James Bond’s Golden Gun Explained (and why it stinks in GoldenEye) – NewsDio

The man with the golden gun introduced one of the most memorable weapons in James Bond history. In 1973 Bond was riding a renewed wave of success after Live and Let Die It had brought in an unprecedented $ 161 million at the box office, making it the most successful film in the franchise. However, things would take a disappointing turn the following year when The man with the golden gun go to theaters Despite the participation of a veteran Bond creative team, including director Guy Hamilton, screenwriter Richard Maibaum and composer John Barry, The man with the golden gun It was greeted with a lukewarm response from critics and a relatively low box office gross of $ 97.6 million.

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But in between The man with the golden gunVarious missteps, Christopher Lee's portrayal of the villain Francisco Scaramanga remains a highlight of the Bond canon to this day. Thanks to Lee's performance, Scaramanga became one of 007's most memorable antagonists, transcending the uneven movie in which he appears. Equally memorable was his weapon of choice A golden pistol made of various everyday objects. Since then, the gun itself has inspired official and fan-made replicas and has appeared in various other 007-related media, especially as a ridiculously overpowered weapon in the legendary video game. GoldenEye 007.

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In addition to Bond's signature Walther PPK, the Golden Gun may be the most recognizable firearm in the franchise's nearly 60-year history. With the 25th movie in the series, No time to die, slated to arrive in November this year, here's a look at the Golden Gun and its prolific record as a staple of the Bond franchise.

In 1965 Ian Fleming's last Bond novel The man with the golden gun introduced readers to Francisco "Pistols" Scaramanga, a Cuban assassin who had an unlikely experience in a traveling circus. Throughout the novel, he is known for sending his marks with a gold-plated .45 revolver. In the book's final duel, Scaramanga manages to cut Bond with a bullet from another of his access weapons, a "Little Golden Derringer" before Bond returns a fatal shot.

While Scaramanga would not survive his first literary outing, the character and his flashy pistol would. Almost a decade later, the film version of The man with the golden gun it came, complete with third nipples and a tiny villain named Nick Nack. Although the film struggled to match the sales and critical reception of its predecessor, thanks to Christopher Lee's portrayal of Scaramanga, The man with the golden gunThe legacy has not been fully defined by a disappointing business and critical response.

Of course, the filmmakers were also involved in establishing Scaramanga as such a memorable character. Director Guy Hamliton and screenwriters Richard Maibaum and Tom Mankiewicz took some liberties with Fleming's original vision of the character that paid off in the long run. In the movie, he was a world-renowned murderer whose services could be obtained for a million dollars per murder, and those deaths would not be delivered through a "Little Golden Derringer" but by a golden modular pistol made up of seemingly harmless parts. A cigarette case formed the handle, a lighter became the body of the pistol, a gold cufflink was used for the trigger, and a fountain pen was screwed in place to form the barrel. Scaramanga also kept his signature golden bullet hidden in his belt buckle. It is this inventive version of the golden weapon that has since acquired legendary status among Bond fans.

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Taking a creative license with Scaramanga and his weapon, the film version of The man with the golden gun He took Fleming's original idea and made it a recognized piece of Bond iconography, up there with gadgets and Bond cars. But the story of how the accessory was actually made remains unclear at best. The film's closing title sequence credits Colibri Lighters as the sole maker of the golden weapon, but other stories have since circulated. Some credit art director Peter Lamont with his original creation. Lamont was said to have created a prototype before bringing it to Colibri to produce the on-screen version. However, the Colibri cannons were held together by magnets and therefore rejected due to their instability. Lamont was later said to have used a London-based company called Rose to create the final weapons used in the film.

Other accounts claim that special effects magician John Stears was behind the creation of the weapons, using parts from Colibri and a royal Waterman feather. Elsewhere there are reports that Pinewood Studios' own engineer and Bond movie SFX veteran Bert Luxford, who had worked on the series since Gold finger, designed the weapon. The actual origin of the golden weapon may not be clear, but what seems consistent between the stories is that there were three versions of the weapon made for the movie. One was a fully modular version that could actually be assembled and disassembled, the next was a simple one-piece pistol, and the last was a cover pistol that could actually be fired.

