The Man With The Golden Gun: Do the SECOND Bond Films SUFFER?

Lulu song is absolutely awful, miss goodnight is so 70s and not in a good way . Scarmanga is a great villain some of the rest of the film Dw pepper and Nick nack . Confessions of films or carry on or Benny Hill influences it a lot of seems at times a bit of a hodgepodge right enough .

Yes TMWTGG is definitely a guilty pleasure. But what a guilty pleasure it is. Christopher Lee chewing up the scenery as a classic Bond Villian.The Solar Power macguffin ( long before it was a thing) Sheriff J W Pepper ( worth the price of admission alone) and of course Maud Adams & Britt Eckland ( both in their prime) The jaw dropping car jump (whistle😉) And knick Knack getting shoved into a suitcase.I mean what's there not to like.

one of the only Bond films to show full nudity so I give it a 8 out of 10

Like the man with the gold gun okay

It could have been a way better movie, if they made the action scenes more spectacular. The car chase should have been like the one in Bullitt. And the boat chase like in Live and Let Die. And the final duel like the ending in Bulitt.

Interesting debate. In terms of a trend, the third Bond movie for each actor could be seen as the best. Goldfinger and TSWLM are both top tier - and TWINE and Skyfall are generally regarded as Brosnan's and Craig's respective best performance.

Won't hear a word against it.... My first bond film at the cinema and it blew my mind.

Loved this as kid, now I can see the many problems with it. But as many have said roger looks great and Christopher Lee is a treasure!

I prefer "Golden Gun" over "Live & Let Die".

The poster is very good. I think (as jett jones said below) the Lulu song is energetic and fun. The cast are appealing. But it's an underwhelming film with a couple of great locations. What struck me the last time I watched it was how sloppy the early scenes seemed (especially the Queen Elizabeth sequence). Whether it was schedule pressure, or an uncertain tone, it just felt "It'll do, let's move on". I realise the Fleming novel isn't a traditional espionage story, which might have been the reason this film feels like a grab bag of elements thrown together. Bond films are like regional variations on a standard meal. Essentially it's the same food, but the exact recipe and preparation (even just the presentation) suits some people better than others.

I remember my reaction at the theatre very clearly at the time... "They should stop making them." The dreaded realization that Sherriff Pepper was so lazily brought back... the dreariness and lack of initiative of the script (and most especially: stealing the "where will M be located this time? and the "funhouse" sequence, which are simply ripped off from The Avengers... the unrelenting awfulness and stupidity of the (so-called) leading lady... the (groan... they really CAN"T think this is acceptable) "car/plane"... this one is unbearable.

However . . . the last 30 minutes are great!! 😊

I mean, starting from where Bond goes to meet Andrea at the kickboxing matches. She is still, then he sees she’s dead. He remains cool and looks through her purse happily murmuring as if they’re a married couple.

Scaramanga appears and says, You won’t find it there, Mr. Bond. He goes on to tell the story of how he once loved an elephant in the circus, but then he discovered he loved something else even more, which is killing people. The whole time Bond has spotted the Solex on the floor and is moving it over with his foot.

He passes it off to Hip who passes it off to Goodnight who gets locked in the truck (“boot”) while attaching a homing device.

The car chase ensues with Sgt. Pepper yelling at someone to get that piece of junk offa the road!, and a Thai cab driver yelling back.

And then, the movie’s theme music comes in right as the chase moves to the open road. This part is exquisitely well done. And we have Pepper telling Bond, Push that Pedal, Boy.

Yes, we have the car jump barrel roll with the slide whistle. I didn’t mind because it’s not the ultimate final action.

Mary Goodnight thinks the car has stopped, pries open the trunk, and we get a great “Oh” of surprise. For the car is flying high above some Thai rice fields.

Back at the temporary Queen Elizabeth headquarters, M grouses at Hip and Bond about the car which sprouted wings.

Bond solo-pilots the plane through all the cool islands. He lands, Scaramanga shoots the cork off the champagne, there’s a variety of tense jockeying between the two of them, and Bond agrees to the duel.

As the duel continues, and immediately before James goes into the fun house, he points the gun right at Nick Nack’s forehead and says that he’s never shot a midget before. Nick Nack says, “Oh, Monsieur,” with a great look of (?) embarrassment / pleading / openness.

This is one of a number of really great human interactions within this last half hour.

I first saw the movie in the theater at age 12. I thought the ending was so strategic. That Bond had to be so brave and stand there statue-still until the time was just right and then slowly turn and make the shot.

As an adult, I realized James had to count on the fact that Scaramanga was the type of guy who would keep the gun loaded. Yes, I realize there are aspects of the scene which are unrealistic, so be it.

