Although Diamonds Are Forever is a fairly weak entry in the James Bond series, the special edition DVD of this movie must rank among the best of all the 007 releases. The half-hour Inside Diamonds Are Forever documentary is both outstanding and informative, featuring such items as the background story behind Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd (including recent interviews with actors Bruce Glover and Putter Smith), and a fascinating revelation by Jimmy Dean, who admitted to some discomfort in portraying a thinly-disguised Howard Hughes-type character when his real life boss at the time was, in fact, Howard Hughes. The 45-minute biography of Cubby Broccoli is almost worth the price of the DVD alone, and the inclusion of four deleted scenes nicely pieces together what was originally an editing nightmare for this film, especially Plenty's mysterious appearance in Tiffany's pool. One final note: the Bond filmmakers have always prided themselves in delivering sanitized sex scenes without resorting to gratuitous frontal nudity. However, when running the scene in which Bond helps Marie "get something off her chest" in slow motion, during the pre-titles sequence, her left breast, including full nipple, is clearly revealed. In real time, the scene plays so fast that nothing can be seen, but it's a much different story in slow motion.
Sean Connery flirts with ALL the chicks, if he had class in the original handful of movies, well he completely did away with that in this venture. He's a wise cracker in this one, which adds a lot of wit to this. Quirky, clever dialouge all around...
"Which do yo prefer, blondes or brunettes?"
"Either, as long as the collars match the cuffs."
Then theres Plenty O'Toole (ha hah) also a very attractive little chick, even though she gets drowned somewhat early on in the film.. oh well, it left more room for Tiffany Case to run around half naked for the rest of the time.... Outstanding rump shot while she's switching the cassette tape inside the laborotary. "Showing a little more cheek than usual, Miss Case?"
Lets not forget that Q is very present in this one, like when he's rigging the slots in the casino, and wins every time. There is also a whole cast of other great characters in this, and the plot goes from one place to the next very rapidly... sometimes the 007 movies can get a little slow, but this one never stops.. even the opening credits with the theme sung by Shirley Bassey is pretty cool. If you don't really get down on the BOND franchise, you still may like this, as just a witty, fun, action movie. Jimmy Dean (yeah, the sausage guy) plays billionaire William Whyte.. another fine addition. By the way, in case I didn't mention it, Tiffany Case is like the hottest BOND girl ever... IMHO.
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Extremely stylish James Bond film, which ushered in the "just for fun era" that didn't end (but was interrupted by For Your Eyes only) until Roger Moore's retirement in 1985. However, this one has several qualities which most of those others don't. First, Sean Connery's back and gives his most complete acting performance in a Bond film. I personally enjoy him more in this film than in any of his other Bonds. It was, for my money, his most relaxed and confident performance. And his less than perfect appearance, though shocking to some, made his portrayal of the world-weary Bond all the more appropriate. Second, the dialogue here is masterful and, for once, truly funny in an ultra-sophisticated sort of way; the witicisms are incredible clever, maybe more so than in any Bond before or since. You have to watch this one over and over just to catch all the ingenious banter. I also really enjoyed all the supporting characters performances as well. While he might have been a little more threatening, Charles Gray's Blofeld is the most memorable of the bunch, and I'd like to think that someone who plots world domination must be somewhat sophisticated and intelligent, rather than just a raving megalamaniac (Pleasance) or a mobster-like neanderthal (Savalas). Next, the producers opted for an older Bond Girl, ala Pussy Galore in Goldfinger, in casting Jill St. John as Tiffany Case and it works well. It would have been hard to stomach a twentish, innocent-looking hardbody in the role of this jaded, international smuggler. Also, in spite of being older and heavier than most Bond girls, Miss St. John comes across as one of the sexiest Bond girls ever and seems to perfectly compliment the aging Connery. The funny but deadly homosexual assassins Wynt and Kidd were perfectly cast, too. Now those are different Bond henchman! But again, there are many things different about this one. As I alluded to in my opening sentence, there's something inately stylish about this film as it possesses a surrealism that seems to be lacking in many of the later Bond films. The characters and sequences have a certain fanciful quality to them. Even the clothing/costumes worn by the characters stand out. The outfits of Tiffany Case and Blofeld especially. And strangely enough, they don't seem as dated as those worn in the two Roger Roger films that followed. Connery, too looks more at home in his suits and and tux than in any of his other Bonds. The moody music is great too. The opening title theme seems to get everything off to a "glittering" start. I liked the music accompanying the fight scenes and action sequences and for that reason was a little disappointed that John Barry opted to use the "James Bond Theme" for the climactic oil rig sequence instead of expounding on the film's score. I keep thinking of the moon buggy chase scene where Connery's knocks the guy off the ATV and the music kicks in as he drives away with Jill St. John observing from the outside, now that was excitng! Why couldn't Barry have come up with something similar for the finale? At other times, the music was appropriately eerie (the early South African scenes) and elegant (the scene at Tiffany's flat and the casino scene). While the plot once again deals with science fiction and the villain threatening the entire world, this time there's a couple of kickers, which I won't go into for fear of spoiling it for those who haven't yet seen this one. Suffice to say though that it's nice to know for once how the villain came upon the capital and means to execute his plan. In conclusion, I think anyone would find this Bond movie one the the most enjoyable of the series if they put it in the right mindset. It made a steady climb into my top five because the more I watched it, the more things I picked up on that made me like it even more. It's just fantastic fun, and last time I checked, there's nothing wrong with that.Read Best Reviews of Diamonds Are Forever (2013) Here
Sean Connery returned in the seventh Bond film after George Lazenby's one movie interlude. Of all the Connery Bond films, this one was probably the most jam-packed with goodies. Of course, the goodies may distract some from the plot line, but they sure are fun.The basic story, with numerous distractions, is that Ernst Blofeld is using diamonds to create an ultra powerful space laser that will allow him (not that you would have guessed) to blackmail the world for more millions than anyone could count in 1971. This Bond film has numerous subplots that nearly become vignettes in themselves.
