MovieChat Forums > The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) Discussion > Wondered why people didn't like it...the...

Wondered why people didn't like it...then got half way in

posted 12 years ago by ComicNerd
26 replies | jump to latest

I watched this for the 1st time last night and started wondering, why do people hate this movie, the music was great, interesting story. Then I got to be point where Bond visits HI FAT and it was like I was watching a totally different movie, the ninja girls, bond giving a sumo wrestler a wedgie, the 3rd nipple and the redneck Sheriff. It's almost like Die Another Day, which started off like a good interesting Bond movie and just suddenly turned into something else.

[–] omega_pinion 12 years ago

Have to agree with you. The fight scene after he meets Saida is one of the best in the series.

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[–] Skye_Reynolds 12 years ago

I fell asleep while watching it back in '99. The fight with the sumo wrestlers was silly, but awesome. Britt Eckland's Mary Goodnight looked great. Andrea was tragic. Nick Nack was fun. And Christopher Lee's Scaramanga had me hyped for what the final showdown would be. I even liked the martial arts contest. It was a great Bond film, but sadly it was on at a very late hour and I fell asleep while watching it in bed. A few years later, I found a VHS copy at a local video store and rented it. Wow, did it ever end up being a bad film. Bond wins the much hyped showdown by impersonating a mannequin?

If they wanted to pull that kind of tomfoolery, they should have given Scaramanga a henchman who entered into the funhouse himself to try and tip the odds against Bond. Let him be the dummy who gets shot by the dummy. Don't spend an hour and a half hyping up a showdown between Bond and his equal only to have Bond essentially shoot his opponent in the back.

Scaramanga has a flying car, Bond impersonates a dummy, the final fight in the movie is against Nick Nack, Sheriff J.W. Pepper camps it up, and we even get an audacious loop-de-loop sound effect when Bond crosses the gap on a broken bridge. After Bond was rescued by the schoolgirls, it's like my subconscious mind sensed what was coming and decided to put me to sleep to spare me from any further nonsense.

Watching it a decade later, it's just as disappointing as I can remember. Of all of my cinematic pet peeves, the absolute biggest one of them all is an anticlimax after a lot of build up. MI-6 versus KGB, agent versus assassin, marksman versus marksman, PPK versus Golden Gun, Roger Moore versus Christopher Lee, James Bond versus Hammer's Dracula... Bang! Shot when he turned around and it's all over. What a waste.

[–] maverick71388 12 years ago

Skye you made me laugh, particularly when i got to "audacious", couldn't have said it better...

[–] Skye_Reynolds 12 years ago

Skye you made me laugh, particularly when i got to "audacious", couldn't have said it better...

lol, thanks Maverick.

[–] OldGrayMare 12 years ago

Hai Fat's place is the beginning to the end. Mary Goodnight makes it all even worse. Then they bring in Sheriff J.W. Pepper. It was like repeatedly stabbing the movie in the back with a comedy knife.

[–] jritty 12 years ago

I really liked this one for the most part - don't get ALL the hate. Loved the kung fu girls and how when the other bad guys came out it looked like Bond kicked all their asses lol The Sheriff is what ruins anything for me. JW Pepper is downright AWFUL.

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[–] scarroll1961-421-673708 12 years ago

Yes I thought that the part of the Sherrif JW was very annoying. This was proably one of the worst Bond movies, only saved by the egnimatic Christopher Lee whose portrayol of the villian sccaramanga was quite interisting

[–] Skye_Reynolds 12 years ago

Honestly, I think Christopher Lee's awesomeness made the situation worse as there was more of a letdown in the end. They made me want to see Bond go up against Lee, but it didn't happen aside from some mind games and one quick shot as the latter was turning around.

[–] maverick71388 12 years ago

i think another thing that just made this one godawful was because the first time i saw it was on tv with a ton of commercials and this movie already drags as is so it felt even worse.

[–] Eleanor_1991 12 years ago

It was a pretty bad film. None of the characters were like-able (not even skeezy James Bond himself. They made him dumb and nasty in this film. Along with Goodnight the low self esteem dumb blonde bimbo). Some parts were cheesy as hell, and tried to use comic reliefs which wasn't the best. It was a complete letdown.

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[–] Observer_2020 12 years ago

It's not a terrible movie, since even a "bad" Bond movie is still entertaining. But compared to all of the other Bond movies, it rates pretty low on my personal list. I rank it along with "A View to a Kill", "Live and Let Die" and the 2nd half of "Die Another Day" at the bottom of the series.