Saw it again on network TV — I think ABC — at age 16 here in the States. And with the movie ending with an 8-hour slow boat from China with this seemingly infinitely extended sex and making-out with Mary Goodnight, I mean, what’s not to like ! ? ! 😜

In fact, this may be the very best ending of any Bond film.

Yes, early parts drag. For example, M pretending to fire Bond at the beginning may have looked good on paper, but too under-stated, sorry, but it is. Especially confusing to 12-year-old boy. And with Scaramanga shooting Gibson outside the Bottoms Up club, and Bond surviving just on the good luck that he wasn’t the target — too late in movie for the main character to be coasting on blind luck. Now, if the hero was taking a calculated risk, that’s a different matter.

All the same, I will take the ending sequences thank you very much. 🌈 😊🏔

How can you say FRWL is klunky? It’s widely thought of as the BEST of the Connery Bonds possibly the best of all of the Bonds. Even Sean Connery felt that way. I wouldn’t change a thing about it.

Just realized that the German dubbing has a translation error in the M scene that makes it even funnier (IMO):

Instead of "Jealous husbands, outraged chefs, humiliated tailors", it's "Jealous husbands, outraged *superiors*, humiliated tailors" (Because "Chef" is the German word for "boss").

Let's not forget that Christopher Lee was once considered to play James Bond and was a relation to Ian Fleming.

45 year old English bond fan Golden Gun is a classic and its short so easy watch without story the Score and Lulu epic also

I love this movie and I will absolutely admit that it's dorky. But when you need to watch something stupid and get the Bond fix all at once this is a good one.

From Russia with Love and license to kill are awsome so his theory isnt right

I think this movie was just okay to me. But my favorite part about this movie is Christopher Lee. He makes this movie a lot better than what it'd be if he wasn't in it in my opinion.

I love this film. Call it a guilty pleasure but it's probably my favourite Moore film.

Interesting conversation for us Bond fans and a very fun channel to watch! I agree with your assessment of this movie and the sophomore jinx theory in general. But as you hinted at in the beginning, Connery in "From Russia With Love" was anything but clunky. One of the best Bond films, IMHO. If "Goldfinger" was the template/formula for the big, fun, over the top Bonds, FRWL was the gold standard (no pun intended) for the more serious Bonds. Then again, SC had the advantage of originating the role on the big screen. He didn't have to follow a predecessor like all of the others.

Golden Gun is a fun movie, with a good villain, lovely ladies and Nick Nack is amusing. The novel was Fleming's last novel and I believe it was not even a complete product when he died. I believe Sheriff Pepper was a mistake. I also did not like the two young karate girls saving Bond. I love the final 15 minutes on the island. There is a scene near the end where the island is blowing up, Bond is running with Goodnight and she falls down. That fall looks real and I am glad they kept it in the film. In general, I agree with your assessment is a little clunky.

I watched this again last night. Its not a bad Bond movie as such and had some good moments. But there are things that I don't get and other parts that could have been done better. Like for example what was with sending Bond to the Karate School when they wanted him dead? I didn't care for Pepper in LALD so I didn't like seeing him in this, but the whole idea was too contrived and played too much for laughs. The car turning into a plane was stupid, and it also looked stupid. Scaramanga could have just gotten in a plane. I also didn't care for the MI6 base being in the sunken ship, but it was passable. I know these movies are heightened reality, and are sometimes pure fantasy but I feel if they grounded some of the elements I've mentioned, or omitted them this could have been up there with some of the great Bonds. Christopher Lee was a great villian and as much as I find the title song annoying Barry's score is very good, very YOLT. It's definitely not as good as LALD.

I feel like the beginning third and final third of the movie are good, but the middle section is "soft," clunky, and, frankly, boring. Replace the middle section and speed it up, and you've got a competitor!

Moore's best film. TOP 5 easy. Haters must be blind.. and possibly hard of hearing.. OH MISSEURR!"

I think Moore at his best might be Moonraker but I think he is great here.

If you ever travel to Asia this is a nice warm-up film. Shame Hong Kong is no longer what it was.

A good film that loses 2 points for that god-awful abomination of the slide whistle on what is probably the greatest car stunt of all time. Can you imagine what the stunt co-ordinators thought of THAT when they saw what they did? Dreadful call. I can only hope that in a future release they replace it with the car engine sounds.

Really have to get my original Golden Gun poster framed, especially after checking values!

I went to a 4k cinema screening of it last night and it looked amazing and it's a Bond film that should be reassessed. It's a film that gets a lot of poor reviews, yes Roger Moore takes a darker mood but I've never enjoyed it as much as last night.

