Production Year: 1974 - Action/Adventure - Director: Guy Hamilton - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Maud Adams, Clifton James, Marc Lawrence, Bernard Lee, Soon-Teck Oh, Richard Loo
Christopher Lee and Roger Moore are great adversaries
Disadvantages:
Comc handling of a sensitive subject - energy crisis
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Following the success of Live And Let Die, Roger Moore takes up the role of MI6 special agent James Bond for the second time in The Man With The Golden Gun, with Hollywood heavy and horror legend Christopher Lee taking up the role of the villain, Scaramunga. Guy Hamilton takes the director's seat for the final time in a Bond film, but this time causing controversy with the topic of the film clashing with the energy crisis in Britain in 1973.
The Plot
Bond is led to believe that he has been targeted by one of the world's most deadly assassins, Scaramunga, reclusive killer with a distinctive feature in that he has a third nipple. At the same time, a device has come on the black market, a device that can be used to harness the sun's power to avert the energy crisis. Bond goes in search of the device and Scaramunga, anxious to avoid being assassinated, and through his cunning learns of the killer's location.
The Cast and Performances
Roger Moore does very well in an acting sense here. In previous Bond films, the MI6 agent's life has always been in danger, but because he is the one investigating the villains. Here, he is the one supposedly targeted, and Moore's angst on screen shows the toll this takes on Bond. There is a good performance from Britt Ekland as the Bond girl Mary Goodnight, and one from Maud Adams as Andrea Anders. Herve Villechaize turns in a marvellous performance as Scaramunga's midget servant Nick Nack, but he is blown away, as are all the other performers, by the on screen presence of Christopher Lee as Scaramunga. This is a marvellous portrayal of an assassin, and I was very impressed.
Clifton James returns in the role of Sheriff J W Pepper, loud mouthed, red faced law enforcement that Bond met in Live And Let Die, a more comic character than anything else, a kind of bumbling over-exuberant Sheriff. Bernard Lee, Desmond Llewellyn and Lois Maxwell return as M, Q and Miss Moneypenny. The remainder of the cast support very well.
My Opinion
This film performed badly at the box office, but this is not because of the quality of the film, which is actually very high. The performances and direction and scenery are magnificent in combination. It is the subject matter that caused consternation and criticism. At the time of the film's production in 1973, the energy crisis was at the fore of politics and the news, and it was a very delicate subject matter. The film was nearly comic in its handling of the energy crisis, and there was a farcical feel to it, which did not sit well with the public, and many boycotted going to see it when it was released in 1974 with the crisis still ongoing.
The film itself is a very well made one, and if you put away the error of insensitivity with the energy crisis and examine it from another angle, we have yet another stellar film from the franchise. Lulu sings the title track this time, and with some fine locations and character acting along the way, the film is a very good one.
Conclusion
Good film, but subject matter handled insensitively.