I still sort of like the movie, but when I watch it, I keep wishing that one of the better Bond movies was on TV at the time. Scaramanga isn't that scary or entertaining. Nick Nack is distracting. Maud Adams's character was an abused victim, which isn't particularly fun to watch. And J.W.? (groan)

There were some fun action sequences, some goofy parts (the whistle during the car corkscrew jump) and some eye candy (Goodnight in a bikini).

[–] nutsberryfarm 12 years ago

you folks sound like the disgruntled tailors 'm' warned bond about!

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[–] TheSolarSailor 12 years ago

The film is silly, but I do still enjoy it. Someone else said that a bad Bond film is still entertaining, and I agree with that. I just accept each one for what it is and run with it rather than analyzing it to death in such a tedious manner. I tend to be forgiving to the 007 franchise since I grew up on them and just get a major kick out of them. I also tend to be forgiving of TMWTGG because it has Christopher Lee in it, who is always awesome. I am a bit puzzled over why you think it started off good when the beginning was already goofy thanks to the fun house stuff. Hell, even Lulu's opening song is pure cheese!

- - - - - - -
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[–] Max06 12 years ago

Maybe Bond wanted to trade him for another bottle of Phuyuck '74.

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ckanelevy 12 years ago

Flaws and all - one of my favorite Bonds. There - I said it.

[–] psychocosmic-1 12 years ago

I agree! Its a matter of confession. I must say, of all Moore Bonds, this one is unique, clics with me in its completely fantasy orientation, psychedelic comic book estethics, weird angles everywhere, howabout the HQ on that twisted wreck? And Moore is very good in this one too!

[–] pawtrax67 11 years ago

Well its about as good as Diamonds are Forever, and has all the same flaws.

The Solex Agitator as a plot device was pretty weak (Like a version of the orbital laser in Diamonds).

Much like Diamonds are Forever they should have kept it simple. A cat and mouse game like North By Northwest going all through southeast Asia would have been better. I would have had Goodnight killed to add more drama.

Had Bruce Lee not passed away, I would have cast him as Lt. Hip. I also don't get why Hip drove off without Bond. That was a pretty jerk thing to do. I don't get why they dubbed Soon-Tek Oh, what his English wasn't strong enough????

Herve Villechaize and Clifton James I would have dropped as well. Too goofy.

I'd have a 00 agent killed to start the movie. Then Bond tries to find out who did it. Have Scaramanga set up Bond to make it seem like he killed a Chinese Agent. Only through investigation Bond finds out it's Scaramanga behind it all.

You can have the car flip without the tin whistle. And no flying AMC's either.

Once again it's a pity that Lazenby didn't stay on. I'm sure Diamonds, Live and Let Die, and The Man with the Golden Gun would have been less goofy and better and simpler Bond movies.

[–] caladon 11 years ago

I wouldn't say it was the worst Bond film; IMHO Octopussy, A View to a Kill, Never Say Never Again and The Living Daylights head that list. It did however give the impression that it had two directors. I think what threw the film off was it's departure from the usual Bond formula. Scaramanga was not your typical Bond villain; he actually had no interest in going after Bond until Bond came after him. The solex aspect was kind of weak for a plot device used to tie the story together.

As for the chase sequence, I can overlook the slide-whistle sound effect because of the presence of Sheriff Pepper (who didn't need to be in the film.)However, the one thing I think is a glaring goof, is with all of Bond's training, experience, touted resourcefulness and gadgetry, he wasn't able to simply hotwire the car when he discovered Goodnight had the keys.

I think that by having Bond hotwire the car, Lt. Hip would've been along instead of Sheriff Pepper. Then when it came time for Bond to make the corkscrew jump, it could've been done with the Bond theme playing as the car completes the jump. Then have them trying to prevent the flying car from taking off. A runway chase scene might have added to the film. Or perhaps even having Bond's car being able to convert to a airplane as well, which would extend the chase.

As mentioned by others, this film was a lot of hit and miss, but it's still fun to watch.

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[–] Kawada_Kira 11 years ago

I like the movie overall, I mean it's not great but it's ok. But I agree it took a dip starting around halfway through. The worst thing to me was the return of the redneck sheriff, in freaking Thailand of all places.

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