I genuinely think that this is one of the best films I've seen. I go back to something that I often harp on about- a film must be judged against its aims and Goldfinger has lofty aims which it exceeds. The third Bond picture followed the excellent From Russia With Love and deliberately raised the stakes from that early high-spot. The intention is to retain the levels of intrigue and to increase the wow factor with a bigger budget used wisely.
Connery returns again as Bond in a serious, steely mood- there is a spite behind his wisecracks throughout- and, for me, his third performance in the role is his best. By his fifth he would have relaxed into sleepwalking through the films for cash. And his iconic status here is assisted by the direction of Guy Hamilton (pipping Martin Campbell as the best of Bond's directors) who achieves the double intention of making Bond credible as a thriller hero and yet incredible as an unflappable superman.
The film- like The Great Escape which I watched a few weeks ago- is more than a mere film these days, it is a huge part of our cultural fabric. And, with that in mind, it's hard to ignore the significance of Oddjob, Pussy Galore, the Aston Martin DB5 and "no Mr Bond I expect you to die". But doing that and judging this solely on its own merits it still stands up. It is fantastic entertainment; tightly scripted, well acted in the main with compelling memorable characters, hilarious dialogue- "shocking, positively shocking", "no mister Bond, I expect you to die", "I must have appealed to her maternal instincts", "I have a slight inferiority complex" and a great interaction between Bond and his allies M, Q, Moneypenny and Felix Leiter.
I honestly love it. Everyone does don't they? 10/10
