Pros and Cons: Goldfinger

Absolutely_Cart

3rd official James Bond film released in 1964, following From Russia With Love. Stars Sean Connery. This film is often rated by fans as one of the greatest films in the series as it has been profoundly influential in establishing the conventions later films in the series were known for (i.e. egomaniac villian, quirky henchman, gadgets)

Pros:
Goldfinger invented the modern villain
Oddjob invented the modern henchman
The dramatic Fort Knox finale
The game scenes (cards, golf, etc)
Aston Martin, Gadgets, etc.
Set many precedents for the series
Plan to decay the gold instead of steal it was brilliant
This movie, with humor, lust, and some tenseness was perfect for Connery
Bond is very clever in finding ways to get help while in jail
Lasers - "No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die"
Pussy Galore was a really good Bond girl

Cons:
Kentucky isn't as exciting as other Bond movie locales
Misogyny: Mantalk, "Pussy Galore" & "Women in Refridgerators" trope
Is way too similar to Goldfinger

Goldfinger was my very first Bond film. I really enjoyed it the first time (it's still excellent today) and then on, I became a Bond fan. and I really enjoyed it.

MilleniumForce

Pros:
- Great Villains
- Connery doing a good performance
- Honor Blackman
- The iconic death for Jill
- Aston Martin DB5
- Rolls Royce Phantom III
- All the scenes in Switzerland
- Operation Grand Slam is a unique villain plot
- Good death for OddJob
- Felix Leiter is good in this one
- Good soundtrack

Cons:
- Goldfinger's death scene

I do really like this film, it's enjoyable and easy to get through keeping you entertained throughout.
9/10

Higgins

Goldfinger is probably the best movie from the entire series

DevilMayCare007

MilleniumForce wrote:

Pros:
- Great Villains
- Connery doing a good performance
- Honor Blackman
- The iconic death for Jill
- Aston Martin DB5
- Rolls Royce Phantom III
- All the scenes in Switzerland
- Operation Grand Slam is a unique villain plot
- Good death for OddJob
- Felix Leiter is good in this one
- Good soundtrack

Cons:
- Goldfinger's death scene

I do really like this film, it's enjoyable and easy to get through keeping you entertained throughout.
9/10

100% agree -{

AlphaOmegaSin

Goldfinger is one of the first Films that is mentioned when Bond is discussed -{

Blackleiter

Higgins wrote:

Goldfinger is probably the best movie from the entire series

Ahhhh.....a most welcome dose of reality from a man who knows what he's talking about! (Except when it comes to Dalton! ))

O07

Hmm, Goldfinger, it's overrated in my opinion, I think it's a dull location (they're not even at Miami Beach!) and a crazy plot, perhaps the craziest that Fleming ever concocted. How in the hell Auric does not just think slicing Bond in two wasn't the most efficient way of disposing of him and then doing a complete about-face and bringing the same Man along with you to the USA where you let him tag along for the ride whilst discovering and disrupting your plans, I prefer Dr. No and SPECTRE with Rosa Klebb and Red Grant, they appear more worthy adversaries for 007.

Dr. No, From Russia With Love and Thunderball are all better than this.

Pros:
One of the best pre-titles sequences.
Q is a much more fleshed out character.
Aston Martin is so cool.
The Golf scene.
Harold Sakata as Odd Job.
Gert Frobe as Goldfinger.
Great dialogue.
Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore.

Cons:
Dodgy back screen for Miami Beach scenes.
Connery is not as cool here.
Not a Terence Young film.
Goldfinger's plan is bonkers crazy stupid.
The beginning of daft gadgets (seagull, ejector seat, even the Aston's machine guns).
Pussy Galore saves the day.

6.5 out of 10

MilleniumForce

O07 wrote:

Hmm, Goldfinger, it's overrated in my opinion, I think it's a dull location (they're not even at Miami Beach!) and a crazy plot, perhaps the craziest that Fleming ever concocted. How in the hell Auric thought does not just think slicing Bond in two wasn't the most efficient way of disposing of him and then doing a complete about-face and bringing the same Man along with you to the USA where you let him tag along for the ride whilst discovering and disrupting your plans, I prefer Dr. No and SPECTRE with Rosa Klebb and Red Grant, they appear more worthy adversaries for 007.

Dr. No, From Russia With Love and Thunderball are all better than this.

Pros:
One of the best pre-titles sequences.
Q is a much more fleshed out character.
Aston Martin is so cool.
The Golf scene.
Harold Sakata as Odd Job.
Gert Frobe as Goldfinger.
Great dialogue.
Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore.

