Goldfinger (1964)

 

When the CIA ask British Intelligence to take a closer look at bullion dealer Auric Goldfinger, whom they suspect of smuggling gold, James Bond happens to be the nearest available agent.  Taking his usual subtle approach, Bond promptly costs Goldfinger a large sum of money and sleeps with the businessman's girlfriend.

Said girlfriend promptly ends up dead, making Bond's desire to catch Goldfinger a bit more personal.  Only a bit, though - you can be sure he'll have a new lady in his life by the end of the film!

You might be thinking that gold-smuggling, no matter now profitable, is a bit low key for a Bond villain.  Don't worry, though.  Old Auric has something considerably more outrageous in the works, though it will be quite some time before Bond - and thus the audience - learns what it is.

Considered by some to be one of the best Bond films, Goldfinger is notable for a couple of 'firsts' for the franchise.  Auric Goldfinger is the first antagonist to have a henchman - the Korean "Oddjob" - as memorable and quirky as he himself.  I think we can assume that Oddjob's success as a character is a key factor behind later adversaries like Jaws and May Day.  This is also the first film where the climax involves both a personal struggle for Bond and a sprawling firefight involving dozens of extras as the US Army clashes with Goldfinger's forces.  This works really well here, which perhaps explains why it is also the structure of the finale of both the next two films (with, I think, diminishing returns).

Content Warning: One thing I do have to mention as a negative: while this film is actually not as bad as the book on which it is based, it's still got a racist and sexist script, and there's a scene where Bond essentially rapes a woman, in the process converting her to his side.