GOLDFINGER - REVIEW

Goldfinger, the quintessential Bond film.

The one many consider to be the best of the bunch and Sean Connery's finest.

It follows the terrific From Russia With Love and sees Bond investigating a wealthy entrepreneur with a penchant for gold (and golf) who goes by the unlikely name of Goldfinger (played by Gert Frobe) and who may or may not be plotting something sinister. The man is portrayed as a bit of a lightweight early on, it's hard to imagine the guy being a real threat to the status quo, but when 007 starts messing with him effortlessly we soon start to realize that there might be more to the dude than it originally seemed as most of what Bond does backfires eventually. Bond girl number 1 suffers a gruesome DEATH BY GOLD, Bond girl number 2 just doesn't make it and the spy himself ends up fearing for his gonads for the very first time.

Somehow Bond manages to stick around after that and the rest of the film basically centers around the MI6 agent hanging around Goldfinger smugly as he pieces the villain's dastardly plan together. Turns out Goldfinger is planning to take on Fort Knox using some kind of sleeping gas which would be dumped into the atmosphere by a woman lolgasmically called Pussy Galore and her circus plane team, putting every security guard to sleep and allowing him to walk in and destroy all the gold in the place.

Absolute.

Nonsense.

What kind of plan is that?!

This is why I never get why Goldfinger is most people's favourite Bond film. I just never bought that whole plot. Besides, the whole thing with Goldfinger getting sucked out of the plane at the end is about as hilarious as it gets! Really hard to take this whole thing seriously for a second, which is a shame because otherwise this is a really well made flick with a lot of style and a Sean Connery on top form. I mean, even Oddjob, Goldfinger's henchman, a big guy with a killer hat is more of a cartoon character than anything else. I could have seen Roger Moore fit into this movie quite nicely. From Russia With Love did have its silly moments, of course, but somehow they never stood out quite as much as when Goldfinger goes over the top. I guess that's what makes the movie as memorable as it is but although it's definitely a fun film and one of the good Bonds, it wouldn't make my top 5.

All that said, the film has its share of iconic moments and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy them. I do really like Goldfinger, regardless of how random it can get, hence why I've seen it many times. It's one of the best Sean Connery efforts and although I wouldn't count it as my favourite, it's still a must-see for any 007 fan.

Classic.