AJB live commentary on THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN

Higgins

Time for another group-viewing, this time, it‘s

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN







London Summertime: 20:00
Paris Summertime: 21:00
New York local time 15:00
LA local time 12:00


PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT WE ARE ALL STARTING 10 MINUTES LATER !

The 19:00 deadline is set so that everybody has enough time to find their DVDs/Blu Rays, boot their players and get done with the menus and pause right where the gunbarrel starts.

WE ARE STARTING PRECISELY AT 19:10

- Please make sure that everybody has their BluRay/DVD/VCR ready and start the player latest 19:00 GMT to get done with all the dodgy menus.
- PAUSE YOUR PLAYER RIGHT BEFORE THE GUNBARREL
- HIT PLAY PRECISELY AT 19:10.
I‘ll post some timecodes during the thread just in case that somebody has messed it up

Higgins

Thanks, Barbel! {[] {[]

Higgins

I hope that Gymkata is outdoing himself with Britt Ekland pics and gifs ;%

Shady Tree

Cool!
Another film to which I'm highly partial!

It's a flawed but entertaining film from the Hamilton of the early 70s, at a point when his relationship with Mankiewicz was under strain and when that writer's work wasn't quite gelling with Maibaum's contributions. Still, the Hamilton/Mankiewicz era was 'my era' as a young Bond fan, and I always love revisiting it!

For Roger Moore, TMWTGG is a step in the wrong direction from LALD in terms of developing an interpretation of Bond with which he could feel properly comfortable, but still he plays several good scenes in this one - and is helped enormously by going up against the magnificent (and magnificently Flemingesque) Christopher Lee. There are two lovely leading ladies, albeit somewhat mishandled (in Andrea's case, quite literally). Britt Ekland becomes the archetypal Bond-girl bimbo - an implied point of reference for all Bond actresses who have subsequently laid claim to being more of "Bond's equal". I know John Barry had relatively little time to work on this film, but the score is full of great Bondian music in sympathy with the film's atmosphere. Some of the location work looks gorgeous.


Not least (hint hint) there are indeed gif possibilities galore!

Barbel

The score isn't one of Barry's best, but it does have its moments- the jazz instrumental of the main theme is great fun for example! As Shady indicates above, Barry wrote this score in a hurry after being brought in very late (he had a busy schedule). He uses his main theme in various arrangements (slow tempo and strings for love scenes ("Goodnight Goodnight"), uptempo and brassy for action ("Kung Fu Fight") plus the jazz version) rather than write, say, a separate love theme- not since GF had a Barry Bond score relied so heavily on one main theme.
There's no new music on the 2003 remaster, and Nic Raine covered only one piece- a medley which appears at the end of the movie- "Slow Boat To China" (very similar to "Goodnight Goodnight") plus "Nick Nack".

Golrush007

I hope that tonight's watchalong is a most enjoyable one. Unfortunately I've been snowed under with work and putting long hours in for the last week or so and I'm absolutely knackered, so I'm going to have an early night. Disappointing, as I was looking forward to revisiting this film. I look forward to scrolling through the comments tomorrow when I have a moment to spare.

Barbel

See you later, Golrush007.

Higgins

Time reference:
https://greenwichmeantime.com/

40 minutes till loading up
50 minutes till watching

Higgins

{[] {[]

For me personally, TMWTGG is the movie that climbed the most in my personal preference.

It has some flaws, no doubt ( the awful flying car, the slide wistle and the role of Goodnight), but I can easily forgive those.

In my opinion, Moore settled in the role and gave it the lighter note which is typical for him and he appears to be very comfortable in that position along the movie.

The locations in Asia are absolutely stunning, the cinematography is superb and it never gets dull or boring.

Maud Adams is beautiful, Britt is absolutely stunning, wish they gave her more than playing the stereotypical Blonde.

When I want a feel-good Bond movie, it‘s very high on my list?

One word about Bond‘s Rolex:
The watch in the closeup shot un Kowloon is a 5513 ( like in LALD) but in all scenes where Bind‘s watch is identifiable, we see a Date Cyclops which leads to a Submariner Date 1680.
This may have been Moore‘s personal watch.
,

Barbel

I'm with you on most of that, Higgins, but have you nothing to say about Chew Mee? (Or are you saving that for later)

Shady Tree

Barbel wrote:

There's no new music on the 2003 remaster, and Nic Raine covered only one piece- a medley which appears at the end of the movie- "Slow Boat To China" (very similar to "Goodnight Goodnight") plus "Nick Nack".

