I really enjoy Roger Moore's performance in it. He can do more with an eyebrow raise than just about anyone.
I still can't understand why some 007 fans refuse to give him his proper due.
And although some critics have maligned the decision in this film to make him more of a cold-hearted Bond in the Connery mode, I actually enjoyed seeing him be a little nastier. Part of the appeal of Moore in the role is seeing someone who seems so upper crust behave badly.
The story itself though is letdown after Live and Let Die. While that film had fun both stealing from and paying tribute to the blaxploitation genre, this film seems to be trying to mimic the height of Bruce Lee's martial arts fame.The melding of styles doesn't work quite as well this time around.
For starters, the plot just didn't grab me. I think Scaramanga, played by legendary horror film star Christopher Lee, is an interesting villain but it takes more than half the movie to really set him up, and while they are individual scenes and sequences I enjoyed leading up to his inevitable showdown with Bond -- but they aren't memorable enough. And I'm sad to say their final confrontation drags on far too long and isn't very satisfying.
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| Britt Ekland (L), Herve Villechaize (C) and Maud Adams (R) |
Also, this time around, the appearance of comic relief J.W. Pepper is not as funny and far too indulgent.
He was used just the right amount in the last film. In this one he hangs around like 007's sidekick and really brings the film to a screeching halt.
Also Britt Ekland, although stunning, easily ranks among the most annoying and ill-conceived Bond girls of all time.
Not only is she treated condescendingly throughout the film, here character is painfully stupid and bumbling -- even though she's a secret agent is seemingly not motivated to do anything besides wanting to bed Bond.
I wonder if this film suffered because it was rushed into production so soon after the success of Live and Let Die, coming out just one year after that film instead of the usual two-year plus waiting period between 007 adventures.
Ultimately, it's an attractive-looking film with some fun bits -- a spectacular car jump, Herve Villechaize as Nick Nack, but it's definitely one of the weaker Bond pictures and emblematic of the hit or miss nature of the Moore era.
My rankings so far:
1) From Russia With Love
2) Goldfinger
3) Live and Let Die
4) Dr. No
5) On Her Majesty's Secret Service
6) You Only Live Twice
7) Diamonds Are Forever
8) Thunderball
9) The Man with the Golden Gun
Liz's take: I wouldn't say that this is a bad Bond film because it does a lot of things well but it's just so campy in a way -- you have a man with a third nipple, a little person and a house of mirrors in the first scene alone. Too much seems forced, like having the sheriff reappear. In the first film it felt organic because of the location, where in the film, he just really doesn't need to be there.
I like the concept of The Man with the Golden Gun and I like the idea of someone targeting Bond specifically, because I think that helps raise the stakes. But then it turns into this whole convoluted solar energy/laser plot. And I also thought it was very inconsistent in terms of tone and compared to other Bond films. Bond is threatening to shoot people's balls off and handling women more roughly in this film. He has been more charming previously and Moore is downright mean here.
And Ekland's character Goodnight certainly sets the bar lower in terms of the status of Bond girls. In Diamonds Are Forever, Tiffany Case is kind of ditzy but she's also a relatively regular women swept up into a crazy situation. Ursula Andress' Honey Rider from Dr. No is also a normal person plunged into danger, but she holds her own. But Goodnight is supposed to be a sophisticated agent and she is an idiot.
I know it sounds like I hated it but I didn't. I think it was a lot of fun. There are beautiful locales, solid action but I just don't think that makes up for the inconsistencies and camp.
1) On Her Majesty's Secret Service
2) Goldfinger
3) Dr. No
4) Live and Let Die
5) The Man with the Golden Gun
6) You Only Live Twice
7) From Russia With Love
8) Diamonds Are Forever
9) Thunderball
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