Goldfinger (1964)

Directed by: Guy Hamilton | 112 minutes | action, thriller, adventure | Actors: Sean Connery, Honor Blackman, Gert Fröbe, Shirley Eaton, Tania Mallet, Harold Sakata, Bernard Lee, Martin Benson, Cec Linder, Austin Willis, Lois Maxwell, Bill Nagy, Michael Mellinger, Peter Cranwell, Nadja Regin, Richard Vernon, Burt Kwouk, Desmond Llewelyn

‘Goldfinger’ is arguably the best Bond film ever made and so early in the series. This is only the third part. The film has many moments that are very memorable: the dead girl, painted with gold dust, the attack on Fort Knox, the golf game between Bond and Goldfinger and – above all – the confrontations between the British secret agent and Oddjob in his deadly hat.

Connery has never been better off than James Bond in this movie and he slips into the role like an easy slipper. Confident, humorous and with just a little bit of cruelty, he presents the ultimate Bond in ‘Goldfinger’. He gets good counterplay from Gert Fröbe as Goldfinger, one of the nicest villains in the Bond universe. Although his voice was ‘dubbed’ by another actor, one of the best dialogues can be found in this film. Bond is strapped in a very awkward position as a laser beam creeps closer and closer. He asks Goldfinger, “Do you expect me to talk?” Goldfinger replies, “No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die.” Especially the bold accent and the elongated “die” make this a classic.

The title song by Shirley Bassey is still more than recognizable to many more than forty years later.

The story is of course not very much, yet the idea of ​​not stealing the gold in Fort Knox can be called quite original. The improbabilities are quickly forgiven the makers, because everything is performed with so much panache that it is involuntarily swallowed like sweet cake. The elements that are only criticized much later in the series (especially unbelievable action and gadgets) are displayed for the first time in ‘Goldfinger’, but it all remains within limits.

In the older Bond films, the villains’ henchmen are also really memorable and they look like they can put Bond over the knee. Was that in the previous part, ‘From Russia with Love’ Robert Shaw, this time it is the muscle bundle Harold Sakata as the almost indestructible Oddjob. To make matters worse for Bond, this also has a hat with a steel brim, but in the film he also kills and beheads a statue.

Actress Honor Blackman is less sexy or pretty than Ursula Andress in ‘Dr. No’ or Daniela Bianchi in ‘From Russia with Love’, but it does have the first really ridiculous name of all Bond girls: Pussy Galore. He could have been in ‘Austin Powers’ like that. As the captain of a women’s stunt flyer team, she is Bond’s love object. Where she was much more openly lesbian in the book, until she is “cured” by Bond, this is implied much more here because of the film rating. Needless to say, she falls head over heels for Connery’s charms anyway.

Also here from the department-Q (Desmond Llewelyn) Bond gets an Aston Martin for the first time with some nice gadgets like a bulletproof screen, an ejection seat and machine guns behind the headlights. Delicious nonsense all, but still it’s not as over the top as it would be in later films.

‘Goldfinger’ is a perfect mix of all the ingredients that a James Bond movie should have. Tight direction, good speed and a number of panoramic aerial shots top it all off. An unmissable addition to any DVD collection.