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Diamonds are Forever

Diamonds are Forever

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Wint and Kidd is the magic!
Review: Sean Connery returns,and once again gives us all a wonderful performance as 007.Glover and Smith as Wint & Kidd are both outstanding,but the rest of the cast doesn`t work(I am thinking of Gray and St John).However,it has some truly inspried settings,and a wonderful score.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: "Diamonds" Lacks Sparkle
Review: DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, the seventh official movie in the James Bond series, is a surprisingly mediocre affair. Producers Broccoli and Saltzmann valiantly attempt to remake GOLDFINGER, but wind up with a simulacrum of that acknowledged masterpiece. Thus, while it's often fun, it seldom feels inspired.

After a weak precredit sequence in which he tracks down and kills his archnemesis Blofeld (or does he?), Bond is assigned to find out who behind the theft of diamonds from mines in South Africa, and for what purpose. He must also discover who has been murdering members of a smuggling pipeline. As it turns out, Blofeld, hiding behind a Howard Hughes-style business empire, has been stockpiling the diamonds so that they can be used to refract light for a powerful laser satellite which can destroy whole cities.

Up to a point, it works. The first act, which finds Bond taking the guise of captured diamond smuggler Peter Franks, is quite good. It even allows for a laugh when Franks escapes and Bond kills him outside of Tiffany Case's (Jill St. John) Amsterdam apartment. She inspects Franks' wallet, which Bond has replaced with his own, and gasps in horror. "You've just killed James Bond!" Connery, in his best Bondian manner, merely shrugs. "It just proves no one's indestructable."

Unfortunately, the Maibaum and Mankiewicz screenplay is muddled and confusing. Despite some outstanding dialogue (some of the best in the series), the story itself is difficult to follow. Only on repeat viewings, for example, do we learn that the smugglers are being murdered because the pipeline is being closed. However, we never know if the villain started the pipeline to begin with or merely infiltrated it. We never understand why some of the secondary characters show up in key scenes. GOLDFINGER benefitted from economy and clarity; DIAMONDS has neither.

Guy Hamilton takes the director's chair again, and he brings the same sense of pace and glitz he brought to GOLDFINGER. But this time the pace is so fast that one barely has time to digest what is happening. And despite one good fight scene, the picture suffers from a curious lack of suspense, especially during the climax, which takes place on an oil platform. Worse still is the inclusion of juvenile humor, which distracts from one's overall enjoyment of the picture (and serves as a harbinger of the Moore years).

Connery gives a relaxed and confident performance as James Bond, as does Ms. St. John as Tiffany Case. Charles Grey plays Ernst Stavro Blofeld as witty and urbane, even charming, but not at all menacing. The secondary villains aren't very menacing, either, and it often seems like Bond dispatches them too easily.

Musically, the picture is uninspired. Barry's score is okay but does not rank with his best, and Shirley Bassy's title song, which has some genuinely haunting instrumentals, is noisy and inane. It simply lacks the vigor of her previous effort - yep, GOLDFINGER.

Connery's last picture for the franchise - but not his last portrayal as Bond - shows the series in decline. It is fun, to be sure, but its reliance on the previous outings is starkly evident. Despite its outstanding dialogue, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER is a weak entry in the series.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Sparkling
Review: "Diamonds Are Forever" is the 7th in the James Bond 007 series from 1971. Agent 007 is assigned to stop diamond smugglers. This movie marks the return of Sean Connery to the role of Bond. He does a decent job here, but afterward he retired again and Roger Moore took over the role. Jill St. John does a good job of playing Tiffany Case, one of the smugglers. Norman Burton does a forgettable job of playing Felix Leiter. (The best Leiter was Jack Lord in "Dr. No" [1962]).

This movie really has two things going for it: an outstanding soundtrack and some of the best villains of the entire Bond series. Shirley Bassey sings the title track. Her's is a return performance, as she also sang the title tracks to "Goldfinger" (1964) and "Moonraker" (1979). The two villains, Mr. Kidd and Mr. Wint, are henchmen of Ernst Blofeld. It is just hilarious how they make deadpan one-liners which parody those of Bond!

