Goldfinger is the definitive Bond film and the template against which every subsequent entry in the franchise has been measured, a work of such complete and such perfectly calibrated entertainment that it established the formula for the spy action film with a confidence and a craft that the genre has been attempting to replicate for over sixty years. Guy Hamilton's 1964 film represents the franchise at its most perfectly balanced, combining the genuine espionage tension of From Russia with Love with a spectacular villain, an iconic Bond girl, and a series of set-pieces so perfectly constructed that they have become part of cinema's permanent vocabulary.
At a Glance
Director: Guy Hamilton
Runtime: 110 minutes
Starring: Sean Connery, Gert Fröbe, Honor Blackman, Shirley Eaton, Harold Sakata
Release: 1964
Critics Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 stars, the definitive Bond film)
Audience Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 stars, timeless)
Review Breakdown
Plot
James Bond investigates Auric Goldfinger's gold smuggling operation and uncovers a plot to contaminate the United States gold reserve at Fort Knox. The laser table sequence is the film's most celebrated individual moment, a scene of perfect thriller construction in which Bond's wit and his adversary's vanity combine to produce the franchise's most quoted exchange. The Fort Knox climax established the template for the franchise's spectacular finales.
Characters
Goldfinger is the franchise's most perfectly constructed villain, a man of genuine intelligence and genuine menace whose gold obsession gives the franchise's central antagonist dynamic its most complete expression. Gert Fröbe plays the character with a theatrical authority that established the template for the franchise's subsequent villains. Honor Blackman's Pussy Galore is the franchise's most capable Bond girl to that point, a woman of genuine professional competence whose eventual alliance with Bond gives the film its most dramatically satisfying character development. Harold Sakata's Oddjob is the franchise's most iconic henchman.
Tone
Hamilton pitches the film at a register of spectacular entertainment and genuine thriller tension. Goldfinger has a tonal confidence and an entertainment intelligence the franchise had not previously achieved, using its spectacular villain, its iconic set-pieces, and its complete command of the spy action formula to create an experience of pure entertainment the genre has been attempting to replicate ever since.
Meaning / Themes
The film's central concern is the relationship between greed and power, between Goldfinger's obsessive accumulation of gold and his desire to use that wealth to achieve a spectacular act of economic destruction. The film's treatment of Goldfinger's plan as an act of pure destructive vanity gives the franchise's central concern with megalomaniacal villainy its most complete initial expression.
Casting
Connery is at the absolute peak of his Bond performance, a portrayal of complete physical authority and genuine comic intelligence that makes this the most purely enjoyable of his franchise appearances. Fröbe's Goldfinger is the character the franchise's subsequent villains have been measured against for six decades. Sakata's Oddjob is the franchise's most iconic henchman.
Direction
Hamilton's direction is technically accomplished and entertainingly assured. The laser table sequence is the film's directorial masterpiece. Shirley Bassey's title song is one of the greatest Bond themes ever recorded, and John Barry's score is among his finest franchise work.
Who Should Watch
Everyone, without reservation. Goldfinger is the definitive Bond film and one of the most purely entertaining films ever made.
Final Verdict: The definitive Bond film and the template against which every subsequent entry in the franchise has been measured. Sean Connery is at the peak of his Bond performance, Gert Fröbe's Goldfinger is the franchise's most perfectly constructed villain, and Guy Hamilton's direction gives the material a spectacular entertainment intelligence the genre has been attempting to replicate for over sixty years.
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