"The first "practical" autopilot was invented by George DeBeeson. This seems to be the most likely reason for the informal name "George" for the autopilot system on aircraft." That's why Bond says George. It isn't a joke.
The other given explanation which made it to Wikipedia is that RAF pilots were referring to King George. I've also seen speculation on StackExchange and H2G2 it was a continuation of the phrase "Let George Do It" which has it's own complicated theories of origin but is thought to be from Pullman Company as a slogan.
I’ve always liked The Man with the Golden Gun. It’s not my favourite Moore performance, but the it’s my favourite of his films. The characters are some of my favourites in the whole series, and there are many great moments scattered around an admittedly muddled story. I still enjoy it on every rewatch though.
People also ask: Why do we call the autopilot George? The etymology of the nickname is unclear: some claim it is a reference to inventor George De Beeson, who patented an autopilot in the 1930s, while others claim that Royal Air Force pilots coined the term during World War II to symbolize that their aircraft technically belonged to King George VI.
Guy Hamilton brought an edge of surrealism to his Bond films that I have always loved. Things like machine gun toting old women and Chicago mobsters on islands in the Far East. It is an element I wish was brought back. Hamilton also put a lot of emphasis on the villains, something else that needs to be brought back.
You're absolutely right about giving villains more character. Mystery works sometimes but other times it's nice to get a grasp on how someone can be such a baddie.
Actually, Guy Hamilton was the least imaginative director of the bunch. His style would have been better suited to TV movies. (His work outside of Bond included “The Battle of Britain” and “The Mirror Crack’d.” Yes, he could even make British history and Agatha Christie dull!) Hamilton lacked the dynamism of Peter Hunt and the focus of Terence Young. But he was a good match for the asinine screenplays of Tom Mankiewicz.
I think the surrealism stems from Hamilton saying a Bond film was a big ride for 2hrs that we don't think about or analyse. In a word, a Lark. Incidentally the machine gunning Grannie from Goldfinger was a Hitchcock homage as Hamilton thought it was the sort of thing he'd do. Hitch apparently saw Goldfinger and wished he'd thought of the lovely granny with a machine gun first. Mrs Whistler in Diamonds was another one of these. Hamilton said he didn't trust sweet old ladies.
Young Calvin's analysis was quite astute. While there are certainly some very good individual elements, the film itself is somehow less than the sum of its parts. I remember reading one review that said Christopher Lee's casting was both the movie's greatest strength and greatest weakness - because Lee was so good in the role it was implausible that Moore's Bond could beat him. I'm not sure I entirely agree with that, but certainly Lee's performance deserved to be in a much better film.
It does feel that Scaramanga would have worked better with Connery's Bond as a 'darker version', similar to Red Grant [writer Richard Maibaum was still writing with Connery in mind here before Moore persuaded him to tailor Bond more to him from Spy onwards].
Very true! I think that if the film’s better elements had been expanded on, and if the tone had been a bit more consistent, then it could have been one of the Bond classics, like The Spy Who Loved Me or Casino Royale
The Man With The Golden Gun is now my 'New Years film' just because I used to work in Vietnam and the Thai setting reminds me so much of my time there. Casino Royale is the one for the 26th, but for a silly background Bond film to be on before a crazy party, its worth a watch.
00:34 I sympathise with you there CaIvin as I know loadsa people who really enjoyed this movie when they were young for what it was and not what it isnt. I feel you can still like watching this movie as at least it has plenty of weired and wonderful sets and music :)
I loved it as a kid because I literally had no idea what was going to happen in it from one moment to the next. Plus I'd still love to live on Scaramanga's Island.
"MEANWHILE.." - Younger Calvin. I love these dives into the past lol. TMWTGG has always been about lower middle-tier for me on the bond rankings as well. It's one of the gooey, cheesy pizza bond flicks, as David Zaritsky might say. Sometimes you need that campy outing. I love scaramanga, his golden gun, the locations, etc
I too never understood calling the autopilot "George" and I just assumed it was some bizarre non-sequitor - until I read a book recently where a character also refers to the autopilot as George and I realised it's common slang and not the Bond writers being strange (that book being The Liquidator by our old friend John Gardner!)
I haven't but now that you mention it I should probably get it watched for the channel someday... Next year is TMWTGG's anniversary so seems like a good excuse I think!
