BEFORE: Back up to Massachusetts for another weekend with my folks. That's two in a row, but this Sunday is the local German festival, so how could I pass on that?
Almost halfway through the Bond series, I've now seen 11 with 12 films left to go. Roger Moore carries over from "Live and Let Die" for his 2nd appearance as Bond, out of 7.
THE PLOT: Bond is led to believe that he is targeted by the world's most expensive assassin and must hunt him down to kill him.
AFTER: This seemed like a bit of a departure from the Bond formula - most of the film seemed to be missing one of those "villain threatens the world for ransom" plots. But then it feels like the filmmakers noticed this was missing too, so they sort of tacked one on at the end. Definitely influenced by the "energy crisis" of the 1970's, and made back when solar power seemed like the best answer (whatever happened to that?). There's a super-efficient solar cell that can put OPEC out of business, but of course the Bond villain just wants to use it to blow stuff up. Or, alternatively, be paid to NOT blow things up.
The question I'm left with, did Scaramanga really target Bond, or was Bond just led to believe so? Because Bond is sent to deal with Scaramanga before the reverse can happen, which seems a little bit like prosecuting someone for a crime that hasn't happened yet. But again, I'm probably overthinking things. Perhaps I can tell myself that OPEC sent Bond the golden bullet, so he'd take down Scaramanga and his solar device, and they could stay in business for a few more years.
Other than that, this one had a pretty ho-hum plot. They tried to position Scaramanga as Bond's counterpart, someone who enjoys the finer things in life, good champagne, beautiful women - and who gets paid for killing. Bond protests the comparison, but it's hard to see the difference between them, except that Bond works for a government and is not as well-paid. Sure, he saves the world, but isn't that just semantics?
LOCATIONS: Beirut, Macau, Bangkok, Red China
VILLAINS: Francisco Scaramanga, Nick Nack (possibly the inspiration for "Mini-Me"?)
BABES: Andrea Anders, Agent Goodnight
ALLIES: M, Q, Lt. Hip, J.W. Pepper
PASTIMES: Martial arts, kickboxing
CARS: 1974 AMC Hornet X Hatchback Special Coupe (borrowed, unfortunately)
GADGETS: Gun assembled from a cigarette case, lighter and pen, also a car/plane. Too bad these are the VILLAIN'S gadgets, not Bond's...
THEME: "The Man With the Golden Gun" by Lulu. Pretty basic stuff.
Also starring Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, Clifton James (all also carrying over from "Live and Let Die"), Desmond Llewellyn (last seen in "Diamonds Are Forever"), Christopher Lee, Britt Ekland, Maud Adams, Herve Villechaize, Soon Tek-Oh.
RATING: 5 out of 10 broken wine bottles
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