The Man with the Golden Gun

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Bond: Who would want to put a contract out on me? M: Jealous husbands, humiliated tailors, outraged chefs. The list is endless!

The ninth James Bond film. Francisco Scaramanga (played by Christopher Lee), the most dangerous assassin in the world, has a contract out on Bond, who sets out to find out why. Oh, there's also a missing solar power device to find. It's also the last film that Harry Saltzman worked on.

This was the first Bond movie allowed to be screened in the Soviet Union. Possibly because there is not even one mention of them in the entire movie (Red China, on the other hand....).

Tropes used in The Man with the Golden Gun include:

• Action Girl: In a delightful subversion of the Faux Action Girl trope, two karate-kicking schoolgirls save Bond from a gang of mooks while he looks on in appreciation.
• Affably Evil: Scaramanga.
• Aluminum Christmas Trees: The Bottoms Up Club was, in fact, a real club in Hong Kong (though it closed in 2004) located in Tsim Sha Tsui, on the Kowloon side of Victoria Harbor. In fact, this resulted in a blooper, as Bond is picked up outside the club by British agents posing as police, who tell him he is being taken to a police station on the Kowloon side (of Hong Kong Harbor); he is, in fact, already there.
• Antagonist Title: Scaramanga of course.
• Auction of Evil: Though only if you consider multinational power companies evil. Scaramanga intends to sell the secret of the Solex Agitator to the highest bidder, granting them a monopoly. Or he'll take money from the Arab oil companies to keep solar power off the market.
• Ballistic Discount: Bond questions a gunsmith about a custom bullet he made by, in part, threatening to shoot him with a rifle the man is making for a customer who has lost 2 fingers on his right hand and needs something custom balanced. Apparently, the rifle fires 2 inches below the target for people with 5 fingers. Bond proves this by shooting at, and missing, the gunsmith's wedding tackle.

Bond: So talk now...or forever hold your piece.

• Beirut: With obligatory belly-dancer.
• Bifurcated Weapon: Scaramanga's gun
• Bling Bling Bang: The eponymous Golden Gun.
• Bond Villain Stupidity:
  • Bond takes up Hai Fat's invitation to join him for dinner in his mansion while pretending to be Scaramanga, not knowing that the real Scaramanga had already gotten in touch with the guy. When he arrives there late at night, he's incapacitated by some guards in an ambush. As they're about to kill him, Hai Fat forbids them from doing so because he doesn't want Bond killed in his home. They'll just take him somewhere else to finish him off right? Nope. Hai Fat has Bond placed in a krabi krabong school to... get beaten up? Maybe?
  • Justifiably invoked by Scaramanga late in the film; he freely admits that he could have used his solar-powered laser to blow up Bond's plane before he even landed on the island, but chose not to do so because of how unsatisfying it would be.
• Butt Monkey: Sheriff J.W. Pepper.
• Can't Bathe Without a Weapon: Andrea pulls a gun on Bond when he walks in on her in the shower.

Bond: A water pistol?

• Chekhov's Dummy: The mannequin of Bond seen in Scaramanga's funhouse during the cold opening comes in handy during the final confrontation.
• Closet Shuffle: Bond forces Goodnight to hide in a closet when he is visited by Andrea.
• Collapsing Lair: Scaramanga's hideout, when the helium's temperature rises too high.
• Combat Pragmatist: Bond in the dojo. Bond and Nick Nack on the junk.
• Compensating for Something: Scaramanga only makes love before he kills, and it's clear from one scene with Anders that the gun is a penis substitute (he's caressing Anders with it suggestively as they lie in bed).
  • All together now: "The gun is good...the PENIS is EVIL!"
  • Up to Eleven in the novel, where an MI 6 psychiatric report goes on about how Scaramanga uses a Hand Cannon to compensate for his being Ambiguously Gay. No wonder Bond just had a Beretta .25!
• Convection Shmonvection: We're told that the beam of concentrated sunlight, which goes through open air with no isolation from the machine's operator, heats up to 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Bond later has it lit up a few centimeters from his face.
• Cool Plane: The Republic RC-3 SeaBee seaplane which Bond uses to fly to the Supervillain Lair, donated by a wealthy American James Bond fan (though only on the condition he fly it himself. Which he did, all the way from the United States to Thailand).
• Death Course: Scaramanga's funhouse
• Death Ray: One of the few supervillain tropes in this movie.

Scaramanga: Now that's why I call solar power. Bond: That's what I call trouble.

• Defictionalization: The Bottoms Up strip club kept the same interior used in the film until it closed in 2004. The island which is Scaramanga's hideout (Ko Tapu or Nail Island) was virtually unknown to outsiders -- it's now called James Bond Island and is an overcrowded tourist attraction (much to the annoyance of Christopher Lee when he took his wife there). Longtail boats are also referred to as "James Bond boats" in Thai tourist advertisements.
• Department of Redundancy Department: J.W. Pepper, upon being re-united with Bond.

