007 Journals: The Man With Golden Gun

When I read up about The Man With the Golden Gun I saw phrases like "lowest point" and "worst Bond film" so I wasn't expecting a whole lot going into this movie. I try to keep an open opinion about each movie despite knowing their legacy and I feel like I've done a good job of that so far. I will say I was a good way through this movie and really wondering what everyone was talking about. Everything was going smoothly. Then one scene literally turned the entire film upside down and it was a steep downhill drop until it smooths out again in the last twenty minutes. It all starts with Bond grabbing and squeezing a sumo wrestler's butt during a fight. What?!

Okay, let's start positive. There is a lot I love about Golden Gun. For one more Roger Moore as Bond who I've come to love in the role. Second, Christopher Lee is a great Bond villain. I had no idea he was in this movie and I love the very idea of it, I just feel like he was wasted and wished he was in a better Bond movie. I honestly think the plot was overly written as well. The idea of an assassin that is at Bond's skill level is even more interesting if you remove the solar energy subplot. It literally has no purpose in the film and Scaramanga doesn't even explain his place in it all until the final confrontation, of which he flat out says (with a smile on his face) that he is ignorant to science and has no interest other than selling. It all just seemed forced in there. Scaramanga is a great villain and even though Knick Knack creeped me out as much as the Leperchaun did as a child he is a great henchman. I just would have rather have seen a lot of Bond vs Scaramanga because spy VS. assassin is a much more interesting story. The scenes with Bond and Scaramanga talking back and forth at the end were easily my favorite part of the film.

Both Bond girls in this movie are beautiful but Agent Goodnight is a ridiculous name (in keeping with other ridiculous Bond girl names. I'm looking at you Christmas) and she is honestly the worst agent I've ever seen. She is barely a step above damsel in distress. I miss Tracy from On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Scaramanga's mistress was a much more interesting character and I honestly felt bad when she was killed off. She served the plot and it was a role played  well by Muad Adams. One thing I should note is that this is the first time that Bond has blatantly used sex as a spy tool to the extent you later see in Casino Royale and I thought that was interesting. This is also something that I have failed to mention in any of my previous reviews but I love Bernard Lee as M. He has been better and better with each film and really shines in the scenes where M is just tired of Bond's shenanigans. He's great as M and I love his few scenes in this film probably more so than any of his other appearances.

Okay, I've said enough good things about this movie, now lets get into the bad. First off, the sumo wrestler fight is just a ridiculous idea and was probably thought of on set. Just have Bond grab his cheeks and give him a wedgie. Well that was a terrible idea fellas. While not necessarily a bad thing but I did notice this was more of a risque Bond movie. A lot more naked women barely covered and with the HD upgrade to these films you see a lot more nipples that were before hidden behind grainy or dark video that are now clear as day. Go back and watch Diamonds are Forever for full nipple on Plenty O'Toole. Some of these movies could probably get an R rating now if they were re-rated. The horrible cherry on top of this film is the return of the most stereotypical and awful character in a Bond film (the first time a side character has made two appearances I believe) is the American sheriff J.W. Pepper. Holy shit they just had to bring this guy back again. Running into Bond on his vacation feels right out of a Loony Tunes cartoon and it is just awful. Not to mention he gets crammed into another pretty good car chase (last time was boats I know) which is complete with a pretty impressive stunt where the awe is completely crushed by the presence of slide whistle! UGH!

Seriously the time from sumo butt grabbing to Bond vs Scaramanga almost kills this entire franchise and is easily the quickest drop of enjoyment in any film I've ever seen. The silly factor just goes out of control for too long and too close together for almost the entire middle of this movie. Luckily there are some great aspects of this film with the whole Bond vs Scaramanga plot line, but literally everything else could be cut out for a more enjoyable film. In good conscious I can only give The Man With the Golden Gun a 2 out of 5. Solid performances and there's a hint of a great film here but the middle drags it down.

