Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

MI6 receives a golden bullet with "007" inscribed on it. M believes the bullet is a message from an assassin, Francisco Scaramanga. Worried that Bond is endangered, M relieves Bond of his current mission on investigating Gibson, a scientist thought to have developed a tool that could end the energy crisis.

Francisco Scaramanga, played by Christopher Lee
Naturally, bond sets out to find Scaramanga. His first stop is in Beirut, where he recovers one of Scaramanga's bullets from a belly dancer, who claims it's "her lucky charm."

Q Branch examines the bullet and discovers that the creaor of the bullet is Lazar, a gunsmith in Macau. After interrogating Lazar, Bond tails the collector of the bullets. He later questions her, and discovers that she is Scaramanga's mistress. She describes Scaramanga, and reveals the location of his next hit. It is at the Bottoms Up Club.

When Bond arrives, he is shocked to find Scaramanga's target. It is Gibson, the scientist 007 was investigating. Gibson is killed, and a henchman of Scaramanga steals the tool Gibson developed named a solex agitator. Bond is blamed for the murder, but an ally, Lieutenant Hip to MI6 takes him out of police custody.

M orders Hip and Bond to retrieve the solex agitator and kill Scaramanga.

James Bond, played by roger Moore
Will Bond succeed in his mission?

I personally liked this installment of the series. Scaramanga's gun is actually composed of four parts, a lighter, cigarette case, pen, and cufflinks. In other words, Scaramanga always has his gun on him. Scaramanga believes his only real challenge was Bond. 

Picture Credits:
http://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php?/archives/3315-DEFENDING-THE-MAN-WITH-THE-GOLDEN-GUN.html

http://www.listal.com/viewimage/1218591





Artwork for The Man with the Golden Gun

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd, played by Bruce Glover and Putter smith
Assassins Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd are on the run, killing anyone who comes into contact with a certain set of diamonds. Bond's boss M thinks the diamonds are part of a smuggling operation, and orders 007 to investigate.

Bond impersonates Peter Franks, a smuggler who is supposed to meet up with a contact named Tiffany Case. At Case's apartment, Bond and the real Peter Franks meet up. The two fight, and Bond subdues him. To avoid revealing his identity, Bond switches identifications with Franks. Tiffany and "Franks" (Bond) hide the smuggled diamonds in the real Franks' body, and smuggle them to L.A.

Tiffany Case, played by Jill St. John
Bond meets with Felix Leiter at the airport, and they switch the real diamonds with fakes ones. Bond and Tiffany are driven to a funeral home with Franks' body, and Franks is creamated. The diamonds come out intact, and the next smuggler in the chain, Shady Tree, takes them. Unfortunately, Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd catch Bond and lock him in a casket. They send him into the oven to be cremated. Bond's luck is about to be burned in flames with the rest of him when Shady Tree turns the oven off and pulls Bond out. Tree realized the diamonds were fake, and wanted to know where the real ones were.

Bond and Tiffany go to Las Vegas where Leiter shipped the real diamonds, and follow the diamonds as they switch from one smuggler to another. Bond soon realizes that his arch-enemy Ernst Stavro Blofeld receives the diamonds and plans to build a satellite with them that could destroy the world's nuclear weapon supply.

Will Blofeld's plan work? Watch this movie to find out!

Ernst Stavro Blofeld, played by Charles Gray
Diamonds Are Forever wasn't my favorite Bond movie. To me, it was a boring plot. Smuggling diamonds isn't exactly a life-and-death situation, which most of the 007 movie plot's are all about. Having said that, it was a pretty good movie. Blofeld is quite sarcastic with Bond, and I'm a sarcastic guy sometimes. In one scene, Blofeld is dressed as a woman, which was kind of hilarious.

Picture Credits:

http://www.ivewatchedit.com/movie/681/Diamonds-Are-Forever

http://www.filmsite.org/series-jamesbond7.html

http://www.wintonforum.co.uk/qp/famouslocals.html

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Goldfinger (1964)


Auric Goldfinger, played by Gert Frobe

James Bond is in Miami Beach when he meets Felix Leiter, who informs Bond that M (Bond's boss) wants him to observe Auric Goldfinger. Conveniently, Goldfinger is at the same hotel as Bond. 007 sneaks into Goldfinger's room, when he sees a woman named Jill Masterson on the balcony. She is helping Goldfinger cheat at a game of rummy by looking at his opponent's cards through binoculars and telling her boss through a radio. Bond cuts the radio, making Goldfinger lose the game. Bond decides to stay awhile, which turns out bad for Masterson. Late in the night, Goldfinger's silent assassin Oddjob knocks Bond out and kills Jill.

007 wants to meet Goldfinger personally this time, and sets up a golf game. Bond wins, and again Goldfinger is mad. He cuts Bond a check, and leaves for Switzerland. What he doesn't know when he leaves is that Bond is following him.

Oddjob, played by Harold Sakata
At his facory, Goldfinger and a Chinese man, Mr. Ling, are speaking about a project named Operation Gland Slam. Bond sneaks in and overhears the converstion, but is later captured. Goldfinger decides to let 007 live, thinking that he will trick MI6 into believeing that Bond has everything under control.


Goldfinger leaves for Kentucky, and has Bond flown in after him. Even though 007 is locked in a jail cell on Goldfinger's farm, he still manages to escape and listen in on the details of Operation Grand Slam. Goldfinger plans to break into Fort Knox, and set off a nuclear bomb, making the gold radioactive. In other words, the gold of Fort Know would become worthless, and Goldfinger's stock would increase ten times.

Will Operation Gland Slam be successful? Watch Goldfinger to find out!



According to many Bond fans around the world, Goldfinger has the most famous quote of the whole series. When Bond is captured at Goldfinger's factory, and he's about to die, he asks, "Do you expect me to talk?" Goldfinger replies, "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!" I like Oddjob, with his razor sharp hat. If anyone has seen Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Random Task is a knock-off of Oddjob. One interesting trivia fact is that Gert Frobe, who played Goldfinger, was German and spoke little English. This caused problems when the production of Goldfinger was taking place, so the producers decided to dub his voice.

Picture Credits: http://www.goseetalk.com/2011/01/05/7305/auric-goldfinger/
                          http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Oddjob
                          http://markmartinezshow.blogspot.com/2011/01/gops-30-year-race-to-bottom.html