Goldfinger (1964) Review

 "Shocking.  Positively shocking."

-James Bond

James Bond (Sean Connery) is assigned to investigate wealthy industrialist Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe), who is suspected of being a gold smuggler.  As Bond gets closer to Goldfinger, he soon finds himself in over his head and that Goldfinger is up to something much more sinister than smuggling gold.

What Works:

This is the Bond movie that really established the franchise.  It gives us a ton of staples of the series to come and it's easily the most important film in the franchise.  Just for starters, we get the formation of the relationship between Bond and Q (Desmond Llewelyn).  While Q was in both of the previous film, he doesn't really interact much with Bond.  The two have a wonderfully antagonistic relationship throughout the series and that begins here.

We also get the first Bond car; the Aston Martin DB5, fully equipped with gadgets galore, and the coolest car ever made.  We get two awesome car chases with this beauty and it will pop up again and again over the years.  

Auric Goldfinger is an elite Bond villain.  I know many people would put him as the best of all time.  He's probably my second favorite, just after Silva (Javier Bardem), but 100% in the top tier. What makes him so great is that he and Bond have tons of screen-time together.  Bond only had one or two scenes with the previous villains, but he and Goldfinger actually develop an interesting relationship.  Goldfinger loves an audience and it's great to see Bond play into that.  They certainly have the best dynamic of any adversary in the series and Gert Fröbe gives an awesome performance, even with his voice being dubbed over by Michael Collins.

Apart from Jaws (Richard Kiel), we also get the most famous Bond henchman in Oddjob (Harold Sakata). He's wonderful even without his killer top hat.  I love how much he toys with Bond during their fight sequence.  It cements Oddjob as a formidable opponent.

The Bond girls are terrific across the board.  First we have Jill Masterson, (Shirley Eaton), who only has two scenes, but is incredibly iconic as the girl who gets killed by being painted gold.  We also have her sister, Tilly (Tania Mallet), who has absolutely no interest in James Bond or his flirtation.  Watching Bond get repeatedly rebuffed is hilarious.  Finally, we have Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman), another iconic character.  While ther is a major problem with her storyline, Blackman gives an excellent performance.

Lastly, Goldfinger has the single greatest scene in all of Bond.  It's one of the most iconic moments in all of pop culture.  Goldfinger has Bond tied to a table and tries to cut him in half with a laser beam.  It's an intense sequence because Bond really doesn't know anything.  He has to bluff his way out of this and pretty much B.S. his way through the rest of the movie as well.  The dialogue is iconic, but it's also the first time in the series that Bond actually seems to be outmatched.  

What Sucks:

This movie has one problem, but it's a big one.  Bond foils Goldfinger's plan by seducing Pussy and convincing her to switch sides.  That's fine on paper, but the execution is...rapey.  The scene between Bond and Pussy in the barn is extremely uncomfortable and I can't think of a scene in a movie that has aged worse.  It's filmed as if it's out of a romantic comedy, but...it's not.  It's also a critical scene to the endgame of the movie, which flat out sucks.  There is probably a million better ways to do this part of the story and it definitely brings the rest of the movie down.

Verdict:

Goldfinger is the definitive Bond movie.  It introduces so many classic elements that it's beyond impressive.  The villains are elite, the Bond girls are extremely memorable, the action is awesome, and we get the best scene of the entire franchise.  The stuff between Bond and Pussy in the barn is terrible, but the rest of the movie has definitely got it going on.

 9/10: Great 

Ranking:

#1. From Russia with Love

#2. Goldfinger

#3. Dr. No