I prefer TMWTGG to LALD. I met Christopher Lee in the mid '90s (at an in-store appearance) and told him I liked it.

I really like this film. Great music great locations great baddy great henchmen beautiful main Bond girl. As a kid I loved this film. I much prefer this to LALD. Somethings the Bond filmmakers do not know what direction to take Bond in and in this film they try to mix some of Sean’s Bond into the mix and not sure if it really works. Plus they try to mix in some comedy with having the sheriffs from LATL come back which we could have done with out the sheriff again. To me Bond films are a product of the time. Some Bond films look very dated. I think Bond 26 will take a long time to come out at the cinema cos they have to be very careful as to what sort of Bond film they want to make. Also they have to realise now that the world and culture has changed so has the style of other action films changed. But as said I still really like this film.

I love you guys

The climax with Scaramunga is rather weak at the end. The fact that he only gets one shot to Bond’s six takes some of the anticipation away. We already know if Scaramunga shoots, he will miss because Bond can’t die. The best part about it is the funhouse aspect.

I love these vids. Also, me personally, TMWTGG is one of my favorite Bond films for the Bond vs Scaramanga duel alone! But I agree there were a few moments that confused me because the joke went over my head, I think it was because there was no buildup to them.

I watched when this came out but it just rolled across my feed again. Not sure what I said then but no. They do not. FRWL, TMWTGG, LTK, TMND and oh. Jk you’re the only fan of QoS

The problem with the opinion of the guy named Joe is that he incredibly believes that "FRWL"(1963) wasn't as good a Bond film as "Dr. No"(1962)! Really!???? "FRWL" is - and is widely regarded as - a much better film than the first Connery Bond film and is arguably the greatest Bond film of them all because it is a down-to-earth, realistic, Cold War-themed film as opposed to "Goldfinger"(1964) which although an outstanding film, is , like "Dr. No", about an over-the-top type villian.

If was all downhill after From Russia With Love, I tells ya. No wonder Lazenby never returned.
Jokes aside, my sincerest thoughts:
FRWL: My favourite ever Bond film. End of story.
MWTGG: Do not get the hate. Fun, well paced, action-packed, and it even features my favourite ever Bond villain.
LTK: A film I've come to appreciate with time. While, for me, it will always be second place to TLD, I see what they were going for. The results are mixed, but I like it enough.
TND: My favourite Brosnan film featuring my favourite Bond and Bond girl.
QOS: Love it. Look, the results aren't pretty. As far as editing goes, it's a flash cutting nightmare. The pacing is all over the place, but it was literally written during a writer's strike. Some terrific Bond case study moments about how the man throws himself cathartically into his duty to numb his personal pain. Best of all? The revenge. I love that little detail about Greene having oil in his lungs - a great way to avenge the death of Strawberry Fields.

I actually consider FRWL to be the ultimate 007 movie. SC is sophisticated and as cool as F***. We have Q/M/MP, great baddies, Karim Bay and DB in a beautiful sexy dress in the boat scene. The music is pure JB 60's panache. What more do we need?

The Spy Who Loves Me is better than Today Never Dies and A View to a Pending Kill, but not as good as On its Way From Russia With Love.

I didn't enjoy it that much because I wasn't expecting a comedy. When I think was going into the watching this and yes there's some something funny parts and all James Bond but not with the whole show is funny. I felt like it kind of dumbed down James Bond and whole James Bond experience. Even if you wanted to Cameo of the southern guy. It was just too much. So it made James Bond a little corny.

Better case to be made that each actors 3rd outing is the very best of them. Outside of WINE, the third films really are fine.

Never quite understood the hate this film usually gets. I actually think it's much more fun than Live and Let Die with better plot and location. Feels bigger in scope too compared with Live and Let Die which is for me seemed cheap and small.

From Russia with Love?

Love, love, love Lulu's gutsy then tender-soft then gutsy performance of the splendid theme-song. One of the best Bond themes, in my opinion, though incredibly it didn't chart either side of the pond!!

If you want to know whether the second Bond films suffer, watch "Casino Royale" followed by "Quantum of Solace".

Roger Moore had a more goofier personality than Sean Connery. If Sean had continued with the series, the scripts would have had to have been rewritten: I can't picture Sean Connery hiding a girl in a closet or putting on a third nipple.

Also, James Bond in the Orient doesn't work very well. Didn't work with "You Only Live Twice" and doesn't work with " The Man with the Golden Gun." I went with my father to the latter film and we rolled our eyes when we were shuffling out. They should not have brought the sheriff back. They were obviously going for humor.