Whether it's my nostalgia talking or a plain fact, I've always looked at this as the best James Bond film ever produced. It had the most memorable characters and scenes I can remember over these four decades of Bond films. Yes, it's dated by now and not as exciting as when it came out, but it's a treasure among the films of the 1960s.

It has a winning combination of good action, drama, romance and comedy. Best of all, it has great characters that all of us who first saw it years ago still remember: "Auric Goldfinger," Oddjob,." and - of course - "Pussy Galore," one of the all-time great names in the history of film!

The story moves fast without overdoing the action. Sure some of it - especially today - looks contrived and corny, but that's part of the fun and charm of the film. Meanwhile, Bond's Aston-Martin DB5 sports car will never go out of style. It's still very cool.....like the film.

In the Ian Fleming novels, James Bond was not super-human nor did he run around with tons of ridiculous gadgets. He was more a spy and assassin--not a guy with amazing powers. While I loved DR. NO and FROM Russia WITH LOVE, GOLDFINGER is a sad film for me because it ushered in a trend in Bond films that I disliked--ridiculous gadgetry that got in the way of plot. Sure, it was fun watching Oddjob throwing his metallic hat, but it also was pretty stupid if you think about it. Additionally, having Goldfinger use a laser on Bond was just dumb. Like Dr. Evil's son suggests in the Austin Powers film, why not just put a bullet in his head and be done with it?!?! If you take away all the gadgets, the rest of the movie is very good and very exciting. Thanks to a long film with lots of twists and turns, it felt like a real adventure--very escapist and satisfying.

By the way, in the book, Pussy Galore was clearly a lesbian and Bond was so hyper-manly that he somehow got her to change her sexual orientation. This aspect was "cleaned up" since audiences in 1964 were not ready to see a lesbian major character. In the film, it's only hinted at and Ms. Galore seemed like she was more "hard to get" than anything else. Wow,...what a name for a character!

I am a fan of the James Bond series, and Goldfinger is just amazing for so many reasons. As much as I love Dr.No and From Russia with Love, I think Goldfinger is a serious contender for the best Bond film ever.

For me Goldfinger is the slickest of the Bond films in terms of how the stunts are performed and how the story is told. The story mayn't be the most exciting of all the Bonds, but it is still very gripping. The direction is sly, the cinematography is stylish, the locations are stunning and I can never get enough of the theme song sung by Shirley Bassey.

The script is sophisticated and humorous, while James Bond is still his suave and charismatic self, Pussy Galore is fabulously sexy and Auric Goldfinger himself ties with Blofeld as the best Bond villain, and a deliciously bizarre one he is too, being obsessed with gold and everything.

Other than the theme song and Goldfinger, the action is what makes this film. I love the gadget designs which are wonderfully over-the-top, while my favourite scenes include Shirley Eaton's legendary gold-plated death, the duel with the bowler-hatted sidekick Oddjob and the midair showdown between Bond and Goldfinger.

The acting is superb. Sean Connery gives his best performance as the character of Bond, although Connery is the master of suavity and charisma he is even more suave and charismatic here. Honor Blackman is sexy and enthusiastic as Pussy Galore, while Gert Frobe is amazing as Goldfinger. Overall, a golden treasure and a serious contender for the best ever Bond. 10/10 Bethany Cox