At the very beginning of the movie we have an opening scene where Connery rips the bikini top off a beautiful woman while quipping that he wants her to get something off her chest. After a flash of breast, clearly seen in slow motion on DVD, the next scene leads to Bond finding Blofeld in a secret lair. The purpose of the secret lair later turns up as one of the subplots in the movie, and partially explains why Blofeld is hard to kill (can we say doubles?). The opening scene is loaded with tongue-in-cheek remarks that become the hallmark of this film, and presage the Roger Moore tendency to do the same.
The opening credits feature Shirley Bassey of "Goldfinger" fame belting out "Diamonds Are Forever," another wonderful Bond song.
Once you get into the actual movie, the details are so numerous that to describe them all would take more space than I have available. Some highlights:
Jill St. John is beautiful, looking really great in a bikini in this movie.
Mr. Kidd and Mr. Wint, two hit men that normally do a good job, but struggle with Bond, are the first overtly gay men in a Bond movie.
Thumper and Bambi; no Disney characters here, and must be seen to be believed.
Bond's Mustang Mach I; holy shades of the early 70's.
Gadgets, gadgets, and even more gadgets.
Here's a trick. Starting out by tipping your car up on the right two wheels, and somehow popping it up on the left two wheels during the chase.
Exiting from a hidden underground tunnel through a camouflaged exit that Batman would have been ecstatic to have.
Desert chase in a moon buggy.
Being trapped in an underground pipe and chased by an automatic welder.
Climbing up the outside of a hotel, with walls that are angled out.
The closing scene of this movie will seem familiar. Just as in "Thunderball," we have an assault on an enemy stronghold at sea. Last time it was ships and boats attacking a heavily defended Disco Valente. This time it's helicopter gun ships assaulting an oil platform with machine guns.
The Ultimate Edition provides extremely clean picture, worth having if you are either upgrading from VHS or have the first DVD release of this movie. If you have the Special Edition, you may wish to pass this version by.
The Ultimate Edition does have some features not present in the Special Edition. There are two more deleted scenes, one of Shady Tree being killed and one of the Mustang coming from the alley in the proper direction. There is footage of the oil rig attack that was deleted. Test footage of the satellite and explosions are included. Extensive footage of the elevator fight scene forms its own feature. A 1971 BBC interview with Sean Connery is another feature. Note that the Ultimate Edition claims that all these features were never previously seen on DVD, even though four of the deleted scenes were included in the Special Edition. One of my favorite features in the Ultimate Edition is the slide show feature used for the image gallery.
As with the Special Edition, an audio commentary and two featurettes are included.
This movie is one of my personal Bond favorites. However, I like it for the science fiction gadget aspects more than being a spy movie. As a spy movie it is probably too contrived and cute, and while occasional tongue-in-cheek may relieve tension, here it becomes too omnipresent for some. I rate this movie 5 stars because it is just way too fun and has many cool gadgets for 1971. This movie is worthy of your attention and a bowl of popcorn.
Enjoy!
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Poor Roger Moore. Those critics and James Bond fans who disliked the cartoony direction the 007 series took in the 1970's continue to point the accusing finger at TV's "The Saint." They should take aim at screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz instead. The scribe, who later went on to contribute to the "Superman" films before reaching his peak as the director of Dan Ackroyd's big screen desecration of "Dragnet," is the man responsible for turning Bond into a less bumbling version of Inspector Clouseau. But the blame really belongs to the producers and United Artists (then owned by Transamerica, not MGM) which insisted the series turn as far away as possible from the more somber tone of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." The result is this unimpressive follow-up, the pedestrian "Diamonds Are Forever." And Sean Connery, lured back to his star making role after newcomer George Lazenby abruptly quit the series after one film, is said to have encouraged this new emphasis on humor."Diamonds Are Forever" isn't quite a laugh-fest, but it fails to achieve what its producers intended, namely to return the series to the glory days of "Goldfinger." This film was intentionally crafted to resemble the 1964 classic that turned Bond into a phenomenon. It returns 007 to American soil, in this case, Las Vegas, as well as brings Shirley Bassey back to sing the excellent title song, and has Guy Hamilton taking a second shot as director, a position he would retain for two more films.
The film's biggest problem is the way it completely ignores the climax of "OHMSS" even as Bond once more clashes with Ernst Stavro Blofeld, whose actions brought Lazenby's Bond to tears (dry ones, no emotional outbursts from 007) and who is now portrayed by Charles Gray, who becomes the third actor to show his face as Bond's version of Professor Moriarty. Everything about the film is routine, including Jill St. John who looks lovely but is as overly familiar as everything else in the movie.
At first glance, Connery's appearance is jarring: heavier than when we saw him last in "You Only Live Twice," but with a more hirsute hairpiece. Before long, however, you forget about his battle with the aging process and settle back to enjoy his performance.
You can settle back and enjoy the film, too, especially John Barry's score and that silly car chase, but "Diamonds Are Forever" is one of the series' least memorable installments.
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