Taglines: He never misses his target, and now his target is 007.
The Man with the Golden Gun movie storyline. James Bond (Roger Moore) must find the missing “Solex Agitator”, a device that will harness the sun’s radiation and give awesome power to whomever possesses it. But, also vying for the prize, is Francisco Scaramanga, a world-class assassin who brandishes a distinctive golden gun. When 007 discovers he is to be Scaramanga’s next target.
He is hurled into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse, continuing the search as he evades the killer on his trail. Bond must also contend with Scaramanga’s exotic lover, Andrea Anders, and Nick Nack, whose small size belies his lethal abilities. Even as 007 enlists the aid of sensuous Mary Goodnight, he must overcome ferocious odds to survive an explosive showdown on Scaramanga’s remote island.
The Man with the Golden Gun is a 1974 spy film and the ninth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. A loose adaptation of Ian Fleming’s posthumously published 1965 novel of the same name, the film has Bond sent after the Solex Agitator, a device that can harness the power of the sun, while facing the assassin Francisco Scaramanga, the “Man with the Golden Gun”. The action culminates in a duel between them that settles the fate of the Solex.
The Man with the Golden Gun was the fourth and final film in the series directed by Guy Hamilton. The script was written by Richard Maibaum and Tom Mankiewicz. The film was set in the face of the 1973 energy crisis, a dominant theme in the script. Britain had still not yet fully overcome the crisis when the film was released in December 1974. The film also reflects the then-popular martial arts film craze, with several kung fu scenes and a predominantly Asian location, being set and shot in Thailand, Hong Kong, and Macau. Part of the film is also set in Beirut, Lebanon, but it was not shot there.
The film was met with mixed reviews, and some critics described it as the lowest point in the canon up to that time. Christopher Lee’s portrayal of Scaramanga as a villain of similar skill and ability to Bond was praised, but reviewers criticised the film as a whole, particularly its comedic approach and the performances of Moore and Britt Ekland.
Whilst profitable, the film is the 4th lowest-grossing in the series and its relatively modest returns by comparison with those of Live and Let Die (1973) reportedly placed the continuation of the franchise in jeopardy. It was the last Bond film to be co-produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, with Saltzman selling his 50% stake in Danjaq, LLC, the parent company of Eon Productions, after the release of the film.
Film Review for The Man with the Golden Gun/h4>
In London, a golden bullet with James Bond’s code “007” etched into its surface is received by MI6. It is believed that it was sent by the famed assassin Francisco Scaramanga, who uses a golden gun, to intimidate the agent. Because of the perceived threat to the agent’s life, since Scaramanga has never been photographed and no one knows where he lives, M relieves Bond of a mission revolving around the work of the solar energy scientist named Gibson, thought to be in possession of information crucial to solving the energy crisis with solar power. At a hint from M, Bond sets out unofficially to locate Scaramanga.
After retrieving a spent golden bullet from a belly dancer in Beirut and tracking its manufacturer to Macau, Bond forces the gun maker to show him how he delivers the bullets. Seeing Andrea Anders, Scaramanga’s mistress, collecting the shipment of golden bullets at a casino, Bond follows her to Hong Kong and, in her Peninsula Hotel room, pressures Anders to expose information about Scaramanga, his appearance and his plans; she directs him to the Bottoms Up Club.
The club proves to be the location of Scaramanga’s next hit, Gibson, from whom Scaramanga’s dwarf henchman Nick Nack steals the “Solex agitator”, a key component of a solar power station. Before Bond can assert his innocence in Gibson’s death, he is taken away by Lieutenant Hip and transported to meet M and Q in a hidden headquarters in the wreck of the RMS Queen Elizabeth in the harbour. M assigns Bond to retrieve the Solex.
Bond then travels to Bangkok to meet Hai Fat, a wealthy Thai entrepreneur suspected of arranging Gibson’s murder. Bond poses as Scaramanga, meets with Fat and is invited to dinner, but his plan backfires because unbeknown to him, Scaramanga himself is operating at Hai Fat’s estate.
Bond is captured by Nick Nack and a couple henchmen when he returns for dinner and placed in Fat’s martial arts academy, where the students are instructed to kill him. After escaping with the aid of Hip and his nieces, Bond speeds away on a motorized sampan along the river and reunites with his assistant, Mary Goodnight. Scaramanga subsequently kills Hai Fat with his golden gun and assumes control of his empire, taking the Solex with him.
Anders visits Bond, revealing that she sent the bullet to London and wants Bond to kill Scaramanga. In payment, she promises to hand the Solex over to him at a Muay Thai venue the next day. At the match, Bond discovers Anders sitting up straight in the audience, but dead from a bullet to the heart. Scaramanga himself then arrives at the match and introduces himself to Bond. Bond observes the Solex on the floor and is able to smuggle it away to Hip, who passes it to Goodnight.
When Goodnight attempts to place a homing device on Scaramanga’s car, Scaramanga traps her in the trunk. Bond discovers Scaramanga driving off and steals an AMC Hornet from a showroom to give chase, coincidentally with vacationing Sheriff J.W. Pepper (the lawman Bond encountered in Live and Let Die) sitting inside. Bond and Pepper follow Scaramanga in a car chase across Bangkok, which concludes when Scaramanga’s AMC Matador transforms into a plane, which flies himself, Nick Nack and Goodnight away from Bond.
Picking up Goodnight’s tracking signal, Bond flies a seaplane into Red Chinese waters and lands at Scaramanga’s island. Scaramanga welcomes and shows Bond the solar power plant operation that he has taken over, the technology for which he intends to sell to the highest bidder. While demonstrating the equipment, Scaramanga uses a powerful energy beam to destroy Bond’s plane.
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Directed by: Guy Hamilton
Starring: Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Maud Adams, Hervé Villechaize, Clifton James, Richard Loo, Marc Lawrence, Marne Maitland, James Cossins, Desmond Llewelyn
Screenplay by: Richard Maibaum, Tom Mankiewicz
Production Design by: Peter Murton
Cinematography by: Ted Moore, Oswald Morris
Film Editing by: Raymond Poulton, John Shirley
Art Direction by: John Graysmark, Peter Lamont
Music by: John Barry
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: United Artists
Release Date: December 19, 1974
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