Goldfinger
By: Jack Hunt, 12.3.2009
The Movie Itself:
Project-Blu Points Bulletin (The PB PB)
Pro:
Ultimate Bond Adventure
Sean Connery in his prime
The crudest of adversary’s, Auric Goldfinger
Operation, Grand Slam
Pussy Galore
Aston Martin DB5
Saville Row; Bond’s Tailor
Con:
Our scoring policy indicates a 10 (PB’s perfect Films) as the highest rating… but in the world of James Bond, Goldfinger is clearly an 11.
PB’s The Perfect Lines: “Shocking. Positively shocking.”
When someone thinks of James Bond, the images they most likely conjure up from memory are those of ‘Goldfinger.’ Arguably, the biggest and best Bond film of them all at the time of its release, 'Goldfinger' is considered the first Blockbuster of the series. The plot is seamlessly carried out to create the perfect picture. The women are some of Bond’s most beautiful. The villain’s are the most memorable of them all. And for the first time, all the gadgets of Q-Branch (including the infamous DB5) are on full display. Put it all together, with exotic locations and exciting sub-plots, and what do you have? A film that’s worth its weight in pure, 24-carat gold! So here it is, ‘Goldfinger’ finally on Blu-ray and in High-definition. I thought I saw James Bond once. He was impeccably dressed and drinking a Brandy neat at the ‘21’ Club in Midtown Manhattan. I thought I overheard him saying, “I'd say it was a 30-year-old, fine, indifferently blended, sir... with an overdose of bon-bois.” Well, maybe not, but his hair was perfect.
The saga continues as British Secret Agent James Bond (Connery) returns for his third tour of duty in the thrilling adventure of ‘Goldfinger.’ There is a madman on the loose, and this time he is not the usual suspect. This villain is obsessed with the world’s most precious metal. Apparently, his scheme, one known only as Operation Grand Slam, is to knock of Fort Knox, or at least that’s what he’d like everyone to think. Pure chaos is what Auric Goldfinger (Frobe) is after. Now a grand-scale elaboration of the basic heist would be an easily decipherable enough plot for Bond to foil in about 3 hypothetical moves. With the first move being to drink a Vodka Martini, the second to bed several suspecting and unsuspecting beauties and any further attempt to decipher Bond’s third and final move would be nothing but an educated guess. But economic turmoil is what Goldfinger desires. Destroy the world’s largest gold reserve by atomic fission and render it useless, therefore making Goldfinger’s collected stash invaluable and the largest in the known world.
“This isn't a personal vendetta, 007. It's an assignment, like any other. And if you can't treat it as such, coldly and objectively, 008 can replace you.” I doubt 008 could ever truly replace Sean Connery, I mean sure Roger Moore tried, but anyway. When Bond’s latest romantic endeavor ends in murder, he takes it all too personal, as mission and love take him hot on the trail of Goldfinger. Jill Masterson was deposed of under Bonds watchful eye by a mysterious fiend known only as Odd Job (Sakata). Probably the only hang-over Bond has ever encountered after a night with a trusted bottle of Dom Pérignon. He then travels to Switzerland and meets up her sister Tilly (Mallet) after she attempts to take care of Goldfinger herself. The plot thickens as Bond is subsequently…uh hem... captured, and is flown back to the states by Goldfinger’s personal pilot Pussy (Blackmon). Goldfinger quickly reveals the intricacy’s of his entire plan, Operation Grand slam, at Bond’s mere mentioning of already knowing the details. Can Bond save the world’s gold reserve by foiling the trickery of one Goldfinger, therefore completing the quintessential Bond film? Can he bed Pussy Galore or will he have to force the matter? As always, I like Bond’s odds.
Some of the most memorable sequences of all Bond films are derived from ‘Goldfinger’. Take Bond’s knack of escaping the inescapable. “No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.” The iconic scene in which Bond is about to be cut in half by a laser, in fact, may be the one that started them all. He always finds a way out the situation, either by action or words. Also, the classic sequence in the final battle scene, where Bond is pitted against a far stronger advisory in Oddjob, but is able to outthink his opponent, also illustrates his ingenious strategy in the chess game of life. Although his second appearance in the franchise, with a brief introduction in ‘From Russia With Love’, Q (Llewelyn) makes a big splash with Bond’s first tricked-out spy car. The Aston Martin DB5, still the ultimate in transportation for all British spies; fully loaded with missiles, rotating license plates, a smoke screen and, possibly the most useful, the ejector seat. Not to mention, the ‘homer’ homing device, that fits neatly in Bond’s loafers. And who could forget the lusty Pussy Galore, maybe not the hottest, but quite possibly the sultriest and most talented of all Bond girls. Hell, the chick is a pilot and a damn fine one at that. Her tussle with Bond is also memorable as Bond’s first onscreen, lets call it a forced encounter. There would be several more, as the spa scene in ‘Thunderball’ rings a bell with the repeated screams of ‘no’ is heard as Bond advances. All of the above, well maybe not the last analogy, helped to make ‘Goldfinger’ a legendary installment of the Bond Franchise. If not the best Bond film (certainly in the top 3 of all-time), but without a doubt the biggest.
