Reviewing Bond: The Man with the Golden Gun

Often maligned as one of the weaker Bond outings, The Man With the Golden Gun often winds up in most subjective and objective lists as among the worst in the entire series. I cannot quite understand why that is, except for it feeling a bit drab overall. There’s a sort of dour mood about the whole thing, and when it’s not being deadly serious it is trying for absurd humor with our debut of the Moore-era slide whistles. So is this tonal inconsistency a fair criticism against the film?

Setting & Story

For me personally, Scaramanga’s Thai island base with its circus funhouse beneath a retro-futuristic solar energy factory and mid-century bachelor pad is my favorite all time Bond setting/lair combo. The funhouse alone stands out as being so bizarre to me that I’ve more or less had it seared into my memory. It’s not just enough for Christopher Lee’s Scaramanga to be the world’s greatest assassin, he has to make a game of it too (more on that later). Long before Tomorrow Never Dies or White Lotus treated us to the islands around Thailand, TMWTGG did so first. So synonymous with the film is the egg-shaped island that Khao Ping Kan is actually referred to in English as “James Bond island.” Fun fact: Tomorrow Never Dies not only returns to this island cropping, but also uses a similar boat to the one Scaramanga uses in the 1974 film. It doesn’t get more iconic than an island named after the film, and the series later paying homage to it.  10/10

Now for our story… MI6 is sent an unusual caliber golden bullet with 007 engraved on it. Based on these unique characteristics, M tells Bond that he is being hunted by Francisco Scaramanga— the world’s greatest assassin, a ghost who no one can identify save for the rumor about his third nipple. Bond is primarily assigned to a case involving a solar energy scientist, Gibson, and his energy-crisis averting invention: the Solex Agitator. Due to this threat M pulls him off the case. Unsatisfied, Bond suggests he try and hunt down Scaramanga and obtains Moneypenny’s help to go rogue. This sends him on a continent hopping tour before he tracks down Scaramanga’s bullet-manufacturer who later tips him off about a future delivery picked up by Scaramanga’s muse, Andrea Anders (Maud Adams). Under pressure, Anders reveals Scaramanga’s next location: The Bottom’s Up Club. It is there that Bond learns he is not the target, but rather Gibson, the solar energy scientist is, and he is assassinated right beside Bond. Scaramanga’s little-person henchman, Nick Nack steals the Solex Agitator off the victim. Bond is then arrested for the crime, escorted out of the area by Hong Kong policeman Hip to an unusual field location for MI6 (a wrecked oceanliner, The Queen Elizabeth). Bond theorizes only one man would want Gibson dead, and that’s Hai Fat, a wealthy industrialist. Bond infiltrates his lair posing as Scaramanga to obtain information from Mr. Fat. Turns out not only did Mr. Fat pay Scaramanga to kill the scientist to get rich off his invention, but he also knows James Bond is not Scaramanga, because the real Scaramanga works for him. After Bond fleas from a karate syndicate via river boat, he is met by Anders, who tells Bond she sent the 007 bullet, she wanted him to kill Scaramanga. Meanwhile, Scaramanga devises his own get-rich scheme by taking out his employer Hai Fat to steal the energy marvel for himself. Anders meets Bond to provide him with the Solex Agitator, but is killed by Scaramanga. Meanwhile Bond’s damsel in distress secret agent, Mary Goodnight is captured by Scaramanga, leading Bond directly to his island lair. It is here that we get our final cat and mouse showdown, resulting in Bond winning at Scaramanga’s game, while Mary Goodnight accidentally blows the place up with a frozen goon. Having retrieved the Solex Agitator, Bond and Goodnight finally seek to do the deed on Scaramanga’s ship before they are so rudely interrupted by M, and then Nick Nack. M is hung up on, and Nick Nack is rather hilariously hung up on the ships mast like a figurehead on a pirate ship.

It’s a straight forward story which achieves most of its suspense not through direct action but through a drawn out game of cat and mouse. For the majority of the films runtime, we are led to believe Scaramanga is in fact out for Bond. As an equal to him, Bond feels in genuine peril throughout the film, making for good suspense. This is generally an area where the film excels, and what certainly kept my interest throughout. 

The film is based on Fleming’s 1965 posthumous novel of the same name, and updated for then modern times with the 1973 energy crisis. Series veterans Richard Maibaum and Tom Mankiewicz wrote the script, also incorporating the popular martial arts cinema of the era. The martial arts stuff is fun but feels a bit forced, and also farcical with even Hip’s nieces being Kung Fu experts proficient enough to take down a whole dojo (the every Asian knows karate stereotype). Honorable mention to my biggest laugh of the film: when Bond kicks his martial arts adversary, knocking him out cold before his bow is even done (gaining an unsportsmanlike advantage).

