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DVD The Man With The Golden Gun (Special Edition)
The British superspy with a license to kill takes on his dark underworld double, a classy assassin who kills with golden bullets at $1 million a hit. Roger Moore, in his second outing as James Bond, meets Christopher Lee's Scaramanga, one of the most magnetic villains in the entire series, in this entertaining but rather wan entry in the 007 sweepstakes. Bond's globetrotting search takes him to Hong Kong, Bangkok, and finally China, where Scaramanga turns his island retreat into a twisted theme park for a deadly game of wits between the gunmen, moderated by Scaramanga's diminutive man Friday Nick Nack (Fantasy Island's Hervé Villechaize). Britt Ekland does her best as the most embarrassingly inept Bond girl in 007 history, a clumsy, dim agent named Mary Goodnight who looks fetching in a bikini, while Maud Adams is Scaramanga's tough but haunted lover and assistant (she returns to the series as the title character in Octopussy). Clifton James, the redneck sheriff from Live and Let Die, makes an embarrassing and ill-advised appearance as a racist tourist who briefly teams up with 007 in what is otherwise the film's highlight, a high-energy chase through the crowded streets of Bangkok that climaxes with a breathtaking midair corkscrew jump. Bond and company are let down by a lazy script, but Moore balances the overplayed humor with a steely performance and Lee's charm and enthusiasm makes Scaramanga a cool, deadly, and thoroughly enchanting adversary. --Sean Axmaker
Review(s): DVD The Man With The Golden Gun (Special Edition)
Underrated Moore entry - despite its flaws, it's an undiscovered gem
I suppose one might argue that, next to ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, the 1974 Bond film THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN is likely the least known of the series. There was never anything particularly memorable about it to begin with - nothing that really sticks out like an OddJob or gadgety car . . . instead, it is much like Moore's previous LIVE AND LET DIE, a rather low-key adventure with more build-up and suspense than actual big action.
The basic premise is that someone has hired the world's highest-priced assassin to kill Bond, and James must therefore figure out who it is and why he wants him dead (leading to one of the better lines in all Bond-dom as 'M' wonders if it might be a jealous husband!) Eventually, the trail leads to one Scaramanga (Christopher Lee) in East Asia. The bulk of the film takes place in and around Hong Kong - and one of the only really unique moments in the film is Bonds run down a canal in a personal motor boat - not unlike the similar sequence in LIVE AND LET DIE, but on a much smaller scale. Another fun sequence has Bond trapped in a martial arts school where he is forced to spar with the students - this sets the stage for a great surprise moment which is similar to but PREDATES Indiana Jones' shooting of the sword fighter in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.
The climax takes place on Scaramanga's island layer where he has a laser for some reason - honestly, I can't remember that we ever even learn why Scar was targeting Bond, or what his ultimate purpose. Yes, the story is a tad weak - but then, this is coming from what is widely regarded as Fleming's worst Bond novel.
The film really does look good, though - particularly a sequence near the end with Bond flying a plane around the islands looking for Scaramanga.
As for the actors, Lee, who is always great, makes a fun villain - FANTASY ISLAND'S Tatu plays KnickKnack with little to do other than run the funhouse in which Scar hunts his victims and then later throw wine bottles at Bond. Maud Adams is mind-boggling as the girl - mind-boggling in that she achieved Bond-Girl status not just once, but twice - and neither time left any impression. Britt Eckland is nice to look at but is as annoyingly blonde as was Kate Capeshaw from THE TEMPLE OF DOOM.
And of course, the film's major mis-step, reviving J.W. Pepper from LIVE AND LET DIE. Apparently he must have been a fan-favorite from before, because now he reprises his role - and somehow he just happens to be in the car Bond steals in the middle of Hong Kong! It's very stupid indeed - I mean, a previous cameo in the film (where Bond unknowingly splashes him with water from his boat) would have been quite amusing if it had ended there! But to bring him in again for an entire action sequence - well, just plain stupid!
But, all-in-all the film manages to be a fun escapism for two hours - lacking the thrill of the earlier Connery espionage-themed entries brings it down a few notches - but lacking the lunatic idiocy that SPY WHO LOVED ME and MOONRAKER would soon usher in saves it from being a total loss. Check it out - you might like it more than you expect!
The Man With the Golden Gun
Basically the whole film is leading up to a duel between Bond and Christopher Lee, who plays Scaramanga, the 3-nippled assassin, easily in the top 5 as far as Bond villains go. Nicnac still stands out as a pesky sidekick, the girl was cute too. The film boasts one of the most amazing stunts I have ever seen in a Bond film, which must have been a first back in the 70's, involving a car crossing a canal, NOT via a bridge. You have to see to believe. The classic duel at the end is excellent, one of the better confrontations in the Bond series.