In the absence of any additions to the 2003 re-master, I think there are a number of cues in the film that are missing from the available albums which would have improved variety. 'Hip's Trip' is well represented, selected for reissue in the Bond 50th anniversary album - and it happens to be a favourite of mine on the strength of the Thai stylings in its mid-section (which work brilliantly in the film against the shot of Christopher Lee walking aboard his junk. Like Connery in TB, all Lee has to do is walk to appear magnificent...). I like all variants of the main theme in the score - for romance, for action and in that rag-time riff for the Fun House. I also love the cue played over Andrea's shower scene, with its final descending piano line. (Sorry, I don't know proper musical terminology!) This is attuned both to the sensuality and the melancholy of the character: a blend which is musical genius imho. As I've mentioned elsewhere, 'Nick Nack' is catchy but uncomfortably close to circus sideshow music. (It makes me think of Tod Browning's infamous 'Freaks').

Higgins

Everything has been written here, it was all an illusion, unfortunately

https://ajb007.co.uk/topic/51510/tmwtgg-sad-but-having-the-duty-to-report/

Barbel

Thanks, Higgins!

Shady Tree

Higgins wrote:

Everything has been written here, it was all an illusion, unfortunately

https://ajb007.co.uk/topic/51510/tmwtgg-sad-but-having-the-duty-to-report/

Shattered my illusion too, unfortunately! British film at the time was full of naughty bits so I'd always gone with my first assumption. ;%

Barbel

Shady Tree wrote:

Like Connery in TB, all Lee has to do is walk to appear magnificent...).

Indeed. In his first ever appearance as Dracula he owns the part totally just by walking down stairs in his initial ten seconds onscreen.

Shady Tree wrote:

... its final descending piano line. (Sorry, I don't know proper musical terminology!)

I'll have to listen again, but I think it's an arpeggio

Higgins

Load you players and pause right in front of the gunbarrel, please.

We start in 10 minutes

Higgins

5 minutes

Thunderbird 2

Thunderbird 2, standing By.

SABs on A.R.S.E and Holly mode.

Higgins

We have the MGM lion and the UA logo

Barbel

Gymkata wrote:

slide whistle is armed and ready.

) ) ) No cute little elephant?

Higgins

And Go!

Shady Tree

Gunbarrel. First outing (in a film) for Barry's symphonic arrangement of the Bond theme. In 1974 this seemed fresh and new; by 1987 (and probably by a film or two before TLD) it was seeming rather stale.

Barbel

Sir Christopher Lee! Excuse me while I dissolve into fanboy squee. An actor practically born to play a Bond villain- distantly sort of related to Ian Fleming, mentioned as a possibility for playing Dr No (don’t know how much truth is in that), a serious contender for best film villain ever.

Higgins

James Bond island , secret side , Phang Nga, Thailand

Shady Tree

James Bond Island!

Barbel

Music “Scaramanga’s Fun House” Brief sections of a jazz instrumental of the main theme can be heard. Barry recorded a full version for the album.

Barbel

Rodney- surely the same character from DAF?

Shady Tree

Barbel wrote:

Rodney- surely the same character from DAF?

Payback for throwing Plenty out of the window

Barbel

Shady Tree wrote:

Gunbarrel. First outing (in a film) for Barry's symphonic arrangement of the Bond theme. In 1974 this seemed fresh and new; by 1987 (and probably by a film or two before TLD) it was seeming rather stale.

Yes, agreed- he should have changed the arrangement more than he did.

Higgins

I‘ve written a long article about James Bond island here:

https://www.ajb007.co.uk/topic/32922/approaching-james-bond-island/

https://www.jamesbondlifestyle.com/articles/approaching-james-bond-island

Barbel

Gymkata wrote:

By the way, I have a third nipple. I'm not joking. It's on my right side about 4 inches below my right one. You can't tell it's there unless you look closely at it, but the hair pattern around it is distinctive.

So yeah, I shoulda been an assassin.