Cons:
Dodgy back screen for Miami Beach scenes.
Connery is not as cool here.
Not a Terence Young film.
Goldfinger's plan is bonkers crazy stupid.
The beginning of daft gadgets (seagull, ejector seat, even the Aston's machine guns).
Pussy Galore saves the day.

6.5 out of 10

I wouldn't say Pussy saves the day. Felix stopped the bomb.

O07

If Pussy hadn't have changed the strain of sleeping gas then Felix would not have been awake to stop anything.

MilleniumForce

O07 wrote:

If Pussy hadn't have changed the strain of sleeping gas then Felix would not have been awake to stop anything.

But the bomb would have gone off no matter if she did switch the canisters or not. Felix was the one who stopped the bomb; Pussy would never have been able to stop that. And that's just a chain of events; if she hadn't changed the gas, Felix wouldn't have been able to stop anything; but if Bond hadn't encouraged her to change the gas, she wouldn't have changed it; but if Goldfinger had killed Bond with the laser, he wouldn't be there to persuade her to change the gas etc.

Blackleiter

O07 wrote:

Connery is not as cool here.

I'm sure you meant to say "Connery has never been cooler", and list this under the Pros. Probably had a lot on your mind when you posted.

Rainier Wolfcastle

I have to say that I really love Goldfinger, it's still one of my favourite Bond films. But honestly, the whole film is one giant plot hole.

And Connery is really not cool in this (and I am not even mentioning him wearing that baby blue terrycloth something ) ). He doesn't have the best one-liner (that's left for Fröbe), he can't escape some old Mercedes in a much faster Aston Martin stuffed full of gadgets, he isn't the one stopping the atomic bomb but instead is shown sweating while some egghead is finally pulling the plug - "Mee-mee-mee-meeeeee!" )



And did anyone mention the most cringeworthy line? - "... just as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs" 8-) You'd think the guy was the same age as Blackleiter. )

Blackleiter

Rainier Wolfcastle wrote:

And did anyone mention the most cringeworthy line? - "... just as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs" 8-) You'd think the guy was the same age as Blackleiter. )

Ouch! Low blow! And for the record, Connery is never "not cool". :007)

chrisisall

Blackleiter wrote:

And for the record, Connery is never "not cool". :007)

Even in drek like Highlander II he maintained cool. That's saying something.

Absolutely_Cart

Connery wasn't cool in the Diamonds Are Forever movie.

He was, however, cool in Goldfinger.

MilleniumForce

Absolutely_Cart wrote:

Connery wasn't cool in the Diamonds Are Forever movie.

He was, however, cool in Goldfinger.

He was cool driving the car on two wheels through the alley, though. But driving through the desert in a moon buggy, and then looking ridiculous on the tiny three wheel monster bike doesn't not look cool. -{

AlphaOmegaSin

Absolutely_Cart wrote:

Connery wasn't cool in the Diamonds Are Forever movie.

He was, however, cool in Goldfinger.

It's impossible for Connery not to be cool )

002

Pros: - Everything

Cons: - nothing

Firemass

chrisisall wrote:

Blackleiter wrote:

And for the record, Connery is never "not cool". :007)

Even in drek like Highlander II he maintained cool. That's saying something.

I tried watching the first Highlander and turned it off promptly after Connery's character was killed.

Firemass

O07 wrote:

If Pussy hadn't have changed the strain of sleeping gas then Felix would not have been awake to stop anything.

Very true. Bond did not save the day in this film. Even his SOS note was returned to sender. It was just blind luck that Pussy changed sides at the last minute. Bond did, however, kill Oddjob. Although, the US Army probably would have gunned him down when they stormed into Fort Knox.

Despite any flaws, shortcomings, or plotholes, Goldfinger is still amazing. It will always be considered the most essential Bond film of them all.

AlphaOmegaSin

Goldfinger was such a Benchmark Film for it's Time -{

chrisisall

Firemass wrote:

chrisisall wrote:

Blackleiter wrote:

And for the record, Connery is never "not cool". :007)

Even in drek like Highlander II he maintained cool. That's saying something.

I tried watching the first Highlander and turned it off promptly after Connery's character was killed.

Spoiler? Oh, the shame. 8-)

Thunderpussy

Look at other thrillers made in 1964, then look at Goldfinger. To see how "new"
It looked. No wonder many films copied its style afterwards.

Absolutely_Cart

AlphaOmegaSin wrote:

Absolutely_Cart wrote:

Connery wasn't cool in the Diamonds Are Forever movie.