Good follow up
Moore's second movie is equal to his first. This film shows us what an evil Bond would look like. Scaramanga is a darker version of Bond himself. His talents are equal to Bond's, and the last duel between Scaramanga and Bond is quite thrilling. Roger Moore and Christopher Lee give great performances. Outside of the worst Bond Girl(Mary Goodnight), this is a good film.
Related DVD's The Man With The Golden Gun (Special Edition)
The best of the James Bond adventures starring Roger Moore as tuxedoed Agent 007, this globe-trotting thriller introduced the steel-toothed Jaws (played by seven-foot-two-inch-tall actor Richard Kiel) as one of the most memorable and indestructible Bond villains. Jaws is so tenacious, in fact, that Moore looks genuinely frightened, and that adds to the abundant fun. This time Bond teams up with yet another lovely Russian agent (Barbara Bach) to track a pair of nuclear submarines that the nefarious Stromberg (Curt Jürgens) plans to use in his plot to start World War III. Featuring lavish sets designed by the great Ken Adam (Dr. Strangelove), The Spy Who Loved Me is a galaxy away from the suave Sean Connery exploits of the 1960s, but the film works perfectly as grandiose... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Roger Moore - Barbara Bach Director(s): Lewis Gilbert (II) DVD Release Date: Released the 22 October 2002 This item is currently not available.
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This was the first James Bond adventure produced after the success of Star Wars, so it jumped on the sci-fi bandwagon by combining the suave appeal of Agent 007 (once again played by Roger Moore) with enough high-tech hardware and special effects to make Luke Skywalker want to join Her Majesty's Secret Service. After the razzle-dazzle of The Spy Who Loved Me, this attempt to latch onto a trend proved to be a case of overkill, even though it brought back the steel-toothed villain Jaws (Richard Kiel) and scored a major hit at the box office. This time Bond is up against a criminal industrialist named Drax (Michel Lonsdale) who wants to control the world from his orbiting space station. In keeping with his well-groomed style, Bond thwarts this maniacal Neo-Hitler's scheme with... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Roger Moore Director(s): Lewis Gilbert (II) DVD Release Date: Released the 16 May 2000 This item is currently not available.
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Released in 1962, this first James Bond movie remains one of the best, and serves as an entertaining reminder that the Bond series began (in keeping with Ian Fleming's novels) with a surprising lack of gadgetry and big-budget fireworks. Sean Connery was just 32 years old when he won the role of Agent 007. In his first adventure James Bond is called to Jamaica where a colleague and secretary have been mysteriously killed. With an American CIA agent (Jack Lord, pre-Hawaii Five-O), they discover that the nefarious Dr. No (Joseph Wiseman) is scheming to blackmail the U.S. government with a device capable of deflecting and destroying U.S. rockets launched from Cape Canaveral. Of course, Bond takes time off from his exploits to enjoy the company of a few gorgeous women, including the... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Sean Connery - Ursula Andress - Bernard Lee Director(s): Terence Young DVD Release Date: Released the 22 October 2002 This item is currently not available.
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To own Goldfinger (1964) on digital video disc is to have at your fingertips the proof that Sean Connery is the definitive James Bond. Dry as ice, dripping with deadpan witticisms, only Connery's Bond would dare disparage the Beatles, that other 1964 phenomenon. No one but Connery can believably seduce women so effortlessly, kill with almost as much ease, and then pull another bottle of Dom Perignon '53 out of the fridge. Goldfinger contains many of the most memorable scenes in the Bond series: gorgeous Shirley Eaton (as Jill Masterson) coated in gold paint by evil Auric Goldfinger and deposited in Bond's bed; silent Oddjob, flipping a razor-sharp derby like a Frisbee to sever heads; our hero spread-eagle on a table while a laser beam moves threateningly toward his crotch.... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Sean Connery - Honor Blackman - Gert Fröbe Director(s): Guy Hamilton DVD Release Date: Released the 22 October 2002 This item is currently not available.
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Timothy Dalton's second and last shot at playing James Bond isn't nearly as much fun as his debut, two years earlier, in the 1987 The Living Daylights. This time Bond gets mad after a close friend (David Hedison) from the intelligence sector is assassinated on his wedding day, and 007 goes undercover to link the murder to an international drug cartel. Robert Davi makes an interesting adversary, but as with most of the Bond films in the '70s, '80s, and '90s--and especially since the end of the cold war--one has to wonder why we should still care about these lesser villains and their unimaginative crimes. Still, Dalton did manage in his short time with the character to make 007 his own, which neither Roger Moore did nor Pierce Brosnan did. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Timothy Dalton - Robert Davi Director(s): John Glen (II) DVD Release Date: Released the 22 October 2002 This item is currently not available.
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