The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

John Barry sets up a wonderfully sneaky tune for the intro, and the exoticness of the location and beauty of the woman, gives hope that this will be an improvement of the former instalment. A most agile Christopher Lee brings further hope. The intro is filled with suspense and ends on a great one-liner. Fine start!

Bond's first scene with M is also a treat. As usual, 80% of the conversation is implied. As it should be. Generally, Moore seems more comfortable this time around, making full use of his wit and looks, slipping seamlessly between brutality and charm at the wink of an eye, rounding it off with sheer callousness. Yup, all in the same scene.

The film works best at the smaller, suspenseful details. The eyes of Lee over a gun in the dark, with a sly, slow jazz-tune. Fantastic. Another fine detail is the HQ in Hong Kong. Not to mention Scaramanga's island. Even as Bond goes, it doesn't get more exotic than that. And Lee really is a stroke of genius. So many scenes are better due to the sheer quality of his acting.

Unfortunately, after setting up what seemed interesting, director Guy Hamilton, falls for the temptation to increase silliness. He even, for reasons unknown to every living creature on every planet chartered, decides to re-introduce us to Clifton James' insufferable Sheriff Pepper (leaving him yammering and wailing throughout what would otherwise be a decent car-hunt). And then went on to ruin one of the finest car-stunts in film history, with a stupid cork-screw sound.

Furthermore, there are some script-glitches concerning miss Anders. Why would she want Bond to save her, and then not cooperate?

So in conclusion, it's better than "Live and let Die" but strains to find the level of realism vs humour it wants to display, and is therefore uneven throughout. Suspense brilliant, action decent, humour just god-awful. Perhaps they just rushed it. Pity.

6/10


Best car used: 1974 AMC Hornet ... This film's a travesty car-wise
Most memorable drink served: Dom Perignon '64
Henchmen: Hervè Villechaize as Nick Nack. Something for the kids.
Villain: Scaramanga. You can't really go wrong with Christopher Lee, though an assassin with a third nipple is hardly the most spectacular backstory.
Best one-liner: "You have no idea what it went through to get here"
Song: "The Man with the Golden Gun" by Lulu. Most jazzy and cool.
Bond-girl: Brit Ekland as Mary Goodnight. Very hippie and fit for her times. The second Bond-girl in 3 films to put something useful in her bikini-bottom.