Guy Hamilton
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Spectre (2015)
Directed by Sam Mendes
influenced by Live and Let Die (1973), Goldfinger (1964), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Visuals
The spectacular one-shot opening sequence during Mexico City's Day of the Dead celebrations recalls the voodoo of Live and Let Die while you could spend a lot of time googling things such as "fight on a train" and "1948 Rolls Royce Silver Wraith" to remind where you might have seen those things before.
With 007 (Daniel Craig) down Mexico way on the Day of the Dead, we get a brilliant tracking shot, a nod to Live and Let Die (there are plenty more classy tributes to other favourites to come), a hat on a bed, and a stunt to get even the sternest of set-piece scholars salivating.
Live and Let Die seems to be an inspiration for several winks – Bond’s carnival mask in the beginning is basically a riff on bond villain Baron Samedi and there’s a fight on the train taken straight from that movie as well.
Spectre opens promisingly (or wishfully) on a title card that reads “The dead are alive,” and then immerses itself in a handsome long take that roams around a Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City, evoking Live and Let Die as it finds Craig’s Bond—in the film’s most vivid image—dressed in a skeleton mask and matching tuxedo, en route to an assassination like the cold killing machine of Ian Fleming’s prose.
Even the better bits of "Spectre," such as a close-quarters fistfight on a passenger train between Bond and a thick-necked henchman ( Dave Bautista of " Guardians of the Galaxy "), and a mostly wordless, almost one-take stalking/assassination sequence set during a Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City, pale in comparison to their Bondian inspirations (respectively, "From Russia with Love," and " Live and Let Die " by way of "Octopussy").
We not only see Bond challenge the Big Brother mentality in the fight for significance, Mendes has him walking with the dead, literally, as he’s dressed as a skeleton (a nice nod to Live and Let Die ) walking the streets of Mexico during the Day of the Dead festival in the stunning opening sequence.
Skyfall (2012)
Directed by Sam Mendes
influenced by Goldfinger (1964), Live and Let Die (1973), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Music Plot
Before we meet Bardem, in yet another bad coif — this one blond — there's an eye-popping opening credit sequence with a title song by Adele that recalls Shirley Bassey's signature Goldfinger theme.
Skyfall is also the third film in the series starring Daniel Craig as Her Majesty’s favorite secret agent, a tricky position given that third films are often turning points in this franchise: While both Sean Connery and Roger Moore cemented their respective status as 007 with their third films, Goldfinger (1964) and The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), which were also the best films of their tenure, Timothy Dalton never made it to a third film after The Living Daylights (1987) and Licensed to Kill (1989) and Pierce Brosnan’s third outing as 007 in The World Is Not Enough (1999) suggested that the wheels were starting to come off the franchise (Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist named Christmas Jones—need I say more?).
(Indeed, if one of the comments made about “Goldfinger” is “so ’60s!” and “Goldeneye” is “so ’90s!” the look and feel of “Skyfall” will one day read “so 2012!”) There’s a fight in a Shanghai skyscraper that is brilliantly rendered, as well as an assassination-in-disguise attempt that is like “Day of the Jackal” on speed.
Skyfall can take its place alongside From Russia with Love , Goldfinger , and On Her Majesty's Secret Service as the best Bond can offer.
If we could magically delete "Quantum" from the Bond repertoire, 2006's "Casino Royale" and "Skyfall" would be the greatest 007 one-two punch since "Goldfinger" followed "From Russia With Love" back in the 1960s.
A certain pretentiousness accompanies this transformation; it's possible there never again will be a James Bond movie with the snap of "Goldfinger" or the silliness of "The Spy Who Loved Me." ("Skyfall," however, does include a nice brief homage to Roger Moore's escape from the alligators in "Live and Let Die.")
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
Directed by Rian Johnson
influenced by Evil Under the Sun (1982)
Plot Themes
This past month, directors of four Netflix films were invited to curate some personal favorites; thanks to Rian Johnson’s mystery-minded picks, I ended up seeing a very nice 35mm print of Evil Under the Sun , a fairly ideal Agatha Christie adaptation that, unsurprisingly, is indeed a key reference point for Glass Onion , which borrows its first-act mechanics of bringing suspects to an island and running through all their motives, and its third act in ways that would be unfair to reveal; the second act successfully goes its own structural way.
Like Knives Out , this sequel pays homage to classic whodunnits (the many versions of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None come to mind, as does Evil Under the Sun ), but much fun comes thanks to its many surprises—I will not be the one to spoil them.
