Undeniably… The Man With The Golden Gun

 

When Rare developed the hit video game adaptation of GoldenEye for Nintendo 64, they were allowed to incorporate elements from past films. As a result, the 1997 first-person shooter included two bonus missions primarily based on the Roger Moore era. Aztec, unlocked once the story mode was beaten on Secret Agent (medium) difficulty, had Bond infiltrating the ruins of Teotihuacán to reprogram a NASA shuttle hijacked by the Drax Corporation, battling Jaws in the process. Egyptian, unlocked after every other level was completed on 00 Agent (hard) difficulty, assigned the player to recover the Golden Gun from an ancient temple in el-Saghira and use it to kill Live And Let Die villain Baron Samedi.

With Christopher Lee’s praise of Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond –whom he considered the closest to Ian Fleming’s vision– circulating once again in cyberspace, it feels like the right time to revisit how this unlockable level from a Nintendo 64 game quietly fits into the broader cinematic lore of Bond.

Most people associate Lee with his role as Francisco Scaramanga in The Man With The Golden Gun, the hitman who challenged 007 to a deadly duel on his island in Red China waters. Yet Lee was also Fleming’s step-cousin, and the two held several conversations about the character. Fleming even confided that he had once considered James Mason for the role. While this may frustrate some self-proclaimed fans, Lee’s praise of Brosnan should not be dismissed lightly. It was published in The Scotsman in early 2005, at a time when Brosnan –who had helped re-establish Bond as a global phenomenon– had just been rather unceremoniously removed from the role. MGM executives pushed for his return for a fifth Bond film, and Barbara Broccoli initially agreed, before ultimately deciding to take the franchise in a regrettably different direction.

Anyway, back to GoldenEye 007’s Egyptian level.

Baron Samedi is guarding Scaramanga’s Golden Gun within an ancient temple in the Valley of the Kings, and Bond must recover it. The mission has two clear objectives: recover the weapon and use it to eliminate the voodoo witchdoctor. The shaman can be killed with three shots from the Golden Gun, but obtaining it is no simple task. Bond must pass through a shrine and unlock a bulletproof case by following a precise path across a grid of floor tiles. Step correctly, and the case opens. Step incorrectly, and two nearly indestructible hidden turrets activate and open fire. In the days before YouTube, discovering the correct path was no easy feat, with solutions limited to magazines and scattered websites.

What stands out, however, is the creative vision behind this level. It is much more than a simple “multiverse” curiosity within the Bond saga. In a way that almost predates Lee’s public support of Brosnan, the Egyptian storyline symbolically positions the fifth 007 as the legitimate heir to the Golden Gun.

Looking back at the 1974 film, it is clear that Scaramanga held Bond in high regard. He saw him less as an enemy and more as a rival, perhaps even an equal. Facing him was his ultimate challenge. This is evident in the life-size statue of Bond placed within his island’s funhouse, a twisted monument to the man he sought to defeat. When the black belt karate students employed by Hai Fat fail to kill 007, Scaramanga finds it amusing: “What do they teach in that school, ballet dancing?” Later, when Bond arrives on his island to rescue Mary Goodnight and recover the Solex agitator, Scaramanga welcomes him cordially, offering lunch and a toast: “To us, Mr. Bond. We are the best.” This speaks volumes about how great Bond’s reputation is within the criminal underworld. He’s not merely feared, but respected.

Taking this into account, the Egyptian shrine challenge feels entirely in character for Scaramanga. He was a man who appreciated trials of skill and elegance, even subjecting himself to such tests through the elaborate games orchestrated with his manservant, Nick Nack. In this light, the shrine puzzle resembles a ritual of worthiness. It is almost as if Scaramanga, consciously or not, designed a challenge that only Bond could overcome, only he being worthy to inherit the Golden Gun. Not because they shared the same moral ground, but because he recognized Bond’s value as both a gentleman and a modern warrior. This sentiment is echoed when he proposes their “duel of titans,” acknowledging it as old-fashioned, yet still “the onIy true test for gentlemen.”

Seen from this perspective, the mission at el-Saghira takes on a deeper symbolic dimension. It becomes an ultimate confrontation between opposing forces. Bond emerges as a kind of warrior of God: a “modern-day St. George,” as Fleming once described him. In opposition, Baron Samedi represents a darker, pagan force, rooted in black magic and superstition. Both contend for possession of a powerful and coveted artifact, yet it is the force of good that ultimately claims it and uses it to vanquish evil.

The level that concludes the GoldenEye 007 gameplay exceeds its function of offering a nostalgic callback. It ends up reinforcing Bond’s mythological stature, framing his victory not just as a matter of skill, but as the outcome of a trial he alone was destined to overcome. And reaffirms that Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond is now, undeniably, The Man With The Golden Gun.

Read more about the video games of the Brosnan era in a chapter of the Updated Edition of The Bond of The Millennium. You can get the book in Paperback, Kindle and DRM-Free Digital Special Edition at ZOOM Platform.