The Man With the Golden Gun

(1974) Roger Moore

This was Roger Moore's second apperance as 007 in the series, and one of my personal favourites. To me, and hopefully other Bond fans, it proved that there was still a much better life after Connery. Up to this point, even with Moore's spectacular debut in LALD, many if not most Bond fans were skeptical about this new guy.

The plot in T.M.W.T.G.G is not too thick or complicated, it's just a little too long. A man named Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee) is the villain. He's a talented hit man who uses an actual golden gun in all his killings. Bond is next on his hit list. Roger Moore steps in as 007 to investigate the missing of a fellow secret service agent in which Scaramanga is suspected. It doesn't take long before Bond realizes that he's next to be shot, and as the story unfolds slowly and properly without any real complications, we're introduced to a cast of characters including Nick Nack; Scaramanga's "little" sidekick, Goodnight, a SS agent who like most supporting Bond women, falls in love with Bond. Scaramang's girlfriend Maud Adams (also seen in Octopussy 1983) also plays a supporting role.

Scaramanga challenges Bond to a Duel.

This movie has a pretty exciting ending, however, we find ourselves waiting too long before it arrives. John Barry did a good job with the music and the concept of the story is increadibly appealing as are the locales and the scenery in this film. This is one of Roger's best, but the dragged out plot doesn't allow most people to enjoy his performance. All in all, this is a good film with great leading performances and lot's of Bond action but, with an extended plot that doesn't keep us 100% interested!