Evoking the feel of seaside murder mysteries like Evil Under The Sun (1982) and The Last of Sheila (1973) (this one particularly, given its similar absurdity), Glass Onion ramps up the broad caricatures, silly one-liners, and genuinely stupid (“stupid” is a term of endearment in my household) sight gags, all of which are wondrously funny, but, more than that, they rarely ever don’t have a callback to something important later.
Death on the Nile (2022)
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
influenced by Evil Under the Sun (1982), The Mirror Crack'd (1980)
Themes
But the Christie adaptations that followed — “Death on the Nile” (1978), “The Mirror Crack’d” (1980), “Evil Under the Sun” (1982) — were half-baked suspense films that felt, collectively, like the fading embers of a genre.
Many folks enjoy a good mystery, so maybe Branagh should shoot for “Evil Under the Sun” in 2024?
But the Christie adaptations that followed — “Death on the Nile” (1978), “The Mirror Crack’d” (1980), “Evil Under the Sun” (1982) — were half-baked suspense films that felt, collectively, like the fading embers of a genre.
No Time to Die (2021)
Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga
influenced by Goldfinger (1964), Live and Let Die (1973), Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Visuals
There are no set pieces quite as stunning or visceral as the Madagascar free running in Casino or the siege of Skyfall Manor, but the Matera pre-credits sequence has perhaps the best use of the Aston Martin DB5 since Goldfinger ( Skyfall included) with a scene that drips Bond cool and excitement, and the climax evokes both You Only Live Twice and Tomorrow Never Dies in a pitched base battle—including a thrillingly shot last slice of close-quarter combat for Craig on a stairwell which almost matches Casino ’s staircase fight—which feel gloriously Bond in their construction.
Fukunaga dials in memories like stock footage from previous Bond movies, not all of them Craig's: A framed shot of a woman carefully draped in bedsheets matches that of the asphyxiated body of a woman covered in gold in Goldfinger .
The death of MI6 agent Strawberry Fields (Gemma Arterton), who drowned in oil, is a callback to Goldfinger that also functions as a crude reminder that oil is the true currency of the times.
The director of the 25th Bond movie, Cary Joji Fukunaga, caused a stir before its release by asking: “Is it Thunderball or Goldfinger where Sean Connery’s character basically rapes a woman?”
Although my first encounter with British secret agent James Bond was seeing "Goldfinger" at a drive-in -- which, let's be honest, is the only place outside of the home that a one-year-old should be present for a movie -- my first recollection of 007 was the character being played by Roger Moore (and thus a sentimental soft spot for that portrayal in movies such as "The Man With the Golden Gun" and "Live and Let Die").
My own moviegoing history with Bond started with Roger Moore and the inarguably racist and inarguably popular “Live and Let Die,” at age 12.
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)
Directed by Chad Stahelski
influenced by The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Visuals
Well, that and the ingeniously shot, surrealistic final fray-for-all, which recalls Christopher Lee’s Scaramanga versus Roger Moore’s 007 in The Man With the Golden Gun upped by orders of magnitude.
Brief respites for humor (villain Dacascos is irregular but amusing to see in a big-budget endeavor), some Jackie Chan-styled fighting, and vengeful dogs become the high points, while the protracted finale, overflowing with heavy-hitting yet underwhelming skirmishes, is a strangely disappointing lull (mixing “Enter the Dragon” with “The Man with the Golden Gun”).
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
influenced by Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985)
Characters
He gives physicality to his role that is reminiscent of Joel Grey’s fabulous Korean master, Chiun, in the underrated “Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins” mixed with “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”
Thankfully, his references are relatively upscale, ranging from an elegant “Yojimbo”-like scene in which lone ronin Wolverine is outnumbered by ninjas to a “Diamonds Are Forever” nod involving an unforeseen swimming pool, and he even convinced Jackman to channel some classic Clint Eastwood attitude in his wonderfully surly performance.
Casino Royale (2006)
Directed by Martin Campbell
influenced by Goldfinger (1964), Live and Let Die (1973), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Plot
Furthermore, I consider Daniel Craig to be the most effective and appealing of the six actors who have played 007, and that includes even Sean Connery, from his (and the franchise’s) debut in 1962 with Dr. No, through From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967) and, after a one-picture hiatus, Diamonds Are Forever (1971).
The biggest surprise for a series that is well into its fifth decade is that the script does not rely on the very efficient set-piece formula established by “Goldfinger” in 1964, when Bond went from a modestly successful pair of thrillers (“Dr.
