Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Wonderful character development!

That was an excellent one.

Best movie ever!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

James bond only has sex with one women in this movie. Underachiever! He has 3 or 4 dames in all the previous movies. I guess we'll see is Roger Moore can do better.

The 7th official James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever does not have the reputation of being one of the better Bond epics. But I must admit for having a soft spot for Diamonds Are Forever despite the fact that in hindsight the film has missed some great opportunities.It was decided to ignore the events of the previous Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) which ended with the murder of the wife of James Bond by his nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld. It could have been a great revenge movie, but it's not.Diamonds Are Forever starts with a very short fight scene in a Japanese decor, telling us that it's starting where the 5th Bondfilm You Only Live Twice (1967) left off. At the time On Her Majesty's Secret Service was considered a failure (it wasn't) and the rumor was that the new James Bond actor George Lazenby got fired (he wasn't, he decided not to go on, much to his regret later). Ever since then, the reputation of On Her Majesty's Secret Service has surpassed Diamonds Are Forever.But on the plus side Diamonds Are Forever is one of most efficient Bond films made. The tone is (a little too) lightweight, it has that smoothly early seventies style and shows what Las Vegas looked like in 1970/1971. The greatest asset of course is that Sean Connery returned to the franchise after being absent in the previous film. Older and a little too out of shape, Connery is at his most relaxed in this one and even here he is still the best cinematic interpretation of the character. A James Bond who has seen and done it all. The only time Bond is really surprised in this film is when he meets Blofeld again, whom he thought he had killed in the prologue. Diamonds Are Forever may have discarded the revenge plot but It was a financial successful revenge for Sean Connery on the Bond producers. Connery always felt short changed by the producers but was lured back by United Artists for one more film for an enormous salary (which he donated) and benefits (including a two movie deal).Diamonds Are Forever is also a guilty pleasure nowadays because Bond gets to do things which today's cinematic heroes can no longer get away with: he hits women, kicks Blofeld's cat and disposes easily of two stereotypical gay men (including finishing it off with a one liner). So, unless you're easily offended, Diamonds Are Forever can also be recommended as a terrific time capsule.

Following the previous On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the Bond series was in a state of flux, having lost both it's key star, and it's new successor. George Lazenby famously turned his back on the Bond franchise, looking at the brave new counter culture films like Easy Rider as the way forward, and Bond as a rapidly moulding relic of the 60s. We know now that Bond has continued to pack out cinemas on each release, but following Lazenby's departure, the question was a troubled 'what now?'.Bond traditionalists are still crying out 'bring back Connery!'. And for DAF, they did. Connery was tempted back with a record-breaking 1.25 million, which he did donate in full to the Scottish International Education Trust, but this is rather the only positive that can be said about this involvement here. Connery was tired with the Bond franchise, and it's clear from his performance that he did not have his heart in the film, and gives a rather cynical performance. He had also visibly aged and put on weight. Ironically, he looked far fresher in his return in Never Say Never Again some 12 years later.Just like the decade itself, DAF is much more violent than it's predecessors, with some pretty grisly deaths (immolation, drowning, and a scorpion dropped down the back of the neck), however, the brutal fight in the elevator with Peter Franks is superbly choreographed, and in an era where Bond appeared to stroll through his fights with ease, this scene showed Bond meeting a true equal, fighting with a real sense of grit and intensity not seen elsewhere.One of the real weak points of DAF are the locations. Whilst other films in the series were set in places that the audience dreamed of going to (or sometimes didn't dare to go to), 1970s Las Vegas looks naff and lacks any kind of glitz, giving the film rather a cheap wood-panelled 'made for TV' veneer. However, what I really found unforgivable about DAF was it's continuity following OHMSS, something that has given some Bond fans cause to rather consider DAF to be a sequel to You Only Live Twice, and OHMSS to follow on from DAF. Following the murder of his wife, Theresa, on his wedding night, Bond should be explosive with anguish and rage. Although the opening scene shows Bond roughing up a few suspects, he seems to regard Blofeld, now a camp caricature better suited to a 1970s sitcom, little more than an old rogue, seemingly no more angry with him for murdering his wife, than he would be for keying his car. This was such an opportunity missed, and leaves me wondering how it would have been if Lazenby stayed and DAF intentionally scripted as a direct follow- up.DAF for me is the 'interim Bond, lost between the optimistic pop- Bond of the 60s, and the escapist romps of the later 70s. Fortunately the follow up, Live And Let Die, tapped into a new fun, playful Bond, and gave the franchise a lifeline, one that was later cemented with The Spy Who Loved Me. Connery on the other hand was finally allowed to act his age, and followed up DAF with 1973's The Offence, in my opinion the most intense and outstanding performance of his career.

Often considered to be one of the worst Bond movies, and for good reason. The whole film is just a lackluster effort. It's hard to believe that this was directed by Guy Hamilton, the director of "Goldfinger." By all means, after the end of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," it would have been appropriate to have a dark revenge story, but we didn't get that. We instead got basically a comedy.Sean Connery said "never again" after "You Only Live Twice," but after George Lazenby's less-than-well-received performance in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," they had to persuade Connery to come back for a large sum of money. It pains me to say this, but he shouldn't have come back, because he just isn't at his best in this movie. He just seemed completely bored the whole time (well, that's probably because he was).Charles Gray is absolutely abominable as Blofeld. He is not Blofeld at all. Bring back Donald Pleasence or even Telly Savalas. Just thinking about Gray's Blofeld makes me want to hit something.There are way too many silly elements to this film. Yes, it's ideal for a Bond film to have silly elements, but the best Bond films combined substance with that. This film has no such substance.The action scenes lack the energy and tension of the best Bond films. Also, I find Jill St. John as Tiffany Case to be an unmemorable Bond girl.That's not to say it's completely bad. The setting in Las Vegas is really lovely. Some of the jokes here and there are kind of funny, with the best jokes coming from Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd. I found them amusing, so sue me.Most of the Bond films have a great theme song, and this film is no exception, this time by Shirley Bassey.This is a thoroughly disappointing film, and pretty bad as far as Bond films go. This is easily the weakest Connery Bond film (excluding the unofficial Bond film, "Never Say Never Again), and one of the worst of the series overall. This is recommended only if you are a die-hard Bond fan and want to see every single film. Otherwise, I'd say skip it.RATING: C-