The Man with the Golden Gun

**Excellent Bond film.** Superior Bond film with Christopher Lee as an assassin who sets his sights on Sir Roger Moore. Big mistake! A fast moving entry from Guy Hamilton that has lovely locations, incredible stunts - (The car flip has yet to be bettered) sexy ladies, a great theme tune, the return of the hilarious Sheriff J W Pepper and of course the legendary Sir Roger Moore as James Bond. If only the bland 2006 reboot were as entertaining.

“The plane, the plane” Agent 007 (Roger Moore) learns that he’s on the hit list of the world's most expensive assassin, Scaramanga (Christopher Lee). Traveling from Beirut to Macau, China, to Bangkok, Thailand, he aims to confront the assassin while recovering sensitive solar cell equipment. Hervé Villechaize is on hand as Scaramanga’s little assistant, Nick Nack. “The Man with the Golden Gun” (1974) was Moore’s second outing as Bond. He did 7 films for the franchise in 13 years from 1973-1985. Moore’s stint is my favorite run in the series with all seven films being kinetic, amusing, scenic and just all-around entertaining. There’s not one clunker in the bunch and they were all profitable at the box office, but this one kinda got lost between the cracks of “Live and Let Die” (1973) and “The Spy who Loved Me” (1977). Director Guy Hamilton made three prior Bond films, “Live and Let Die,” “Diamonds are Forever” (1971) and “Goldfinger” (1964), and wanted 007 to be more rough around the edges in this movie, like he is in Ian Fleming’s book. As such, Moore's acting seems more "tough” here than his other Bond entrees; for instance, the way he treats Andrea (Maud Adams) in the arm twisting scene. But Moore didn't like playing the character this way and toned it down for the rest of his installments. There’s picturesque Asian globetrotting, with the Thailand islands being particularly scenic (standing in for “Red Chinese waters”). On the female front, there’s Agent Mary Goodnight played by Britt Ekland, who looks great in a floral bikini during the last reel. There’s also the aforementioned Adams as Andrea and a cameo by Chew Mee. Memorable moments include an entertaining martial arts academy sequence; the amusing return of redneck Sheriff JW Pepper (Clifton James), who’s vacationing in Bangkok with his wife; a great car-jumping stunt; and Scaramanga’s secret solar power plant operation. The film runs 2 hours, 5 minutes and was shot in Thailand (Phang Nga Bay and Bangkok) and Hong Kong/ Macau, with additional work done in England. GRADE: B