The 1964 Bond scene that foresaw the laser’s role as a precision industrial and medical tool. When Goldfinger hit cinemas in 1964, most people had never heard the word “laser,” let alone seen one; movie audiences were familiar with vague “ray guns” and “death rays,” but not with anything resembling an actual, scientifically credible laser….
The James Bond novels—and the films they inspired—are not exactly known for their realism, but creator Ian Fleming often took inspiration from real life. Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Bond’s archnemesis, shares a surname with famous cricket commentator Henry Blofeld, who attended Eton with Fleming. Even the infamous Pussy Galore was based on a real-life acquaintance, while…
The third James Bond film, Goldfinger, turned agent 007 into a global phenomenon. His popularity had built over the two previous films but it had been difficult to crack the US market. That all changed with Goldfinger, and globally, audiences resonated with the film’s perfect blend of suspense and humor, and realism and fantasy. The…