Every James Bond Finale Ranked

The finale of possibly the single most iconic Bond flick might be smaller than many subsequent Bond endings, but that doesn't make it any less masterful. Like the rest of the film, this ending - in which Goldfinger (Gert Frobe) attempts to detonate a nuke and irradiate America's gold supply - strikes a flawless balance.

It's absolutely ludicrous and full of delightfully OTT thrills, but it's believable enough to get invested in and not only is it flashy and fun, but it's also very suspenseful and pretty darn brutal at times.

And this is what makes it so great. Sure, later Bond climaxes have more explosions but thanks to just how tense and real this one feels, it still outdoes many of its successors.

Of course, it's also got excellent sets, terrific direction, a very tense bomb disarming sequence and one of the all-time greatest Bond fight scenes between Bond and Oddjob (Harold Sakata), so that helped too.

The epilogue fight scene between Bond and Goldfinger on a plane also works for the most part, although the special effects look a bit off. Goldfinger is a terrific film throughout, but it's this masterful pay-off to all that build-up that truly cemented Goldfinger as one of the greatest thrillers of its era.