Goldfinger (1964)

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

I don't doubt that for nostalgia fans, Sean Connery could be the best James Bond ever, or that "Goldfinger" might qualify as the best in the Bond series. But nostalgia only goes so far, and my viewing of the film last night turned out to be a bit of a letdown. Agent Bond himself comes across as somewhat incompetent at times, what with getting captured by the bad guys more than once, and his one on one with villain Oddjob appeared awkwardly clumsy. I hate to say it, but almost the entire picture seems somewhat cheesy today, though I have to say, the gold painted first victim was a pretty creative touch.It was right during this era of the mid-Sixties that I became a huge fan of professional wrestling, so the appearance of Harold Sakata was a big bonus for the film as far as I was concerned. I knew him then as Tosh Togo, taking his villain persona from the ring into this picture. One thing the filmmakers could have capitalized on that was missing here was having Oddjob throw salt into Bond's eyes during their little set-to. That was one of Tosh Togo's trademarks. And even now I blush a little when I think of the Bond femme fatale in this flick - who can ever forget the name - Pussy Galore? I thought that was absolutely scandalous at the time, but then again, I was thirteen years old in 1964. Today, yeah, it still sounds kind of scandalous, but who's complaining? The kicker for me though, was when the movie's title character, Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) has the body of Solo (Martin Benson) eliminated by the car crusher. You get to have a pretty clear view of the inside of the car while it's suspended in mid-air, and Solo's body is nowhere to be found. Like I say, cheesy, but not without it's half century old, James Bond charm. Just call me shaken, but not stirred.

This grabs you right away even before Dame Shirley Bassey starts singing the title song over the credits, probably the most beloved Bond theme ever. "Shocking!", Sean Connery says after dispatching one villain in the most sizzling death scenes, and that's within the first few minutes. He'll have his hands full as he takes on the most notorious of all Bond villains, a vile man obsessed with Gold and able to turn a woman into gold, literally suffocating her to death. Connery finds himself at the mercy of that character, played with delicious malevolence by Gert Frobe. At one point, the use of gold gets a little to hot as it nears a very precarious place on Connery's body.Then there's the character of Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman) who works as Frobe's pilot and could literally be out to un- Bond 007. Another villain is a silent Asian strongman, who like the much later Jaws (Richard Kiel) opposite Roger Moore seemed unbeatable. The battle of the will and strength between the two is often both chilling and funny. Even as bizarre and far fetched as these can be, that often makes them even better. And we all know nobody does it better!

"Goldfinger" isn't the beginning of James Bond franchise, neither is the greatest 007 film but the film is responsible for the achievement of making a statement to the world of film: Bond is here to stay. During those 50 years, the franchise has expanded into a magnificent and spectacular world, part of our vocabulary, with many defining elements to pop culture with its theme songs; the remarkable introduction followed by Monty Norman's now classic tune; the cars and the gadgets; the villains and the Bond girls; and obviously the most famous secret agent of our time. Sean Connery's third film of the bunch and his highest moment in the series paved the way for everyone else who followed his footsteps in playing 007. What's special about "Goldfinger" is that with this third entry the Broccoli/Saltzman team had defined exactly what they wanted to achieve with the Bond films and what audiences could expect with them: action, adventure, lots of humor, some romance and puzzling plots. It's not like "Dr. No" and "From Russia with Love" didn't have those but with this 1964 film everything was made to a perfected level of quality, with a precise rhythm - even though the franchise managed to sink a little bit.Here, 007 has a mission to follow the millionaire/megalomaniac Goldfinger (Gert Frobe), a gold fanatic man who plans to commit the crime of the century by robbing all the gold from Fort Knox and cause an economical collapse in America. Assisted by his loyal silent henchman Odd Job (Harold Sakata) and his killing hat; and the armed and dangerous beauty Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman), the villain has the perfect plan to reach his goal...but as always, Bond gets in the way to destroy his masterplan. On the other side, 007 gets some help by agent Felix Leiter (Cec Linder) and for the first time (officially) he receives high-tech gadgets from Q (Desmond Llewelyn - he was in "From Russia With Love" as a character named Boothroyd, which is Q's name). Bond gets a brand new car (Aston Martin's debut) filled with explosives, ejecting seats and other marvels of technology that as usual will never be returned in good state. It's all good. Guy Hamilton's first Bond film (he made three more) is an exemplary one. Concise, objective and well balanced, with a mission that isn't over-complicated and its crazy enough to make us believe in it. His direction of actors is superb - even though Frobe is dubbed by another actor but his presence is more than effective - and his management to control aspects of a film mustn't be overlooked at all. Forget about the clichés, or the dated special effects and some poor editing tricks (the plane sequence at the end is quite cheesy) but focus on the fact that the majority of the story takes in the United States yet nothing was filmed there. It's all created in the Pinewood studios, and a replica of Fort Knox was built to a wonderful degree of accuracy that even a higher official from the actual place congratulated the film's team for their great research. That is pure talent.They formed great basis for the future 007 films by creating a spectacle that always had the challenge of going to longer distance, one more spectacular than the previous one, a way to top themselves and deliver something special. This one includes memorable lines ("No, Mr. Bond I expect you to die!" while the agent is about to get torn apart by a laser device), memorable sequences (Pussy Galore and Bond fighting in the barn) and plenty of great thrills (Bond vs. Odd Job is the most awaited moment). But the iconic image that defined "Goldfinger" was Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton) painted in gold. And the theme song by Shirley Bassey is solid gold, one of the first Bond themes to become a mega-hit and one that established the presence of top rock n'roll/pop musicians of the moment to perform a song for the franchise.In all possible seriousness of the world, I urge to go through the whole franchise, from Connery to Craig, from the humble beginnings of "Doctor No." to the rich exuberance of "Spectre", and try to see the Bond evolution and how some of its trademarks are so nostalgic and important that they must not leave the franchise ever - sometimes it happens but the result always gives us a troubling experience almost as if we're not seeing a complete Bond film. "Goldfinger" still hasn't lost its golden touch and can appeal to future audiences to come. 10/10

James Bond must deal with evil Goldfinger and Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman).I would say the lavish John Barry score is 40% of the film's entertainment value, but just about everything is wonderful is this classic spy adventure. Filled with so many memorable bits: Bond and Pussy playing in the hay, the out of control plane at the end, the guy with the killer hat, Bond and Goldfinger playing golf, etc.This and Live And Let Die (1973) are my very favourite James Bond movies, one viewing of each film is not enough, I would go for 20 viewings!