J.W.: I know you! You're that secret agent! That English secret agent from England!

• Depraved Dwarf: Downplayed with Nick Nack. He's Affably Evil at all times, but he does work for a renowned contract killer, and does not hesitate to try and kill others when he feels like it.
• Do a Barrel Roll: Bond jumping with a car on a destroyed bridge. (yes, it was real; and yes, the producers had the guts to add a Narmy comedy sound effect!)
• Double Meaning Title: Scaramanga points out that in addition to having a weapon made of gold, after the solar-powered beam is shot "You must admit I am now undeniably the Man with the Golden Gun."
• Dragon-in-Chief: Scaramanga. Hai Fat refers to him as his "junior partner", and Fat is the one who is actually after the MacGuffin, has most of the Mooks, and his company paid for and built Scaramanga's evil lair. But there's a reason he's not the title character.
• Dragon Their Feet: Nick Nack.
• Duel to the Death: between Bond and Scaramanga
• Dumb Blonde: Mary Goodnight, the most blatant example in the whole Bond series.
• Evil Counterpart: Scaramanga is essentially Bond if he were a freelance killer with fewer scruples.
• Evil Pays Better: This is part of Scaramanga's Not So Different speech to Bond, to illustrate the one difference between the two men as Scaramanga sees it. He can afford to live on an island paradise because he gets paid a million (dollars?) per assassination contract, while Bond, as Scaramanga puts it, "works for peanuts; a hearty 'well done' from the Queen and a pittance of a pension".
• Fan Disservice: Sheriff J.W. Pepper. And Scaramanga showing his Triple Nipple.
• Fan Service: The scene where Mary Goodnight's bikini-clad butt keeps knocking against the Big Red Button activating the killer laser. Sure, it's a Crowning Moment Of Stupid, but who's going to argue with a tight close-up of Britt Ekland's booty?
• Follow the Leader: Why else would Bond be at a martial arts school being forced to fight?
• Flying Car: A Truth in Television example (though apparently without the range cited in the movie)
• Going Commando: Bond encounters Chew Me, a beautiful Thai girl swimming in Hai Fats' pool, who invites him to join her.

Bond: "I don't have any swimming trunks." Chew Me: "Neither do I."

• Go-Go Enslavement: Scaramanga forces Mary Goodnight to wear a bikini so she can't have concealed weapons.
• Groin Attack: Bond stops a sumo wrestler's Bear Hug of Death by tightening his jockstrap.
• Hall of Mirrors: Scaramanga's funhouse.
• Holiday in Thailand: A third or more of the movie takes place here.
• Hollywood Silencer: Notably averted in the opening scene, where the ganger assassin's silenced weapon is still quite loud.
• IKEA Weaponry: Scaramanga keeps his gun disassembled to pass it safely through customs.
• Improvised Weapon: Bond wards off Fat's mooks with the prop of a longtail boat.
• Jerkass: Inflicted upon Bond by the studio, in an effort to counteract Roger Moore's natural urbanity. Bond is infamously a total asshole throughout this film, threatening to break a woman's arm, threatening to blow off a guy's testicles, and later pushing a kid salesman ("bloody tourist!") into a rapid stream during a boat chase. Having sex with Anders while Goodnight, who he was just about to have sex with, is hiding in the closet. And then she still has sex with Bond at the end! This could be viewed as reversing the changes of previous movies, as the Bond of the books is a much more ruthless, cold-blooded Jerkass than is generally portrayed (at least up until the second Casino Royale. Or Licence to Kill, anyway) Plus the undeniable fact that this is exactly how a real life agent would behave - you don't get to save the world without, at the very least, threatening violence.
• Job Title: The Man with the Golden Gun.
• Kidnapped by an Ally: Bond doesn't find out that Hip is an ally until well after being arrested by him.
• Kingpin in His Gym: Scaramanga has a warped relationship with his diminuative manservant Nick-Nack; in the event of his death, Nick-Nack inherits everything...in return for Nick-Nack actually trying to kill him by hiring the best assassins in the world for Scaramanga to pit his skills against.
• Land of Dragons: Two different locales, actually, none of them the mainland. The first is Hong Kong, the second is Scaramanga's island lair, somewhere in the Chinese-controlled part of the South China Sea.
• Legendary in the Sequel: Scaramanga wishes to fight James Bond because of his reputation as the best.
• Load-Bearing Boss: Averted. Scaramanga's death has no impact on the collapse of his lair, which was the result of Goodnight shoving Scaramanga's technician into a liquid helium vat, which destabilized the power station.
• MacGuffin: The Solex Agitator.
• Marked Bullet: The gold bullet sent to Bond has his number on it.
• The Millstone: Mary Goodnight.
• Missing Trailer Scene: The original theatrical trailer contained scenes from the showdown on the beach between Bond and Scaramanga that were cut from the final release.
• Mooks: Averted. As opposed to several other Bond films, Scaramanga's hideout is staffed by only two henchmen. Both of them live longer than their boss does, and one even makes it all the way through!
  • Played straight with Hai Fat, who has several armed guards at his home and an entire school of homicidal martial artists.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The movie could have ended about 40 minutes earlier if Goodnight hadn't tried to put a tracer in Scaramanga's car. She had the solex and Scaramanga wasn't particularly interested in hunting down Bond at this point. They could have just walked away and let him be.
  • Also, the Collapsing Lair is due to Goodnight pushing a mook into a liquid helium tank.
• No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: Before starting the duel, Scaramanga shows Bond around his island and has lunch with him.
  • Superbly parodied here.
• Nobody Here but Us Statues: Rather convenient for Scaramanga to keep a statue of James Bond in his funhouse of death.
  • Nick Nack and the sumo wrestlers pull the same trick in Hai Fat's house to ambush Bond.
• Not So Different: Scaramanga and Bond (though the latter disagrees).
• Oh Crap: Bond drops his gun while under the funhouse, and has to clamber down and get it. Or maybe his dummy had a real gun with bullets -- it's not quite clear.
• Overt Rendezvous: Bond is scheduled to meet with Andrea Anders at a boxing venue so she can give him the Solex Agitator. When he gets there he finds her dead - murdered by Scaramanga.
• Product Placement: Tabasco Sauce. And AMC Motors, which is why Bond isn't booting around in an Aston Martin or BMW in this one. Also an early example of the series' long-standing love affair with Sony.
• Red Right Hand: Scaramanga has three nipples.
• Scaramanga Special: The Golden Gun itself. Scaramanga combines specially designed parts disguised as a pen, a cigarette lighter, a cigarette box and a cuff link. The Trope Namer and Trope Maker.
• Sequel Escalation: Averted. A refreshingly down-to-earth plot (no world domination plots, egomaniac villians etc) especially before The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker played this trope straight.
• Shooting Gallery: Scaramanga's funhouse.
• Shut UP, Hannibal: Bond's response to Scaramanga's assertion that, bar the paycheck, he and Bond are the same:

There's a useful 4 letter word. And you're full of it.

• Sighted Guns Are Low Tech: Scaramanga is a good enough of a marksman that he doesn't need gun sights on his eponymous gun.
  • Arguably not, as the pen clip is in the correct position for a sight (although he only aims obviously with it once.)
• The Starscream: "Mr Fat has just resigned. I'm the new Chairman of the Board."
• Stop Helping Me!: Goodnight blocks Bond's taxi, causes a chain reaction by knocking out the man keeping watch on her, and triggers the solar beam where Bond is working.
• Storming the Castle: Bond in a plane.
• Surprise Slide Staircase: Scaramanga has one in his funhouse.
• Suspect Is Hatless: As Bond talks to Miss Anders about Scaramanga.

Bond: How will I recognize him? Anders: Tall, slim and dark. Bond: So's my aunt. Anders: Yes, but how can I tell you? He's not like other men. [gestures toward her chest] He has three... Bond: Fascinating anatomical tidbit. But probably the most useless piece of information I've ever heard. Unless, of course, the "Bottoms Up" is a strip club and Scaramanga is performing.

• • It actually is a strip club, but Scaramanga doesn't perform.
• Tap on the Head: Nick Nack knocks Bond out with a trident.
• Tempting Fate: Hai Fat building his own mausoleum. And an In-Universe example -- Scaramanga has left Nick Nack all his money in his will. Nick Nack in return arranges for various Career Killers to murder his boss, which helps Scaramanga cope with his ennui. Nick Nack could of course simply poison his champagne, but he's actually quite loyal, and genuinely angry when Bond kills Scaramanga.
  • Well, he's probably more mad that Bond (or rather, Goodnight) blew up his inheritance than anything else. As for poison Scaramanga's will might just be that specific - Nick Nack only gets it if he, Scaramanga, is murdered by another gunman.
• Ten Paces and Turn: Subverted. Scaramanga disappears while Bond's back is turned, leading to a hunt.
• Theme Tune Cameo: A piano version and a jazz version plays in Scaramanga's funhouse.
• Title Drop:

[after presenting Bond his solar-powered laser weapon] Scaramanga: You must admit I am now undeniably the Man with the Golden Gun.

• Too Dumb to Live:
  • Mary Goodnight.
  • Sheriff J.W. Pepper. Unfortunately, he does.
• Triple Nipple: Scaramanga is not like other men.
• Unwinnable Training Simulation: Scaramanga vs. the gangster, except that Scaramanga could have died.
• "The Villain Sucks" Song: The innuendo-laden Lulu song. "He has a powerful weapon", apparently. "Who will he bang? We shall see..."
• Wacky Wayside Tribe: The gangster Scaramanga uses to test his abilities.