With Skyfall dropping in theaters in just a few months, along with the 50th anniversary of the James Bond series, a close friend and fellow film nerd, Brandon Peters, has generously offered to do a comprehensive review of the entire 007 film franchise. Today is the eigth entry, with a full review of one of the very worst films in the franchise, The Man With the Golden Gun. I hope you enjoy what is a pretty massive feature leading up the November 9th release of Skyfall. I'll do my best to leave my two-cents out of it, give or take a few items I have up my sleeve (including a guest review from my wife as she sings the praises of her favorite 007 film, you won't believe what it is). But just because I'm stepping aside doesn't mean you should, as I can only hope for robust discussions in the comments section. Without further ado...
The Man With The Golden Gun
1974
Director: Guy Hamilton
Starring: Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, Maud Adams,
Britt Ekland, Herve Villechaize
Rated PG
A duel between titans…my golden gun against
your Walther PPK.
~Francisco
Scaramanga
It is obvious that this contest cannot be
decided by our knowledge of the force, but by our skills with a lightsaber.
~Count Dooku
STATS
Kills: 1!
Bond
Girls: Mary Goodnight, Andrea Anders
Car: AMC Hornet
Locales: Hong Kong, Bangkok
Odd Villain
Trait: Scaramanga has a 3rd
nipple, Nick Nack is a dwarf
Song: “The Man with the Golden Gun” performed by
LuLu
Right on the
heels of Live and Let Die and a year
later, James Bond returned in The Man
With The Golden Gun (MWTGG). This
is the film almost killed the 007 franchise.
I’m sure down the road a reboot or additional film(s) would have
eventually been made, but this one almost stopped it dead in its tracks. A lot of the film’s plot feels very tired and
the movie isn’t very colorful regarding its performers and action. There’s not very much fun to have in this
one.