The tone of this film is also super weird. Everyone at MI6 seems extremely pissed off. Yes we are now used to M being a bit cantankerous but here Bernard Lee’s M actually wishes aloud that Bond were Scaramanga’s target (essentially wishing him dead) while in the same scene he tells Q to shut up multiple times. Even Moneypenny at the film’s outset feels rather cold and tired. Everyone here is just acting like their job is a giant inconvenience. To top it all off, even Moore’s humor delivery feels a bit too dry (with his dialog yet to be perfected). 

Despite how pissed off everyone was, this is also the same film where we get Bond in a car chase with JW Pepper, pulling an Evil Knieval barrel roll stunt to a slide whistle. On the one hand we have a very serious espionage game of cat and mouse, with the solution to the world’s energy crisis laying in the balance and then… JW Pepper and slide whistles. It’s just very tonally inconsistent.

It’s definitely a weird film which was not well received at the time. In fact it was so critically panned it nearly ruined the franchise, with the film series taking a then record hiatus until 1977’s excellent The Spy Who Loved Me.

So where does this story rank for me? I happen to like the cat/mouse story of Scaramanga vs. Bond itself, but the execution around our main plot is very tonally inconsistent. 5/10.

Overall with a very memorable setting and villain, despite a tonally inconsistent and odd outing, this category earns a respectable but not stellar 6/10.

Gadgets and Vehicles

Apart from Mary Goodnight’s homing device, there’s not a whole lot of Q branch equipment in this one. In fact Q is rather oddly deployed to the field like another intelligence analyst, explaining the technical feasibility of various villains and industrialists inventions or capabilities (only to repeatedly be told to shut up by M). It’s a really strange use of Q and Q branch which is also not especially enjoyable. It’s all rather mean in fact.

No vehicles are provided to our spy either. Bond must borrow both a river boat and his AMC Hornet.

3/10 very strange outing.

Action Sequences

Both the river boat sequence and the car chase feature JW Pepper and loads of comical relief which feels like a stark departure from what has been a terribly serious affair so far. The slide whistle in the climax of the vehicle chase is so bizarre here, it would feel just as out of place if it were used in a Daniel Craig Bond film.

Similar to the action in its predecessor, Live & Let Die, action here is approached with a heavy hand at humor. JW Pepper is back for another boat chase, this time as a tourist in Thailand. The only reason we get this boat chase to begin with is due to a weird plot hole where Bond is left behind as officer Hip speeds away from the dojo without him, forcing 007 to seek other transportation options. Later he finds himself in the car with Bond, who has stollen the AMC Hornet out of s show room our good old boy was visiting. I happen to prefer Pepper here over his first appearance in Live & Let Die if only because we at least get Bond in the same scene as him. It’s still extremely silly, but I am not as annoyed by him in this one and actually get a good laugh out of the antics, including the bridge stunt to the slide whistle. 

Laughs and slide whistle aside, if this were Octopussy and Pepper was visiting India and stuck in a rickshaw full of Bop-It goons with Bond on the run, I’d be roaring and appreciate it so much more. But this is Pepper visiting Thailand, and up until now (with few exceptions) this film has played it quite serious. So the action set-pieces here feel inappropriately comical given the tone of our film so far. They also feel forced, because as mentioned we get a plot hole just to give Bond some action-hero stuff to do. In some ways I’d go as far as saying these set pieces feel disruptive. I really wish we got more of the stealth games between Scaramanga and Bond, and less of the action scenes with JW Pepper and the world’s most incompetent dojo goons. Speaking of the Kung-Fu craze, the fight choreography here is very poor, instantly cutting away as a blow is landed. 

If this film succeeds anywhere it is in its cat-mouse games between Bond and Scaramanga throughout the film, particularly the duel and finale in the funhouse. However, I do also think the killing of Scaramanga feels abrupt, like we lost some context on the cutting room floor. Bond loses his Walther from the scaffolding, and we never see him recover it or get into position for the kill. We just cut to Scaramanga, slithering through the mirrors, and then— BANG, Bond shoots Scaramanga, posing as his own statue. It’s all a bit too improbable and janky and it ends what was otherwise such a good hunting/stalking scene with a sort of let-down.

For its humor over high octane action in a film otherwise devoid of humor and an inconsistent approach to action direction/editing overall, 5/10. It’s entertaining but it’s also far from exceptional. 

