classicsoncall 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.

cinemajesty Movie Review: "007: Goldfinger" (1964)Production Company Eon Productions LLC does not lose time to build on the worldwide phenomenon "James Bond" finding its target audience when "Goldfinger" gets presented just 11 months after "From Russia With Love" on September 17th 1964 and finally establishes itself with even more sophisticated Academy-Award-Winning special effects scenes as a spy-driven car with integrated machine guns, oil slick decoy and passenger ejection seat.The production design by Ken Adam (1921-2016), just returning from working on Stanley Kubrick's production of "Dr. Strangelove", creates stunning wide shots of symmetric shapes in an balanced image system by reprising cinematographer Ted Moore (1914-1987). Leading Actor Sean Connery, still enjoying cigarette-smoking on screen, sharing magnificient punchlines and the ease as charms of a true movie star, when the picture gets into action on the ground with one of first already-legendary product placement budget-benifiting Aston Martin DB5 car chases and in the air with a showdown-bringing antagonist's private jet.Eon-staff-screenwriter Richard Maibaum (1908-1991) presents the perfect acceleration of an action script. Gadget surprises, new female character introductions and suspenseful story twists as an highly entertaining party of Golf between James Bond and Goldfinger, performed by menacing Spy-out-smarting German actor Gert Fröbe (1913-1988), who gives a stand-alone performnce as refreshing Bond nemesis beside the usual "Spectre" employees by planning the heist of a life-time at Fort Knox, Texas, USA along with a metal-hat throwing Asian sidekick and the character of Pussy Galore, portrayed by feminine Bond-contra-giving actress Honor Blackman.Director Guy Hamilton (1922-2016) handles the directions with patience, skill and vision for "007" pictures to come by shaping further on the Quartermaster's MI6-chamber ("Q") in favor to the spy-mission-fulfilling character of James Bond.© 2017 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

zkonedog The James Bond movie franchise is often characterized by wild shifts in tone. For example, the seriousness of the Connery years quickly turned into the goofiness of the Moore era. The best films are the ones that combine the "best of both worlds". "Goldfinger" walks that fine line and turns in one of the better installments of the series.For a basic plot summary, "Goldfinger" sees James Bond (Sean Connery) come up against Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe), a business tycoon obsessed with gold with designs on completely destroying the world's economy for his own personal gain.This movie works so well because it does all the intangible things perfectly. For example, the "Bond...James Bond" line is used to perfection, the opening title music is some of the best ever, and the soundtrack throughout punctuates the action perfectly. Also helping matters is the fact that the plot isn't too over-the-top, but still crazy enough to produce some romping adventure. The girls and gadgets are omni-present.About the only reason I can't give "Goldfinger" a full five stars is a personal one, because technologically it has easily been surpassed by later efforts. The Bond movies have always lent themselves to being easily improved by better movie technology, so the earlier efforts like this one sometimes feel a bit "slow" compared to nowadays.Overall, though, "Goldfinger" is a fun Bond effort that holds up better than most of the older Bond efforts. It does all the "little Bond stuff" right, and even throws in a decent plot and endearing characters.

ElMaruecan82 Here's a little test: think of "Dr. No", which images immediately come to your mind? I suspect it's a tie between bikini-clad Ursula Andress making her iconic entrance in the beach and the first shot of James Bond, lighting his cigarette with that cool and deadpan expression while introducing for the first time the classic "Bond. James Bond." And now, just think of a third image. You might have many shots and lines flooding over your memory but to call them iconic would be a stretch. Now, do exactly the same test with "Goldfinger". What images come to tout mind? Is it Bond in white tuxedo looking at the exotic dancer while lighting a cigarette (and something else in the process) or is it Bond wearing that blue polo in Miami Beach and introducing himself to Jill Masterson (a shot featured in Spielberg's film "Catch Me If You Can")? Is it the first shot at the Aston Martin, Pussy Galore or Auric Goldfinger playing cards or briefing about his plan? Speaking of Goldfinger, maybe it is the opening song, the staple to all James Bond opening credits? Or that shocking sight of a dead woman painted in gold? Or how about a special drink ordered by 007 in a plane? I can go on and on, from the deadly hat trick of Oddjob, the mute Korean right- hand man, the car chase or the classic laser pointing at perhaps Bond's most vulnerable spot."Goldfinger" is just full of unforgettable images, one after another, that all contributed to build the legend of 007, if "Dr. No" was the starter, this one is the sure thing, the one you can show to someone who never saw any James Bond. It just creates the perfect 'bond' with old or new fans, now what is the secret? I think the secret is in the title; the film is as much about Bond as it is about the villain, wonderfully played by Gert Fröbe. One of the most common tropes about Bond is that the villain's identity is revealed a bit later but "Goldfinger" follows the principle that a story is as good as its villain. Auric Goldfinger, the man with the deadly Midas touch, is a rather mundane and not intimidating gold investor, but beware of his hubris, this is a businessman who means business. The first scene shows him cheating at cards and it says a lot about him, he wants to get rich the easy way, and it's not about the quantity but the value, too. So, we clearly see from the first shocking death what this man is capable of to whoever steps in his territory, and it's surprising how many times Bond is actually disarmed by Goldfinger or his henchmen. But you know the pattern of Bond movies, Bond never dies and the villain never kills him whenever he has the opportunity, the trick is to make it believable, and for some reason, if Goldfinger isn't immune to the villain's monologue accusation, the fact that he was painted as a three-dimensional character makes it believable that he'd rather keep James Bond prisoner and show off about his clever high-scale plans, than killing him and leave his secret plan unknown. And you can tell how delighted Bond is to tickle Goldfinger's ego and let him reveal more of his scheme. In fact, you can also tell, that Connery has fun playing Bond, after two performances, he mastered it enough and knows exactly when to play it cool and when to play it tough.This is not the kind of film where performances are to be praised, but I've been so admiring of Connery's 'presence' in "Dr. No" that I think he deserves a few mentions here. Connery has a capability to find the right tone for the right moment, in a scene when he tries to break out of jail, look at the way he teases the guard, smiles at him and plays hide-and-seek, this is not out of character, this is a secret agent who also knows how to play a role. But look at his frightened expression when he see the gold-painted Jill or when he stares at that ominous laser, these are genuine moments where he can't really pull the tough guy facade. There are two Bonds playing, the secret agent and the man, and the trick is to always keep a fine line between both and when it comes to women, it's a whole different story.Bond is a man who seduces as much as is being seduced, and on that level, he's rather self-conscious, but he loves to play the game nonetheless and deliver his lines as if he really had to show more than his pretty face and athletic looks, there's got to be that little icing on the cake, the woman has to play 'hard to get', it's part of the game, and never has a preliminary been as sensual as the karate contest in the barn. The music is playful like a little interlude except that it plays on strength, on fighting skills as if Bond had to maintain his manly reputation on that level, as if Pussy Galore needed more than the little charming rhapsody. And why not, she's perhaps the most bad-ass Bond Girl, she flies a plane, leads a commando and she doesn't need to be naked to assert her sexiness, she's quite a match for Bond and she's one of the reasons the film works.In fact, I don't think of any Bond movies that succeed on every level: Bond, the villains, the girls, the song, the lines, the spectacular action, the high-scale super villain's scheme, everything. This is why "Goldfinger" is the film that really established Connery as the ultimate Bond. If only for "Goldfinger", Connery could never be matched. Action and seduction-wise, this is a Bond that would leave anyone shaken… not stirred.