The Man with the Golden Gun

James McMahon -- The first bad 007 film. It somehow has a cheap look. I find Maude Adams bland. Wonderful Christopher Lee is capable of so much more. Sheriff J.W. Pepper should never have been in Live and Let Die in the first place, much less recycled again here. And he vacations in Thailand? And is shopping for an AMC car while there?? A slide-whistle sound effect ruins a terrific stunt jump, turning it from amazing, to trite. It s emblematic of the problems in this film. Robert Cotton -- The worst. A desperate attempt to make Bond cool to 70 s Kung Fu audiences and work the world s greatest assassin into the American energy crisis. Pathetic in SO many ways. No thinking human being can keep a straight face when Bond takes his shirt off to reveal the third nipple and about twenty pounds of linguini gut. The return of Sheriff Pepper. Christopher Lee WANTS to play a character, he just isn t given one. Thank God they took some time off to think about it after this one. Paul Baack -- A truly terrible Bond film with a potentially very good James Bond movie trapped within. The idea of a global cat-and-mouse game with 007 and the world's foremost professional assassin is an appealing one, rife with potential for really cool Bondy stuff. Casting Christopher Lee as the assassin is Providential; the Bond film series cries out for screen icons like Lee to be the villain. Discovering the spectacular locations they did seemed also Providential -- in true James Bond fashion, this movie takes the viewer to places they've never been before. Unfortunately, the filmmakers took it upon themselves to shovel shit like the contemporary "energy crisis" and the kung fu movie craze all over this elegant concept, weighing the story down with the "Solex Agitator" subplot and the requisite visit to a martial arts school, rife with potential for really silly comedy bits and generally foolish stuff. Don't know who was at fault here -- this is the third film in the Guy Hamilton/Tom Mankiewicz troika (preceded by DAF and LALD,) wherein the series' focus shifted from thrills to comedy. The sign of an elephant in a Bond film represents the greasy fingerprints of Harry Saltzman (coffins and funerals were Cubby Broccoli's signature,) so maybe he's responsible. We'll never know if these gentlemen considered themselves to be doing good work at the time, or if they suspected they were milking a dying cash cow. Reviewing TMWTGG on his "Lyons Den" radio show, film critic Jeffrey Lyons proclaimed that with this one, "the James Bond films are dead." And maybe they were for a little while, with the film opening to near-universal critical disdain and disappointing box office returns, and with Saltzman departing the sinking ship. And it could have been so damn cool. Christopher Lee's psychopathic Scaramanga stalks James Bond throughout the Far East, with beautiful and mysterious Bond girl Maud Adams flitting, seemingly, from side-to-side in her loyalties and affections. Remember that short but brilliant scene with Lee making love to Adams with his golden gun? That's some great Bondy villainy, and some great character development for the Bond girl! Would that the film had kept that tone throughout, and kept the plot simple -- it could have been a classic. Instead, it's pretty much a waste. How sad.

Bill Koenig -- Bond looks silly when teenage girls outfight his adversaries. Such a joke totally undercuts the notion Bond was ever in any danger. This just shouldn't happen in a Bond movie. Christopher Lee is a major plus, but the portrayal of Mary Goodnight as a total ditz offsets much of that. John Barry threatens to undo much of his Bond legacy with the stupid music that almost ruins the big car jump. Ed Werner -- Up until AVTAK arrived on the scene, this was by far the worst Bond movie to be released. I tried to talk myself into it, but it just didn't work. This was the first script that tried to deal with current events (the energy crisis of the mid seventies) and apart from a gas shortage, who really cared? I certainly didn't in '74 and it's nothing compared to the prices we are paying at the pump today. So the whole premise didn't work for me then and is even more irrelivant today. Unfortunately Christopher Lee (who also would have made a phenominal Dr. No) was totally wasted in this stinker. Maud Adams looked just stunning, but her acting was not up to the level we would see later in Octopussy and Britt Ekland is the blueprint for all subsequent stupid Bond girls. Then there is the wonderfull addition to the cannon of Nick Nack, who combined with a return engagement for Sheriff J.W. Pepper, sends this film into an even faster tail spin. The return of John Barry to the series was very disappointing after his previous stellar contributions. Ken Adam is sorely missed. The whole production seems oily at best. However, Moore/Bond finally gets slammed good after he retorically asks; "who'd want to put a contract on me?", to which M replies; "Jealous husbands, outraged chefs, hummiliated tailors, the list is endless". One of the few redeeming scenes in the movie and one that would never have been filmed in the Connery era. Michael Reed -- Moore is still feeling his way around but is trying. A script full of foolish twists and a dumb joke at the end. Unattractive and dull film. Tom Zielinski -- James Bond as trend follower. The popularity of kung-fu in the early 1970s obviously inspired much of this film, and even then, James Bond is shown up in the martial arts by a couple of school girls. Utter naff. The directing and writing team return from the previous film, and it's more of the same. Didn't we get enough redneck sheriffs, cartoon stunts, and slapstick from the previous film two films? How Christopher Lee could be wasted is beyond forgivable. James Bond is depicted as more than a bit schizophrenic here, badly roughing up an innocent Maud Adams in one scene while inexplicably sparing the henchman Nick Nack character later on. On the plus side, John Barry returns, but I would have to think that even he'd admit this score is not up to his standard. Britt Ekland looks fabulous in a bikini, Maud Adams is memorable as the sacrificial lamb, but "You big bully!", Sheriff Pepper in Thailand, the Fun House, and Ekland's ass as plot points leave too much to be desired. What a mess.