Rating: ★★★★½ (4.5/5)
There are very few James Bond fans you’ll ever find that don’t have Goldfinger on their “Mount Rushmore” of Bond films. It’s pretty much the gold (heh) standard by which all Bonds that come after have to live up to. Why is that though? What makes Goldfinger the movie that we all look to as a definitive view of who Bond is and what makes a great Bond film? I’ve been thinking about this for some time and even now I don’t know that I have the answer to those questions.
Sean Connery is now very comfortable as James Bond and knows the beats he has to hit to be a convincing spy. He’s wearing the role like a nice suit, tailored to his acting abilities. This movie leans very far into Bond’s ability to be whoever he needs to be for the time and his knack for looking like he’s supposed to be wherever he is. He does a substantial amount of sneaking around in this movie, and even more time staying close to the villain of the movie, Auric Goldfinger.
I that that might be one of the elements that makes this movie work so well. Bond isn’t going after the villain from a distance. He’s getting close to him, trying to understand him, and by doing that we’re also getting a really good look at this villain and what he wants to do. We also get the amazing line, “No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die,” delivered with an incredible amount of glee and wit from Goldfinger. Played pitch perfect by Gert Frob, though unfortunately dubbed over for the entire film due to his thick, German accent.
Our Bond girls in this one do the jobs they are there to do, and I’d argue that Pussy Galore actually makes for a decently written foe for Bond, which is a surprise given the times. She does give into his “charm” fairly quickly, but we can’t ask that much of these movies this early on. They just had no idea how to write a convincing female character at the time and they knew exactly who this film was being made for.
This film is just filled with spy stuff, action stuff, a cool henchman in Oddjob, a captivating villain, and a unique plan. This may be a villain who wants tons of money, but he’s not doing it how you think he wants to be doing it, and that makes the story all the more compelling.
I love this movie. It’s likely the James Bond movie I would point newcomers to if they were trying to find out if they liked him or not. It’s old, so it sets the bar in such a way that other Bond movies won’t feel like a step back in time, and it captures all of Bond’s best elements with the original actor for the role. It’s hard to pick a better starting point.