Crash Landing

James Bond adheres to the philosophy "go big or go home," and since Goldfinger is set in the United States, far from 007's native England, he has to go big. Really, really big.

One of the biggest mysteries in America in 1960 was "What does it look like inside Fort Knox?" Not only do Goldfinger's filmmakers take us inside, but they also make it bigger and better than the real place probably is.

Bond's final showdown takes place inside a massive multi-level vault filled to the brim with heavy gold bars. As if that weren't enough, we get a showdown with Oddjob, Goldfinger's seemingly invincible henchman. That still not enough for you? Well, let's throw in a ticking nuclear time bomb.

All that's missing from this massive showdown in America's heartland is a bucket of KFC, and we saw the CIA agents having one of those earlier.

Bond can't outmuscle Oddjob, so he must outwit him, tricking him into moving toward some metal bars, which Bond electrifies with a severed cable to kill the villain. The bomb is defused in the nick of time, and Bond gets an invitation to dine with the President of the United States as a reward. Bond's response?

BOND: It's nothing, really.

It seems like we're missing something…

Oh, that's right—Goldfinger. The portly smuggler escapes during the Fort Knox throw-down, but he re-emerges aboard the supposedly private plane on its way to the president. Goldfinger suffers an ignominious end—a word which here basically means "If it hadn't killed him, he'd probably have died from embarrassment, anyway."

Goldfinger shoots out the window of the plane and is sucked out as the cabin depressurizes. His girth temporarily gets him stuck in the window, just long enough to make us fear that Bond will need a plunger to get him out. But soon he is sucked out of the plane and plummets to the ground below. What a way to go.

Bond, sensitive as usual, tells Pussy that Goldfinger is "Playing his golden harp."

The plane crashes, and Bond and Pussy decide to take advantage of their isolated jungle crash site to, um, get to know one another a little better. Considering the fact that Pussy wanted to find a deserted island to get away from men, it appears she got half her wish to come true. Bond does his best to make sure she forgets about the other half.