There's something about that The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)!

1234568

Comments

  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,206
    Venutius wrote: »
    Which is why Dench's 'he's my agent and I trust him' was a welcome change, I reckon.

    Yeah that's a nice line. I also like that little touch in Golden Gun where he's subtly telling Bond to go and get Scaramanga off the books in a rather gentle friendly way, and as soon as Bond smiles back at him he has to close his defences on him again. Lee at least got those moments of warmth with Bond, where I'm not sure that Brown ever really did. The closest he got was probably in LTK, but they didn't get to share any moment onscreen.
  • Posts: 15,037
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    I'm neither here nor there in this discussion. I like a bit of banter between Bond and M, but I also like a respectful Bond. Going back to Moonraker the novel, I always enjoy the fact that M asks Bond if he'd like to help him out, as a favor. There's a gentlemanly bond between them that I really like. So while I don't mind the occasional conflict, I'd like to see Bond and M in appreciation of each other too.

    Yes I agree. I recall a few times in the books when the relationship became more personal, particularly if the meeting started with M using Bond's first name. I think this happened in Moonraker, also in the short FYEO story, also M asking Bond personal questions about his love life with Tiffany Case (FRWL). One bit made me laugh was when M discusses Bond's good looks in regards Tania falling for Bond, while his mouth turned downwards as if sucking on a lemon. :))

    Their relationships reaches its most personal in the last 2 books (YOLT), when M is debating whether to fire a depressed 007, and then TMWTGG when brainwashed Bond enters M's office to kill him.

    M uses Bond's first name when he sends it to Shrubland too.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 6,207
    mtm wrote: »
    Venutius wrote: »
    Which is why Dench's 'he's my agent and I trust him' was a welcome change, I reckon.

    Yeah that's a nice line. I also like that little touch in Golden Gun where he's subtly telling Bond to go and get Scaramanga off the books in a rather gentle friendly way, and as soon as Bond smiles back at him he has to close his defences on him again. Lee at least got those moments of warmth with Bond, where I'm not sure that Brown ever really did. The closest he got was probably in LTK, but they didn't get to share any moment onscreen.

    Yes, I think what gets a bit lost in CR is that this M is the one who promoted him to 00 in the first place (her trust that got him there prior to breaking into her flat) , so she feels a bit of personal pride.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,206
    echo wrote: »
    mtm wrote: »
    Venutius wrote: »
    Which is why Dench's 'he's my agent and I trust him' was a welcome change, I reckon.

    Yeah that's a nice line. I also like that little touch in Golden Gun where he's subtly telling Bond to go and get Scaramanga off the books in a rather gentle friendly way, and as soon as Bond smiles back at him he has to close his defences on him again. Lee at least got those moments of warmth with Bond, where I'm not sure that Brown ever really did. The closest he got was probably in LTK, but they didn't get to share any moment onscreen.

    Yes, I think what gets a bit lost in CR is that this M is the one who promoted him to 00 in the first place (her trust that got him there prior to breaking into her flat) , so she feels a bit of personal pride.

    I think the chat they have on the phone after Vesper has died cements their relationship rather well.
  • Posts: 12
    When Bond is fighting with the three men in the dancer's room, you can see the cameraman, another guy sitting next to him, and a woman in the mirror. Happens at the 18:31 sec mark. I'd checked this sites "mistakes" for the movie, and even they missed that one.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    edited October 2023 Posts: 6,207
    I'm thinking about the duel scene, and how it could have been better. It could have been more honorable than Scaramanga running away or Bond tricking him (really, Nick Nack) at the end.

    The film was kind of, sort of, building up to the duel. But they chickened out.

    I wonder if they didn't want a duel to kill Scaramanga, ultimately, because Moore's Bond would appear cold-blooded, rather than clever?

    Something like Scaramanga (dishonorably) starts to turn before the count is over, Bond sees him in the mirror, and then in a split second turns around and shoots him?
  • slide_99slide_99 USA
    edited December 2023 Posts: 680
    I always thought that TMWTGG felt like an early Connery Bond movie that just happened to get made in the 70s. It has the down-to-earth feel of those movies, the sense of dread, the low-key absurdity (as opposed to over-the-top spectacle) and the tongue-in-cheek nastiness.

    Even though it wasn't Moore's forte, he pulls off Bond's lethality very well. He seems like an operative on the hunt as opposed to an international playboy wandering through action sequences like in most of his other films. The death scenes have impact because there is relatively few of them; Bond himself only kills one person in the entire movie, Scaramanga. While there is humor, I don't find it overbearing. If anything it nicely contrasts with the darker aspects of the film.

