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Diamonds are Forever

Diamonds are Forever

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great entertainment
Review: This Bond film is a bit more light-hearted than other versions, which is probably why some Bond fans dislike it. However, I found "Diamonds Are Forever" to be extremely entertaining. The cast is well-chosen and interesting to watch. This DVD has an excellent 30 minute documentary about the making of the film, among other goodies.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: What?!?
Review: Why all the positivity about Connery's return to the Bond role? He seemed to be getting rusty, and the movie was still a big bust. The plot and action sequnces in this movie are just CHEESY. There's no other word for it. Don't even get me started on the difference in quality between this load and Fleming's novel. While not his best work, it was a fairly low-key and enjoyable thriller compared to to the ultra-camp presented here. Don't waste your time!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Bond bombs around in Vegas in Connery's last
Review: I wanted so bad to give this movie four stars, but I just couldn't. Three and a half is more like it. Despite some very nice touches, this is an ultimately disappointing entry in the Bond canon. Sean Connery made his last official 007 movie with DAF. He leaves not with a bang or a whimper but more of a shrug. DAF presents one of the more far-fetched plots of the series. Bond is sent to Amsterdam and then Vegas to track down a diamond smuggling operation and finds himself up against his old foe, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Blofeld is building an outer space laser out of the diamonds, of all things. Truly dumb and the cheesy special affects involving the laser and its targets don't help. Of all the places to film a Bond picture, why Las Vegas? Vegas is classless and over-filmed as it is. A typical American tourist mecca. Bond has been to Jamaica, Nassau, Japan, and Switzerland in previous movies. Vegas is a step down. The suave, sophisticated Bond would be more suited to Monte Carlo for casino scenes. Charles Grey is good as Blofeld. I still prefer Telly Savalas in OHMSS. Jill St. John's Tiffany Case is cute but dumb. Not a high-water mark in the women's lib movement, by any means. Kidd and Wint are hysterical as lovers with a dry sense of humor who travel around the world, killing Blofeld's enemies. Catch the Bambi and Thumper act at Willard White's home. Priceless. The moon buggy scene is the best. Bond steals a moon buggy and takes off across the desert pursued by cars and motor scooters. Silly and bizarre, it works perfectly. Connery loosens up a bit with one-liners and self reference. Twice in the movie, he pretends to be a 3rd person talking about James Bond and praising him to the sky. Its all in good fun. Strictly a middle of the pack Bond film for fans only.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Diamonds Are Forever
Review: This was still good, but not the best bond move ever. I recommend GoldFinger

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Ominous Parallels to (real?) world events of the time...
Review: As a (Connery) Bond flick, this one is somewhere in the middle of the pack, behind Goldfinger, Doctor No, and Thunderball, but ahead of From Russia with Love and You Only Live Twice. And certainly better than any of the Roger Moore movies, Live and Let Die being my favorite of those. I'll agree with other reviewers that DAF shows more campy humor than prior Connery efforts, perhaps foreshadowing the semi-witty Moore flicks that would follow. This one also doesn't lack for action sequences, and has its share of Bond women, among them Jill St John and Lana Wood (in a bit role).

But what has always struck me about DAF is how the plot closely (perhaps unwittingly, who knows?) follows the "Gemstone" thesis of world events circa 1970-71, when the film was being made. As this thesis did not become more publicly known until over eight years after that time, the film is intriguing. Allow me to review:

For those not familiar with it, the Gemstone sequence (of which there are actually many other chapters) details a plot whereby Howard Hughes is kidnapped by agents of Aristotle Onassis, among them "Iron" Bob Maheu. While Hughes was being held captive on the (private) Greek isle of Skorpios, a double, controlled by Maheu, was impersonating him and allowing Onassis to run his empire. Starting in 1967, "Hughes" buys up many Las Vegas casinos, including the Desert Inn. The movie apparently depicts Hughes in the personage of hotel mogul Willard Whyte (although the "Whyte House" hotel was the Vegas Hilton, not the Desert Inn or any other Hughes hotel), who has similarly been kidnapped and replaced by a double of sorts (actually Blofeld using a device to impersonate Whyte's voice). Gemstone states that the real Hughes was killed when it became possible to electronically duplicate his signature (about 1971). The double would live on until 1976, allowing considerable mischief to be perpetrated in his name, including the payoff of the Watergate "plumbers" in 1972 via Maurice Stans. The true history of Onassis is shrouded in mystery, but it is known that he maintained no particular allegiance to the West or the Russians, and during WW2 dealt with both the Axis and the Allies. Blofeld, as head of Spectre, has also been similarly depicted in the Bond films.

Another eerie moment is when Bond is escaping via the use of a purloined "lunar rover" that he commandeers at a site that looked very much like a mock-up of the moonscape, an obvious allusion to those who believe that the US never actually landed on the moon and the whole thing was staged in the Nevada desert. Talk about tongue-in-cheek Bond humor! All in all, it is amazing to me how much the producers of the film may have had access to actual British intelligence data of that time. It has also been speculated that the chief villain in Thunderball (Lago) may have been modeled after Onassis.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Moore inside of Connery-not a bad thing
Review: DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER may star Sean Connery but this movie has got the feel and style of the Roger Moores movies stamped on it. This is not terrible, but to some it is. In the film, after finally vanquishing his hated nemisis Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Bond (Connery-starting to look a little rough) is given the rather uninteristing assignment of looking into the world of smuggled diamonds. Anyone who comes close to the gems in question has been killed by an unsavory pair of killers. While posing as a smuggler, Bond meets up with lady smuggler Tiffany Case in Amsterdam, the two travel to Las Vegas to learn that a reculsive millionaire locked inside a hotel penthouse is stockpiling the diamonds, possibly in preperation for a world devastation plot.