He was, however, cool in Goldfinger.

It's impossible for Connery not to be cool )

What about when he's [...] sleepwalking through a role that Eon paid $1.25 million of their hard earned money on?

Higgins

Well, he was the mouse that lured the cats into the cinemas and rewarded EON with a massive box office result

Absolutely_Cart

On a more relevant note, I agree with the above comments. Goldfinger was a benchmark film that influenced later films. Also, the fact that Connery is pretty much a sitting duck for the second half of the film is quite funny. I never noticed that till I rewatched it, but it works. Connery stalled Goldfinger very well and it was probably better than actually taking him on by himself.

Blackleiter

AlphaOmegaSin wrote:

Absolutely_Cart wrote:

Connery wasn't cool in the Diamonds Are Forever movie.

He was, however, cool in Goldfinger.

It's impossible for Connery not to be cool )

Period! Drops the mike! Well done! {[]

chrisisall

Blackleiter wrote:

AlphaOmegaSin wrote:

Absolutely_Cart wrote:

Connery wasn't cool in the Diamonds Are Forever movie.

He was, however, cool in Goldfinger.

It's impossible for Connery not to be cool )

Period! Drops the mike! Well done! {[]

The *only* movie where Connery was not cool was...

...thinking....

Meteor.
And it wasn't so much that he wasn't cool as much as he wasn't really there. He was saying lines while he was mentally preparing for Cuba (a real movie, not just a quick laff to the bank).

Barbel

Absolutely_Cart wrote:

What about when he's fat, old, bloated, tired, can't act for crap, and is sleepwalking through a role that Eon paid $1.25 million of their hard earned money on?

I disagree completely.

(a) This is fat?

By what standards? (other than "younger Connery")

(b) 42 is old? He's younger than Moore, Dalton, Brosnan and 50% of Craig.

(c) Bloated- see "fat"

(d) As for tired, he gives a more energetic performance in DAF than he did in YOLT- and even there he glows with screen presence and charisma.

(e) "Can't act for crap"??? 8-) He had a forty-year career as leading man, collecting an Oscar along the way, and turned down scripts that most actors would strangle their grandmother for. Repeatedly. And still does.

(f) "Sleepwalking"? See (d) above.

(g) Money? He more than justified his fee. A star actor is obliged to "open" a movie and Connery did just that. And as to Eon's "hard-earned money", how much of that would they have made without Sean Connery?

chrisisall

Barbel wrote:

Absolutely_Cart wrote:

What about when he's fat, old, bloated, tired, can't act for crap, and is sleepwalking through a role that Eon paid $1.25 million of their hard earned money on?

I disagree completely.

(a) This is fat?

By what standards? (other than "younger Connery")

(b) 42 is old? He's younger than Moore, Dalton, Brosnan and 50% of Craig.

(c) Bloated- see "fat"

(d) As for tired, he gives a more energetic performance in DAF than he did in YOLT- and even there he glows with screen presence and charisma.

(e) "Can't act for crap"??? 8-) He had a forty-year career as leading man, collecting an Oscar along the way, and turned down scripts that most actors would strangle their grandmother for. Repeatedly. And still does.

(f) "Sleepwalking"? See (d) above.

(g) Money? He more than justified his fee. A star actor is obliged to "open" a movie and Connery did just that. And as to Eon's "hard-earned money", how much of that would they have made without Sean Connery?

Agreed on every single point. {[]

Blackleiter

Barbel wrote:

Absolutely_Cart wrote:

What about when he's fat, old, bloated, tired, can't act for crap, and is sleepwalking through a role that Eon paid $1.25 million of their hard earned money on?

I disagree completely.

(a) This is fat?

By what standards? (other than "younger Connery")

(b) 42 is old? He's younger than Moore, Dalton, Brosnan and 50% of Craig.

(c) Bloated- see "fat"

(d) As for tired, he gives a more energetic performance in DAF than he did in YOLT- and even there he glows with screen presence and charisma.

(e) "Can't act for crap"??? 8-) He had a forty-year career as leading man, collecting an Oscar along the way, and turned down scripts that most actors would strangle their grandmother for. Repeatedly. And still does.

(f) "Sleepwalking"? See (d) above.

(g) Money? He more than justified his fee. A star actor is obliged to "open" a movie and Connery did just that. And as to Eon's "hard-earned money", how much of that would they have made without Sean Connery?

It's all nonsense and he knows it. Just trying to get us all riled up, that's all! :v )