Bondathon - April - Goldfinger!

Dusty59

Concluding the MI6 Bondathon...

To celebrate the spate of upcoming Bond film anniversaries and the pave the way to Bond 23, we thought it was high-time the forum pulled together for an official review of the whole series...

A film will be presented each month for viewing, discussion and review; running in conjunction with the main site, overall ratings and a selection of the best reviews will be published at the end of the month on Mi6.co.uk!

Please note: "All submissions for publication on MI6-HQ.COM need to be posted in this thread by Sunday 8th May 2011, 0900 (GMT) in order to be considered for inclusion. If you wish to be referred to by another name, other than your forums username, you should include a 'review by XX' in your initial post. All reviews submitted in this thread indicate the author gives permission for MI6-HQ.COM to publish any and all of the contents of his/her post at the editor's discretion."

Review format:

Main review - word count minimum 250, maximum 500 words.

Core Elements:

Bond: /10
Babes: /10
Villains: /10
Humour: /10
Sadism: /10
Snobbery: /10
Action: /10
Locations: /10
Gadgets: /10
Music: /10
Tilt: /10 - 'Tilt' - pinball term - is a generic quality which can be scored at the user's descretion to skew the net of all the previous scores based on their gut feeling or personal preference/dislike of that movie... in other words more-than-the-sum-of-the-parts scoring

Overall: /10

Best Bits:

Most 'Bondian' moment
Funniest scene
Best line
Best location
Best action sequence
Best Bond girl
Best overall performance

This month, James Bond returns in...

We proudly present Goldfinger (1964)...

"I'm beginning to like you Mr Bond... more than anyone I've met in a long time..."

It's 17 September 1964. Already, Albert R. 'Cubby' Broccoli and Harry Saltzman have proved themselves enviably canny, bankable film producers thanks to the runaway success of their first two film adaptations of Ian Fleming's literary hero James Bond, in the shape of Dr No (1962) and From Russia With Love (1963). However, tonight, the night of the world premiere of their latest 007 adventure Goldfinger at the Odeon Leicester Square, London, they will truly prove themselves the men with the midas touch.

Make no mistake, back in the day, Goldfinger was an utter sensation. Its success was, well, shocking... positively shocking. On the back of the first two cinematic Bonds, anticipation had grown to a tumult; the world's public had fallen for the masculine, sexy, cruel charisma of Sean Connery's ice-cool spy like few fictitious heroes before and simply couldn't wait for his next escapade. At the Paris premiere of the flick, the front window of the cinema shattered owing to the crush of fans outside. This was the birth of 'Bondmania', a mid-'60s phenomenon that genuinely bears fair comparison to the 'Beatlemania' of the same period - not bad for a character who believed (surely incorrectly) that The Beatles were best heard through airmuffs. By the end of its run, Broccoli and Saltzman's third effort would break attendance records at theatres throughout the world, finally pulling in a staggering box-office total of $125m (that's around $900m in today's money).

But did it deserve to? Does Goldfinger deserve to be ranked up there with the all-time great movie adventures or was it simply a product of its time - a somewhat cynical licence to print serious moolah at the dawn of the modern consumer age? Well, down through the years it's certainly had its critics - 'Fleming purists' will point to others in Broccoli and Saltzman's Eon 007 series as more Fleming-faithful and overall better flicks - but to say it's The Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End of its era must be very wide of the mark too.The truth, as so often for so many things, probably lies in the middle.

Goldfinger is film fantasy with bells on (golden, of course). Indeed, it unquestionably cemented not just the world's love affair with its most famous secret agent, but also key ingedients of the Bond film 'formula': the seemingly indestructible, unruffled, expert-in-all-things and witty-as-hell hero; the beautiful Bond Girls with innuendo-laden names; the outrageous villain with an even more outrageous plan; the built-like-granite and loyal-to-the-last, but somehow loveable henchman; the amazingly impressive, cool and beautiful sets of the legend that is Sir Ken Adam; the brilliant title song belter (its own is the classic delivered by Shirley Bassey) and, last but far from least, 007's gadget-modified sportscar-for-all-occasions, the supreme Aston Martin DB5.

Quite frankly, what could film audiences of the mid-'60s - and indeed those of today - want that Goldfinger doesn't give? Realism? Well, all right, it doesn't deliver much of that. But then James Bond (either onscreen or in print) is the stuff of intelligent, technology-driven, aspiration-friendly fantasy - and that potent panoply of princely fun comes no smoother, cooler or perhaps more irresistible than in surely the most popular Bond film of them all. If, rather like Pussy Galore, you're immune to its charms, then it's a shame; because you're missing out on a Fort Knox-ful of fun and no mistake.

- Intro by St. George

dragonsky

wow you are quite a writer.there is too much text here :)
so you expect me to talk?

