Pros and Cons: Diamonds Are Forever
Absolutely_Cart
NJ/NYC, United StatesPosts: 1,740MI6 Agent
Diamonds Are Forever is the 7th film in the series and the 6th to star Sean Connery. In the previous film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Connery was replaced with George Lazenby. When Lazenby quit, Eon had to offer a (very steep at the time) $1.25 million to return. This would be the last Sean Connery 007 film until the unofficial Never Say Never Again in 1983.
Pros:[list=*]
[*]Shirley Bassey's title song[/*]
[*]The diamond smuggling plot is a solid premise[/*]
[*]Keeping track of the location of the fake/real diamonds is interesting[/*]
[*]Bond faking his DNA and voice, among other gadgets[/*]
[*]Some good action bits like the elevator scene[/*]
[*]Beautiful Las Vegas setting[/*]
[/list]
Cons:
[list=*]
[*]Connery wasn't in his best shape physically[/*]
[*]Connery's acting was inconsistent and aloof[/*]
[*]Blofeld kills Bond's wife and Bond (Connery) isn't angry.[/*]
[*]Doesn't follow up OHMSS well in concluding the trilogy.[/*]
[*]Movie lacks a story and has a pretty boring villain plot.[/*]
[*]Blofeld was a drag queen game show host.[/*]
[*]Tiffany Case was largely a sex object, a step back from previous female leads[/*]
[*]Camp isn't bad, but too much of it doesn't work well with Connery[/*]
[/list]
Overall Thoughts
With Connery's weak performance, I imagine what it would've been like with Lazenby (again) or Moore (earlier). Moore (AVTAK), Brosnan (DAD) and Craig (QOS) all had their difficult situations, but they worked hard to make the best product possible. Connery, despite being paid a fortune, didn't.
One of my lesser favorite Bond films, although I don't hate it as much as I used to. It has lots of color, personality, humor, and some level of grandiose ambition. In some ways, it's a prototype to Live and Let Die. It just needed a clear story it wanted to tell so it can bind those good moments together, more meticulous standards, more originality and about 30 more IQ points.
Pros:[list=*]
[*]Shirley Bassey's title song[/*]
[*]The diamond smuggling plot is a solid premise[/*]
[*]Keeping track of the location of the fake/real diamonds is interesting[/*]
[*]Bond faking his DNA and voice, among other gadgets[/*]
[*]Some good action bits like the elevator scene[/*]
[*]Beautiful Las Vegas setting[/*]
[/list]
Cons:
[list=*]
[*]Connery wasn't in his best shape physically[/*]
[*]Connery's acting was inconsistent and aloof[/*]
[*]Blofeld kills Bond's wife and Bond (Connery) isn't angry.[/*]
[*]Doesn't follow up OHMSS well in concluding the trilogy.[/*]
[*]Movie lacks a story and has a pretty boring villain plot.[/*]
[*]Blofeld was a drag queen game show host.[/*]
[*]Tiffany Case was largely a sex object, a step back from previous female leads[/*]
[*]Camp isn't bad, but too much of it doesn't work well with Connery[/*]
[/list]
Overall Thoughts
With Connery's weak performance, I imagine what it would've been like with Lazenby (again) or Moore (earlier). Moore (AVTAK), Brosnan (DAD) and Craig (QOS) all had their difficult situations, but they worked hard to make the best product possible. Connery, despite being paid a fortune, didn't.
One of my lesser favorite Bond films, although I don't hate it as much as I used to. It has lots of color, personality, humor, and some level of grandiose ambition. In some ways, it's a prototype to Live and Let Die. It just needed a clear story it wanted to tell so it can bind those good moments together, more meticulous standards, more originality and about 30 more IQ points.
Comments
Tom Mankiewicz wrote many one-liners and zingers, making this one of the (deliberately) funniest Bond movies.
Messrs Wint and Kidd are among the best henchmen in the series.
I remember the two henchman. I'm not sure whether I found them funny or stupid, but they're not bad I guess. Maybe the humor in the film didn't sit well because of the seriousness of the African diamond situation.
