James Bond 03: Goldfinger
Ultimate Edition
From the opening bomb blast outside a steamy nightclub to a last-minute escape from the president's personal jet, James Bond's third screen adventure in an exhilarating, pulse-pounding thrill-ride! Sean Connery returns as Agent 007 and faces off with a maniacal villain bent on destroying all the gold in Fort Knox—and obliterating the world economy!
Member Reviews
Establishes the formula for better or worse - filmcmnt
I don't know whether it's a good or a bad thing that Goldfinger established the Bond conventions that would turn into silly Bond cliches by the time you get to the Roger Moore films, but there it is. The fact is that they all work wonderfully in Goldfinger which is still an excellent entertainment. After Dr. No and From Russia with Love, films that still were entertaining darker and more serious directions for Bond, Goldfinger put all that to rest by establishing key elements that had to be in place to satisfy the formula: memorable cartoonish villains (Oddjob with his razor sharp hat), one quip after another ("He blew a fuse" "Shocking" (after electrocuting someone in the bath), etc), big showstopping finales between an army of good guys and an army of bad guys (remember how Bond did it all by himself in Dr. No?). This all works here but would be unbearably stale by the end of the 1980s. It's why Casino Royale was so successful - it undid the Goldfinger formula.This is a hoot! - Canada123
Having watched the original movie when it was released (and several times after) I wanted to see the blu ray version - and it was great! These movies were from a kinder, gentler time (and certainly with a much smaller production budget!). The film is cheesy but it never took itself seriously anyway - and Odd Job is still the best Bond bad guy ever!Excellent entry in a fabulous franchise - Coconut_Willy
Of course, everybody has seen this before as there always seems to be a Bond festival on television. I, for one, am as big a Bond fan as possible and I have seen this film at least a dozen times. When you look at these movies chronologically, this has to be where the series hit its stride; highly publicized, everyone at the time was waiting to see what would come next. This is a very big production and as it was the third installment, all the characters were well established. The cast is very good doing a fine acting job with an intelligent dialogue. Goldfinger himself is a bit boring as the main villain but Oddjob started the tradition of very interesting thugs that are always present to fight 007. Great sets and locations, great soundtrack and great camera work. True, some of the action is highly unrealistic and women are treated very badly in this film but the series evolved with the times and this has to be considered as being 'normal' for the period. Even though the first two installments were also very good, I believe this is the one that elevated the series to unequaled levels of quality.
These new transfers to DVD are just unbelievable; high definition, crisp colors and no visible damage. A nice change from the faded prints seen on the tube. To top it all up, the package contains lots and lots of extras. Highly recommended.
Member Reviews
Read All...
Establishes the formula for better or worse - filmcmnt
I don't know whether it's a good or a bad thing that Goldfinger established the Bond conventions that would turn into silly Bond cliches by the time you get to the Roger Moore films, but there it is. The fact is that they all work wonderfully in Goldfinger ...This is a hoot! - Canada123
Having watched the original movie when it was released (and several times after) I wanted to see the blu ray version - and it was great! These movies were from a kinder, gentler time (and certainly with a much smaller production budget!). The film is cheesy ...Excellent entry in a fabulous franchise - Coconut_Willy
Of course, everybody has seen this before as there always seems to be a Bond festival on television. I, for one, am as big a Bond fan as possible and I have seen this film at least a dozen times. When you look at these movies chronologically, this has to be ...