Goldfinger (1964)

I watched this movie on Amazon Prime.

So... I had seen some of the older Bond movies, including this one, a long long time ago. Like about 20 years ago, renting them from the Library as a kid. Most of them I hardly remembered but I wanted to finally start my journey of going back and watching all the old Bond movies again. Some a long over due re watch, others seeing for the first time.

Okay... so here's where I potentially lose my Bond fan card.
I'm really not fond of Goldfinger all that much. It's a fine enough movie, but I personally find it kinda boring and dull. It's by no means a bad movie, but for my own tastes I feel it's overrated.

Back in the day, like 20-25 years ago, I would rent... or I guess rather "checkout" movies from the library on VHS and sometimes DVD in those early days to watch at home. I went through a lot of the old classic Bond movies as a kid, including Goldfinger. And at the time, I thought it was the slowest, most boring movie I'd ever watched, at that point in my life.
Granted I was a kid in my 10 to 15 year old range, I think, and didn't have the same tastes. Also I was used to Brosnan as Bond and loved the action packed Goldeneye, both the movie and playing the hell out of the game.
So in Goldfinger, back then I was like "where's all the action? He only kills one guy the whole movie! And just by sucking him out a plane window. Lame!"

That initial impression of this movie stuck with me for years and I never revisited it again. Until a couple months ago.
I now do have a much better appreciation for the old Bond movies and the story of movies in general. The plotting, writing and character work.
Yet where I had primacy bias on this movie for years with how I thought about it, I also heard everybody else gas this up as the greatest Bond movie ever. Where you're expected to like this one as the best one without dispute... except for From Russia with Love in some circles.
So I thought rewatching it now as an adult, I'd fall more into that camp... well I didn't. I still found it dull, slow, and boring. Not a bad movie, but not what I had hopped by the reputation it had garnered.
The villain is well written, it does establish a lot more about Bond as a character, and after giving it more thought... Goldfinger does have a pretty smart plan in the movie. I just wish it held my interest better.

This is one of those movies I wish there was half stars on Moviemistakes reviews, cause I want to give this a 3.5 stars out of 5. I don't want to go down to 3 stars so rating it a 4 on here. But my real rating is 3.5.

I fall into the camp that From Russia with Love is my favorite Connery era Bond movie, and I gave that a solid 5 stars. With it currently being my 5th favorite Bond just under the 4 Brosnan era films.

Which if you do the math on that... yes I'm saying Die Another Day I like better than Goldfinger. Bite me.

I wish I liked Goldfinger more, I really do. But now having watched it a second time as an adult, I still find it boring.
Maybe I need to give it a 3rd watch again here soon and see if I still feel the same way. But for now, this is my honest opinion.

I'm a Brosnan Bond fan through and through.

Mistake Status: I have no real plans to do the Bond movies except the Brosnan era.

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