Goldfinger
James Bond is asked to investigate gold bouillon dealer Auric Goldfinger, who has been on the radar of MI6 due to his ability to smuggle gold out of England.
Bond discovers his plan, “Operation Grand Slam” is to make the gold in Fort Knox ‘worthless’ due a dirty bomb, and must try and stop him.
Direction
Fun direction, starts with a ‘bang’ with a huge explosion. There are also several scenes that will go on to be homaged and spoofed in other spy movies in the 1990s such as; True Lies (Bond taking off his diving gear with a tuxedo underneath), and Austin Powers (the reflection in the eye of an assassin).
There is a tad green screen overboard, especially with the “Miami” moments, and during some car rides. However this film is now over 60 years old, so considering the year it was made, the overall result is passable, if not impressive.
Cast/Characters
Sean Connery returns for his third outing as Bond, and has own that he is the perfect star for the role.
Gert Frobe plays the villain, Goldfinger, and the most impressive villain to date (with the most screen time, and game-play (literally and figuratively with Bond.
Honor Blackman (who was five years Connery’s senior) plays the first real ‘double entendre named’ Pussy Galore. In fact had she been still alive she would have been turning 100 this month.
There is also the first introduction of Oddjob, who also gets his own spoof in Austin Powers.
Screenplay/Setting/Themes
Despite what it gets right, this is a product of its time, especially with the blatant misogyny that occurs throughout the film. Bond is continuously dismissive of women (men talk), and his ease of bedding women (Jill in the opening) and later clearly forcing himself on Galore. It does show its age here unfortunately
This has some of the most exciting action so far in a bond film, with several explosions and action sequences, such as the opening explosion, cars going down cliffs, and the final attack on Fort Knox.
The ‘interior’ of Fort Knox was impressively built just for this film, and it has the look and feel of what you would expect it to look like.
Goldfingers plan, which is to bomb Fort Knox and render the gold useless for 58 years would have made the gold okay to use again in 2022.
Score/Soundtrack
I loved the score by John Barry, especially at the tense exchange between Goldfinger as he has Bond tied up on the laser beam table.
Overall
Despite some aforementioned downs (as well as some minor pacing issues throughout the film, this still gets a pass, and currently sits at the top in quality of Bond films. It’s no question that Connery was one of the best, if not best Bonds.
4/5
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