Whatever the truth, the actual design of a weapon that disassembles into discrete parts was undoubtedly ingenious and gave the film a true marketing boost. Filmmakers were so confident in the popularity of such an original design that the weapon itself became the focus of many of the movie posters that accompanied the release of The man with the golden gun. Usurping Bond as the main focus of his own movie poster is not an easy feat to accomplish and speaks to the ingenuity that made the golden weapon a memorable piece not only of Bond, but of action movie history.

Of course, numerous replicas of the weapon have been produced since the film's release, with two official versions of SD Studios and Factory Entertainment. The latter is perhaps the most impressive, with its 1: 1 scale 18-karat gold plated parts that can be completely disassembled. The parts match the film as closely as possible, with a fountain pen for the barrel, a lighter with a "hidden" slide-out "section, a cigarette case for the handle and trigger housing, and of course the twin of the trigger There is even a replica, vignette with inscription 007 included.

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Elsewhere, Bond superfans have taken on the task of recreating the famous Scaramanga weapon. YouTuber and engineer TheQUARTERMASTEROO7 could have the best of these fan-made replicas with their unique and fully functional accessory. With the fully modular gun made of brass and coated in 24-carat gold, The Quarter Master's version is more of a twist on the original accessory than a faithful reproduction. However, the fact that fans are creating their own visions of the original gold pistol once again speaks to its position as one of the most famous weapons in cinema.

About 23 years later The man with the golden gunAt launch, the on-screen version of the golden weapon would continue to influence popular culture, this time in the form of a video game with the 1997 release GoldenEye 007. Possibly the best Nintendo 64 game, the classic Rare certificate introduced an entire generation of children to the first person shooter and was shipped only with the "Condemn-clone "tag awarded to any game that attempts to emulate the mechanics of the beloved Bethesda shooter. GoldenEye 007Innovative level design and faithful adherence to Bond's story made it a huge hit with players in the mid-90s, but it was the multiplayer mode that kept kids playing for years after its release. And among the weapons available in multiplayer mode was, of course, the famous golden weapon.

Many Bond series fans were delighted to see such an iconic weapon appear in the game. But many players were immediately frustrated with its overwhelming stats, despite the game's overall position as the best Bond game ever created. The golden weapon in GoldenEye 007 It was, naturally, a one-shot weapon, staying true to Scaramanga's famous ability from the original novel and movie. It could also only hold and fire one bullet at a time, and if the players' target was as good as Scaramanga himself, a bullet was all that was needed.

Such a deadly firearm was always going to be controversial in a game where players were much more likely to get caught up in the miserable Klobb machine gun. Alongside the frustratingly small playable character Odd Job, whom Rare seemed to have mistaken for Nick Nack's petite stature. The man with the golden gun The golden weapon proved to be a maddening addition to the game's arsenal. Much more enjoyable was the golden multiplayer weapon, which gave the iconic weapon a full match type, yet another achievement for the 20-year-old pistol.

The golden weapon also appeared in Golden eyeCampaign or "mission" mode, but only on the secret "Egyptian" level. To obtain the coveted weapon, players had to carefully walk through a room in the Egyptian temple, making sure to only step on the tiles on the correct floor. Stepping on the wrong tiles would cause a glass shield to drop onto the weapon, locking it in as sentinel weapons appeared from the walls taking Bond out. For those who managed to evade death, a cheat was unlocked that allowed players to start campaign missions with the golden weapon and 100 golden bullets.

The weapon itself permeated the entire game and reintroduced the iconic Scaramanga weapon. The man with the golden gun to a new generation. From its origins as a creative addition to a novel Fleming was disappointed in, the golden weapon has become one of the most recognizable and iconic weapons perhaps in all of cinema, even transcending that medium and becoming a small but beloved piece. of pop culture. history.

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Joe Roberts is a British writer and producer currently living in Los Angeles. He holds a BA in American Studies from the University of Sussex, an NCTJ diploma in journalism, and has worked in national news, tech journalism, and documentary production. Joe currently writes news and features for ScreenRant.

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