The Man With the Golden Gun VHS

Definitely not one of the best Bond films, although it is very entertaining in an extremely light-hearted way. It was filmed in a hurry following the success of Live And Let Die, and unfortunately it shows. There are plot holes and very silly situations, and it descends into 1970s camp. All it's missing is Burt Reynolds or possibly an Orangutan. Still, the cast is extremely good, notably Christopher Lee, Hervé Villechaize, Maud Adams and Clifton James. Bernard Lee as "M" gets a lot more lines than usual and they are usually biting and funny. Despite the comedic tone, can we just reflect on what a bad time Maud Adams' character has: mistreated by the two main men, and then killed off. On the plus side, she landed the title role in Octopussy on the strength of her performance here. There's not much else to this movie: it's silly, fun, nonsense. I expect when they realized they were going to have to do Scaramanga's third-nipple they decided they had to go comedy, since there's no way to make that serious.

The Man With The Golden Gun was Roger Moore’s second Bond film and was by far his best. The movie was a personal test between Bond and Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee) the Man with the Golden Gun. Scaramanga was an elite assassin who was obsessed with the facing off against the legend of 007.Moore’s first Bond film was Live and Let Die which was a blaxploitation flick. This was the first time he took part in a traditional Bond movie and played the role well.The movie has some great scenes in between the Bond-Scaramanga story. For instance, Bond goes to the mansion of Hai Fat (Richard Loo) a rich industrialist working with Scaramanga. He gets ambushed by two sumo wrestlers, but it’s Scaramanga’s midget butler Nick Nack (Herve Villechaize) who gets to knock him out. Then Bond is taken to a martial arts school where he is supposed to take on a series of fighters. The first one he meets he knocks out with a kick to the head as soon as they bow to each other. Then he tries to escape and is confronted with a group of men. He’s ready to fight them when Inspector Hip (Soon Tek Oh) and his nieces show up. Bond tells the two girls to stand back, but they push him out of the way and then beat up the whole lot of men. Inspector Hip tells Bond that their father runs a Karate school.Overall The Man With The Golden Gun was great fun. Unfortunately, afterward the series would quickly decline as it stopped taking itself seriously and almost became a mockery of itself.C

There is a proverb in Ethiopia that when gold is taken for granted, gold in one's hand is sometimes considered to be like cheap copper- as are people. I feel this is summative of what happened to James Bond during the post-Connery years. Bond was a cash cow and was taken for granted and so what could have been gold, the first few Roger Moore 007 flicks that is, fell far enough below their potential that they are considered by some fans to be the lowest quality segments of the series. As always, my desire is to give anecdotal evidence without ruining the movie for anyone who has not seen it yet. With that in mind I make two points. In The Man With The Golden Gun, Bond is more or less the same guy as in Live & Let Die. He likes to quip and do bizarre stuff but in this case it is less noticeable as he is overshadowed by the weakest female partner of his entire career. Britt Ekland's Agent Goodnight is absolutely ridiculous. She is very attractive and the scenes of her in a bikini merit her presence in the movie (for guy fans anyway) but she is constantly whining to 007 when she fails at menial tasks and seems to need constant supervision. In addition, she almost kills Bond at the end with her clumsiness and lack of acuity. Overall, she detracts from the movie. Lastly, while the villains in this film are a huge step up from those in the preceding 007 adventure, the absolutely unbelievable things they do again fuel the feeling of many Bond fans that the Moore years were far too keen on using impossible technology as plot devices. Christopher Lee as Scaramanga is a great nemesis for Bond with all of his witticisms and his clever combat arena at the end if it can be called that. His henchman Nick Nack also deserves a thumbs up. Their flying car is way off the edge of the chart though and so is their solar powered laser. There is no evidence of any kind to even make quasi-science for these feasible. All in all, the movie is fun for escapism but anyone who is bothered by the absolutely impossible distracting from the believable would be better off looking at a different 007 movie. The presentation of this movie is a great sound and video experience. It probably looks better than it did in the theatre in 1974. No problems here. And the extras are pretty nice as always too. For the above mentioned issues, I can give this movie four stars but just barely. It had better villains and scene development than its predecessor thus deserving credit but Bond's partner in this movie distracts as little more than eye candy and the silly antics that are still rampant distract from the movie too. I recommend this movie as a good time and a required part of any Bond collection. Some fans may want to look for a different Bond movie if the above mentioned details will cause concern. The production staff just did not seem to realize the potential their content and cast had and thus did this series a great disservice.

The Roger Moore Bond era came in for a fair bit of criticism; not only did he have to compete with Sean Connery’s interpretation of the superspy, but, by adding more wry humour to the franchise, people saw his films as too comic to be believable. ‘The Man With the Golden Gun’ is Moore’s second outing and I think it’s possibly the film that bridges the gap between dark and comic, incorporating elements of both, but never leaning directly towards either.For a start we have no hollowed-out lair for a Persian cat-stroking super villain to reside in. Instead, we simply have a rival hitman who has his sights set on being the best in the world. Of course that means removing one 007 in the process. So it’s far more of a simple premise when compared to the typical plans for world domination that Bond has to thwart on a day to day basis. Christopher Lee plays the rival hitman, Scaramanga, with typical charm and menace, making him almost appear as Bond’s ‘dark side.’ There’s plenty of near misses between the two in what could be described as a ‘cat and mouse’ type affair until the inevitable climax.So, the plot is simple and deadly in nature, but it wouldn’t be a Roger Moore Bond film without humour. As I mentioned, the jokes never really detract from the obvious danger Bond is in at all times. Scaramanga’s primary henchman ‘Knick-knack’ may be small in stature, but more than makes up for his lack of size in terms of brutality and mischief (sometimes so much so you could be mistaken for watching a David Lynch film as the ‘arena’ set during the duel is pretty psychedelic – and, when you mix it with a cheeky but mysterious dwarf, you have a precursor to Twin Peaks if ever I saw one!). The jokes hit the mark and about the ‘silliest’ the film gets is the return of Sherriff JW Pepper who some people will most likely find irritating and detracting from the overall story (however, I really enjoyed his over-the-topness!).So, combine the darkness of the Connery era with some Moore humour and you have a winning combination. Naturally, you also have the beautiful locations, exciting chase scenes and Britt Ekland as the obligatory Bond girl. But if you don’t want to get quite as silly as Bond making Tarzan noises while swinging through a jungle (Octopussy), yet don’t want quit the levels of brutality displayed by Connery when he strangles a woman with her own bikini (Diamonds Are Forever) then this is a perfect in between Bond film that should entertain all.

