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| THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN 1974 |
| Bond is relieved of his current assignment (apparantly single-handedly solving the world's energy crisis) when MI6 are sent a golden bullet with 007 inscribed upon it. It is believed to be a threat from Francisco Scaramanga (the eponymous man with the golden gun). And so Bond is paked off to Hong Kong. The best thing about this movie has to be Scaramanga himself. He is played with relish by Christopher Lee, overlooked for so long until Lord of the Rings and Star Wars almost twenty years later. He is a great villain, whose not particularly evil plan is to auction the Solex Agitator (a device for converting solar energy), which he stole, to the highest bidder. He has a cool secret base on his own island in Red Chinese waters. It boasts a solar energy complex (which, of course, blows up) and a 'fun-house' where he is pitted against the world's best assassins by his hench-midget, Nick-Nack, in order to hone his abilities. When Bond follows Scaramanga to his island base, the latter is concerned only that he will get a chance for a duel with the best. Early in the movie we see him shooting a waxwork of Roger Moore. Much of the action is set in Hong Kong, where, fortunately, MI6 also have a rather cool base, hidden in the wreck of the Queen Elizabeth I, in Hong Kong Bay. Bond is accompanied by the delicious, but somewhat inept Mary Goodnight (Britt Ekland). She's an MI6 operative too, but certainly no 00. Unfortunately there is more there is more of the silly humour that started in Diamonds Are Forever in this movie, compounded by the pointless re-appearance of J. W Pepper, who we can only hope was thrown in a Bangkok jail. Permanantly. Once again there's the stupid idea that people all over the world have heard of secret agent James Bond. |
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