Directed by: Guy Hamilton
Starring: Sean Connery, Honor Blackman, Gert Frobe, Harold Sakata
Sean Connery brought the perfect mix of humanity and playfulness to the role of James Bond. The actors who succeeded him in the role brought their own strengths, but Connery will always be remembered as the quintessential Bond. Goldfinger gives us the Aston Martin, the gadgets, the exotic locations, the fights, Bond escapes, and a villain who wants to rob Fort Knox and tilt the world economy on its ear. What good would that do Auric Goldfinger (Frobe)? He'll have a ton of gold bars in his home, if nothing else.
The villain's scheme is helpfully explained to his associates with help of models of Fort Knox and the surrounding area. I'm reminded of Dr. Brown in Back to the Future who apologizes that his models aren't up to scale. As is customary in Bond films, there is one who doesn't agree with or go along with the scheme and soon meets an untimely death. Word to the wise: Know who you're dealing with before you say no. Goldfinger is ruthless and hates to lose even the most common of games, but for reasons only he would know, he brings Bond along first as a guest then as a prisoner to watch him carry out his plans. This gives Bond time to plot an escape, of course, when Goldfinger could have been rid of his nemesis days ago.
Goldfinger brings us perhaps the most famous henchman in Oddjob, a tuxedo-wearing Asian man with ridiculous strength and a hat which could slice through a statue. He's a tough nut to crack, and remains the most memorable baddie this side of Jaws and a formidable foe for Bond. Goldfinger is the third Bond film with many more to come. Goldfinger harkens back to the era when Bond was new and fresh. In the ensuing years, the series grew stale, with occasional lapses of its former glory peaking through. After years of reboots and recasting, Bond is now at rest and should stay that way.
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