This is the next installment in my look back to the James Bond 007 series in anticipation for the new installment, Spectre coming out on November 6th. If you are interested in any of my earlier installments, click here.
Secret agent James Bond (Sean Connery) must come face to face with one of the most notorious villains of all time, Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe). Now he must outwit and overpower the tycoon to prevent him from cashing in on an evil plan to raid Fort Knox and disrupt the world’s economy.
What’s interesting about this one is that it is the first film in the series with an opening theme that was actually sung by someone. From Russia with Love had a theme but it was at the end. The theme in this film was sung by Shirley Bassey who has sung themes for several Bond films. I was glad to see that some of the problems I’ve had with the first two films was even less prominent here as the plot for this film started right away at the beginning. There are still a few little technical problems simply because of how old the film is and the blu ray conversion but that did not matter too much to me. We got to see the main villain in the film and we had a good idea of what was happening and what will happen pretty early on. Sure the subject matter may not be the most exciting but there is still plenty of substance to be had. I thought Connery was great as always with all of his charm and his scene presence. Gert Frobe was also great as Goldfinger, the slimy, cowardly, billionaire. I thought he was the best villain I’ve seen so far but they could have gone further for a few things. I also thought he and Bond had great chemistry and their verbal exchanges were quite entertaining. Harold Sakata’s Oddjob was a strong and menacing henchman serving as an inspiration for all future film henchmen. Honor Blackman’s Pussy Galore was great as she was my favorite “Bond Girl” I’ve seen so far. She held her own for the most part in her scenes with Bond as she wasn’t one of those other girls who become easily infatuated with him. When compared to the previous two films, this one has a lot more action, especially during the Fort Knox sequence. I found it to be very exciting despite the fact it did not last too long. There were also a few continuity errors which slightly annoyed me. I also found the end to be a little silly. Overall, this is the best Bond film I have seen so far during this retrospective.
Score: 8/10
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Next: Thunderball!
The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.
