54 replies to this topic

[Qwerty]

From CBn's main page...

CBn Reviews 'The Man With The Golden Gun'
Forum members review the ninth James Bond film

[zencat]

Great collection of reviews this time. TMWTGG is a tricky one so it's always interesting to hear what intelligent fans think.

[Qwerty]

I couldn't agree more. There were alot of reviews for this one specifically.

[Janus Assassin]

I agree with ACE on how they should have redone the PTS.

[Turn]

I couldn't agree more. There were alot of reviews for this one specifically.

Suprisingly, there isn't one from this film's biggest supporter - Loomis.

[Mazinkaiser]

While not my favorite in the series, I like this movie. Scaramanga is a great villain, and Goodnight is gorgeous. However, I do agree she is not the best female character in the films.

[trumanlodge89]

im honored once again to be included in the reviews. great job to all the other reviewers.

[Qwerty]

I couldn't agree more. There were alot of reviews for this one specifically.

Suprisingly, there isn't one from this film's biggest supporter - Loomis.

Nope, I did not see one in any of the Countdown threads.

[licensetostudy]

Great collection of reviews this time. TMWTGG is a tricky one so it's always interesting to hear what intelligent fans think.

It's a tricky one since Lee is such as fantastic actor and my favorite Bond baddie, but the film isn't that great and boring when Lee is offscreen.

[Johnnie]

One of my all time favorites.

I like the investigation work done by 007.Bond has nothing but a Golden bullet with 007 inscribed in it. Bond has no knowledge of what Scaramanga looks like, were he is located, or any connections. Bond investigates and locates Scaramanga to his exotic beautiful private island ,and gets in a duel with the Worlds most dangerous hitman. Scaramanga was an excellant villin. The car chase with the sherriff was cool, and the boat getaway nicely done.


The best car trick I have ever seen!!

Edited by Johnnie, 15 September 2005 - 05:07 AM.

[triviachamp]

The problem with this film is that the script makes no sense. The writers couldn't decide whether to make it a Bond vs. Scaramanga movie or a Bond Looks for the Solex Agitator movie so they made it both. And rather clumsily combined at that. The fact that the film looked really cheap didn't help.

I have many qyestions about this movie: What business does MI6 have with Gibson and the Solex anyway? What was so bad about Hi-Fat? Couldn't Hi-Fat just sue him for Breach of Contract? How exactly was Gibson "working" for him? How was Gibson "defecting"?

[ACE]

I have many qyestions about this movie: What business does MI6 have with Gibson and the Solex anyway?

Nothing directly but Gibson is a British scientist who has presumably developed this technology for the British government.

What was so bad about Hi-Fat?

Nothing really. He just pays Scaramanga a $1 mil to shoot people. That's OK, isn't it. Oh, and effectively stealing a cure to the energy crisis.

Couldn't Hi-Fat just sue him for Breach of Contract?

In the first draft, he did. And had Nick Nack repaint his mausoleum in peach-coloured paint. But, strangely enough, it was found not be exciting enough for a Bond film.

How exactly was Gibson "working" for him?
How was Gibson "defecting"?

Well, presumably Gibson agreed to sell his technology to Hai Fat instead of giving to the British. Fat appears to be in league with Red Chinese authorities. Mr Fat paid for the construction of the test plant on Scaramanga's island in anticipation of getting the Solex.

triviachamp, you've asked the easy stuff.

Now don't ask me about why Hip drives off and leaves Bond!

ACE

[triviachamp]

Nothing directly but Gibson is a British scientist who has presumably developed this technology for the British government.

Too bad they didn't say this in the film!

Fat appears to be in league with Red Chinese authorities.

I understand that others have said this but wouldn't it have been better if the filmmakers had done this?

Perhaps what they should have done was that Gibson was working for the British to develop the Solex but was kidnapped by Red Chinese agent Hi-Fat to them instead. However Gibson escaped so Fat paid Scaramanga to kill him and steal back the agitator.

triviachamp, you've asked the easy stuff.

Now don't ask me about why Hip drives off and leaves Bond!

Because that was more "exciting"!

[ACE]

Nothing directly but Gibson is a British scientist who has presumably developed this technology for the British government.

Too bad they didn't say this in the film!

Well, they do not spell it out.