 (Bond-Mania) Now, I could try to convince you just how big ‘Goldfinger’ was at the time of its release, but just to illustrate how popular the Bond Franchise was becoming; here is the November 1964 cover-shot from Life magazine. ‘Goldfinger’ basically made James Bond, a British Secret Agent, into an American Icon. --
--It even lives on in American lure. “The girl is dead. And she's covered in paint, gold paint.” There is a popular misconception that a girl in the film actually died of ‘skin suffocation’. This was supported by the confusing nature of the opening credits and advertisements displaying Margaret Nolan covered in the gold paint, instead of Shirley Eaton who played Jill Masterson. The rumor lives on to this day, as my mother who was 23 years old at the time of the films release, swears that the girl actually died and it was all over the news. For years I thought that to be fact, until a thing called the internet came along. I even thought that Roy Scheider (Jaws) died of cancer in the late 80’s, because of her. Then I saw him in the ‘The Punisher’ 04 and was happy and surprised. Thanks for birthing me and everything, but come on Mom, stop corrupting my movie history facts.
‘Goldfinger’ is without a doubt the prototypical Bond flick that set the mold for generations to follow. All of the pieces may have been there in ‘Dr. No’ and ‘From Russia With Love’ is the purist Bond film, but it was ‘Goldfinger’ that turned Bond into what it is today. Well, what is it today? That I can’t answer. All I know is what it was, and it was great.
Rating: 10/10
The Presentation:
MGM Home Entertainment debuts ‘Goldfinger’ on Blu-ray with a stylish 1080p ~MPEG-4 AVC transfer. As transfers go, this is a great looking film on Blu-ray. Dr. No received a perfect 10 from me in regards to picture quality. With From Russia With Love scoring slightly lower with a 9, by my esteemed PB colleague. Is there a pattern forming here, with ‘Goldfinger’ checking-in with an impressive, but sometimes soft transfer?
The film has its fair share of grain and exteriors sometimes suffer from it. Not to say the level is not appropriate, it is. Hey, I’m a fan of grain in due course and means; but like hard grain-alcohol, I don’t have to love it all the time. I was looking forward to the classic golf outing consisting of vibrant exteriors and bright colors, but it all looked kind of tangerine, with drab brownish greens and dull skies, but hey it might have been just the course or the apparent fall season. The source has been cleaned up nicely, with basically little dirt or fluctuation in pixels. Detail is fine and impressive, although somewhat off in clarity at times, but with consistent contrast. Colors are natural, as are skin-tones, and play well with the surroundings. Vibrant blacks pierce through for effect, combining with intense whites, adding to a fairly bright transfer. Some inconsistencies appear to be hazed over through a glare, but it’s nothing serious. Is it the best transfer of the lot of Bond films so far? Probably not. But still it doesn’t really take away anything, but gives a hell of a lot back in delivering a realistic and natural appearance to the picture throughout the film. Certainly, ‘Goldfinger’ has never looked better than it does right now on Blu-ray.
As with the previous editions, ‘Goldfinger’ audio was given an overhaul with a brand new DTS-HD Lossless Master 5.1 surround. Action bumps on a regular level and with clear dialogue throughout the picture. The soundtrack and background sounds intense and cleaner. Nothing really blew me away, per-say, as the explosiveness of the picture seemed almost held-back at times and ambience is light through surrounds.
Rating: 7/10(Video 8/10 - Audio 7/10)
The Extras:
Commentaries: With Director (1) Guy Hamilton and (2) Sean Connery, Honor Blackman, Desmond Llewellyn, Lois Maxwell and screenwriter Richard Maibaum.
Declassified: MI6 Vault: IF there was a montage to my day, it would be me watching this extra. The vintage 1963 featurette would be me writing this review, the screen tests would be me playing ‘California Dreaming’ on my Atari Lynx and the end credits rolling to "Honor Blackman Open-Ended -very sexiful- Interview”. Confused? Yeah, me too. On Tour with the Aston Martin: It doesn’t get much better than this look inside the famed Aston Martin DB5. Yeah, so Nick ‘The Birdman’ Cage scored Angelina Jolie with his Shelby GT 500, but Bond got everyone else with the sexy DB5 (12 min HD)
007 Mission Control- Interactive Guide: Into the world of ‘Goldfinger’ and Exotic Locations.
Mission Dossier - The Making of Goldfinger: - A detailed look at the making of the film with modern interviews from Connery, Hamilton and Blackman, along with some classic footage, behind the scenes action and Ian Fleming talking Sean Connery. (26 min HD)
The Goldfinger Phenomenon: A solid featurette and probably the best of the lot. Helps to illustrate my brief analysis of the so-called ‘Bond-mania’ that swept through the country with the classic cool, vintage footage. (28 min HD)
Image Gallery: Probably one of the best collections of (film) photographs ever assembled.
Theatrical Trailer and TV Spots: (HD/SD) – Theatrical trailer for Goldfinger (HD), along with TV and radio spots. Also a period interview with Bond himself, Sean Connery. (SD)
Rating: 8/10
Overall:
 ‘James Bond Back In Action’. Five words that can cause any Bond fan to spontaneously combust in hysteria. I’ve always been partial to ‘From Russia With Love’ and consider it the purist of all Bond’s, but ‘Goldfinger’ ranks second on my list for the greatest of all-time. Well, that’s my opinion and it might not mean much, but I’ve been following Bond flicks for over twenty years. I’ve bought and re-bought them over and over again, on all formats. I even purchased all of Ian Fleming’s novels, as the bases behind the films. And if I should come across a Bond film on TV, I still have never been able to continue to flip, while channel surfing. And I’m not to proud to admit, that I’ve even been obsessed with a film or two. So trust me when I say that ‘Goldfinger’ on Blu-ray is a must own.
Rating: 8/10
|