This is one of my favorite Bond movies, but I am rating it down one star because it seems to bog down near the end. Ironically, I saw a DeBeers diamond commercial which said "A diamond is forever" while I was preparing this review. Apparently, the movie title has some marketing power to it!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Diamonds Are Forever
Review: Not the greatest of the 007 movies, but still pretty good. A few noteworthy lines like "Hi I'm Plenty! But of course you are." And "mountaineering about outside the Whyte House." Not the first movie to have a scene take place in America (maybe the first to actually BE in America), but a couple scenes in "Goldfinger" were at Miami Beach...where we meet the "Golden Girl."

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Back in good form and out to have fun
Review: Definately helped lead into Moore's lighter Bond. This film is extremely incoherent, but is an incredible amount of fun! Charles Gray makes a good proper Blofeld. And I'm sorry, but those two homosexual henchmen are a riot! I'm still unsure of the plot, but I had a blast all the way through.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: What a Disappointing follow up...
Review: ...to the best of the Bond movies. Connery is back and that's about it.How in the world do you make OHMSS and then make this! What an insult! They don't even make any reference to the fact that he's after Blofeld because he killed Bond's wife. The whole story is stupid and the characters are dumb. It's Bond against three queers. This movie gave Roger Boore his "Licence to Kill Audiences" with his sophmoric humor in his horrible films. I rate this as the worst in the series; there are probably worse ones by Roger but because it was Sean in the role, I say shame on you! He knows better than this of how to portray 007. By the way Connery looked better 12 yrs. later when he did Warner Bros. "Never Say Never Again" I have to stop because I'm getting aggravated.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good, but not one of Bond's Gems
Review: From the beginning, the movie is a slam-blang ride. I enjoyed Shirley Bassey's title song (though "Goldfinger" was her best Bond theme). This movie features some of the most memorable characters in the series: Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd, the gay assassins; cocky redhead Tiffany Case; a witty, flamboyant, foppish Blofeld; Bambi and Thumper, the willowy bodyguards; and young, slightly naive Plenty O'Toole. It also features one of my favorite lines in a Bond film: "Hi! I'm Plenty." - Plenty O'Toole. Who could resist?!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: the most underrated Bond film?
Review: Diamonds are forever is rarely quoted among people's favourite Bond films, but for me it is the most interesting in the series. I love the surreal, almost bizarrw elements - the moon buggy scene, the two Blofelds etc. Charles Gray is just wonderful as the villain while Connery is as always brilliant in an effortles sort of way. It is one Bond film I never tire of watching because there are so many unusual scenes that make it just a bit different to the other films.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: An utter disgrace
Review: This film Diamonds are forever, is an utter disgrace to the James Bond Installments. There is no hench-men for him to fight, other than the car scene there is no constructive action scenes. Why I will never know, that this film was made. Just look at other James Bond films and then you will see where I am coming from ex. Live and let die, Dr.No, From Russia with love, Octopussy, Tommorow never dies etc.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sean Connery at his coolest.
Review: This, the 7th installment in the 007 franchise, has always been my favorite James Bond film, although I know that itranks nowhere near the cream of the crop. There's just something about SeanConnery's return that i enjoy above all else. As I've heard it described, heexhibits an "old pro's grace" in this, his final"official" turn as 007."Diamonds" is NOT a movie without faults, however. There are several glaring continuity errors (mostly do toimportant sequences that were edited outbefore the film's release---such as howPlenty O'Toole found Tiffany's place).One word that consistently comes to mindwhen describing "Diamonds Are Forever" is "campy". Camp elements abound: Wint & Kidd, the scene at Slumber inc, Bambi& Thumper, and especially Charles Gray'swonderfully fey and sophisticated Blofeld. (A Bond villain in DRAG?!?!)In spite of these very forgivable faults(or maybe BECAUSE of them!) I find myself able to view this movie over & over again like one would put a favoritealbum on the stereo. The dialogue--thanks to screen writer Tom Mankiewicz--is exceedingly witty & quite memorable.My favorite line in the entire Bond series comes from this film. When 007'slittle tryst with Plenty O'Toole is rudely interrupted by a couple of gunmenin his hotel suite, we are treated to aclassic Connery line..."I'm afraid you've caught me with more than my handsup!"The perfect 007 playground of Las Vegas,coupled with great action and over thetop villains adds up to 2 hours well spent in the company of the world's greatest secret agent, played by the best man for the job...


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