Goldfinger [VHS] [1964]

Dry as ice, dripping with deadpan witticisms, only Sean Connery's Bond would dare to disparage the Beatles, that other 1964 phenomenon. No one but Connery can believably seduce women so effortlessly, kill with almost as much ease, and then pull another bottle of Dom Perignon 53 out of the fridge. Goldfinger contains many of the most memorable scenes in the Bond series: gorgeous Shirley Eaton (as Jill Masterson) coated in gold paint by evil Auric Goldfinger and deposited in Bond's bed; silent Oddjob, flipping a razor-sharp bowler like a Frisbee to sever heads; our hero spread-eagled on a table while a laser beam moves threateningly toward his crotch. Honor Blackman's Pussy Galore is the prototype for the series' rash of man-hating supermodels. And Desmond Llewelyn reprises his role as Q, giving Bond what is still his most impressive car, a snazzy little number that fires off smoke screens, punctures the tyres of vehicles on the chase, and boasts a handy ejector seat. Goldfinger's two climaxes, inside Fort Knox and aboard a private plane, have to be seen to be believed.--Raphael Shargel, Amazon.com--

On the DVD: Featuring interviews with Honor Blackman, Shirley Eaton, the late Desmond Llewelyn and most of the surviving core cast and crew members, great on-set footage (Blackman and Connery look like they clearly had the hots for each other even when the camera weren't rolling) and a strong argument about how this firmed up the gadget-orientated, thrills-and-spills formula for the franchise, John Cork's "making of" featurette for this DVD is one of the most rewarding in this series. The two commentary tracks have moderately interesting observations by director Guy Hamilton, the cast and crew (many of their comments recycled from the documentary), and on both Bond superfan-and-author Lee Pfeiffer filling in blanks and explaining in exhaustive detail the history of the Aston Martin DB5 that first appeared in this film. Also included is an open-ended 1964 interview with Sean Connery, designed so that American radio disc jockeys could pretend they had an exclusive interview with the star, in which he extols the series' "sadism for the family" among other things. --Leslie Felperin

"No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die." On of the most classic lines in all of the Bond series sopken by Bond's glittering enemy Auric Goldfinger.
Goldfinger set the style for many of the upcoming Bond films with its high tech gadgetry including the famous Aston Martin DB5 (with modifications). It's budget was almost 5 times that of the original Bond film, most of which was used in the lavish sets such as the full scale model of Fort Knox (at the time the most expensive set built by Pinewood Studios).
Auric Goldfinger is the world's top gold smuggler and James Bond has to find out why. What he discovers is a sinister plot known as Operation Grand Slam.
Goldfinger enlists the help of Pussy Galore's female pilots and Oddjob's killer bowler hat to initiate his plan. Bond must speed into action in his custom built Aston Martin DB5 to stop the man with the deadly midas touch.

The world's top gold smuggler has a plan to explode an atom bomb in Fort Knox to contaminate America's reserves and increase the value of his own gold. James Bond, Secret Agent 007 and a handful of beautiful girls devise a plan to defeat him.