This action-packed movie is receiving accolades, with some calling it the best Bond film since Goldfinger (1964) and Craig drawing favorable comparisons to Sean Connery.
If you count "Casino Royale," it is the 21st Bond film, not that 007 will ever really come of age.
A surprise reference to “Goldfinger” is worked in beautifully, while “He just smiled at me – and set the house on fire” and “Yeah, you’re right, we should just deal with nice people” bring a bitter hurt unknown to, say, Pierce Brosnan’s Bond, the non-brute with the invisi-car.
Here's the biggest surprise of the year: the new Casino Royale is the best James Bond film since Goldfinger (1964).
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Directed by Matthew Vaughn
influenced by The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Plot
Alas, it seems to have taken its inspiration from one of the lesser Roger Moore efforts than the classic Connerys and the result is a fitfully amusing but increasing tedious and occasionally appalling mess that plays like "The Man with the Golden Gun" with ridiculous amounts of gore and severed limbs on display, though the nipples this time around are not so much superfluous as they are distressingly nonexistent.
Writer/director Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class) and co-writer Jane Goldman were born between the release of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and Diamonds are Forever, making them late Generation Connery.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Directed by James Gunn
influenced by Goldfinger (1964)
Visuals
Their high priestess (Elizabeth Debicki made up to look like Shirley Eaton in Goldfinger) is furious and sends a huge fleet of remotely controlled spaceships to pursue the Guardians across the universe.
When we catch up with the Guardians, they’re fighting a space beastie at the behest of Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), the high priestess of an arrogant race known as the Sovereign, who look like members of a “Goldfinger” victim cosplay group.
…cheesy squid monster on a mission that momentarily puts them in the good graces of a race of gold-skinned humanoids ruled by Elizabeth Debicki in Shirley Eaton-by-way-of-Goldfinger makeup.
Licorice Pizza (2021)
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
influenced by Live and Let Die (1973)
Visuals
When Gary and Alana finally come together, it's obviously reminiscent of Punch-Drunk Love 's delirious, Harry Nilsson-scored reunion scene--except PTA takes the piss out of himself by having them collide and crumble in front of a Live and Let Die marquee.
(And then a giant movie marquee for the Bond movie, Live and Let Die, for those who want more clarity.)
Director Doug Liman and screenwriters Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth could have borrowed a name from any number of James Bond films — You Only Live Twice, Live and Let Die, Tomorrow Never Dies, Die Another Day — to describe its hero’s curse and gift.
And I ask in return: Do you remember the Solex Agitator that James Bond had to track down in The Man with the Golden Gun?
Sin embargo, estamos a años luz de filmes similares como por ejemplo, Evil under the Sun de 1982 con Peter Ustinov y Maggie Smith.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Directed by Guy Ritchie
influenced by Goldfinger (1964), Live and Let Die (1973)
Themes Visuals
James Bond creator Ian Fleming famously contributed Solo’s name (and virtually nothing else), and since TV’s answer to Bond arrived the same year as Goldfinger , U.N.C.L.E.
TV show, which aired from 1964 to 1968, was a riff on the early Bond films (it debuted the same month that Goldfinger launched a worldwide Bond-mania).
The opening set-piece, in which US agent Napoleon Solo (all of Henry Cavill, every bit of him) flees Soviet bashing-machine Illya Kuryakin (the even more substantial Armie Hammer) across the old East Berlin is, for this writer, the best hunk of Bond action since Roger Moore danced across crocodiles in Live and Let Die.
The poster is a riff on Goldfinger, but is McCarthy playing the lead action hero or the disposable romantic female?
He stages some genuinely well-done hand-to-hand fights, too, lightly tips his hat to "Goldfinger" and gives McCarthy a couple of comic, but genuine, love interests.
And yeah, she’s still a potty mouth, especially in an overlong third act that seems more like “The Heat” than “Live and Let Die.”
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
Directed by Jay Roach
influenced by Goldfinger (1964)
Themes Characters
Actually, the best Bond movies aren't even from the series: "True Lies" is as romantic as it is action-packed, and "Austin Powers" is ten times more fun than the Bond films it spoofs!
Evil's Asian henchman, Random Task, is a dead ringer for Goldfinger's Oddjob.
The title "Goldmember" is obviously a take-off on "Goldfinger," although that's almost as far as it goes.
If I wanted to see a movie featuring James Bond, I would watch Goldfinger.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
influenced by Goldfinger (1964)
This is no small feat, and it's likely to give the Potter franchise a shot in the arm that no series has had since "Goldfinger" gave the James Bond films a boost that has lasted for 40 years.