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A mere year after the release of “Live and Let Die“, Roger Moore returned as James Bond in “The Man with the Golden Gun”. While it is generally regarded as one of the weaker Bond films in his oeuvre—or even the entire series—I found something undeniably endearing about it.
In “The Man with the Golden Gun”, British secret agent James Bond is sent to track down the elusive assassin Francisco Scaramanga, who uses a distinctive golden gun and is considered one of the world’s deadliest killers. Bond follows a trail from Hong Kong to Thailand, uncovering a plot involving a powerful solar energy device that could shift the balance of global power. As Bond navigates betrayals, deadly traps, and Scaramanga’s ruthless henchmen, he ultimately faces the assassin in a high-stakes duel, where only one of them will survive.
What sets the Roger Moore Bond films apart from the rest, at least up until now, is their relatively small-scale plots. They incorporate all the hallmarks of a classic Bond movie, yet neither features a larger-than-life villain bent on world domination. In “Live and Let Die“, Kananga’s scheme revolves around controlling the heroin trade, while in “The Man with the Golden Gun”, Scaramanga is primarily engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with Bond as they both chase a MacGuffin. There is a brief nod to a more traditional world-domination plot with the introduction of the solar energy device, but it only comes into play in the last 20 minutes or so. It’s hardly the film’s central focus, feeling more like an afterthought than a driving force.
But the plots in James Bond movies are merely an excuse for explosive action, incredible stunts, exotic locales, and beautiful women, and “The Man with the Golden Gun” is no exception. This film features the famous “corkscrew” stunt, in which a car leaps across a broken bridge and executes a perfect 360-degree mid-air spin along its longitudinal axis—an “aerial twist” that remains one of the most impressive practical stunts in the series. There’s also a fun boat chase scene, during which Bond, in classic fashion, acts like a bit of a jerk to a kid who saved him and certainly deserved better.
The Bond women, Maud Adams and Britt Ekland, are somewhat disappointing in this film. Both deliver one-note performances that lack depth, serving more as eye candy or plot devices rather than fully realized characters. By this point in the series, the practice of dubbing foreign actresses had largely been abandoned, but watching these two, I can’t help but wonder if that was the right decision.
These two women take turns as Bond’s leading lady—Adams dominates the first half as Scaramanga’s lover, who inevitably falls for Bond’s charms, while Ekland plays Goodnight, a fellow secret agent whose only real purpose is to be a damsel in distress and Bond’s final conquest before the credits roll. Both are undeniably beautiful, but they don’t quite do it for me. They’re missing that certain spark, that magnetic allure. Adams even bears a slight resemblance to Melania Trump, who practically embodies a cold and detached persona. Personally, I find Jane Seymour and Lana Wood from the previous two films to have a much sexier screen presence—but that’s just my taste. It’s like “Baywatch”; some people swear Pamela was the ultimate bombshell, while others preferred Nicole Eggert or Erika Eleniak.
To make things downright hilarious—or utterly degrading if you’re a feminist—they randomly decide to put Ekland in a bikini for the finale, despite the fact that she was fully clothed when kidnapped. Meanwhile, every other character, all men, remain dressed like normal human beings, yet she’s left running around in a swimsuit for no reason other than to give the male audience something to ogle. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The film also throws in a nude swimming scene featuring the not-so-subtly named “Chew Mee” and even sneaks in a gratuitous butt-shot in a strip club—because, you know, priorities.
As with most of the Roger Moore Bond films, the focus leans more toward humor, and this movie even brings back one of the most memorable characters from the previous film: Sheriff J.W. Pepper. This marks the first time a side character, outside of the main cast, returns in a James Bond movie. His reappearance feels somewhat out of place, but he does provide some welcome comic relief. Meanwhile, although Moore still delivers plenty of quips, his portrayal of Bond is slightly more serious this time around.
Christopher Lee plays Scaramanga and seems to be having a blast in the role. While his character isn’t given much to do, he makes the most of it. His only truly distinctive feature is a third nipple—a rather silly trait for an otherwise formidable assassin. His iconic golden gun, unfortunately, looks pretty awful; it’s not nearly as cool as the filmmakers probably thought it was at the time. It would have been far more memorable if it had the same sleek, imposing design quality as RoboCop’s gun for example.
But it must be said that Scaramanga is upstaged by his henchman, Nick Nack—an Asian man with a French accent who has dwarfism. This role proved to be a breakout moment for Hervé Villechaize, who would later become the face of the TV show “Fantasy Island”. Nick Nack is an interesting character, but never much of a real threat, and his final showdown with Bond feels more silly than exciting. It actually brings to mind the fight between Bond and Rosa Klebb at the end of “From Russia with Love”, where the villain is clearly no match for Bond, making the confrontation feel more comedic than suspenseful.
The theme song by Lulu has never been regarded as one of the best in the Bond series, but I find it a fun, uptempo track that features the familiar Bond theme horns and strings, similar to those in “Goldfinger” and “Thunderball“. Much like “You Only Live Twice” and “Live and Let Die“, an instrumental excerpt from the song is used as a leitmotif throughout the film, creating an earworm that will have you humming the tune long after the credits roll.
“The Man with the Golden Gun” is one of those films that highlights the limitations of my 0-5 star rating system. In my opinion, it’s more of a 6.5 out of 10, but I have to round that up to 3.5 out of 5 stars.