Villain and Bond Girls

There’s quite a few fantastic villains in otherwise bad Bond films (Christopher Walken also comes to mind here). Christopher Lee’s Francisco Scaramanga is no exception. I think absent the casting of Lee this film would probably wind up at the very bottom of fans ranking, competing with Die Another Day and Diamonds… for that dubious distinction. Instead Christopher Lee is what makes this film watchable. Unlike those other two poorly rated Bond films, I actually enjoy returning to this one in spite of its flaws because of Christopher Lee’s performance. He is so good at playing the role of the mysterious assassin, I savor every scene he is in. He doesn’t overdo it like a lot of Bond villains, he is grounded in his performance, convincing you of both his ability and that he is Bond’s equal. The iconic golden gun remains one of the series’ most recognizable signatures to this day. So for that reason, I cannot give Scaramanga less than a 10/10.

I think what elevates Scaramanga’s creepiness is his miniature man-servant henchman, Nick Nack, played by Herve Villechaize (best known for Fantasy Island and its influence on the portrayal of JD Vance on the latest season of Southpark). Nick Nack is unintentionally hilarious, especially in his final scenes before getting tied up atop a ship. His unwavering loyalty and creepiness, as he slithers around this world we find ourselves in, contributes to another standout villain performance. His French accent, and thinly veiled threats aimed at “Monsieur Bond” make every scene his is in enjoyable to watch. For me Nick Nack is right up there with series all-timers Jaws and Odd-Job as the greatest henchmen the series has to offer. I just wish we could play him in Bond multiplayer shooters, alas I guess his height was seen as an unfair advantage (which is also why most Goldeneye tournaments also forbid playing as Odd-Job). 10/10.

We have two Bond girls in this outing, one is a silly secret agent who puts Bond in peril more times than Tiffany Chase, and the other is one of two outings for Maud Adams in another role where she gets to turn heel.

Let’s start with Heather Graham’s parody inspiration in Austin Powers: Mary Goodnight, played by Swedish actress Britt Ekland. This character is often maligned by fans and casual viewers alike as supremely annoying and incompetent to such an extraordinary degree that it takes viewers out of the realism of the film. This character is another example of silliness that tonally derails our film. She is not especially funny, and comes off as a supreme annoyance, even more so than Tiffany Case at times. Sure folks may chastise the casting of Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist but at least she helps Bond (I am starting to now consider Richards btw as we approach final rankings time). This role called for a more serious take. 3/10.

Our second Bond girl is more grounded but still feels underutilized. I wish we could have cut Goodnight from the film and instead focused on the relationship between Maud Adam’s Andrea Anders and Bond. Considering Bond and Scaramanga are considered direct rivals, I think it would have been interesting to see more of Andrea’s rationale for wanting her super-assassin boyfriend taken out by 007. Her reveal that she was the one who sent the golden bullet feels undersold and unbelievable since viewers probably needed some more scenes with Anders to better understand why she is so loathsome towards Scaramanga. Keep in mind that when Bond confronts her in the hotel room, she must be coerced into giving up Scaramanga’s plans at the club. You could of course argue that was just Anders playing double agent, convincing Bond she is still Scaramanga’s girl in order to get him to do her bidding. Even if that is the case, we still deserved more rationale for her change in heart and we don’t get that in this film. Therefore, despite Adams delivering a perfectly serviceable and grounded performance, the character of Andrea Anders is poorly conceived and utilized, earning her a 5/10.

Overall we get two excellent villains, but one outright bad Bond girl and another mediocre due to poor writing. That evens out this category to a 7/10.

Wildcard!

There is no denying that this film is a bit of a mess. Yet I do enjoy returning to it. Why? I absolutely love the rival assassin angle. The feeling that Scaramanga lurks anonymous around every corner provides this film a great thriller tone, which is why it’s such a shame that we get such oddly timed humor interrupting it. I especially enjoy their final scene at the table in the island lair where Scaramanga tells Bond he must enjoy killing as much as he does, to which Bond responds that he would admittedly get pleasure killing him. It’s a great scene examining the rivalry which has been successfully built up to this point in the film. However, we just don’t get enough of it. For what the film does do right it earns a decent 6/10.

Conclusion.

This is a flawed film that is only saved by the spectacular combined performances of Christopher Lee and Herve Villechaise. Had they abandoned the camp for a more serious thriller tone here, I think this film would actually be ranked towards the top of lists. Instead it trades what it does so well (the thrilling Bond – Scaramanga rivalry) for more sloppy and ill-timed camp. So poor in tone is this film that it utterly derails the adventure, and nearly the series with it. While Bond has always been known to be humor alongside deadly duty, this film fails to properly balance that responsibility. Overall I still enjoy putting this film on in spite of its imperfections, 5/10 for what it does get right but it’s definitely bottom half of my rankings.