A classic

Even though 'Casino Royale' and 'Skyfall' were critically and financially hugely successful, even though Daniel Craig turned out to be a terrific James Bond, this flick still remains easily my favorite James Bond installment. Indeed, in my opinion, it is the only movie which perfectly mixed all the basic elements which you can find in this old institution. However, since it was only the 3rd movie with this legendary character, the makers were still really creative and not constantly repeating themselves (which is always the case nowadays even with the recent 'Skyfall'). I mean, that's the charm and the curse of thoses movies, this familiarity, the fact that even before the movie has started, you really know 90% of what is going to happen, how it is going to happen and who is going to take care of it. In my opinion, it wasn't the case back then in 1964. Back then, they were still perfecting the formula and it will never be that good again. I mean, Sean Connery, the ultimate James Bond, was at the top of his game, the James Bond girls were mythic (it doesn't get much better than the gold painted girl and Pussy Galore), Auric Goldfinger was one of the best villains and there was a terrific title song by Shirley Basset. Above all, for once, I really enjoyed the plot, probably the best James Bond story, and the reason I didn't really enjoy the movies starring Daniel Craig since they all featured some flawed stories. So, you may wonder why my rating is not higher since I really enjoyed this flick. The point is that, even with the best James Bond movie ever, I still think that the formula is rather limited and, to be honest, I have never been really a fan of those flicks. Still, to conclude, it is a really fun and entertaining spy feature featuring the most famous spy ever, a classic, and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

7/10