The Man with the Golden Gun
Directed by Guy HamiltonScaramanga is a hitman who charges one million dollars per job. He becomes linked to the death of a scientist working on a powerful solar cell, and James Bond is called in to investigate. As he tracks down Scaramanga, he realizes that he is highly respected by the killer, but will this prove to be an advantage in the final showdown?
Cast of The Man with the Golden Gun
The Man with the Golden Gun Ratings & Reviews
- 匚卂尺ㄥJanuary 28, 2025.̸̳̔̎̎̎/̸̛̅̅͆̎͞ ̔̿̅ ̄̅̅ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ The second outing of Roger Moore as 007 finds him facing off with perhaps the greatest gun-for-fire of the time who is known as The Man with the Golden Gun. The film is loosely based on the twelfth and last Ian Fleming novel and is the ninth in the overall film franchise with Guy Hamilton returning to direct for his fourth and last film, with the screenplay written by Richard Maibaum and Tom Mankiewicz, who is returning for third consecutive film. At a little over two hours of length, The Man with the Golden Gun is a film that is essentially about two men slowly maneuvering towards a mano a mano showdown with the titular villain with some laughs thrown in. Unlike his first outing Roger Moore appeared to be more reserved in his portrayal of Bond whether by personal choice or direction through I favor the former for one reason. Christopher Lee’ Scaramanga is a scene stealer and given Lee’s acting chops I think Moore knew to let Lee chew his scenes, the result is one of James Bond’s best villains who at heart is simply a dark mirror of Bond himself. Britt Ekland’s Mary Goodnight is frankly the poster for a dumb blond and is in complete contrast with Maud Adams’ Andrea Anders who at least was interesting even though she doesn’t say much. After a cadre of impressive henchmen in Live and Let Die, I think Lee was such a strong presence that no one could really stand out including Herve Villechaize’s Nick Nack. Besides Goodnight, there were several issues with the film, primarily the return of J.W. Pepper whose inclusion was Hamilton’s decision and whose comedic stuff was an add-on that diminished the film. Then Scaramanga’s home being the solar energy station, it felt like another unnecessary add-on that was never alluded to before until his one-on-one conversation with Bond just before their duel. One final note is that personally I think the film’s theme song by Lulu is underrated even with its sexual innuendo though some of these films haven’t shied away from it in their character names or snappy lines so why have an issue for a song? The Man with the Golden Gun is an underrated film, while the essentially worst main “Bond girl” and J.W. Pepper redux harm the film, Christopher Lee brings to life one of James Bond’s greatest villains. Roger Moore’s second outing was on par with this first, so while the quality of the films was overall equal they were not the highs of the Connery years though not the lows either.
- Mister ArnMay 23, 2025Only for James Bond fans