That's a great idea. If I recall the 'Golden Gun' section isn't that long but it's interesting to see a Bond film as part of a biopic and Herve is an interesting subject in his own right.
Two days ago, I asked my mom to watch "The Return of Captain Invincible" with me and said that there's Christopher Lee in it as the villain. I expected her not knowing Christopher Lee, but I knew she's a James Bond films fan, so I reminded her that he was also in "The Man with the Golden Gun". I'm not surprised that she still didn't remember ever seeing him before, but I didn't expect her saying, "Wait, I thought I've seen all James Bond films." So tonight, we're going to watch "The Man with the Golden Gun" to make my mom an actual James Bond fan.
@@sashaking1115 she almost smashed the remote into smithereens when Bond's gun fell as he climbed under the circus-esque stage. She laughed and screamed several times. Nick Nack was the unexpected highlight for both of us. I asked your question to her and I just learned she preferred "more comedic Bonds like Moore and Brosnan". "Even the womanizing scenes were funny," she said. And she basically nostalgized on Moore and Brosnan era, saying how Craig lacked the comedy she liked, then she suddenly said something like this: "That's why I got mad when James Bond died. Your dad would roll in his grave if he knew that."
@@AyudyaKasya that’s great that she enjoyed it! My dad and I also prefer the more comedic Bonds and we were disappointed when Bond dies in NTTD. As a matter of fact, TMWTGG is my dad’s all time favourite Bond film. He doesn’t understand why it’s so low down on Bond film ranking lists online.
"The Man with the Golden Gun" was a favorite Roger Moore movie during my youth. I think its a just a very simple story which kids and pre-teens can get into. When you get older you realize its not that great, but many adults, including myself, have fond nostalgia for it.
Hi Calvin, great review as ever. I agree with you about the film: I enjoy it, definitely, but it is quite- well, it has a few flaws. But it has some great things in it, I.e, Christopher Lee as Scaramanga and Herve Villechaize as Nick Nack, just gold-tier villains. Also, an absolute bop of a song, one of the best Bond songs to dance to! This is my dad’s favourite Bond film. He loves it, so for that reason it’s one I remember watching the most, and is very prominent to me. Hope you’re all right, Calvin, thank you again for another great video and have a good week!
Glad you slowed down your delievery with age, Calvin! Listening to your early work leaves me exhausted! George btw was a common term used by eg RAF and commercial pilots and ships capatains in mid C20. I sat through two sequential screenings of TMWTGG on its release, my schoolfriend sat through three....we were 14 year old bond obsessives then who enjoyed it then for what it was, a romp that shouldnt be taken too seriously. The hard edge scenes grate a bit and as for that that bloody slide whistle.........
You describing the columns is incredible, because that's what I did with a friend when we watched the films together for his first time seeing any of them. It seems a lot of Bond fans come up with that idea.
It would have been a much better film if only they didn't rush into production just after LALD. The script should have been revised and refined before the camera starts rolling.
As someone who watches Golden Gun as often as any other Bond film, I don't mind watching something that may not be "objectively" good anymore. It's fun, that's all thay matters.
As someone who doesn't rewatch Bond all that often but loves it anyway. I ALWAYS watch movies that are not objectively good, and I agree it really doesn't matter. As long as it's entertaining it's all that really matters.
A few reasons why I rate The Man with the Golden Gun relatively highly and possibly go as far to say, it's my favourite movie to star Sir Roger Moore. 1. It has a very Cool gun (Two of my favourite films are films that both feature similar bespoke strange spy like firearms, The Day of the Jackal staring Edward Fox with his awesome sniper rifle & In the Line of Fire staring Clint Eastwood where the antagonist John Malkovich is armed with a very odd looking plastic like pistol that was constructed to get past metal detectors and the such), so I guess cleverly odd assassin type guns must appeal to me. 2. It Stars Christopher Lee, the fantastic larger than life Sir Lee, easily one of the best acting products and characters to arrive from the UK (after seeing a documentary about his earlier life, I found myself a bit obsessed with him as an actor, as he himself could have a James Bond style film made about his own life), 3. It has two of my all time favourite cars that never end up in a top 10 list of the best Bond cars, The MG B Convertible and The Rolls Royce Silver Shadow 2 (The AMC Matador is also a cool bit of kit too, as well as AMC Hornet hatchback - Minus the slide whistle). 4. I'm a bit of a Watch fan, I love Scaramanga's Golden-Watch (Gold Rolex Cellini King Midas) and James Bond's Rolex Submariner, they are just pure class. I just found the movie a blast from young age and when you have loved a movie for so long, it's easy to see past the quirks, errors and niggles while watching it as an adult
Since 'George' is slang, then we also know it is not legendary Beatles' producer and composer/conductor for he Bond soundtrack for LIVE AND LET DIE George Martin, George Harrison or even George Romero, which would have made it a Horror Movie reference to the last Bond. It all not the very early Steely Dan song 'Let George Do It' which was also the name of a radio drama. By George, I think that's it.
