| Special
Features: |
Audio commentary featuring Sir Roger Moore, Audio commentary
featuring director Guy Hamilton and members of the cast
and crew, The Russell Harty Show, On Location with The Man
with the Golden Gun, Girls Fighting, The Road to Bond: Stunt
Coordinator W. J. Milligan (audio only), American Thrill
Show Stunt Film with optional commentary, Guy Hamilton:
The Director Speaks, 007 Mission Control – Interactive Guide
into the World of The Man with the Golden Gun, Exotic Locations
Montage, Inside The Man with the Golden Gun – An Original
Documentary, Double-O Stuntmen, Ministry of Propaganda,
Theatrical Archive, Coming For Christmas, A Man Called Scaramanga,
TV Broadc asts, James Bond On the Job, The Most Exciting
Adventures, Radio Communication, Get Ready, Collision Course,
The Greatest 007 Adventure of All, Image Database Gallery,
Portrait, Press Conference, Phuket, Bangkok, Bonding With
AMC, Dojo 007, Aboard Scaramanga's Junk, Hong Kong, Pinewood,
The Golden Gun, Around The World With 007
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| Review:
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The Man With The Golden Gun is the ninth film in the
James Bond series. It is directed by Guy Hamilton, and stars
Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, Maud Adams, Britt Ekland,
Lois Maxwell, Desmond Llewelyn, Bernard Lee, Clifton James,
and Herve Villechaize. The musical score is performed by
John Barry, and the title song is performed by Lulu. ***
Note: The Man With The Golden Gun and Licence To Kill
were released in America on 3/24/9 with Quantum of Solace
in a Best Buy exclusive box set. This is the ONLY way these
films can be obtained currently; they will NOT be sold separately
or released through other stores until 5/12/9. ***
A James Bond is back, in his most exciting and strangest
adventure yet. This time around, Agent 007 travels to the
Orient to hunt down Francisco Scaramanga, the keeper of
the Golden Gun – a firearm so powerful it only takes one
shot to kill a target. Bond hunts down Scaramanga after
receiving a message from his unhappy mistress, but along
the way he crosses paths with a number of strange obstacles,
including Scaramanga’s midget sidekick and a stereotypical
southern sheriff he has met before. It’s up to Bond to prevent
The Man With The Golden Gun from killing again. ***
When the sixties ended, the Bond series’ hot streak
went with it. Guy Hamilton, the director behind the franchise’s
masterpiece Goldfinger, came back to direct a trio of films.
The first two, Diamonds are Forever and Live and Le t Die,
were amongst the worst movies in the entire franchise, taking
the series in a new, campy direction. It would be a lie
to say his third in that trio, The Man With The Golden Gun,
wasn’t campy too, but at least this is actually a fun movie
to watch. ***
The Man With The Golden Gun isn’t going to win any
“best James Bond movie” contests. But its colorful cast
of characters certainly makes it a memorable entry. Roger
Moore made his second appearance is 007 here, and while
I don’t put him on the upper tier of Bond performers, he
does give a good performance here. The real standout of
the cast is Christopher Lee as the title villain (Lee is
best known for playing Dracula in a variety of classic B-horror
movies, and more recently, Count Dooku in the Star Wars
prequels. He was also a cousin of Bond creator Ian Fleming.)
But also entertaining are the series usuals – Lois Maxwell,
Desmond Llewelyn, and Berna rd Lee. Herve Villechaize, the
dwarf later of Fantasy Island fame, is extremely entertaining
as the villain’s midget sidekick. Clifton James returns,
playing the same southern sheriff he played in the previous
film, which was an unnecessary addition to the movie, and
I was somewhat disappointed that they brought him back here
(on an interesting note, James played an almost identical
character in Superman II.) Great cast, even if the movie
itself isn’t one of the series’ best. ***
As for the plot, it’s about as good as you could expect
from this point in time. This is where the filmmakers were
trying to take Bond in a slightly different direction in
an effort to make the series more accessible. The results
to this were often disappointing, though this movie is a
step in the right direction. The storyline is nothing new,
and the film somewhat continues the campy approach its predecessors
took. But it’s saved by a memorable cast of characters,
and as with most Bonds, a great production crew. ***
The score here is, once again, performed by John Barry.
This isn9 9t one of his stand-out scores, but it gets the
job done perfectly. Lulu performs the title song (you may
remember her best for her sixties hit, To Sir With Love
(from the film of the same name.)) This theme song is a
classic, even if some fans tend to slam it. As an interesting
piece of trivia, shock rocker Alice Cooper wrote a theme
song to be used for the movie, but it was ultimately rejected
in favor of the Lulu song. If you want to hear Alice’s song,
it can be heard on his 1973 studio album, Muscle of Love.
***
The Man With The Golden Gun isn’t a masterpiece. But
it’s definitely a step in the right direction after two
weak films, if only because of the superb cast. There isn’t
a whole lot to complain about, aside from the campy direction
the franchise took steps in, but at the same time there’s
not exactly anything here that’s going to put this one in
the upper tier of the series. Recommended for Bond fans,
though. 3 out of 5 stars. ---
Image and Sound:
Several years ago, the James Bond movies (which had
seen a ton of home video releases already) underwent an
extensive, frame-by-frame restoration. A good deal of print
damage and dirt were removed in an effort that took several
years to complete. ***
The end result is, to put it simply, well worth it.
***
Lowry Digital Images knows how to restore movies. Their
restoration of the James Bond back catalogue is, hands down,
the greatest restoration job this reviewer has EVER seen.
This film is no exception. They have taken movies, that
are in some cases, nearly half a century old, and made them
look as good as they day when they premiered in theatres,
if not better. The image is clear throughout, without any
sort of issue. From what I can tell, no DNR was used in
these transfers, and there is a staggering amount of detain
not noticeab le in any standard-def release of the movie.
Lowry did one hell of a job restoring this franchise. ***
As if the image restoration wasn’t enough, the films
now have lossless audio tracks. If you’ve got a spe aker
set, you’ll be able to experience these films (both audio
and visual-wise) like you never have before.
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