MayDayJumper

I grew up in the 80's and did not watch the Bond movies in order, so the context that Goldfinger enjoys as "the one where the formula clicked" has always been underappreciated by me. In fact, while solid, it's probably not in my top five Bond movies. I actually watched it just a few days ago with a fresh perspective and was able to appreciate new things, but really was annoyed by others. Most detractors point to Bond's helplessness through much of the film, but that doesn't bother me. However, I really hate Felix in this movie - an old actor, bumbling, jokey, and frankly stupid. I also never felt Pussy Galore "clicked" as a female lead, mostly due to her smaller role compared to her predecessors Honey and Tanya, but I appreciate her more now as unique and sassy. Villain and henchmen – pure classic, of course. One of the things I’ve only recently realized is how much I hate the music in the film. The theme song is classic, but Barry’s score (my least favorite in the series) is light and humorous in that 60’s way…I picture women with beehives and capri pants frugging, not James Bond saving the world. The plot is pretty classic, but much more unique than most of the standard plots, and the twist of irradiating the gold instead of stealing it is wonderful. One plot element, however, that really bugs me so much that it affects my “tilt” severely is why Goldfinger goes through the whole meeting with the hoods just to kill them all? It makes him a real baddie, yes, but it simply makes no sense, especially if he set up all that elaborate automation and models just for that one meeting (I will give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he used that for his own planning offscreen as well). In addition to praising the villains and plot, I have to add that the gadgets (specifically Aston Martin, of course) and the death of Jill are high points of the series. Bond himself, unfortunately, is a little too cool in this movie compared to his first two outings, and although his snobbery is displayed thoroughly here, it becomes comical for the first time which I find distracting (Beatles without earmuffs, the brandy lecture, etc.). Finally, I rate locations very heavily in my Bond ratings. Not only do they have to be exotic, but they have to be well filmed to give you a real sense of location (a quality lacking in the Brosnan pictures). I love the Swiss sequences in Goldfinger, but I find the Kentucky location probably the dullest ever for Bond. Maybe it’s just because I’m American, but the seemingly endless scenes of cars driving down a suburban KY strip, complete with KFC, are just about as un-Bond as anything I can imagine and it kind of brings the whole movie down for me.

Bond: 8/10
Babes: 7/10
Villains: 9/10
Humour: 6/10
Sadism: 2/10
Snobbery: 9/10
Action: 6/10
Locations: 4/10
Gadgets: 10/10
Music: 2/10
Tilt: 6/10
Overall: 6/10

Best Bits:

Most 'Bondian' moment - relaxedly explaining to Pussy why not to shoot a gun in the plane (stepping out of water in white tux is runner up...)
Funniest scene - "Let's have a little fun with Mr. Goldfinger..."
Best line - "No Mr. Bond I expect you to die"
Best location - Switzerland (specifically Alpine road scenes)
Best action sequence - car chase at Auric Enterprises
Best Bond girl - Jill Masterson
Best overall performance - Gert Frobe

Review by Kevin Kochanski

Dusty59

@dragonsky - the intro was by @st_george! :)

lalala2004

Was there not one for March?

Dusty59

It was DAF Lala! :)

http://www.mi6community.com/index.php?p=/discussion/40/bondathon-march-diamonds-are-forever/p1

The_Reaper

GF is my #1. Little busy to give a review, will come back in a bit....

10/10 on everything. Brilliant in every way. =P~

lalala2004

Oooh, was it up on the old forum first? I remember seeing it and thinking that I had just watched in February and would just transplant my review...

Oh well, I'll probably do this one. It deserves a rewatching.

MI6

Quoting The_Reaper: GF is my #1. Little busy to give a review, will come back in a bit

Would be great if you at least offered up your ratings. :)

Luds

Placeholder for a review. Hope I can at least!

Bond: 10/10
Babes: 10/10
Villains: 10/10
Humour: 9/10
Sadism: 6/10
Snobbery: 10/10
Action: 9/10
Locations: 7/10
Gadgets: 10/10
Music: 9/10
Tilt: 10/10
Overall: 9.5/10

Bartleby

I think it would be cool if we arranged scheduled watch-alongs of the Bondathon films and commented either in a dedicated thread or on twitter.

EDIT: We could also split off into groups and chat through Skype.

