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The music played during the helicopter and the boat chases is called "Death of Dr. No" and was composed by Monty Norman for Bond and Dr. No fight at the end of the movie. It is clearly based on the Bond theme and a couple of motifs Norman wrote for Dr. No, so I see no mysteries here.
That music doesn't bother me. In a way, it is a glimpse of what a series of 1950s Bond movies would sound like.
They had to cut a risqué line of dialogue (for the time for a family film), shame that the original film elements couldn't have been found and reinstated for the blu-ray master. Probably wouldn't even raise an eyebrow these days!
I think it gets too much of a bad rap. It's far from being the greatest Bond action sequence, but it's quite good on the whole.
To me it's an indicator that the same musical piece credited to Norman in DR. NO can be used in the Barry-scored FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE without notice. Norman is credited for "The James Bond Theme"---and once again I think Barry likely had more to do with it. I'm aware of the "Good Sign, Bad Sign" and "Bee's Knees" possibilities. I side against the court ruling.
Again, this is your chance to say whatever you would have differently wit the film, so things like; plot change, character additions or subtractions. Anything you like. People will be given the chance to give their responses within 7 DAYS from today (this may change so let me know if you want me to extend the time for longer) until the discussion moves on to the next James Bond film. This will run until we reach SKYFALL as a discussion for SPECTRE already exists.
Looking forward to hearing what you guys think.
And the death via gassing scene could look a little more convincing, lol. Just a little.
Utterly embarrassing sequence.
Which gassing scene?
Gassing the gangster bosses - maybe could be better, but no big deal
Gassing the Fort Knox garrison - absolutely not, they are soldiers ordered to pretend to be gassed, with a few hours notice and therefore no time to practice. Only had to fool planes flying overhead. Thought it was perfect.
Agreed.
Not thought this through, but reckon Goldfinger is referenced by virtually all the following films
Still, there is no way of lessen Goldifnger's importance for the series - more than any of the other Bond films, maybe. An absolute classic, both within the series, and the 1960's. Three(!) of my favourite Bond girls in this one, as well!
I would add Bond s troubled mind over killing the Mexican, and Oddjob eating Goldfinger s cat. Maybe the sexual attraction between Pussy and Tilly as well. Otherwise, perfect as it is.
Make the gangsters less stereotypical and dumb.
Other than that I think it's fine.
Can't think of much else. Maybe shoot Connery on location in Miami.
True I suppose. I'll pass the blame onto the CIA rather than Hamilton then. The way they go down wouldnt fool half a dozen gormless (albeit with pilot's licences) blonde bimbos. Oh wait...
*First and foremost, consistent location shooting. The only piece of the film that doesn't feel set-bound or that isn't actually just shot somewhere around Pinewood is the Switzerland sequences and some miscellaneous shots of Kentucky and Miami for establishment. It's a glaring issue that GF is the only film out of the entire 60s that is the most artificial and where the least location shooting actually happened. The Swiss section is a highlight for the gorgeous scenery that you know is actually Switzerland, then the movie speeds right through it and we spend the rest of the time in a place that is certainly not Kentucky. The entire second half misses a feeling of Americana, and it certainly doesn't help the Miami opening to have the main cast dotting from a bunch of different rear projection shots. I can understand the use of projection in action the team couldn't pull off, but in the general dialogue scenes too? Yikes.
*Give Bond actual things to do. He shouldn't seem as lifeless or unconcerned as he feels here, with not as many hints of disgust at Goldfinger as what Sean was a master at. He's a glorified prisoner in the film and that very much restricts his impact as a character when they don't present that aspect of the script at all well. We should feel some tension and hopelessness for Bond, but instead it's easy to feel as bored by it as he looks.
*The barn scene. Maybe a controversial choice, but the execution of this one just doesn't work for me, and comes off as very, very creepy. I think it would've been far more befitting-and more respectful-to Pussy's rather strong and independent character if Bond had a heart-to-heart with her in a dramatic verbal scene to get it through her head that Goldfinger needed to be stopped. Pussy is built up as someone immune to Bond who never buckles, so to see her turn on a dime with little motivation otherwise is strange, and it just gives the movie a "sexy" scene to get audiences enticed in their seats and not much more. Time certainly hasn't aged that particular moment of the film well.
*Restructure the second half of the film once we get to "Kentucky." The script has far too much padding, with a series of inconsequential or tensionless things happening. We could cut out Solo's character entirely for all it really adds to anything, because just Goldfinger killing his gangsters (despite it making no sense) would transmit the same message that this guy is dangerous. The ending also leaves us hanging in the wind and wondering what is actually going on. Do Pussy's pilots know they aren't spreading death gas? Why do a lot of townspeople outside the military personnel also faint at the wheel of their cars when they wouldn't know anything about the gas plot in the first place?
*A nitpick rather than a major fix, but go back to the drawing board for the Bond and Oddjob fight. It's got to be one of the weakest major fight sequences of early Bond, that has no tension or sense of danger to it. Bond gets thrown on the floor a bit, Oddjob smiles, then he's shocked and it's over. After the Grant fight of FRWL this one feels understandably bland and uninspired, and the very wide open set doesn't really help the team to create something to match it.
I could probably think of more, but those are most salient to me.
Wouldn't change a thing!
Look up Iconic in the dictionary and you'll probably find Goldfinger there.....!
Me too.
This would be news to me. As far as I know, Monty Norman did the score for Dr. No and John Barry was brought in to punch it up through his work on the Bond theme. I always assumed that, Bond theme aside, Dr. No's music was generic and dull simply because it was by... Monty Norman.
It does sound like stock music!
One thing the fight got right is that it doesn't layer music over it, much like in FRWL. It adds something to it that you can hear the clack of Bond and Oddjob's shoes on the floor, or the clang of the bars as Bond got thrown into them. I just disagree about the weak choreography.
They should have just kept it as in the novel.