The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1974
	Director: Guy Hamilton (Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever)
	Actors: Roger Moore (Moonraker), Christopher Lee (The Hound of the Baskervilles), Britt Ekland (The Wicker Man)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 03.02.2015, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: The MI6 secret service agent James Bond (Moore) is targeted by the mysterious Saramanga (Lee) who believes that Bond is in the world the only match for him in a duel.
Review: There used to be a time in the mid-nineties, while Pierce Brosnan became Bond, when I could list from memory the title of all the Bond movies to date because I had seen them all on TV a few times... except for one that always seem to miss. I think I have now found it, because I have no recollection of ever watching The Man with the Golden Gun. I came to acquire the Blu-ray and watch it this time because I may visit the so-called Bond Island (Khao Phing Kan) where the movie was shot, during my holidays in Thailand next month. The location, where the villain built his base, is indeed heavenly when shown on film. I fear that with hordes of tourists in the picture it will be less so. The movie also features a car race in Bangkok which I thought could show me how the city looked like in the 70's. The Blu-ray image quality is quite impressive for a movie older than me, Roger Moore seems at ease for his second movie in the Bond outfit, and Christopher Lee is perfect as this world-class hitman that bills 1 million dollars the hit (with golden bullets). The movie starts well with a classic Bond look and story, making me realize that in no other movie than a Bond would the viewer accept the behavior of the hero, the easiness with which all women are attracted to him, or the ever-changing locations, seemingly selected just for their good looks: Macau, Hong-Kong, Bangkok. But after half an hour the rhythm slows down, there seems to be a lack of ideas and the situation will unfortunately not improve until the end. The lovely Britt Ekland (funny to see her re-united with Lee one year after The Wicker Man) doesn't bring anything except spending half the time in swimming suit. The action is slow, polluted by recurrent not-funny cameos by an american police officer which mean even less if you have not seen Live and Let Die before. And beyond the personal threat to Bond, the evil plans of Saramanga are treated as a useless side-story. Searching the web I have indeed found that the movie more than often appears towards the bottom of the Bond movies ranking lists. The one good idea of the movie is to place the MI6 offices in Hong-Kong inside the half-sunk wreck of the Queen Elizabeth, tilted at 60 degrees so that level platforms are built everywhere to accommodate the personnel. A very unusual and very well done set.
Rating: 4 /10