This is not the best Bond film ever, nor even Roger Moore's best contribution to the franchise, but it's fun in a 'it was all right in the 70s' way. Christopher Lee as Scaramanga is one of my favourite Bond villains, and Hervé Villechaize's diminutive Nick Nack is certainly a memorable henchman. The Thai and Hongkong filming locations are glorious and exotic. Maud Adams, who would later star in the title role in Octopussy, appears as Andrea Anders, and Swedish lovely with huge baby blues Britt Eklund is main Bond girl Mary Goodnight. Fun is Clifton James's hilarious cameo as the irate sheriff J.W. Pepper (a huge fan favourite from Live and Let Die). Also worth mentioning is the chase with the barrel roll stunt of the car and the title song performed by Lulu.The two-disc Ultimate Edition DVD I purchased has a beautifully restored picture and very good sound quality. There are English (and various other language) subtitles for those who may need them. Also included are the following (very generous) extra features: - Newly Recorded Audio Commentary Featuring Roger Moore - Declassified MI6 Vault - Roger Moore and Hervé Villechaize - The Russell Harty Show - On Location with 'The Man With the Golden Gun' - Guy Hamilton - The Director Speaks - Girls Fighting - American Thrill Show Stunt Film - The Road to Bond: Stunt Coordinator W.J. Milligan Jr. - 007 Mission Control - Interactive Guide into the World of 'The Man With the Golden Gun' - Mission Dossier - Audio Commentary featuring director Guy Hamilton and members of the cast and crew - Inside 'The Man With the Golden Gun' - An Original Documentary - Double-O Stuntmen: A look at the greatest stunts and stunt performances in the Bond films - Ministry of Propaganda - Original Trailers, TV Spots, Photo Gallery and Radio Communications

James Bond discovers that a million dollar hit man named Scaramanga has a contract out on him and heads to the far east to investigate.Impossibly fun Bond adventure with not a dull moment. Following on from his brilliant first movie Roger Moore continiues his charm offensive here continuing to mould his own style to the film and does so in very well, Christopher Lee as the ruthless Scaramanga is exceptional, and indeed one of the most memorable of the series plus Britt Ekland & Maud Adams as the main Bond girls are both strong presences in the film. John Barry score the film, after missing the last film, and having just 3 weeks to do so (despite him saying it was his least favourite) I think does a great job keeping the mystery, action and suspense alive, Guy Hamilton directs his last of the films he did in the franchise and does a very accomplished job keeping the pace and action rolling along very nicely. Sheriff J.W. (Clifton James) return from live and Let Die and gets involved in one of the best stunts of the series, the broken bridge jump, it's brilliantly done and an incredibly memorable scene, the other action set-pieces are equally done very well (the flying car), the Scaramanga climax is well shot and actually quite suspenseful and the beat sequence with Nick Nack at the end is a lot of fun.There is quite a light touch in this film and in truth if there are any (very minor) negatives it may be that however, in my opinion, the film has been too unfairly maligned because of this, because there are some very funny lines-Bond to Andrea-"unless the bottom's up club is a strip club, and Scaramanga is performing there"-yes the camp humour is there but this is still a very well made & always interesting Bond adventure. Easy to watch over and over again. 5/5

Star Roger Moore's Second Outing As Agent 007 In The James Bond Blockbuster The Man With The Golden Gun. Moore slips more comfortably into The role he established in Live And Let Die. you Don't really need another full review here except To say it's a James Bond movie Though lifted a Notch higher Than its predecessors .Regular movie Dracula Christopher Lee steps in as The usual Bond villain Scaramanga The Man With The Golden Gun while The inevitable Bond Girl Expect To see a Bikini clad Britt Ekland as Mary Goodnight. All The usual Thrills and spills you expect To see in These movies are all on view exotic locations The signature Stunt featuring some incredible car stunt work and it wouldn't be a Bond movie without an explosive climatic final. as with all The Bond releases The Man With The Golden Gun Delivers an excellent HD Blu-ray Transfer The Disc comes laden with special features behind The scenes on The making of The movie with contributions from Moore, Lee, and Britt Ekland. one rare Gem finds a clip of Roger Moore on The Russel Harty show clearly Moore is having a ball as he his plugging The latest Bond movie. as I mentioned earlier you Don't really need a full review it's a James Bond movie and a Good one at That which is all you really need To know. without sounding Too Bond like This one will leave you shaken and stirred.

Not one of the best, though it does have some iconic moments. The villain's lair on some weird islands, the lunch party on the beach where Lee and Moore spar verbally before trying to kill each other. "We're very similar, aren't we, Mr Bond?" Herve Villechaize is good as a sinister butler. Otherwise there is some quite terrible slapstick, innuendos that belong in a Christmas cracker, cardboard computers run by one henchman, and Britt Eckland as a brainless bird.