Bond:
Sean Connery is back as James Bond. His third James Bond movie in 3 years. The budget was bigger in this movie, the Bond films were becoming very popular and it seems like everyone involved knew where James Bond was now going. We see a much smarter, cooler, craftier James Bond in Goldfinger. He is smoother with the ladies, back to having a shaken Martini, and introduces himself as Bond, James Bond. I found him to be miles ahead here is style and finesse compared to From Russia With Love and I thought that this was the best James Bond performance thus far. Very good considering the third movie in as many years.
Bond Girls:
Jill Masterson is the opening girl. She is running a con with Goldfinger and is scantly clad in a hotel when James Bond happens upon her. She is flirty, blond, and seems willing to sleep with anyone. She is very beautiful and is the girl who ends up dead covered in gold. One of the most iconic scenes in all of the Bond films. I wish she played Pussy Galore. The second main girl is Pussy Galore, a controversial name for a Bond girl. She is a villain girl that turns good by James Bond's love making. So far she is my least favorite Bond girl. She never felt solid in her convictions, or lost enough to be flighty. She was the weakest type of Bond girl to me, one that switches sides, without good reason. I also didn't find her especially attractive. She was a let down for me in such a big huge Bond movie.
Villain And Threat:
Auric Goldfinger is a gold trader and smuggler. He is obsessed with gold and wants to rob Fort Knox and melt down all the gold and circulate it across the world crushing the world's economy. He is smart, focused and very rich. He is not associated with SPECTRE or Ernst Blofeld, the only film so far that does not address SPECTRE. He has a team of flying pilot ladies who do his bidding and has the means to execute his plan. This is a threat and villain that I found to be very fitting match for James Bond. He also had a very strong Henchmen named Oddjob who had a hat that could kill with it's razor sharp edges. A very strong foe for James Bond.
Gadgets:
Now we are really getting into the gadgets. In this movie there is the first view into "Q's" labratory. We see a Parking Meter that shoots out a nerve gas. This is where we see the first gadget retrofitted car. An Aston Martin DB5. In it came an ejector seat, a bullet proof screen, oil slick, smoke screen, and guns and missiles. Inside the car was a tracking device that could show where a homing bug was, which he used to track Goldfinger. Also Goldfinger used a laser to try to kill James Bond. The first time a laser was ever shown in a movie. This was a great collection of Gadgets, however they mostly were all based around a car, but very good none the less.
Overall:
Overall this is my favorite James Bond thus far for James Bond January. The threat, gadgets, villain and James Bond himself all deliver what I expect of a James Bond movie. It moves faster than Dr. No and everything about it is a bit shinier, and better put together. Only the let down of Pussy Galore, and a car chase scene where they sped up the film took away from this classic movie. This movie was a huge money maker compared to the first 2 Bond films and it is easy to see why. So far the best of James Bond January.
