Goldfinger (1964)

 The RunUp to SkyFall: Goldfinger (1964) 

Author's Note

In 2012; I set out to watch all the official "Everything or Nothing" (EON) studios James Bond films in preparation for what was the 23rd film in the series; Skyfall (2012). For the sake of  brevity; these are being posted here as originally written, though my opinion in some cases may have changed. I've been tinkering with screening them again under different circumstances. However, as of right now, these are my official thoughts on all the James Bond series.
 
Due to the repeated themes and messaging that appears in series films; especially ones spanning five decades at the time; I chose to use a "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" format. I also ranked all the pressing "lists" that Bond fans tend to on occasion.

The Numbers:

Bond: Connery (3 of 6) 
M: Bernard Lee (3 of 11) 
Q: Desmond Llewelyn (2 of 17)  
Moneypenny: Lois Maxwell (3 of 14)
Director: Guy Hamilton (1 of 4)  
Theme Song(s): "Goldfinger” – Shirley Bassey 
The Villain(s): Auric Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) 
The Henchmen: Oddjob (Harold Sakata) 
The Girl* - Pussy Galore (Honor Blackmon) * - only the girl Bond ends the film with will be considered for the sake of brevity. This is especially important in more recent films.  
The Evil Scheme: Gold Arbitrager Auric Goldfinger is hired by the Chinese to detonate radioactive device in the fault at Fort Knox; effectively destroying the Gold Standard in the Western Hemisphere.  

The Good: 

Goldfinger really laid the foundation for what would become the Bond Template. Introduce the villain, Bond briefing with M, Flirt with Moneypenny, gadget training with Q, and then hi-jinks and tomfoolery abound for another hour and a half. However, Goldfinger is a different kind of villain mostly because he very much is motivated simply by business interests and as such makes moves based on probabilities and calculations. There are a couple times where it really is just dumb luck that Bond survives. The tense, uneasy back and forth between the men is really cool to see, and really comes across well on screen; it’s why Goldfinger is a LOT of people’s favorite Bond.   

The Bad: 

After focusing pretty much exclusively on S.P.E.C.T.R.E for the first two movies and spending 3 hours building up the super terrorist organization; it’s kind of odd to go back to just one evil genius villain. The effect of this is two-fold in that Goldfinger does such an amazing job of keeping Bond in check throughout the two hours that it makes S.P.E.C.T.R.E look like a complete joke by comparison. Also, as noted above, a lot of Bond’s survival is dumb luck and bluffing. Finally, there is the small fact that in Fleming’s novel, Pussy Galore is a lesbian (though it’s ambiguous in the film), and of course she ends the film with him. It’s worth noting that it’s not too much of a stretch to consider that Bond’s masculinity can effectively end the lesbian sexual orientation; he’s just that awesome. Finally, it’s a little thing, but Goldfinger’s gold plated revolver really PISSES me off; there’s only one man with a golden gun, and we don’t see him until a decade later.    

Final Thoughts:

Connery was hitting his stride with the Bond character, and this was a good one to do it. The little things were all there: The annoyance with Q, the banter with Moneypenny, and the perfect cat and mouse game with Goldfinger. This performance is Bond at his most vulnerable. The man can be bested; he’s just really good at finding a way to survive against all odds.   

4.5 out of 5  

The Rankings:  

The Villains:

1. Aurich Goldfinger (Goldfinger) 
2. Klebb/Morzeny (FRWL) 
3. Dr. No  

The Henchmen: 

1. Oddjob (Goldfinger) 
2. Donald Grant (From Russia with Love) 
3. Mr. Jones/Professor Dent (Dr. No)  

The Girls 

1. Tatiana (From Russia With Love) 
2. Honey Ryder (Dr. No) 
3. Pussy Galore (Goldfinger)  

The Songs: 

1. James Bond Theme/"From Russia with Love" (FRWL) 
2. James Bond Theme (Dr. No)  
3. Goldfinger (Goldfinger)  

The Movies: 

1. Goldfinger (1964) 
2. From Russia with Love (1963) 
3. Dr. No (1962)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

(Video Games) Dispatch

    Dispatch Dispatch before Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 ? Yeah. I am as surprised as you. The Usual Video Game Disclaimer Long time followers of my blog know that I don't usually do Video Game reviews. Part of this is because the WTM/STF format doesn't really apply to video game story telling. Movies/Films top out at 3-3.5 hours. Modern video games with a story even worth exploring start at 10-12 hours. There's usually just too much there there to keep up with. The other major reason I don't review video games is that fun is such a subjective and evolving concept. In 1972, Pong was the greatest game ever. It was two sticks passing a digital ball back and forth. In 1980, Pac-Man was the greatest game ever. It was a big yellow circle eating small white circles and running away from multi-colored ghosts; pretty much indefinitely. In 1991 Street Fighter II was the greatest game ever. It was pick one of 8 people (well, 7 people and whatever the hell Blanka is) and beat up ...
Read more

(Video Games) Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Image
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 For Ledger: Many people have taught me that tomorrow is not necessarily guaranteed, you taught me that today is not necessarily guaranteed either. Uncle Michael loves you kiddo. You deserved so much better than you got. Rest in Peace little one. The Prophecy Foretold "The studio made their game because they wanted to make a game that they wanted to play themselves. They didn’t make it to increase market shares. They didn’t make it to serve a brand. They didn’t have to meet arbitrary sales targets or fear being laid off if they didn’t meet those targets. Furthermore, the people in charge forbade them from cramming the game with anything whose only purpose was to increase revenue, and didn’t serve the game design. They didn’t treat their developers like numbers on a spreadsheet. They didn’t treat their players as users to exploit, and they didn’t make decisions they knew were shortsighted in function of a bonus or politics. They knew that if you put the g...
Read more

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005)

    Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Watching The Movie: Enjoyment of this as a movie is highly correlated to enjoyment of Final Fantasy VII and the universe and lore created therein. However, that's not to say that knowing every aspect of lore around the narrative is necessary. My wife went in knowing very little about FFVII and was not entirely lost in the story. The movie does a good job giving at least a base framework of who the characters are to one another and the general issues going in within the world. If you like frantic, non-stop action then it's likely you'll enjoy watching this movie, even if it is only once. Screening the Film:  Obviously, a movie with the word children in the title will have a few images of the parental relationships, specifically between mothers and sons. There also is significant imagery around familial bonds of siblings with specific focus on brothers. Given the focus on Rufus, the Turks, and Shinra in general, there's some pretty s...
Read more