Ask most James Bond fans which 007 film is their favorite and you are likely to see Goldfinger in their top 5. However, I did not feel this way. While it is true that the film is very entertaining and well played, I found it to be somewhere on the lower part of the series list.

Let me get one thing straight, I did not hate Goldfinger by any stretch of the imagination, but when compared to the other films in the series, it just doesn't stack up. Goldfinger starts out with James Bond infiltrating some sort of a drug manufacturing plant. He enters by water and proceeds to set plastic explosives to blow the whole works. I liked the pre-title sequence because it is original and the one-liner by 007, "Shocking, positively shocking" is a great way to kick off the film. However, I don't think there is any way in hell that you could see any reflection whatsoever in another person's eye. I am going to have to wave the BS flag on that scenario.

After the credits, we land in Miami Beach where James is being attended to by a masseuse named Dink. She is fine but Bond did too little with her. Another disappointment: the Felix Leiter in Goldfinger is by far one of the worst in the series. It is a funny scene where Bond goes up to the penthouse where Mr. Goldfinger is staying and puts the moves on his mistress, Jill Masterson. Now, this girl is fine!! She is so fine, I would even date her today! Back to the film; Goldfinger gets pissed and proceeds to break his pencil and smother Jill in gold paint (a mega-promotion idea for the film, by the way).

Next comes my favorite scene in the entire film. Bond is sent to Goldfinger's country club and decides to play a little golf with him. The idea behind this is to trick Goldfinger into doing something stupid so Bond can figure out what he's up to. I love this scene! Bond wagers the huge brick of gold to whomever wins the golf match. He throws the brick down on the green while Goldfinger is putting and the darn thing weighs so much, it alters Auric's shot and makes him miss. I love it how Bond and his caddy tricks Goldfinger into thinking the 'Slazenger 7' is his lost ball. At the 18th hole, Bond points out that he must have played the wrong ball somewhere on the fairway: "...we are playing by strict rules so I'm afraid you lose the whole and the match." Goldfinger loses; Bond wins; slam-dunk scene.

The scenery in Goldfinger is one of the film's pluses. I particularly like the switzerland mountains scene when Tilly is trying to kill Goldfinger but almost hits Bond. From this point until the end of the movie is where excitement drags a bit. It is not bad, but it is a little slow. But of course, in here somewhere we hear the immortal line, "Do you expect me to talk?" to which Goldfinger replies, "No Mr. Bond I expect you to die." Another one of the negatives about this movie is the lack of suspense in the finale. I think for such a well-hyped movie, the climax should have been much better and not so long. First of all, the Delta 9 nerve gas sprayed by Pussy Galore's flying wench-men is a total crock of BS. Do you see how fast the soldiers at Fort Knox fall to the ground when the planes fly over head? There's no way that the gas could hit them that fast. And to top it off, Goldfinger got away. He should have been disposed of here at the fort instead of later on the airplane. And tell me this: If Goldfinger was sucked out of the airplane because of the depressurization, why wasn't Bond or Pussy Galore? According to Bond, "...any puncture of the cabin walls by your bullet would depressurize the cabin and we'll all be sucked out."

With all of Goldfinger's hype and high marks by numerous Bond fans, the climax was a disappointment; the middle of the film was too slow; Pussy Galore was not my type of Bond girl (too bossy); and hideousness of Felix Leiter, Goldfinger should have been much, much better.

Overall Rating: B-

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