Bond Retrospective: "The Man With The Golden Gun"

Released: 1974

Actor: Roger Moore

Villain: Scaramanga (Christopher Lee)

Henchman: Nick Nack (Herve Villechaize)

Allies: Goodnight, Hip

Bond Girl: Mary Goodnight (Britt Ekland), Andrea (Maud Adams)

First Appearance: None worth reporting

Precredits sequence: Nick Nack sets a challenge for Scaramanga to dispose of, which he does, ending with a statue of his next target, 007.

Plot: M receives a golden bullet with "007" on it, the bullet being a trademark of a million-dollar-per-hit assassin, Scaramanga. Bond is removed from all missions, and takes it upon himself to find Scaramanga. The search first leads to where he killed 002 in Beirut, Lebanon, where he finds the golden bullet used to kill him. Then, he's off to Macau to find the man who makes the guns. While there, he witnesses an energy specialist being killed by Scaramanga, and for his safety, a local MI-6 officer, Mary Goodnight, is sent to accompany him. The search leads to Scaramanga's assistant, Andrea, who offers him what MI-6 wants, a solar generator, in return for freedom. Se sent the 007 bullet to M as a sign of help. Scaramanga finds out, kills her, and kidnaps Goodnight. Bond finds his way to Scaramanga's island, eventually killing him, getting the plexus, destroying the island, and bedding Goodnight. And we are promised a return in TSWLM.

Thoughts: Much better a film that I remember it being, but JW Pepper is extremely annoying. It had the classic henchman attacks at the end, with Nick Nack, who I'm guessing inspired mini me from Austin Powers. Scaramanga was a good villain, and the mission to stop him before he kills 007 was good. Goodnight wasn't a fantastic bond girl, though. Overall decent, with still some camp, which detracts from it.

 

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