The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

Directed by Guy Hamilton. Starring Roger Moore, Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Maud Adams, Hervé Villechaize, Clifton James, Soon-Taik Oh, Bernard Lee, Richard Loo, Marne Matiland, Desmond Llewelyn, Marc Lawrence, Lois Maxwell. [PG]

Moore’s second go-around in 007’s tuxedo is lumpy and unimaginative despite the usual fantastical contraptions, failing to pick up steam or deliver an adventure story that’s deserving of more than mere casual attention. After a glib pre-titles sequence (the second in a row without Bond making an in-the-flesh appearance), the script sets up a worthy premise—an assassin (Lee) armed with a golden gun matching wits and weaponry with MI6’s most accomplished field agent, diametrically-opposed but equally-skilled in the deadly arts. But, alas, the audience is then subjected to a half-baked energy-crisis villainous plot, homages to martial arts movie trends that are even more forced than the ones to blaxploitation in Live and Let Die, and a final act set on the bad guy’s island that’s more draggy than exciting. Lee makes for a formidably sinister opponent—and a welcome contrast to the cartoonish elements surrounding him—but the women are weak (Adams is elegant but bland, Ekland fills out a bikini nicely but makes for an inept “dumb blonde” fellow agent), the henchman (Villechaize) is mistreated as a campy punchline, and Clifton James’ Live and Let Die redneck buffoon makes a gratuitous (and preposterous) reappearance. There’s a pretty good car chase in the middle of this thing, but James’ involvement deflates its effectiveness, and the eye-popping corkscrew jump that oughta bring down the house is fatally undermined by a cheap slide-whistle sound effect! Those funhouse-style showdowns have got nothing on The Lady from Shanghai. Immemorable title tune is composed by John Barry, sung by Lulu, with inane lyrics by Don Black. Fourth and final franchise outing for director Hamilton.

44/100