Goldfinger

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I stumbled upon Spike TV's James Bond marathon, and had the opportunity to see Goldfinger for the first time in close to 4 years. I paid special attention to the movie this time around, because I keep hearing how Goldfinger is the best of the James Bond movies—especially the Sean Connery Bonds—and I tend to disagree with that assessment. Of the Connery Bonds, my favorite is You Only Live Twice; and of the Roger Moore Bonds, I'd go with his first installment as Bond, Live and Let Die.

My guess is that Goldfinger is so popular because it showcases some of the most memorable moments of the Bond franchise. In particular, Bond’s Aston Martin (now on display at the Spy Museum in DC), Auric Goldfinger as the most infamous non-SPECTRE villain, Pussy Galore (man, what a handle!) as the most memorable Bond girl, Oddjob as the most notorious henchman, and last but not least, the girl who died from being painted head to toe in gold.

Goldfinger's diabolical plan isn't so much to take over the world, but to make himself a mega-billionaire by overrunning Fort Knox and destroying its gold supply, thus making the monetary value of his own gold supply skyrocket. So of course, James has to step in and save the day, with some help along the way from Pussy Galore, Goldfinger's personal pilot. I can't help but laugh every time I hear Sean Connery say, "I must be dreaming" after he wakes up and is introduced to Pussy Galore—but something even more interesting to note is that her character, in the original Ian Fleming novel, was a lesbian! (Kinda makes you rethink the implications of her name, no?)

If "pimped out" had been a term used in the mid-60s to describe cars, it would have perfectly described the Aston Martin that Q cooked up for Bond. With more fancy gadgets than you can sneeze at (like a radar, an ejector seat, two side-mounted machine guns, an oil slick, and a smokescreen), I'm surprised I haven't found one of these under my Christmas tree already! And I would have to say that the most standout scene of the whole movie is when Goldfinger has Bond strapped down to a metal table, and he asks Goldfinger, "Do you expect me to talk?" Whereupon Goldfinger shouts his legendary reply, "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die!" I single out this scene because, out of all the Bond movies that I’ve seen, this is the one and only time I’ve seen James Bond genuinely afraid (it might have had something to do with the laser aimed right at his nads).

Despite its popularity in the Bond mainstream, Goldfinger is still unbelievably dated! You can feel your mid-60s flashbacks begin right with the rolling of the credits, the Bond theme song, and of course the beautiful girls outfitted along the swimming pools of Miami Beach. That said, there was still some amazing photography on display here! The early scenes in Miami Beach reminded me very much of Miami Vice, where Miami was portrayed as a whole other world apart from the one you and I know, where it’s constant a party and where anything and everything goes. The cinematography was splendid elsewhere in the film as well. For example, the scene where Goldfinger and Bond are playing golf, and Goldfinger finally asks Bond the reason for their meeting. The shot of Goldfinger’s face from the ground, as he’s aiming his shot at the hole (and when Bond drops the bar of gold to the ground, resounding with a solid yet hallow thunk!), shines.

Since this Bond story came early in the franchise, and since it was based on one of Ian Fleming's original stories, it was surprisingly refreshing to see some of the original characters that have since been forgotten. I think the last time we saw Felix Leiter, Bond's CIA friend, was in License to Kill (during the thankfully brief Timothy Dalton years). Plus, we had Bernard Lee filling in as the original M. And I dare say, I almost wanted to laugh when I saw Q with a full head of hair! (Though I must also say, Desmond Llewelyn is sorely missed.) And I hate to say this, but Lois Maxwell, even when she was young, never did anything for me as Moneypenny.

I’ll give this a 7 out of 10. While it’s not my favorite of the Bond franchise, it’s still an invaluable entry into the series, and obviously the most remembered among fans. As an interesting footnote, Penn State sported a running back recently named Aric Heffelfinger. Coincidence, or should we fire up the Goldfinger theme song, all the same?