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James McMahon --
The Bond film against which all others are measured; The best Bond, Connery, in top form; as were the other standard players; M, Q, and Penny. With this film the 007 series went from merely successful, to global phenomenon unmatched in popularity and influence except possibly by the Beatles. The whole world went Spy Crazy for years. Goldfinger contains all the series touchstones. You ask most fans to name the best of Bond, and most will be from this film. Best pre-titles sequence, best throw-away line, best Q line, best villain and best villain s line, best henchman, best gadget, best sets, best theme song/score. Best, best, best. The list just goes on. This film established the format for subsequent Bond films. This was the first 007 film I saw, a goggle-eyed seven year old, and it changed my life instantly and forever.
Robert Cotton --
Glorious. Hits all the right keys at the right time. Still the blueprint. Connery is exceptional, building on his work in FRWL. If you re trying to explain James Bond to someone who knows nothing of the character, this is the one to show them.
Paul Baack --
Two-thirds the greatest James Bond movie ever, one-third B-movie silliness. Not my favorite 007 flick by a long shot, although in honesty I have to say I've probably seen it too many times -- at least 50, sufficient to have sucked any fun or joy right out of it. Give at its props, though: best single performance of James Bond ever; second-best villain ever; best henchman; best theme song; one of the best scores; best gadget; I could go on and on, but the list of superlatives is nearly endless.
HOWEVER, the third act of Goldfinger is extremely messy, and the tonal shift once the action shifts to America is jarring. Mr. Goldfinger begins acting quite irrationally. Bond's near-rape of Pussy Galore is one of the ugliest scenes in the series. The attack on Fort Knox is edited slapdash-style, with the timing off everywhere. And Felix Leiter is seen chowing down at a Kentucky Fried Chicken! Ugh! Please keep James Bond out of the US! (DAF, LALD, MR, AVTAK... beginning to see the pattern?)
It's with this film that Guy Hamilton injects comedy (instead of wit) into the series, something he'll be back to do with a vengeance in the early seventies. Why, oh why was Terence Young not available?
| Bill Koenig --
The film that made Bond a pop culture phenomenon. Yet, some things bother me about the film. Bond almost, ALMOST looks silly in the scene with the countdown to the ticking atomic bomb. Overly glib at times, though most of the humor works very well. The producers took a slap at the Man From UNCLE television series by changing the gangster who gets crushed in the Lincoln Continental. In the early drafts, a hood named Springer got offed by Oddjob; the later Paul Dehn drafts changed it to Solo. Both are names of gangsters from Fleming's novel. However, it's well known that Broccoli and Saltzman tried to get injunction against UNCLE series while the best they could manage was out-of-court settlement to change name from Solo to The Man From UNCLE. Given this background, the change in hoodlums for the car-crushing scene doesn't seem like coincidence.
Ed Werner --
This is the movie that started the Bond craze of the mid 60's. If I were to introduce
someone to the series, I'd probably start right here. Connery refines his role as Bond even further
here and is the poster boy for cool. Nowhere is this better showcased, than in the pretitle sequence.
I can't think of an actor better suited to play the part of the title characher, than Gert Frobe. There
is an underlying menace to the man, that he portrays perfectly. Of all the witty dialogue in the series,
the verbal exchange between Goldfinger and Bond while the laser is creaping up between Bond's
legs, is sublime. Hell... my wife can quote it! Then there is the legendary Aston Martin DB-5,
suffice it to say that I was never quite the same after I saw that vehicle. The whole chase scene at
Auric Enterprises was replayed in my nine year old mind almost daily for over a year after I saw it.
The stuff dreams are made of.
Michael Reed --
A few cinematic faults and plot holes keep this one from perfection but for its time earned the acclaim it recevied.
Tom Zielinski --
No doubt this is the first entry that carries itself with tongue firmly planted in cheek, and yet it works perfectly as sophisticated and adult entertainment. How else to depict the preposterous plotline? The film improves on one of Fleming s weaker novels, and Sean Connery delivers a pitch-perfect performance. Guy Hamilton takes over for Terence Young, and he no doubt displays a lighter though just as confident approach. John Barry contributes a great score, and Goldfinger began a phenomenal run of masterful film compositions. I d add, Barry s genius was as big a reason for the series success as any other single element. Gert Frobe, Harold Sakata, Honor Blackman, Bernard Lee, Shirley Eaton...it gets no better. The hand-to-hand between Bond and Odd Job in Fort Knox is bigger and more spectacular than between Bond and Grant, and yet delivers the same tension. Plus, that awesome Aston-Martin, and one of the best and most amusing golf scenes ever filmed. Well done, and so is the entire film.
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