    Overall I've always liked TMWTGG, and I think that it's a unique entry in the series. Usually with the less-popular Bonds like TWINE and QOS, I understand why they're derided, even if I enjoy them personally. But I never understood why TMWTGG gets such a bad rap.
  • edited December 2023 Posts: 1,217
    Some people don't like Dr. No.

    The early Connery Bond movies don't get enough love.

    Yes, TMWGG is like an early Bond movie but if you don't really like Dr. No...

    NSNA has the same problem. It's a love letter to the first movies but people don't care anymore.
  • edited December 2023 Posts: 3,905
    TMWTGG is a weird one. I think fans of the novels/early films tend to gravitate towards it a bit more due to the relatively low key plot, Bond operating as a sort of detective figure (again, akin to many of the novels), and some of the more absurd but Fleming-esque ideas (ie. Scaramanga’s lair containing a fun house). Truth be told these are elements of the film I personally like.

    That said, it’s a film where nothing quite works as it should. Yes, the plot is low key and starts with the rather interesting premise of Bond receiving the golden bullet, but the script seems to default to the Solex which is, let’s be honest, inconsequential and dully utilised. Bond indeed comes across as more hardboiled and crueler in this one, but the film takes this to strange extremes that it’s hard to imagine even Connery making this version of the character look good (ie. locking Goodnight in a closet as he makes love to Andrea, pushing a child into the river, and generally having this weirdly irritable/insufferable manner around Goodnight). There’s absurdity and humour within it, but these are taken to bizarre extremes as well - the tongue in cheek innuendos of the earlier films are replaced with an almost sleazy humour, and what should be otherwise tense moments seem to default to comedy (the ‘slide whistle’ moment and the finale with Nick Nack being examples).

    It’s a shame because there’s legitimately great stuff in there - the dressing room fight (although the logic for Bond getting into said fight and even going there in the first place is a bit questionable), the dialogue between Scaramanga and Bond at the lunch table. The core ideas are all quite interesting, and I suspect had slightly more time been spent honing the script we’d have gotten something better. Maybe not to the point it would have been as successful as LALD (I think the Bond films were at that creative crossroads where they really needed something like TSWLM) but something that would have at least worked on its own merits. What we get is unfortunately a bit of a mess.
  • Jwview008Jwview008 Ohio
    Posts: 11
    A Bond I watch alone. It’s got style. I can overlook the flaws. Maud is gorgeous . lee rocks. It’s different than anything before but still has Barry and Ken adams. Chew me
  • Posts: 31
    I too love Golden Gun.

    For me - and hindsight surely backs me up - seventies Bond was able to have characters and examine themes in a unique and not likely to be repeated environment. It is this element that invariably has me enjoying the seventies films as a collective more than any other decade in the series.

    Christopher Lee is terrific. Part of the seventies dynamic I cited earlier is the off beat and slightly warped relationship between Scaramanga and Nick Nack, something I enjoy with every viewing. Their relationship in addition to the gloriously crazy sets create an air of surreality through this one that no future Bond film is ever likely to remotely approach.

    I really enjoy the theme tune itself. As a consequence perhaps the score is brash and in your face but it works and I think is very enjoyable too. I don't believe there was a Bond as well traveled as Sir Roger. One of his underrated points in his portrayal of Bond is his almost effortless ease in the most exotic and unlikely of circumstances. Almost portraying an old fashioned English gentleman abroad at times, but able to take everything in his stride. From a champagne lunch prior to a duel to the death through to survelliance in a Macau casino, Sir Roger is able to smoothly navigate through a fascinating slice of Asia in the seventies here. I can't imagine a Dalton or Craig portraying the same level of easy charm and it makes his portrayal of Bond very easy to like.

    The films weaknesses are obvious and numerous. But for my part the Britt Ekland subplot merely adds to the surreal nature of it all rather than detracting from it. That she is also jaw droppingly beautiful certainly helps. The martial arts scenes and almost Roald Dahl like story telling touches - the slide whistle, JB Pepper - are less defensible. They're fairly superficial in nature so either you can overlook them or you can't I guess.

    I think it's a wonderfully enjoyable Bond adventure and I have it in my personal top ten. There wasn't a Bond made like this before or since in my view and I think it's worthwhile for its unique charm alone.

    "You'll be the death of me yet Nick Nack."
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,206
    I enjoyed that post, thanks BC.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,206
    How's this for wonderfully strange: a tour of an abandoned museum in Thailand dedicated to TMWTGG

  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    edited July 23 Posts: 24,104
    mtm wrote: »
    How's this for wonderfully strange: a tour of an abandoned museum in Thailand dedicated to TMWTGG


    Lovely! Good find, @mtm. How did you come across this? Were you there?
    Edit: silly question, I now see. Never mind. 😉
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 13,684
    Well that's great to see, and pretty recent based on the flat screen TVs and Craig images. Very well done modern displays. Quite a surprise.

