As I continue my (long overdue) trek through the James Bond Series ( which I almost completely forgot about until yesterday), I am reminded of the sheer wonder and enjoyment that the Bond series has given me over the years. Although, I am also reminded of the absolute stupidity that encompasses the worst of the series. The Man with the Golden Gun may not be the worst, but man is it chalk full of stupid ideas.
After his first outing as Bond, Roger Moore was still one movie away from reaching his full potential as 007. Until that movie, Moore was going to have to work through his first complete piece of crap ( Live and Let Dies was perfectly fine). Depending on your opinion of Moore (I know litrock has quite a bit to say about him) you may find him either serviceable or misogynistic in this film. Of all the Bond actors, Moore especially falls under those two categories most often. In Golden Gun, he is frequently seen yelling, hitting, or generally taking advantage of every woman he encounters. On the other hand, Moore seems to be working at a mediocre/average pace throughout the film. Honestly, his work in the film is better than most of the other actors ( aside from Christopher Lee).
The rest of the material in the movie is all over the place. Aside from Christopher Lee, who plays Scaramanga, the film is extremely mediocre and borderline abysmal in parts. Scaramanga, the bad guy of the film, leaves MI6 worried when he sends them a bullet with "007" engraved on it. Bond is then sent to track down the bullet maker and eventually Dracula... I mean Scaramanga. In several of his films, Bond is portayed as a detective, looking for clues and investigating leads. Bond's investigations harken back to Live and Let Die and Dr. No and then slip away and end up in a furnace. Every chance this film has at keeping the investigation engaging is ruined by Bond either going crazy or meeting a naked woman in a pool. Even a third nipple can not keep the story interesting.
Bond does have quite the trip (in the Orient) in this film. He goes from karate school to pulling a corkscrew to hanging with a stereotypical southern white trash piece of.... alright you get the point. The bottom line is that some crazy stuff happens and thats not even mentioning the guy from Fantasy Island who serves as henchmen to Count Dooku....I mean Scaramanga. Long story short, Bond ends up flying to his adversary's private island to take him down. After a high noon showdown, both men find themselves hiding in a funhouse
HE'S A GONER FOR SURE!
OVERALL BOND FILM RATING- just avoid it, unless you really want to see it
BOND ACTING SCORE- mediocre
BOND VILLIAN SCORE- he's pretty good( he's Christopher Lee)
BEST GADGET- the golden gun ( made from household items)
WTF MOMENT----tie----- Sheriff Pepper again!!!, corkscrew, flying car, slide whistle, nick nack, bottoms up club!?
P.S Sorry about the the unofficial sabbatical that accidently took. For a moment there I completely forgot about this whole thing.
