The Man With the Golden Gun (1974)

Preceded by: Live and Let Die (1973)
Succeeded by: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

See our full list of James Bond films.

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
James Bond	Roger Moore	½
Francisco Scaramanga	Christopher Lee	½
Mary Goodnight	Britt Ekland
Andrea Anders	Maud Adams	½
Nick Nack	Hervé Villechaize
J. W. Pepper	Clifton James	½
Hai Fat	Richard Loo	-
Lieutenant Hip	Soon-Taik Oh	½
Rodney	Marc Lawrence	-
Miss Moneypenny	Lois Maxwell	-
Lazar	Marne Maitland	-
Q	Desmon Llewelyn	-
M	Bernard Lee	-

Review

Director Guy Hamilton later said that this was the only Bond film he regretted making, and it's hard to fault him for that sentiment because not much is working in this, Roger Moore's second outing in the series. The main plot takes 007 on a tour of Southeast Asia in pursuit of a villain of unclear background, motivation and, for most of the picture, relevance. Christopher Lee rivals Moore in everything from sophistication to harmlessness. It's like watching a discarded James Bond script being read out loud. Neither the two leads or any of the film's other anemic elements are able to make this entry in the series come alive. Bond himself is a stiff know-it-all who obviously looks down on all the secondary creatures who cross his path in here, meaning women, Asians and Americans. And speaking of the latter, Clifton James, as the Louisiana sheriff who by chance becomes Bond's henchman for a while, is probably the most annoying 007 accomplice of the entire series. He's an unfunny bully who seems to have been included only to make Bond's otherwise lame one-liners appear a little less insulting. Only the ever-dependable Soon-Taik Oh comes away from this picture with any sort of dignity. The worst 007 of the Moore era, it's a film that looks and feels a lot older than it actually is.