re: Maibaum script: The American scribe had the car being a Ford. Also, J.W. Pepper identifies himself as "Sheriff J.W. Pepper of the Louisiana State Police." Sheriffs are *local* officials they are not part of the state police. Whenever I point this out, most Bond fans say they don't care. So it goes.
Really enjoyed you reacting to your old review, of The Man with the Golden Gun. Calvin. its one of my favourites. however, its definitely near the bottom of my top ten. :)
OMG Calvin! Me and my brother used to do exactly the same comparison chart thing, when we were that age! Makes me feel less weird knowing I wasn't the only geek out there! 😂
That guy’s professor Frazier Calvin!!! I don’t know why Q couldn’t have explained the solex agitator on his own, kind of similar to Tanner and Colthorpe at the beginning of the film there are too many characters!!
As a kid I thought the George thing was continued into For Your Eyes Only, specifically when it cuts to the inside of St. George's Basilica and you hear some disembodied voice whisper "George." But no, upon rewatch, that's actually just the name of one of Kristatos' henchmen in the Basilica being called to by the other one.
The vast majority of the 'classic' Bond are around 2 hours long which seems to have been the 'desired' length [btw, Quantum is the shortest at 106 mins] but I do feel 'Golden Gun' would have benefited by being closer to a 90 mins runtime as it would have improved the pacing, especially as the storyline is fairly thin. It's really annoying that of all the things to cut, the climatic duel was pared down [as the trailer footage shows].
Supposedly at one stage one of the Kung Fu girls stuck with Bond for the subsequent action+ boat chase as his 'sidekick' [similar to how Sheriff Pepper tags along for the car chase] but that was obviously dropped.
Years ago, some American Bond fans who didn't like Roger Moore as Bond said this was John Barry's most mediocre Bond score. And Barry himself said it wasn't his favorite. I replied that a mediocre Barry/Bond score is like complaining about a mediocre Picasso painting.
Like all prolific composers, Barry was attached to some lessor films [e.g. Howard the Duck] but even on an off day/weak project he always makes produces something worth while.
From the google machine… “Why is autopilot called George? The etymology of the nickname is unclear: some claim it is a reference to inventor George De Beeson, who patented an autopilot in the 1930s, while others claim that Royal Air Force pilots coined the term during World War II to symbolize that their aircraft technically belonged to King George VI.” Extremely obscure reference to make there lol
I used to watch Golden Gun just for the 'Kung Fu' scenes as I wasn't old enough to watch Bruce Lee films, but really wanted to get into the martial arts genre that was the craze in the mid 80s. I loved Big Trouble in Little China too for the same reasons. Ironically, I think both Bond and John Carpenter's films are more fun than Bruce Lee's movies.
Calvin! Big fan here! Particularly with the videogame reviews! Looks like we both love "Nightfire" by a lot!😂 Question: Would you at all be interested in doing a review for the PC version of the game? I know it's very different from the console ports.
Man I used to do the Rank All Categories a lot!!! Surprisingly A View to A Kill often came out near top...or NOT surprisingly if you really think about it...
Re: Moore vs LATD vs TMWTGG. Saltzman was the lead producer for Live And Let Die. Broccoli was the lead producer for The Man With the Golden Gun. That probably explains the differences between Moore's performances.
You've also got writer Richard Maibaum not being involved in 'Live' but was brought back for this film and by his own admission was still writing Bond as if Connery was playing him. Thankfully Moore was able to persuade him to write Bond to suit him more from 'Spy' onwards.