007 Journals: Live And Let Die

Hey, you know what was really popular in 1973?  Blaxploitation films. Luckily Ian Fleming wrote a Bond film about a black cartel. Well we are in the thick of it now. The Roger Moore era. I have seen very few Roger Moore Bond movies, just bits and pieces of different films over the years, so this was my first time watching a whole film with Moore as the titular character. I know that the Moore films are where the franchise really starts to veer off into obscure humor and silly gadgets so I was going into this first movie expecting an immediate drop from the last one. Honestly though, I thought this movie was great. Now it's not perfect. There are a lot of things from the time period that stick out. For one, this movie takes place in Harlem and Louisiana and focuses on a black voodoo based cartel in the 70's. In one five minute span we hear the phrases jukebox (in reference to a radio), pimp mobile, cue ball, and honkey. This, more than the previous, really feels like a film reflecting what was popular at the time.

Honestly this film has two completely absurd moments that leave me with the biggest groan I've ever had. Let's just get those out of the way now. First is the alligator hopscotch scene. Oh man! This scene was going so well but I knew it was coming. Bond out on the rock is actually a great tense moment. The alligators and crocodiles were legitimately terrifying when they were crawling on the rock. I think it helped that I knew he was about to run across the backs because honestly I was waiting for it the whole time and when it finally happened it didn't seem as bad as I thought. But MAN was that not a good idea in a script. If anyone can tell me if this was in the book I'd love to know. The other moment, Kananga blowing like a balloon and exploding. HOLY SHIT WHAT A DUMB MOMENT. This honestly knocked an entire star off my rating alone. Whoever wrote this moment, even if it's Ian Fleming, bad writer! Stop that!

I loved Roger Moore as Bond in his first outing. He was a lot more charming and serious than I expected. This film wasn't as outlandish as I know the series gets so maybe that has something to do with it but so far I give a big thumbs up to Moore as Bond. He feels very earnest in his portrayal and lives up to what I would picture from the books just as much as Connery does. Also I will say that Solitaire played by Jane Seymour is my second favorite Bond girl after Vesper. She is beautiful, I love her character, and it blew my mind that she was the mom Kitty in Wedding Crashers. Like wow! Really all of the performances in this movie (the serious ones anyway) are fantastic. Yaphet Kotto is a great Bond villain and plays right into the role. Honestly all of the worst performances come from the over Americanized stereotypical southern police that are after Bond during the boat chase. That is some embarrassing stuff.

The plot is fairly solid for a Bond villain. Kananga is producing heroin that he is going to give out for free and this will drive his competitors out of business, thus allowing him to start charging and run a monopoly. Honestly makes sense in a crazy sort of way. I also love that he's seemingly a modern man but still believes in old voodoo traditions so much so that he even keeps a taro card reader on hand. This is where the film gets a little interesting. Are we supposed to believe that Solitaire really has powers and that Bond steals them by sleeping with her? Are James Bond films now incorporating supernatural elements? Honestly the film doesn't really lean too hard either way and I'm inclined to believe that it's all just people believing in superstition and over thinking. I also want to point out that there is only one gadget in this film and it's awesome. Bond's watch has a magnet and the face spins and turns into a saw. It's all plausible enough and I love when they keep it simple.

While I do think the film is pretty great there are some up and down moments. There's a lot of little things that kind of bug me like just some sketchy performances from smaller characters, the obvious racist undertones, and just those two outlandish moments I mentioned before. Also it was impossible not to notice how much Ford sponsored this film because almost every car was the same. Aside from Oddjob I think this is the only real appearance of a henchman with a gimmick, of course referring to the man with a metal arm. Other than that, Moore is actually really suave as Bond. There is also an amazing boat chase in this film that is actually pretty lengthy. Now that I think of it there are two great chases in the film because even the chase in the double decker bus is rather entertaining. I also loved the score and that Paul Mccartney song is one of the best Bond songs. Honestly I liked this film worlds more than I would though so I'm going to give it a four out of five. Great but not perfect.