Gibson is referred to by M as "our" solar energy expert and he is bargaining for immunity with the British authorities to "come back to us" which suggests his work in developing the Solex on the British taxpayers' dime. Damn the man!

[triviachamp]

Gibson is referred to by M as "our" solar energy expert and he is bargaining for immunity with the British authorities to "come back to us" which suggests his work in developing the Solex on the British taxpayers' dime. Damn the man!

But why is he "bargaining for immunity"? That implies that he did something illegal. Does this mean he voluntarily went over to Hi-Fat? Or is he nefariously trying to sell the Solex for the highest price?
Too bad little of this is developed. I think this film needed some more rewrites!

Edited by triviachamp, 15 September 2005 - 06:58 PM.

[ACE]

Gibson is referred to by M as "our" solar energy expert and he is bargaining for immunity with the British authorities to "come back to us" which suggests his work in developing the Solex on the British taxpayers' dime. Damn the man!

But why is he "bargaining for immunity"? That implies that he did something illegal. Does this mean he voluntarily went over to Hi-Fat? Or is he nefariously trying to sell the Solex for the highest price?
Too bad little of this is developed. I think this film needed some more rewrites!

He did. He was working for the British Government and stole the work and offered it to Hai Fat/Chinese. The British went after him and he said he would come back with the Solex if he were not prosecuted for running off in the first place. Hai Fat, presumably knowing a negotiation was taking place, had Gibson killed, stole the Solex and put it in the Complex on Scaramanga's Island.

You are right, more rewrites were needed but it is now what it is.

Edited by ACE, 15 September 2005 - 07:19 PM.

[Qwerty]

The  best  car  trick  I  have  ever  seen!!

What is your opinion on the slide whistle included?

[ACE]

I don't think the slide whistle is so terrible.

Sure, it undercuts the sequence but the stunt is so good, it will take more than a badly judged musical sting to ruin it IMO.

Just think: that slide whistle was probably John Barry's idea! Call the Bond Police!

ACE

[Qwerty]

Just think: that slide whistle was probably John Barry's idea!

Fairly certain it was.

[Qwerty]

[Moderator's Note: Poll added to this thread.]

[triviachamp]

He did. He was working for the British Government and stole the work and offered it to Hai Fat/Chinese. The British went after him and he said he would come back with the Solex if he were not prosecuted for running off in the first place. Hai Fat, presumably knowing a negotiation was taking place, had Gibson killed, stole the Solex and put it in the Complex on Scaramanga's Island.

I think ACE put more thought into this film than the screenwriters did.

I still don't see any evidence of Hai Fat being a Red Chinese agent. The "proof" is just circular logic: Hai-Fat is bad, ergo he is a Chinese agent. The Bond movies have shown Red China as baddies so as not to offend the Soviets, so Hai-Fat must be working for them as SPECTRE is gone.

Why exactly would Hai-Fat put a complex (with one guy!) on Scaramanga's island? He is just doing freelance work for Hai-Fat, not his employee!

As for Gibson being a British scientist who defects to Hai-Fat then defects back this is very poorly explained in the film.

Nick Nack is Cato to Scaramanga's Closeau. Ugh.

How exactly would they know that Fairbanks was killed by Scaramanga? Just because Bond needs a lead so that is what he thinks. Why exactly would the dancer think a bullet that killed a man she was with would be a "lucky charm"? Let alone something to put in her belly button!

And who are those guys who beat up Bond in Beirut? Sent by her pimp? Soviets? Chinese? Scaramanga's men?

So Scaramanga has stolen the Solex Agitator from Gibson and Hai-Fat uses it to develop some laser gun but his real plan is to... sell it to the highest bidder! Yawn. If he's not interesting in taking over the world then why would he take the Solex? Not enough hits in the 70s?

Bond is supposed to go after Gibson, but he goes after Scaramanga instead. However Scaramanga is after Gibson. How convenient.

It turns out that Scaramanga is not after Bond but Andrea wants Bond to kill Scaramanga. Oh brother. Then Scaramanga kills her. A totally worthy plot thread it is not.

Goodnight is useless. The only plot function she provides is to be captured and allow Bond to track Scaramanga.

Absolute Zero has never been reached and why exactly does the facility blow up? Oh wait it is a Bond movie!

