The Man with the Golden Gun

Details

When a golden bullet bearing the number "007" arrives at the headquarters of British Intelligence, M assumes that James Bond has become the latest target of Francisco Scaramanga, the world's most highly paid assassin. With Scaramanga reputedly charging one million dollars for each assignment, Bond is relieved of his current mission and sent to find the mysterious killer before the killer finds him.

Bond's investigation leads him to Beirut, Macau and eventually Hong Kong, where he discovers that the bullet was actually sent by Scaramanga's mistress, Andrea Anders. Desperate to escape from the assassin, she hopes that by attracting Bond's attention she can persuade 007 to kill Scaramanga for her.

Meanwhile, British Intelligence is attempting to recover the Solex agitator, a vital component in a revolutionary device capable of converting solar energy into electricity. Bond soon discovers that his search for Scaramanga and the missing Solex are becoming increasingly intertwined, particularly when the assassin becomes involved with wealthy industrialist Hai Fat.

With Scaramanga eventually taking possession of the Solex, Bond follows him to his remote island hideaway. There the assassin finally gets what he really wants - the opportunity to discover which of them is the better killer in a one-to-one duel between the world's most famous secret agent and the man with the golden gun.

Picture & Sound

The picture is bright and colourful enough, with an average bit-rate throughout the film. However, similar to many of the Bond discs released to date, the source material still suffers from numerous dust specks and other picture imperfections. These aren't disastrous, but they're certainly noticeable and prevent the transfer from looking as polished as it might have done.

The layer change is also fairly obvious, although fortunately it's positioned at a sensible point rather than occurring in the middle of any dialogue or action. I guess newer DVD players will eventually be able to change layers quickly enough to make such pauses virtually unnoticeable, but on my current player there's certainly no missing it.

Yet again, the major disappointment is the mediocre soundtrack. Although the rear of the box clearly labels the film as having a 5.1 soundtrack, that's certainly not what appears to be present here. Instead, the film is presented with a rather dull stereo track which does little to take advantage of a modern home cinema system.

It's still an improvement over the mono soundtracks supplied with some of the previous Bond discs, but a properly remastered multichannel soundtrack would have been a major attraction for fans. Dialogue is clear enough and John Barry's score comes across reasonably well, but considering the amount of action on screen the overall presentation remains disappointingly flat.

Menu & Extras

As usual, MGM have managed to dig up plenty of interesting extras and the animated menu system just seems to get better with each Bond release. It's immediately obvious that considerably more effort has gone into the supplementary material than the rather disappointing soundtrack.

The Inside The Man with the Golden Gun documentary is the highlight, providing plenty of background information and archive material from the production, whilst the Double-O-Stuntmen documentary takes a closer look at the increasingly elaborate stunt work that has become such an important part of the Bond series.

There's also an audio commentary featuring director Guy Hamilton and members of the cast and crew, together with a still gallery, original television advertisements, radio spots and trailers. The collectable making-of booklet rounds off another comprehensive package and, once again, MGM deserve credit for the amount of archive material they've managed to uncover.

Overall

The Man with the Golden Gun is unfortunately one of those Bond films where the villain is considerably more interesting than the film surrounding him. Christopher Lee is excellent as Francisco Scaramanga and brings exactly the sort of presence you'd expect from an assassin capable of charging a million dollars a hit. Suave, intelligent and completely confident in his own abilities, he's one of the few Bond villains who genuinely feels like he could be 007's equal.

The idea of pitting Bond against another professional killer is actually one of the film's strongest elements. Scaramanga isn't interested in conquering the world and initially has little interest in Bond either. What eventually develops between them is almost a professional rivalry, culminating in the duel on Scaramanga's island. Unfortunately, the film spends far too much time getting there and the Solex storyline feels like an unnecessary attempt to give Bond another world-saving mission.

Roger Moore is still settling into the role and his Bond is noticeably harder here than he would become in some of the later films. There are moments where that works, but others where the combination of Moore's lighter style and some unexpectedly unpleasant behaviour doesn't sit particularly comfortably. Britt Ekland's Mary Goodnight is also played rather too much for laughs, although Maud Adams makes considerably more of the troubled Andrea Anders.

Then there's Sheriff J.W. Pepper. I wasn't particularly fond of the character in Live and Let Die, so quite why anybody decided that a holidaying Louisiana sheriff was exactly what a Bond adventure set in Thailand needed is beyond me. Clifton James certainly throws himself into the role, but the character is loud, irritating and saddled with some decidedly uncomfortable racial humour. His reappearance also undermines what should have been one of the film's most spectacular moments.

That moment is, of course, the extraordinary corkscrew car jump. It's an absolutely superb stunt and the sort of thing that should have you staring at the screen wondering how on earth they managed it. Unfortunately, somebody then decided to accompany it with a ridiculous slide-whistle sound effect, turning an astonishing piece of stunt work into a cheap gag. It's difficult to understand what they were thinking.

There are still plenty of traditional Bond ingredients to enjoy. The locations are suitably exotic, John Barry provides another memorable score and Scaramanga's island hideaway makes an impressive setting for the finale. Hervé Villechaize's Nick Nack also makes for an unusual henchman, whilst the golden gun itself is one of the more memorable weapons to appear in the series.

However, despite Christopher Lee's excellent performance and a handful of memorable sequences, I still feel there's something lacking. The film never quite makes the most of the excellent Bond-versus-Scaramanga premise and the mixture of harder-edged violence and increasingly silly comedy doesn't always sit comfortably together. After the excesses of Live and Let Die, the comedy may have been toned down slightly, but unfortunately not enough for my liking.

The Man with the Golden Gun isn't without its moments, and Christopher Lee alone makes it worth watching, but for me it remains one of the weaker Bond films. There's a much better film hiding somewhere inside the idea of James Bond being hunted by the world's greatest assassin; it's just a shame they didn't quite manage to find it.

Special features

• Audio Commentary Featuring Director Guy Hamilton, the Cast and Crew
• Inside The Man with the Golden Gun Documentary
• Double-O-Stuntmen Documentary
• Still Gallery
• Original Television Advertisements
• Radio Spots
• Collectable "Making of" Booklet
• Trailers