I recently downloaded all of the James Bond movies and have been watching them in order for what might be the first time ever. I've watched them all of course, most of them many, many times, but never in chronological order straight through the entire series and reviewing them as I go.

Goldfinger I had already reviewed, but I wanted to make a few notes as it's interesting to see how the series developed with each movie.

On most lists Goldfinger is considered the best of the Sean Connery Bonds and it is great, but I might argue now that Dr. No is better.

Certainly this is the movie where the Bond formula finally gelled completely. The Bond theme song is sung over the opening credits for the first time, Q presents Bond with the gadget-laden Aston Martin, and there is more globe-trotting this time around. These elements were the final touches to the formula already developed in the first two films.

This was also the movie where the comedy becomes a little more blatant and some of it quite clearly tongue-in-cheek. Take the opening for example. A duck is shown swimming across water and then it rises and you realize that it was Bond in a scuba suit using the duck for camouflage. It is then revealed that under the rubber suit he's wearing a tuxedo, complete with flower in the lapel.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about Goldfinger is that it must be one of the very few movies in which the villain is defeated by the lovemaking prowess of the hero. If Bond wasn't so good in the sack, Pussy Galore wouldn't have switched sides after sleeping with him and Bond would have died. Bond is often accused of being sexist (with some justification), but even the early Bond girls, Honey and Pussy in particular, hold their own and aren't mere pushovers.

One thing about these early Bond films is that they were made so quickly. The first four Bond films came out in 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1965 respectively. The fifth in 1967. No wonder Sean Connery got tired of the role. It's amazing he found time to do anything else.