Goldfinger (1964)

Entertainment Weekly
"...Nearly 40 years later, the formula still cooks..." 01/11/2002 p.32

Uncut
4 stars out of 5 -- "It doesn't matter which side you take in the eternal Connery vs. Moore debate, everyone can agree that this is where the template was struck for the Bond franchise." 08/01/2007 p.135

ReelViews 9 of 10
With 1964's Goldfinger, the third James Bond story to reach the screen, the "Bond formula" had reached maturity. Screenwriter Richard Maibaum, a participant in the scripting of the previous two movies, Dr. No and From Russia with Love, had identified those elements of the series that audiences liked. So, for this film, his storyline (adapted loosely from Ian Fleming's 1959 novel) enhanced the action sequences, added more beautiful women, gave 007 an Aston Martin loaded with neat gadgets, and offered actor Sean Connery more opportunities to deliver one-liners and act suave...One of the last Bond films to clock in at under two hours, Goldfinger is tightly-paced and economical in its usage of extraneous material. The character development of From Russia with Love is replaced by a greater attention to action. There are several memorable fight sequences (including a climactic struggle between 007 and Goldfinger's nasty henchman, Oddjob) and a lengthy car chase that has Bond's Aston Martin trailing smoke screens and oil slicks, firing built-in guns, and ejecting the passenger seat. The level of excitement in Goldfinger is up a notch from its predecessors...Sean Connery, back for the third time in the role that made him famous, plays the lead character with the same easy elegance and wit he displayed in From Russia with Love...In the midst of Bond's "golden era" of the '60s, it's hard to single out one film as the best, but history has shown Goldfinger to be among the series' most enduring entries. Although more gimmicky than From Russia with Love, this film is equally as entertaining. And, of course, it takes the Bond films in a slightly different direction, blazing a trail that they have been following ever since, all the way from Goldfinger to Goldeneye. - James Berardinelli
 
Reel.com 10 of 10
The third entry in the Bond series after Dr. No and From Russia with Love, Goldfinger proved to be the one that turned the franchise into a worldwide phenomena. When Sean Connery, the best of the Bonds, stepped out of a wet suit to reveal the immaculate white dinner jacket underneath before the credits even rolled, the audience knew they were in for a night of very special entertainment. With characters with offbeat names like Odd Job and - in those pre-politically correct days - Pussy Galore, murders by such bizarre means as hats and gold paint, and a smolderingly sexy secret agent in Connery, Goldfinger couldn't very well miss. Adding to the sophisticated fun are John Barry's evocative score and the dazzling title sequence set to Shirley Bassey's throaty rendition of the theme song. - Pam Grady
 
Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
Of all the Bonds, "Goldfinger" (1964) is the best, and can stand as a surrogate for the others. If it is not a great film, it is a great entertainment, and contains all the elements of the Bond formula that would work again and again. It's also interesting as the link between the more modest first two Bonds and the later big-budget extravaganzas; after this one, producers Albert "Cubby" Broccoli and Harry Saltzman could be certain that 007 was good for the long run...At 111 minutes, "Goldfinger" ties with "Dr. No" as the shortest of the James Bond films, and yet it probably contains more durable images than any other title in the series: the young woman killed by being coated with gold paint; the steel-rimmed bowler of the mute Korean assassin Odd Job (Harold Sakata); the Aston-Martin tricked out with deadly gimmicks and an ejector seat; Bond's sexy karate match with Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman); the villain Goldfinger with his gold-plated Rolls-Royce, and of course the laser beam pointed at that portion of Bond's lower anatomy that he most required if he were to continue as hero of the series...Connery had the sleek self-assurance needed for the role, and a gift with deadpan double entendres. But he had something else that none of the others, save perhaps Dalton, could muster: Steely toughness. When his eyes narrowed and his body tensed up, you knew the playing was over and the bloodshed was about to begin...At a time when "Swinging London" was overtaking pop culture, the Bond series was perfectly positioned (although Bond makes a rare lapse of taste in "Goldfinger" when he recommends listening to the new Beatles with earmuffs on). But Swinging London has swung, and Bond stays on. - Roger Ebert