Young Calvin on fine form as ever. This has been a review I've been looking forward to, along with what Young Calvin thinks about Majestys Secret Service with Mr. Lazenby. I think the film suffers in the same way as Thunderball and Quantum of Solace. It was made to quickly after a box office success. I've always quite enjoyed it. Just go with the flow. Unlike young Calvin. I'm never totally sure about Britt Ekland. Christopher Lee is wonderful, along with most of the cast, and it's always great to see Sherrif Pepper. Yes, it's not one of the best, but fine to while away a couple of hours. Already looking forward to Young Calvin's next performance.
The man with golden gun it is one of my top guilty pleasure James bond movie adventure in the Roger Moore James bond era the man with golden gun fun campy spectacle campiness fun bond movie Roger Moore James bond performance he is so douchey he's so likable as bond I love marry goodnight fun character I still have fun with this movie
I like Roger a lot but if I had one issue with him it's that he could be quite lecherous sometimes. Certainly the case in this. In fact the whole film seems to have a nasty uncomfortable feeling to it.
Roger himself wasn't happy with the writing of Bond here [especially with Andrea] but fortunately he was able to get the writers to tailor the scripts to suit him more after this. You are right about the 'nasty uncomfortable feeling' which clashes with the OTT comedy [especially with Sheriff Peppers return].
I can definitely say that TMWTGG is my least favourite Roger Moore Bond film and the fact that they tried to make Moore more like Connery's Bond is one of the problems I have with this film.
My personal least favourite Moore film is actually Live and Let Die. I know, everyone loves it.. but honestly I've always thought it was the most boring out of all of Moore's films.
Hey Calvin! Just wondering if you’ve played a mod for GoldenEye 64 called Goldfinger 64? It replaces all the original levels, models and music with Goldfinger and it plays exactly like the original game, really recommend it!
I’m sure I read that Moore wasn’t happy with Bond’s characterisation and misogyny in this film and after this the series and character became even more light-hearted.
That's true [allegedly he was very unhappy at the 'Bond hitting Andrea' scenes]. He was very insistent that they write Bond to suit him going forward [by his own admission having missed 'Live and Let Die', regular Bond writer Richard Maibaum was still writing for Connery] and given the success of 'Spy who loved me' it paid off.
In fairness could see that being interesting if it was attached to a strong idea [like a Godfather II style narrative] but I didn't give them much credibility [especially the 'A-List' part]. I guess the media have lost interest with linking Phoebe Waller-Bridge to Bond 26 [like casting/directing] solely to rile up people online and moved on to something else...
@@jamesatkinsonja It's an interesting idea but would make for a very strange Bond film. And I think potentially a tension killer. We get involved in a mission as to whether Bond would live or die so cutting to old man Bond, even if only as a framing device/bookends would dilute. In a weird way I wouldn't be against Amazon doing something like Marvel's WhatIf series, to explore various crazy Bond variation scenarios. But I think the main series should stay aspirational, with the character forever in his prime (if you excuse the pun).
@@davidjames579 Agreed. As well as the lack of tension with the prequel element, if it's an older Bond we have no attachment to it would also probably fall flat. I could see them going that direction in the unlikely event they wanted to bring Brosnan back [instead of de-aging him like the recent Indiana Jones film] as that was apparently what the cancelled 'Die Hard 6' was going to do and in his 70's it would lighten his load, but while fans probably would be more forgiving it still might end up being a mess. From a cynical view point, I do wonder if the reports were motivated by the fact that many of the names always linked are now aging out and this is a way to make them still feel plausible? I agree, keep the main series with a Bond in his prime and easy for people to follow!
@@jamesatkinsonja That's a really interesting point about the usual suspect candidates age-ing out. Problem is they'll speculate with potential 2005 Bonds. As for Pierce: I would love him to come back. He just gets more grizzled the older he gets. But it would be an oddity. Some kind of Whatif would be great for that. An hour of TV, not much physical demanding stuff. I'd settle for that.