Virage

Bond: 9/10
Babes: 9/10
Villains: 10/10
Humour: 8/10
Sadism: (since i have no idea what that is i'll copy Luds:-$ )6/10
Snobbery: 10/10
Action: 8/10
Locations: 7/10
Gadgets: 10/10
Music: 9/10
Tilt: 10/10

Overall: 8.72727273/10

Best Bits:

Most 'Bondian' moment: Bond discovers his literal golden girl
Funniest scene:Goldfinger is caught cheating in golf
Best line: No Mr. Bond I expect you to die
Best location: Fort Knox
Best action sequence: The fight in Fort Knox
Best Bond girl: Pussy Galore
Best overall performance: Gert Frobe

anotherbondgeek

Core Elements:

Bond: 9/10
Babes: 9/10
Villains: 10/10
Humour: 8/10
Sadism: 7/10
Snobbery: 8/10
Action: 9/10
Locations: 6/10
Gadgets: 10/10
Music: 9/10
Tilt: 10/10 - 'Tilt' - pinball term - is a generic quality which can be scored at the user's descretion to skew the net of all the previous scores based on their gut feeling or personal preference/dislike of that movie... in other words more-than-the-sum-of-the-parts scoring

Overall: 8.6/10

Best Bits:

Most 'Bondian' moment - Catching Goldfinger cheating at cards before seducing a beautiful woman is just about as Bondian as it gets, eh?
Funniest scene - Bond tricking the guard in his cell, during his failed escape.
Best line - I'm going to go against the 'I expect you to die' grain and plump for 'Shocking...positively shocking.'
Best location - Switzerland and Fort Knox are about equal/
Best action sequence - Bond vs. Oddjob
Best Bond girl - Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore
Best overall performance - By a mile, Gert Frobe as Auric Goldfinger.

Dusty59

Quoting lalala2004:

Oh well, I'll probably do this one. It deserves a rewatching.

Please do! :)

Thanks all for your reviews and ratings. Here's my rating on GF:

Bond: 7/10
Babes: 7/10
Villains: 6/10 (I prefer Conners going up against Largo, Blofeld, Dr No)
Humour: 8/10
Sadism: 6/10
Snobbery: 10/10
Action: 9/10
Locations: 7/10
Gadgets: 8/10
Music: 7/10
Tilt: 5/10
Overall: 7.3/10

KHLargo

I thought the best line of dialog, was when Bond and GF were sipping Mint Juleps, and Bond finally figures out the real plan of operation Grand Slam.

Lazenby.

Core Elements:

Bond: 3/10
Babes: 3/10
Villains: 7/10
Humour: 5/10
Sadism: 2/10
Snobbery: 7/10
Action: 7/10
Locations: 1/10
Gadgets: 1/10
Music: 9/10
Tilt: 1/10 - 'Tilt' - pinball term - is a generic quality which can be scored at the user's descretion to skew the net of all the previous scores based on their gut feeling or personal preference/dislike of that movie... in other words more-than-the-sum-of-the-parts scoring

Overall: 4/10

Best Bits:

Most 'Bondian' moment: Gunbarrel.
Funniest scene: "Except Crime!!!".
Best line: As above.
Best location: Car crushing place, wish they'd left the film in the car.
Best action sequence: Fort Knox Raid.
Best Bond girl: Girl in PTS.
Best overall performance: Bernard Lee. Or John Barry, if that can count.

AgentJamesBond007

[REVIEW COMING SOON]

Bond: 9/10
Babes: 8/10
Villains: 10/10
Humour: 8/10
Sadism: 6/10
Snobbery: 8/10
Action: 9/10
Locations: 8/10
Gadgets: 8/10
Music: 7/10
Tilt: 7/10
Overall: 8/10

Best Bits:
Most 'Bondian' moment:Taking of the wetsuit to reveal the tuxedo
Funniest scene: Bond's creepy smile in the jail cell
Best line: 'No Mr. Bond, I Expect You To Die!'
Best location: Switzerland
Best action sequence: Fort Knox raid
Best Bond girl: Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore
Best overall performance: Gert Frobe as Goldfinger

Samuel001

Any idea when the fan verdicts for the final two films, Diamonds Are Forever and Goldfinger will be posted?

anotherbondgeek

Core Elements:

Bond: 3/10
Babes: 3/10
Villains: 7/10
Humour: 5/10
Sadism: 2/10
Snobbery: 7/10
Action: 7/10
Locations: 1/10
Gadgets: 1/10
Music: 9/10
Tilt: 1/10 - 'Tilt' - pinball term - is a generic quality which can be scored at the user's descretion to skew the net of all the previous scores based on their gut feeling or personal preference/dislike of that movie... in other words more-than-the-sum-of-the-parts scoring

Overall: 4/10

Best Bits:

Most 'Bondian' moment: Gunbarrel.
Funniest scene: "Except Crime!!!".
Best line: As above.
Best location: Car crushing place, wish they'd left the film in the car.
Best action sequence: Fort Knox Raid.
Best Bond girl: Girl in PTS.
Best overall performance: Bernard Lee. Or John Barry, if that can count.

o_0

Wait, what exactly is wrong with the film? Surely Switzerland and Miami alone deserve more than 1/10? And the gadgets get 1/10? What about the Aston Martin?

