Goldfinger

Revisiting these opening James Bonds has been an eye opening experience for me and I've had several revelations throughout:

- These films are getting continuously better
- The first 3 act as a very strong trilogy 
- Where I thought the first 2 were good templates, it's clearly Goldfinger that holds the most influence on overall Bond films

Goldfinger is an example of a refinement of the attempted formula that was fine/good in Dr. No, good/great in From Russia with Love, and is very nearly perfected here. Yes, it has a new director this time around, but it does literally every single thing better too, creating the first "old-school" Bond film that I've truly loved. 

Which brings me to a wild tangent, but one that I could not stop thinking about while watching Goldfinger: why on God's green earth have we not gotten a new James Bond videogame in a good long while? 

After some research, it's clear that the licence for such a thing seems up in the air and is certainly not with a competent game developer, but talk about printing money. What if you were able to offer up 5-8 missions for each film, with varying characters, weapon types, vehicles, etc. and each new "Bond" actor would be a "season"? As long as you coupled it with awesome world design and gameplay - much like the early Nintendo and PlayStation games (Nightfire was a 007 game that absorbed much of my childhood), people would love to get back in the world of Bond, especially if you were touching every film. 

As I watched Goldfinger, I couldn't help put pine for an awesome, gorgeous Bond game that let me drive the DB5 around the wonderful Swiss countryside or infiltrate Fort Knox. Yes there was a game several years ago that had some aspects from Goldfinger, but it wasn't very good. Point of all this rant is that we need a complete Bond game and some talented developer needs to make it happen!

And it was at that moment that James knew he over-applied her tanning oil...

"Excuse me, WTF did
you say your name was?!"

Aside from that diversion, Goldfinger stands as the best Connery Bond I've seen yet, and by quite a wide margin. My issues with it were minimal and it has aged really well considering these were all churned out year over year near the beginning. The only complaint I have with the film is that it does so much, so well that the ending "battle" feels anticlimactic. Bond vs. Oddjob in particular feels poorly executed, like adult tag, and is the most boring part of the film, coming at the end. It's an awkward, sloggy scene that results in a memorable death, sure, but stuck out like a sore thumb otherwise. 

Goldfinger is exciting and highly entertaining otherwise. I found the plot to be more interesting than either of the other films and the film does a better job of making sure you know where/why Bond (or other characters for that matter) are doing what they're doing. Auric Goldfinger's ultimate plan is quite genius too and I found that I got a good chuckle from being impressed with the evil plan "loophole" from a 1964 film. This feels like a complete film and plays out like an exciting, page-turning novel that's strangely disconnected from the SPECTRE plotline of past films (but perhaps for the better?). Connery is still completely in control of the role and - if possible - feels even more confident this time around knowing that James Bond is a success and he is The Man. We also get a wonderful collection of side characters too - many of which have stood the test of time in Bond's famous "rogues" list with Pussy Galore (only a name that would fly in the 60s TBH), Oddjob, and Goldfinger himself. Goldfinger is particularly exciting here because it's the first time that Bond and villain have clashed throughout a film. Their banter is well written and Gert Frobe indulges in the absurdity of Goldfinger while also keeping him menacing. Phrases like "No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!" are still chilling, but I also had to laugh because I now know exactly how they got Fat Bastard for the Austin Powers series. 

Over 50 years later and this is still damn cool

Goldfinger comes across as a really well made film too. It's packed with memorable moments and a significant reason for that is the technical skill on display. Moments like a gold-painted lady on a bed, Bond lying on a table with a precarious laser, airplanes over Fort Knox, and especially the Aston Martin DB5 (just such a gorgeous car) winding through the Swiss mountains, are all made better because of stunning cinematography, smart editing, and another thoughtful original score with a strong theme song that doubles as orchestral music. Goldfinger - much like the best Craig Bonds - is Bond elevated to where it's not only an entertaining film, but it's a damn well-made one too. 

I'll be interested to see where Goldfinger ranks should I end up watching all the Bond films (I've gotten distracted with some new TV in recent days) and I'm excited to continue this journey to discover more of the Connery era and beyond. For now though, this is certainly one of the top pre-Craig Bonds there is and I imagine it remains close to the top for a long while. 

CONS

• Drags only slightly
• Final fight between Bond and Oddjob is awkward and uncharacteristically sloppy for this film

PROS

• Connery not only owns the role, but this is the film where he ties himself as "Bond" forever. It's him at his most confident
• Wonderful and memorable side cast of characters. Goldfinger, Pussy Galore, and Oddjob are all fun, but strong presences
• Best plot thus far in my Retro Reviews of these. Genuinely intriguing tale of espionage that features a smart plan by a smart villain. Bond and Goldfinger's back and forth is fun to watch
• Loads of memorable moments all made even better by a technically skilled film. The cinematography in particular is stunning
• The Aston Martin DB5 with all the tricks is jaw-droppingly gorgeous
• Amazing original score and an awesome theme song that gets stuck in your head
• Entertaining, beautiful, fun, action-forward, and ages well. Goldfinger is a classic Bond adventure

Retro Rath's Review Score | 9.5/10 

Sharing one of my favorite Lego builds ever - the James Bond Aston Martin DB5. And yes, it has nearly all the gadgets hidden away only how the geniuses at Lego could achieve.