Don't expect to see much of the spy procedures or layered detective style work from the previous Bond films. DIAMONDS goes straight for fun with a fist fight inside of an elevator, a car chase over sand dunes in the desert complete with atc's, cars and a moon buggy, another car chase through Las Vega's glittering streets, a chopsockey match with two amazons and a helicopter shoot out on an oil rig off the coast of Baja California. Sadly though some of the performances by the stars is not up to par with the fun. Charles Gray is too stuffy as Blofeld, Jill St. John is a little dim very self centered. and Norman Burton is just terrible as Felix. Connery on the other hand from his vacation from the role is a little more refreshed but his age is starting to show and Jimmy Dean is surprisingly good in his role. To sum it up DIAMONDS won't dot the record books for movie making in the series, but it is good fun.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: diamonds doesn't deserve any more than 3!
Review: I'll keep this brief: after being entranced with this film for the first hour and a half, I was so utterly disappointed with the ending, I vowed never to watch this film again! Not only is it slow and unimaginative, but unclimactic and downright not enjoyable to watch! If the climax of this film was improved I would call this the best film of the Bond series!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sean Connery is the Ultimate Bond
Review: One of the most entertaining entries in the long-running series, "Diamonds are Forever" marks Sean Connery's return to the role that he made famous. This time James Bond (Sean Connery) is in pursuit of an evil mastermind by the name of Blofeld who has been smuggling diamonds to finance a mastermind project to take over the world.

Joined by Tiffany Case (Jill St. John in a great performance) Bond finds himself traveling from Holland to Las Vegas in order to stop Blofeld and recover diamonds that were stolen from Case. The script, laced with enough humor, wit, and classic one-liners marked a turning point for Connery who returned to the role after taking a one-film hiatus (the previous film in the series, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" featured Australian actor George Lazenby playing Bond). The film showed a different Connery from the previous Bond films he starred in, with his performance in this film being more loose and comical. It also marked his final Bond film for United Artists (he returned to the Bond series in 1983 when he filmed "Never Say Never Again" for a rival studio).

Keep an eye out for Lana Wood as Plenty O'Toole. Lana, who is the sister of late actress Natalie Wood, has one of the best, yet smallest roles in this film. The scene where Bond meets Plenty ("Hi, I'm Plenty." (Bond looking at her cleavage) "Yes You Are") is a classic one-liner in a film that lacks the political-correctiveness of today. Besides this, there are a series of odd coincidences between Lana and her sister Natalie in this film and in real life:

(1) Lana's co-starred with actor/singer Jimmy Dean in "Diamonds". Natalie starred with the late, great James Dean in "Rebel Without A Cause".

(2) Jill St. John married Lana's former brother-in-law, actor Robert Wagner, several years after Natalie's tragic death.

(3) Lana's character in "Diamonds" is found dead in a pool, a drowning victim due to foul play. Her sister, died in a drowning accident in 1981, in an event that foul-play was suspected at first.

Eerie, huh?

Besides these film facts, "Diamonds are Forever" ranks as one of the best on the entire Bond series. I have watched this film many times due to its' wonderful script and characters, and it never bores me. Overall, a great and fun film!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "This Is The Only Bond Movie Worth Watching Twice!"
Review: As much as I love Ian Fleming's character of James Bond, and as much as I've enjoyed the portrayal of this character in the movies by Sean Connery, George Lazenby--who might have done better with a better movie--Roger Moore--who was good at first but too old for the role after a couple years--Timothy Dalton--who was simply too clean cut looking to play Bond--and now Pierce Brosnan--who just doesn't look tough enough to have a license to kill--I now realize that much of my idol worship came from my perspective as a kid. Now as I look back at the Bond movies, most of the Connery 007 movies were too long and drawn out--THUNDERBALL is a classic example and a crashing bore--the Lazenby movie is the same, the Moore movies were too silly, and the Dalton and Brosnan versions are like Connery's without his toughness or sense of humor--although I agree with Sam Damon Jr.'s review of TOMORROW NEVER DIES that the chemistry between Teri Hatcher and Brosnan in TOMORROW was terrific, and Dr. Kauffman was one of the best Bond villains ever--
but DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, well, it's gotten better with age. Connery's a little older but still up to the job, Jill St. John stands out as perhaps his most talented and beautiful leading lady, the two homosexual villains--Mr Wint and Mr Kidd--are subtle yet dangerous, and Jimmy Dean is terrific as reclusive Las Vegas billionaire Williard White. Charles Gray is also good, but it's hard to believe him as a villain since he was just on Bond's side in Connery's last Bond movie, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE. Lana Wood is also fun to watch as..."Plenty...Plenty O'Toole."
The story is okay, but it's the return of Connery as Bond--after a four year hiatus--St. John, the villains, the music, and the photography that make this the only Bond movie worth watching twice!
Chari KrishnanRESEARCHKING

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sean Connery----The best James Bond
Review: Diamonds are Forever is a very good Bond movie,(not the best,but lots of fun)with the best Bond of all Sean Connery back again.Even though he looks as though he aged a little since You Only Live Twice,it doesn't matter as he does a great job.The movie has got a great villain-Ernst Stavro Blofeld,(who Bond thought he had done away with in the pre-title sequence)this time played by Charles Gray.(he played Henderson in You Only Live Twice)Jill St.John plays beautiful Bond girl Tiffany Case,and Lana Wood as the beautiful Plenty O'Toole.The two henchmen,Mr.Wint and Mr.Kidd are absolutely hilarious.There is a great chase scene through the streets of Las Vegas,and plenty of action overall.The title song,sung by Shirley Bassey,is good,but not one of my favorites.Overall,while not the best Connery Bond movie,(to me it ranks behind From Russia With Love,Goldfinger,and Dr.No)it's very good,and lots of fun to watch.


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