The Man With the Golden Gun (1974, Dir: Guy Hamilton)

Roger Moore’s second outing as 007 is a strong film, but doesn’t dazzle as its successor The Spy Who Loved Me would eventually do. The film follows the now-standard Bond formula, firmly in place since 1964’s Goldfinger, and marks Moore’s first real outing in this fashion, with 1973’s Live And Let Die being little more than an entertaining chase movie.

The pre-credit sequence introduces us to the titular character of Fransciso Scramanaga (played by Ian Fleming’s real life cousin, Christopher Lee), sunbathing on his private island in Thailand. The villain is accompanied by his dwarf servant, Nick Nack, and his mistress Andrea Anders (Maud Adams, later to return to take the title role of 1983’s Octopussy). Visited by a fellow assassin eager for his pay, the sequence sets up the main running theme of the film: doubles and duality.

Although Lulu’s title theme is very of its time, I must admit I have a fondness for its energy, although I can see why John Barry views it as one of his lesser works. A running mate in the battle to provide the title song was an entry by Alice Cooper. Listening to that song, it’s easy to see that they picked the better of the two.

Unfortunately Roger Moore doesn’t quite hit his stride in the role, with too much reliance on Sean Connery’s portrayal of Bond. His manhandling of Andrea Anders smacks of late-era Connery, and it wasn’t until The Spy Who Loved Me that Moore would really make the role his own.

As far as set-pieces go, the film has more than a few, with Bond’s trial and subsequent escape from a Kung Fu school being an early highlight. However, the real star of the film is the car chase through Bangkok, culminating in the famed ‘astro-spiral-jump’ over a broken and twisted bridge. Unfortunately, the stunt is accompanied by a slide-whistle sound effect that cheapens its magnificence, and Clifton James’ reprisal of the Sheriff J. W. Pepper role in the scene further helps to hinder the sequence.

Britt Ekland looks great as the typical dumb-blonde-in-bikini Bond girl, and the film ends with the death of Scaramanga and destruction of the villain’s lair that had become almost commonplace since Dr. No.

Overall, The Man With The Golden Gun is an entertaining entry into the series, with its only real flaw being perhaps its overly serious, stifling atmosphere. Moore’s Bond is usually regarded as the ‘lightweight’ Bond, after Connery set the standard; and bookended by more lightweight films, this film really gives us an indication of the tone that might have permeated the series if Moore had been cast into the series to begin with back in 1962.