The film's plot has Bond investigating gold smuggling by gold magnate Auric Goldfinger and eventually uncovering Goldfinger's plans to contaminate the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox. Goldfinger was the first Bond blockbuster, with a budget equal to that of the two preceding films combined. Principal photography took place from January to July 1964 in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the United States.

Goldfinger was heralded as the film in the franchise where James Bond "comes into focus". Its release led to a number of promotional licensed tie-in items, including a toy Aston Martin DB5 car from Corgi Toys which became the biggest selling toy of 1964. The promotion also included an image of gold-painted Eaton on the cover of Life.

Many of the elements introduced in the film appeared in many of the later James Bond films, such as the extensive use of technology and gadgets by Bond, an extensive pre-credits sequence that stood largely alone from the main storyline, multiple foreign locales and tongue-in-cheek humour. Goldfinger was the first Bond film to win an Oscar (for Best Sound Editing) and opened to largely favourable critical reception. The film was a financial success, recouping its budget in two weeks and grossing over $120 million worldwide.

In 1999, it was ranked No. 70 on the BFI Top 100 British films list compiled by the British Film Institute.

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James Bond is a fictional character created by the British journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1952. The literary character appeared in a series of twelve novels and two short story collections written by Fleming and a number of continuation novels and spin-off works after Fleming's death in 1964. There have been twenty-seven films in total, produced and released between 1962 and 2021.

Fleming portrayed Bond as a tall, athletic, handsome secret agent in his thirties or forties; he has several vices, including drinking, smoking, gambling, automobiles and womanising. He is an exceptional marksman, and he is skilled in unarmed combat, skiing, swimming and golf. While Bond kills without hesitation or regret, he usually kills only when carrying out orders, while acting in self-defence, and occasionally as revenge.

American actor Barry Nelson was the first to portray Bond on screen, in a 1954 television adaptation, "Casino Royale". In 1961, Eon Productions began work on Dr. No, an adaptation of the 1958 novel of the same name. The result was a film that spawned a series of twenty-five films produced by Eon Productions and two independent films. After considering "refined" English actors such as Cary Grant and David Niven, the producers cast Sean Connery as Bond in the film. Fleming was appalled at the selection of the uncouth 31-year-old Scottish actor, considering him the antithesis of his character. However, Connery's physical prowess and sexual magnetism became closely identified with the character, with Fleming ultimately changing his view on Connery and incorporating aspects of his portrayal into the books.

Seven actors in total have portrayed Bond in film. Following Connery's portrayal, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig have assumed the role. These screen versions have retained many traits from Fleming's depiction, although some of Bond's less politically correct traits have been dropped, such as his treatment of women and smoking. These changes first took place in 1995's GoldenEye. The addition of Judi Dench as Bond's superior "M" in a professional position of power and Bond no longer smoking showed Eon's attitudes changing with the times. Despite their depicting the same character, there have been notable differences among the portrayals. Daniel Craig has been the incumbent Bond in the Eon series for the longest time although not the most films. He portrayed the part for a fifth time in No Time to Die, which was released in September 2021.