    No less the video presentation, very well done. Tric Trac!

    And that's the elephant I've got on a shelf, actually a pair. Quite a revelation. Pretty amazing.

  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,788
    I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is my favourite Moore Bond. He was a touch stiff in LALD and Kananga's death was too cartoonish (yes, I wanted to see guts fly, not a balloon pop), and after MWTGG Bond movies got plain silly and he got too old for the role quickly. In MWTGG he was in prime form, we got Adam & Barry working their magic, Chris Lee, I mean, whatever mess it might be it was, and is, a thoroughly entertaining one for me.
  • DwayneDwayne New York City
    Posts: 2,810
    FYI,

    The latest issue of Infinity Magazine has a cover story on The Man With the Golden Gun. From what I can tell there is nothing really new, but I found it somewhat interesting that they decided to give the film a major writeup.
    inf-73-cover-600x480.jpg

    https://infinitymagazine.co.uk/product/infinity-73-he-has-a-powerful-weapon/
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,788
    Dwayne wrote: »
    FYI,

    The latest issue of Infinity Magazine has a cover story on The Man With the Golden Gun. From what I can tell there is nothing really new, but I found it somewhat interesting that they decided to give the film a major writeup.
    inf-73-cover-600x480.jpg

    https://infinitymagazine.co.uk/product/infinity-73-he-has-a-powerful-weapon/

    Oh man. I love that painting.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,788
    Why TMWTGG is Moore's best bond:
    He looks amazing in it.
    It has a kickarse song.
    It has Barry music.
    It has bizarre within some kind of reason.
    It has amazing model work explosions.
    It has Britt Ekland.
    It has Christopher Lee.
    It does not have disco music.
    It does not have a Tarzan Yell.
    It does not take place in space.
    It does not feature a villain's death as a balloon popping.
    It is not a retread of Goldfinger or YOLT.



  • edited July 23 Posts: 17,686
    I have always loved TMWTGG. It certainly has its flaws, and for someone who does not care for martial arts, that element of the film is one of the reasons I might not watch it as often as some other Moore entries of the series. It is however one of my favourite performances by Moore as Bond. I think the contrast between the mostly gentlemanly Moore Bond and the moments where he is able to show his colder, more ruthless side works more effectively than for example when Connery's Bond does it – at that more ruthless side to Bond is present in TMWTGG.

    The film also features one of my top three scenes of the entire series (maybe even my favourite!):

  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,788
    I have always loved TMWTGG. It certainly has its flaws, and for someone who does not care for martial arts, that element of the film is one of the reasons I might not watch it as often as some other Moore entries of the series. It is however one of my favourite performances by Moore as Bond. I think the contrast between the mostly gentlemanly Moore Bond and the moments where he is able to show his colder, more ruthless side works more effectively than for example when Connery's Bond does it – at that more ruthless side to Bond is present in TMWTGG.

    The film also features one of my top three scenes of the entire series (maybe even my favourite!):

    I love martial arts, but this movie had extremely tepid ma sequences. For me, it's a comic pause in an otherwise nicely paced film.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,071
    I love this film and have always had a weak spot for it. Scaramanga is my favourite villain of the series, and the golden gun is my favourite gadget, hence the username I suppose.

    Furthermore, the locations and the sets are superb, the dialogue is excellent, I like both Bond girls a lot here too, and Barry's score is nice as well. Also, I am in the minority who thinks this is one of Rog's best turns as 007.

    All in all, a firm favourite of mine, always in or close to my top 10.
  • Posts: 1,217
    chrisisall wrote: »
    Why TMWTGG is Moore's best bond:
    He looks amazing in it.
    It has a kickarse song.
    It has Barry music.
    It has bizarre within some kind of reason.
    It has amazing model work explosions.
    It has Britt Ekland.
    It has Christopher Lee.
    It does not have disco music.
    It does not have a Tarzan Yell.
    It does not take place in space.
    It does not feature a villain's death as a balloon popping.
    It is not a retread of Goldfinger or YOLT.



    You are right about this...

    I don't think it's Moores's best Bond but when I think of Roger Moore's Bond I think of this movie
  • Posts: 17,686
    chrisisall wrote: »
    I have always loved TMWTGG. It certainly has its flaws, and for someone who does not care for martial arts, that element of the film is one of the reasons I might not watch it as often as some other Moore entries of the series. It is however one of my favourite performances by Moore as Bond. I think the contrast between the mostly gentlemanly Moore Bond and the moments where he is able to show his colder, more ruthless side works more effectively than for example when Connery's Bond does it – at that more ruthless side to Bond is present in TMWTGG.