Scaramanga has a onsite funhouse for his duels to the death. Oh brother. Said funhouse is complete with Roger Moore playing a cowboy and attempting to stay still. Budget cuts I guess.

[Pam Bouvier]

It's not my favorite, but I've always said, there's no such thing as a bad Bond film.

Really didn't like the way they did Gooodnight. Even if Britt Ekland could act (not trying to be mean, but I don't think I've seen this former model in anything as an actress before or since. Great model, not a great actress), the way they wrote her........ Fleming wrote her as very genuine. Someone who had a past with Bond that wasn''t sexual. She had humor and common sense. Not so in the movie.

When I think of Goodnight a Reece Witherspoon type comes to mind.

[Kingdom Come]

Arnt some of the percentages in the wrong place?

[Qwerty]

Arnt some of the percentages in the wrong place?

How so?

[Mr Malcolm]

I like ACE's idea for redoing the title sequence too. Why would Bond need to go to Beirut anyway? Why not analyse the bullet sent by Ms. Anders in the first place?

Which brings me to the main change I would have liked to have seen; cut Mary Goodnight out of the film and have Andrea as the main Bond girl. It would have been more satisfying from a dramatic point of view for Bond to rescue her from Scaramanga, rather than have her try to enlist Bond's help and then get killed. You could still have the Solex agitator in as a McGuffin, and for any Mary Goodnight fans out there, she could easily have been saved for a future film; the idea of a woman who knows Bond back in London finding herself out in the field does have potential to be a good story. As it was, Ms. Goodnight ended up pretty much wasted. If I was M, I wouldn't have let her out the house, let alone Thailand!

That said, TMWTGG's not nearly as bad as some believe; Christopher 'God' Lee is a great villain, the Thai scenery makes me want to get on the first plane to Bangkok, and overall, it's a solidly entertaining little flick.

[mrs007_ppk]

I like The Man With The Golden gun.



OO7 is Forever

[Qwerty]

Bumping this up.

[Agent 0015]

I always think this a underrated Bond film, but there's a few problems. Scaramanga's solar plant set is pretty much wasted, while the funhouse is overused. However, Christopher Lee is my second favorite Bond villain: a cool, suave, anti-Bond who does his own dirty work (like Yaphet Kotto in LALD). Yes, Goldfinger might be menacing, impressive, and can shoot someone when pushed, but give me a villain that can go face-to-face with Bond any day. Herve Villachez, freed from having to be the tough Oddjob-type bodyguard/menace, provides both comic relief and a certain amount of plot diversion as someone trying to kill his boss. Britt kind of grates on the nerves after a while (she's probably the shallowest of Bond female leads) and they should put more time on Maud. But Moore is adequate, and the stunts and scenery are spectacular.

8/10

Edited by Agent 0015, 03 January 2007 - 03:27 AM.

[Fiona Volpe lover]

Which brings me to the main change I would have liked to have seen; cut Mary Goodnight out of the film and have Andrea as the main Bond girl. It would have been more satisfying from a dramatic point of view for Bond to rescue her from Scaramanga, rather than have her try to enlist Bond's help and then get killed. You could still have the Solex agitator in as a McGuffin, and for any Mary Goodnight fans out there, she could easily have been saved for a future film; the idea of a woman who knows Bond back in London finding herself out in the field does have potential to be a good story. As it was, Ms. Goodnight ended up pretty much wasted. If I was M, I wouldn't have let her out the house, let alone Thailand!

I agree with that statement,the film would be much better if Andrea was the main Bond girl! Although I woudn't have minded Mary Goodnight being in the film,as long as she was the one who was shot by Scarananga!

I've always had a soft spot for The Man With The Golden Gun,as it was the first Bobd film I ever saw,and there are certainly good things in it,such as Chris Lee as the darker side of Bond,the gorgeous locations,the car jump. But generally I think it's one of the weaker Bond films. Although it starts off well,it just seems to plod along and never really gets going-say what you like about OHMSS being slow paced,but when it eventually it never lets up! TMWTGG has probably less action than any other Bond film except for Dr No,which matters to me,action is one of the things I see Bond films for!
The script is a mess but could definately have been improved with a couple of re-writes-there is the odd bit of good dialogue in the film.

I gave it a 6

[Scottlee]

7

Certainly one of my least favourite Bond films.