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GOLDFINGER, 1964
Movie Reviews
Directed by Guy Hamilton
Starring Sean Connery, Gert Frobe, Honor Blackman, Shirley Eaton, Harold Sakata and Bernard Lee.
Review by Jesse Ryder Hughes
SYNOPSIS:
A vengeful Bond is sent to see where the megalomaniac Auric Goldfinger gets his gold by M. Bond and Goldfinger have many one on one confrontations where Bond figures out that Goldfinger has a plan that could send the U.S.A into economic turmoil, while Goldfinger profits from the misfortunes.
REVIEW:
If you don’t know James Bond, most people would recognize Auric Goldfinger and his Korean bodyguard Oddjob, spoofed a lot due to his metal hat he throws to murder people. Goldfinger and Oddjob are so iconic to the Bond franchise. Bond and Goldfinger have numerous confrontations both playing at each others game, while a massive looming Korean with his lethal hat hangs out ready to kill on Goldfinger’s orders.
Goldfinger is one of the best Bond’s. It is so entertaining it is impossible not to enjoy it. They started pushing the genre and it is noticeable in this film. In From Russia with Love Bond had his fun briefcase from Q. Now he has a full on Aston Martin with so many gadgets, even an ejector seat. Red grant seemed to be unstoppable, but Bond managed to get the best of him in a fight. Now Oddjob is the force to be reckoned with and Bond has to use is wits more than his muscle to stop him.
What I like about Goldfinger the most is the fact that Bond can’t save everyone. The first bit of the film Jill Masterson, a young pretty girl working for Goldfinger is seduced by bond and Bond makes Goldfinger lose his high stakes card game. As punishment Goldfinger has Jill Masterson killed by painting her completely in gold paint suffocating her skin.
This is the first time we see Bond fail to protect a female. Later in the movie he fails again. We see Connery affected by these moments, but Connery’s Bond doesn’t carry the burdens of the deaths with him as we see in Daniel Craig’s portrayal of Bond. Connery’s Bond seems too fast with his emotions.
Nevertheless we root for Connery as he uses every trick up his sleeve to foil Goldfinger. The classic scene where he is about to get zapped in half by the laser gun and he talks Goldfinger into saving him is so intense with Goldfingers famous line “I expect you to Die,” he says it with such joy as well. I love as well Goldfingers room where he is explaining his plans to all the mafiosi and he has built all these contraptions in his room that move and rotate into maps and models. He must of spent a lot of money, which is why he is so insane. I can’t help to think that it is a lot of evidence if he ever gets caught.
When the Fort Knox scene comes it is so action packed and the pace doesn’t let down until the end when Pussy Galore (one of many bond girl names with sexual connotations) and Bond get together.
Goldfinger is one of the funnest Bond’s. It crazier than the first two films, but it works well for what an audience wants. Gold was a huge resource back then like oil is today and Goldfinger is just a fun bad guy to watch. He is one of my favorite Bond villains and even though Oddjob’s hat throwing is ridiculous, it fits into Bonds universe where you can’t really be surprised by what any of the bad guys do. Goldfinger was one of the first box office successes of its time and the Bond films really took off after Goldfinger, and I have to say I am glad they did.
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