    The film also features one of my top three scenes of the entire series (maybe even my favourite!):

    I love martial arts, but this movie had extremely tepid ma sequences. For me, it's a comic pause in an otherwise nicely paced film.

    Very true!
  • Posts: 1,626
    Mostly, yet not entirely in agreement, so I'll keep it brief:

    Why TMWTGG is Moore's best bond: <-- Nay, TSWLM, which saved the series
    He looks amazing in it. <-- Yup, except for much of the wardrobe
    It has a kickarse song. <-- Nay. A caricature and a waste of Lulu's talents
    It has Barry music. <-- say no more, except: was he the one to blame for the slide whistle during the auto jump ?
    It has bizarre within some kind of reason. <-- yes, bizarre
    It has amazing model work explosions. <-- yes !
    It has Britt Ekland. <-- yes although the "put her in a bikini regardless of reasons" (homage to DAF ?) was odd
    It has Christopher Lee. <-- Wasted, though. He'd have improved TSWLM in that regard, and would not have needed Jaws ! (a tip of the hat to his Dracula films)
    It does not have disco music. <-- Indeed
    It does not have a Tarzan Yell. <-- No, but a slide whistle, and, while we're comparing it with OP, OP had a fantastic spirit and was FUN
    It does not take place in space. <-- Well, not OUTER space, no...
    It does not feature a villain's death as a balloon popping. <-- No, but that funhouse was silly and the ending was telegraphed by the beginning of the film...snore...
    It is not a retread of Goldfinger or YOLT. <-- indeed, nice when they still use the source material, even though the book in this case was thin and needed padding, which it got
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,788
    Since62 wrote: »
    It does not have a Tarzan Yell. <-- No, but a slide whistle, and, while we're comparing it with OP, OP had a fantastic spirit and was FUN
    Actually, I quite enjoy OP- it's very stylish, has Barry music, amazing photography and Louis Jourdan & Steven Berkoff. I guess that makes it my second favourite Moore Bond...
  • edited July 25 Posts: 1,217
    Since62 wrote: »
    Mostly, yet not entirely in agreement, so I'll keep it brief:

    Why TMWTGG is Moore's best bond: <-- Nay, TSWLM, which saved the series
    He looks amazing in it. <-- Yup, except for much of the wardrobe
    It has a kickarse song. <-- Nay. A caricature and a waste of Lulu's talents
    It has Barry music. <-- say no more, except: was he the one to blame for the slide whistle during the auto jump ?
    It has bizarre within some kind of reason. <-- yes, bizarre
    It has amazing model work explosions. <-- yes !
    It has Britt Ekland. <-- yes although the "put her in a bikini regardless of reasons" (homage to DAF ?) was odd
    It has Christopher Lee. <-- Wasted, though. He'd have improved TSWLM in that regard, and would not have needed Jaws ! (a tip of the hat to his Dracula films)
    It does not have disco music. <-- Indeed
    It does not have a Tarzan Yell. <-- No, but a slide whistle, and, while we're comparing it with OP, OP had a fantastic spirit and was FUN
    It does not take place in space. <-- Well, not OUTER space, no...
    It does not feature a villain's death as a balloon popping. <-- No, but that funhouse was silly and the ending was telegraphed by the beginning of the film...snore...
    It is not a retread of Goldfinger or YOLT. <-- indeed, nice when they still use the source material, even though the book in this case was thin and needed padding, which it got


    Britt Ekland in a bikini is great. It's funny how gay villains love Bond Girls with bikinis.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,323
    I do rather enjoy the film and find it to be an interesting entry. It certainly breaks a lot of the regular narrative beats that has been in the series thus far.

    First time Bond is seen going it alone, although not in a huff or because of his mistake.

    I find the tone of the film seems more suitable to Connery's Bond than Moore's. The tonal shift from LALD to TMWTGG is noticeably different. Weird since the creative team from Die was back for the most part. The only difference was Maibaum having a hand in the script. Moore manages to get through the tougher stuff but one wonders if Connery had appeared would it have played better.

    I think the film cheats out at the end. Bond losing his gun ups the suspense, but the fact that he is able to become the mannequin and somehow that mannequin has a loaded PPK seems too much of a reach. The re-appearance of Pepper is another head scratcher as he doesn't strike one as the type to visit Thailand.

    I think Lee stands out as the villain and makes for a worthy adversary to Bond. I love the dinner scene with Bond towards the end of the film. Both men getting their digs in while a scared Goodnight watches on. I am glad that the producers didn't land Jack Palance as Scaramanga. I simply adore Lee here and he plays the part so well.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,206
    I'd say Bond goes it alone in OHMSS.

    Good point about Palance: he would have made a good version of the Scaramanga in the book.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,788
    Just finished watching it (again). So much fun. OMG Goodnight's bikini...
Sign In or Register to comment.