Goldfinger - A Review

Sweepy the CatSweepy the Cat Halifax, West Yorkshire, EnglaPosts: 986MI6 Agent
edited November 2008 in The James Bond Films
The defining 007 adventure that set the standard for the glamour girls, outrageous villains and exciting gadgets we've come to love from James Bond. With the rousing performance from Sean Connery loving every moment, "Goldfinger" tells the tale of a gold loving industrialist who plans to sabotage the US gold supply to increase his power and wealth over the global gold market. Aided by inimitable women and faced with memorable villains, 007 finally began to enjoy his silver screen outings. With a fantastic mix of cast, talented crew and glorious locations, they all blend to make the film a teasing and non-stop adventure. The defining James Bond film is hard not to smile and quote along with.

Although not quite as good as "From Russia With Love", "Goldfinger" is still a great Bond movie. It became the guideline for which all following Bond movies are compared to. Although it is completely unbelievable, you have to take the movie for what it is worth, and that is that it is an action movie. Sean Connery is once again fantastic as Bond, and Gert Frobe and Harold Sakata are great bad guys. Although her performance is a little dry, Honor Blackman is still a memorable Bond girl if only for her name, Pussy Galore. Auric Goldfinger is the ultimate Bond villain - He is ruthless but very, very, clever.

"Goldfinger" is also memorable among 007 fans because it is the first film in the series that features the character "Q". John Barry's score is absolutely fantastic. His soundtrack has some wonderful tracks such as "Dawn Raid On Fort Knox". Shirley Bassey does a great job with the title song and the lyrics are brilliant. Perhaps what makes the earlier films more enjoyable is that they had fresh, innovative elements that have now become cliché and gimmicky. The new films are often stale and already covered ground and they don't even appear to be trying anymore.

Even watching "Goldfinger" today, having seen all the latest in special effects and technology that Hollywood has to offer, it still is riveting and thoroughly entertaining. That is also without the added advantage of being overly nostalgic about "Goldfinger". How could I? I hadn't even been born when it first hit theaters, and it was far from my first 007 experience. The film has a number of memorable scenes -- Shirley Eaton's death under a layer of gold paint, the golf game, the laser scene, the judo fight between Bond and Pussy Galore, and, of course, the final fight between Oddjob and Bond.

8.2/10
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Comments

  • DrMaybeDrMaybe Posts: 204MI6 Agent
    Nice review. This is the one than drew me into the series. Also the last Bond to have strong roots to classic espionage films made by Lang and Hitchcock. Will always remember Ken Adams set designs.
  • Willie GarvinWillie Garvin Posts: 1,412MI6 Agent
    It's a good review,Sweepy-but you didn't write it.I'm curious,what's YOUR opinion of this movie?
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