.
Bond has to fight an entire Kung Fu academy full of students.
Required Bond chase #1. This one is by boat.
Scaramanga uses the Golden Gun twice more. Bad ass both times.
Back in the Hotel Room of Plentiful Nookie, Bond has to choose between two hot women who want him. Loser has to hide under the bed while the winner gets some Bond lovin.’
Required Bond car chase #2. Much better than the first. Like the rest of the movie, it’s too long and awfully short on logic, but appealing.
Bond flies to Scaramanga’s island hideout for the final battle. Not the best ending in Bond history, but the fact that it’s an actual duel makes it better.
Ok, I will see you again in a couple of weeks. Please leave a comment at the bottom—whether about the Bond franchise or this movie in particular—and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!