NicNac

Yes @anotherbondgeek I really believe reviewers should explain their scores. I always do, otherwise you get eye-brow raising scores like those you mention. Also sadism 2/10 and Bond 3/10. Come on @Lazenby, we understand how you feel but put some meat on the bone \:D/

JBFan626

How's this for ya Nic?

Bond: 10/10: Connery's most comfortable performance. He has swagger, flair and style. His perfectly tailored suits are impeccable. The way he owns the situation: (take any of his interactions with Blofeld), he outwits at every turn.
Babes: 8/10: Jill, Tilly, and Pussy: not a bad resume
Villains: 8/10: Iconic and memorable--particularly Auric Goldfinger. Though in my own personal opinion I didn't love Oddjob; he was a bit one-note and the hat was a bit too campy for me.
Humour: 9/10: "Shocking, positively shocking" - so dead-pan, so near perfect
Sadism: 8/10: Killing all the gangsters, Solo being "compacted" in the Lincoln Continental
Snobbery: 8/10: The golf, the suits, the drinks, the Beatles remark: plenty of snobbery abound
Action: 7/10 - The action is for the most part "fun", like the Aston Martin chase. Other moments have cheese, like all the soldiers dropping to sleep. Not a whole lot of it compared to other Bond's, which could be a good thing, then again, there is no action scenes that really 'wow' the audience like the ninja blitz in YOLT or the ski chase in OHMSS
Locations: 6/10 - Pretty average. The Miami Hotel aerial shot in the beginning is nice. The Alps are always gorgeous, but the film doesn't spend a lot of time there, or capture their full magnificence. Ft. Knox is a rather bland location.
Gadgets: 8/10 - Pure fun and camp: ejector seats, oil skids...
Music: 10/10 - John Barry's first fully realized score: it perfectly fits the mood and tone of Bond at this time, plus Shirley Bassey's theme song is legendary
Tilt: 9/10 - Goldfinger just has the "IT" factor--so many classic moments that it all culminates in a very satisying package
Overall: 9/10 - The cinematic apex of Bond

Best Bits:
Most 'Bondian' moment: "Discipline 007", while being passed by Tilly
Funniest scene: "I must be dreaming"
Best line: 'No Mr. Bond, I Expect You To Die!'
Best location: The Alps, Switzerland
Best action sequence: The Aston Martin chase
Best Bond girl: Pussy Galore
Best overall performance: Gert Frobe as Goldfinger

NicNac

Perfect @JBFan626, every score justified, and when you did give a lower score like 'Locations' you reasoned exactly why.
TBH it's only when someone gives a 1/10 for humour or something, I really would like to know why. Not to argue otherwise, but to understand what it is that they consider so poor about it. ;-)

dragonsky

wait if i am not wrong we are may and what is may bondathon movie?

Samuel001

dragonsky said:
wait if i am not wrong we are may and what is may bondathon movie?

All the films have now been reviewed though as I said further up the page the final two, Diamonds Are Forever and Goldfinger still haven't been posted on the main site.

Maybe a review of Fleming's 12 novels will come next? I could join in from the beginning then. ;-) ;-)

Here's all the films with their scores:

Dr. No
From Russia With Love
Goldfinger
Thunderball
You Only Live Twice
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Diamonds Are Forever
Live And Let Die
The Man With The Golden Gun
The Spy Who Loved Me
Moonraker
For Your Eyes Only
Octopussy
Never Say Never Again
A View To A Kill
The Living Daylights
Licence To Kill
GoldenEye
Tomorrow Never Dies
The World Is Not Enough
Die Another Day
Casino Royale
Quantum Of Solace

NicNac

Cheers for that @Samuel001 :)

Samuel001

You're more than welcome @NicNac.

In score order the films go:

From Russia With Love - 8.9
Thunderball - 8.7
Dr. No - 8.5
On Her Majesty's Secret Service - 8.5
The Living Daylights - 8.3
Octopussy - 8.1
The Spy Who Loved Me - 7.9
Casino Royale - 7.9
Licence To Kill - 7.7
Goldfinger - 7.6
Live And Let Die - 7.6
GoldenEye - 7.6
For Your Eyes Only - 6.9
You Only Live Twice - 6.8
Diamonds Are Forever - 6.8
The Man With The Golden Gun - 6.8
Moonraker - 6.8
A View To A Kill - 6.6
Quantum Of Solace - 6.5
Tomorrow Never Dies - 6.3
The World Is Not Enough - 5.9
Never Say Never Again - 5.6
Die Another Day - 4.2

Samuel001

Any news on when the Goldfinger results will be on the main website?

anotherbondgeek

YOLT is lower ranked than TMWTGG and LTK? :O

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