Over the course of 25 movies and 60 years, the James Bond franchise has seemingly done it all. Through the adventures and antics of its many-faced superspy, it has sought to tell a number of different kinds of stories. But while the recent series of Bond movies starring Daniel Craig has been rightly praised for its greater humanization of the character, it wasn't the first time the franchise had gone in that direction.
Roger Moore's second outing, The Man with the Golden Gun, pitted his wise-cracking Bond against the intimidating Scaramanga, played by the legendary Christopher Lee. Though this entry didn't gross as high or score as well with the critics as its fellows, it foreshadowed the later direction of the franchise, earning its place as the series' most underrated film.
The Man with the Golden Gun Is a Movie Driven by Its Villain
The movie's key element is its villain. Rather than a megalomaniacal supervillain seeking to conquer the world, the antagonist of The Man with the Golden Gun is Scaramanga, a world-class assassin who wields the titular weapon. Using a strange maze within his lair to train, he has built a reputation as one of the world's best killers before being hired for a mission that leads to him crossing paths with James Bond, leading to disastrous consequences for both. It's rote enough for one of Bond's love interests to die around the first act, but Anders' murder by Scaramanga in Golden Gun matters more than that. By the time of her death, Scaramanga has already stymied Bond on multiple occasions, no small feat considering the man's near-superhero levels of ability and deadliness. He has also usurped control of a major criminal organization by murdering its leader and, by taking control of the Solex Agitator, the movie's plot Macguffin. By holding almost all the cards, only through his trademark wit was Bond able to overcome Scaramanga, using his maze to his advantage.
Scaramanga's own abilities allow him to serve as a dark mirror of Bond and make him an extremely compelling antagonist. And the fact that he's played by Lee, one of the most talented and intriguing actors ever, only increases that. Scaramanga's rivalry with Bond forms the crux of much of the movie's action and is much of what makes it interesting to watch now. There are also hints of Timothy Dalton and Craig's Bonds. And while there is still that occasional air of silliness that later Moore films would revel in, the tension between Bond and Scaramanga remains consistent.
Despite Its Flaws, The Man with the Golden Gun Stands the Test of Time
One of the movie's greatest assets is shared by most Bond films -- its globe-trotting nature. The Man with the Golden Gun leads Bond to visit a secret MI6 base in the shipwreck of the RMS Queen Elizabeth and several locations in Thailand, including Scaramanga's secret base in the standing islands of Ko Khao Phing Kan. And while many believed John Barry's score for the movie was one of his weaker contributions, in retrospect, its understated nature suits the more personal tone of the tit-for-tat duel between Bond and Scaramanga. The title song isn't often ranked particularly highly in tier lists of the franchise's ballads, either, but it's certainly catchy.
That isn't to say that The Man with the Golden Gun is perfect. Its predecessor, Live and Let Die, was a clear continuation of the then-current blaxploitation trend, and The Man with the Golden Gun followed up by attempting to tap into the martial arts movie craze. Utilizing the setting of Scaramanga's base in Southeast Asia, the movie includes an increasingly preposterous fight between Bond and his allies against an entire karate school. There's also the infamous “corkscrew stunt,” one of the most incredible feats of practical stuntwork in movie history that got undercut by John Barry's inclusion of a slide whistle. The movie also brought back another error from Moore's first outing as Bond, the now-recurring character of Louisianian sheriff J.W. Pepper, who rode alongside Bond during the corkscrew stunt and is tremendously annoying.
The Man with the Golden Gun was a movie that tested the waters where the franchise would eventually sail. Scaramanga was the kind of villain Bond would later face off against, and the personal battle between them would comprise the stakes that made Skyfall one of the best movies of its decade. So, despite its problematic elements, the movie is still worth watching today.