I love Christopher Lee too but IMO people let that love blind them to how crap of a character Scaramanga is. Him saying "You know more about it than I do" to Bond about his own plot is one of the top 5 all time worst lines in the franchise and really I don't at all see the "intimidation" factor everyone else claims to see. Very similar to Christoph Waltz, ideal casting on paper doesn't mean the desired result actually happens on screen and Lee looks like a friendly old man going out to get the newspaper after a jog in the shootout scenes. If they were to ever remake a Bond movie, this one would be the best choice because an international hitman wanting to prove himself against the other best killer on Earth (Bond) should be an epic confrontation but this movie is a total flop. How about suspense scene with the disassembled golden gun actually being smuggled through airport security? I think the failed potential of this idea is what people cling to because as is, I cannot understand how Scaramanga is on anyone's top 10 villains list
I know you were and still are a huge Roger Moore fan but I can't believe TMWTGG was at one point your favorite Bond movie. Not just your favorite Moore movie but your favorite one period. To me that's just absurd haha. Obviously people can change their opinions over time and there is definitely a lot of fun stuff in the movie, but for that to be your number 1 Bond movie over not just the other ones but even the other six Moore ones I for some reason find shocking. I've always found the movie too campy, too cheesy, and while Christopher Lee is a great villain, the overall plot is just bad. Some of the set pieces are just pointless, the sets themselves look bad, and the inclusion of JW Pepper while funny, is such shoehorned in fan service. Roger does his best to hold the movie together except for the scenes where he's beating Andrea which as you said in the original video was just unbelievable. Which again is kind of ironic considering how Golden Gun might be the only and only Eon official Bond comedy haha.
Just read an article that said it is believed Bond 26 will be a Soft Reboot. 😂 er.....he's dead. Its a Hard Reboot, Bond isn't Wolverine in Deadpool 3.
Very True! It's like how the were reports they were doing a 'Mathilde spin off'-unless it's set in 2035 at the earliest, writing a spy film around a 5 year old isn't easy!
The only way you could do a Soft Reboot would be if they pretended the end of NTTD never happened. Craig's Bond is alive and they never address Safin, Nanobots or Bond's death. Good luck with that if it were true. A Mathilde spin-off. Wow! It'd have to be a Sci-Fi film.
@@davidjames579 Agreed they wouldn't go back on NTTD;s ending [and it prob would be more complicated/confusing than just doing a hard reboot!]. The 'sci fi' angle would be different but not very Bond and the novelty could wear off quickly. You can just picture it having Naomi Harris+ Lea Seydoux in a grey wig and old person make up as aged Moneypenny+ Madeline! I know there was talk of doing a 'Laura/X-23' film after Logan [which died during the Fox/Disney merger] but that didn't have the time line issues and she was already an active fighter.
After the ire the ending caused with some, they'd probably be even angrier at being told its wrong. Plus you endanger emotional investment in any future films. Unlike Diamonds opening you can't be ambiguous as with whether Tracy ever existed when it'd be if Bond lived or died or not. For their murkyness and odd reuse of actors the Bond series has never said that previous thing was a lie. If they did the thing some people honestly believe Bond's death was done for, a Nomi, female 007 or Paloma series then technically that's a soft reboot of a James Bond film, since the continuity would stay the same but playing out a Bond film as a new thing. But again EON wouldn't risk money over doing that alone. Or for that matter bringing in a male 007 that isn't James Bond.
@@jamesatkinsonjaas Cubby said "we're not Science Fiction". I was being a little faecesous saying it would be that genre. But unless they wait until 2035 ish, which would be pointless, then you end up with a film that acts like the future looks exactly like now (as The Omen 3 did. Having Damien go from an under 10 in 1976 to 30's in 1981). Or attempt to guess what 10 years from now will look like. Which seems silly for a Bond film
(Sigh) Much like Thunderball for you Calvin, TMWTGG is pretty much my 007 cryponite. I have never liked that film, ever. I saw it shortly after Fellowship of the Ring and Attack of the Clones, so I was firmly on the Christopher Lee-hype train, but I remember being let down by the way Scaramanga is used in this film, and feeling actually quite sorry for him losing that duel. Much of that sentiment sadly hasn't changed over the years, same with my overall distaste for the tepid action scene, the lame attempts at humor and the general feeling of negativity that permeates through the whole experience (Bond being a d*ck to both Andrea and Goodnight, M and everyone else being pissed off at him...). I'm glad many people seem to be enjoying that one at least on a comedic level these days - exactly as I do enjoy DAF and AVTAK - but I'm afraid I still can't share any of that goodwill :( TMWTGG still is my least favourite 007 film to date.
I agree. Just like FRWL was leaning on North by Northwest as inspiration, Golden Gun leaned on Enter the Dragon, and they're both rich, lush, decadent 70s films. I don't care that this film is dumb, it's dumb and beautiful. It's the Mary Goodnight of Bond films. It's not the Bond film you take home to the parents, it's the Bond film you have a couple drinks and a lovely evening with.