AJB007 Favorite Film Rankings
Pros and Cons Compendium (50 Years)
Moneypenny at Dover
Franks/Bond fight
Wint and Kidd work well
Great title song and soundtrack
Thumper and Bambi work well but are ultimately too easy overcome
Cons:
Everything mentioned by Absolutely_Cart
PTS
The Vegas chase scene looks too staged
Plenty's demise not explained properly
The gaffs. Too many and too prominent.
Best of them all. The script is full of some of the cleverest and witty
Lines, they still put a big smile on my face.
Connery was a fat lifeless fossil in this movie.
He'd hit his early forties. I thought he looked alot happier then in YOLT
Connery's Bond isn't angry at all toward Blofeld, who killed his wife.
Diffferent film. The producers wanted a lighter Bond. Hence the witty script.
The movie pretends OHMSS never existed. Oh, the irony.
This is probably the biggest shake up in Bond until DAD/CR. Lazenby was to be removed.All traces of the previous film. They wanted a new slate with Connery and afterwards work on a new actor.
Blofeld was a drag queen game show host
It fitted the razzle dazzle of Las Vegas.
Tiffany Case was a dumb bikini blonde girl
She hits that after being rescued from the oil rig.Up until then shes a girl with mixed loyalties
The camp elements don't work with Connery
I'd say Connery could carry the camp just like anyone else.Las Vegas is camp - it is showy.
• The pre-title sequence brings Connery back with a bang, despite some poor direction
• John Barry’s score is outstanding, as always
• Charles Gray turns in an excellent performance
• Putter Smith was an inspired piece of casting
• The sequence where Bond climbs to Willard Whyte’s penthouse is genuinely terrifying
• The scene where Mrs Whistler’s body is pulled out of the canal is wonderfully shocking
• The elevator fight is superb
Cons:
• The plot is so convoluted that you have to watch the film several times to be certain what’s going on
• Connery looks dreadful and gives an appalling performance
• The two main female characters are idiotic and charmless
• Charles Gray is totally miscast
• The decision to play Wint and Kidd as a pair of camp, jolly psychopaths (as opposed to the tough, vicious homosexual killers of the book) is perverse
• Some sequences make no sense (why does Blofeld allow Bond anywhere near the computer that is controlling his satellite?)
• The humour works badly, with very few of the jokes being funny
• There is very little tension or genuine drama in the film
• The cloning of Blofeld adds little to the film and simply exists to deliver a few contrived surprises
AJB007 Favorite Film Rankings
Pros and Cons Compendium (50 Years)
• The pre-title sequence brings Connery back with a bang, despite some poor direction
• John Barry’s score is outstanding, as always
• Charles Gray turns in an excellent performance
• Putter Smith was an inspired piece of casting
• The sequence where Bond climbs to Willard Whyte’s penthouse is genuinely terrifying
• The scene where Mrs Whistler’s body is pulled out of the canal is wonderfully shocking
• The elevator fight is superb
Everything Manxman said:
Cons:
• The plot is so convoluted that you have to watch the film several times to be certain what’s going on
• Connery looks dreadful and gives an appalling performance
• The two main female characters are idiotic and charmless
• Charles Gray is totally miscast
• The decision to play Wint and Kidd as a pair of camp, jolly psychopaths (as opposed to the tough, vicious homosexual killers of the book) is perverse
• Some sequences make no sense (why does Blofeld allow Bond anywhere near the computer that is controlling his satellite?)
• The humour works badly, with very few of the jokes being funny
• There is very little tension or genuine drama in the film
• The cloning of Blofeld adds little to the film and simply exists to deliver a few contrived surprises
Plus a couple of more Cons:
The SPECTRE uniforms for the minions. More like a Flint or Man from UNCLE movie.
The helicopter assault on the oil rig. After such climaxes as the Ninja assault on the volcano or the raid on Piz Gloria this was totally lacklustre and unconvincing.
The fight with Wint and Kidd. After the previous fights with Grant and Oddjob, Wint and Kidd had all the latent menace of Winnie the Poo.
Moneypenny asking for a diamond in a ring. I know they were pretending OHMSS never existed but a bit tasteless.
I think hes a great actor and a good bond. I dont think hes the best bond and i dont think he deserves the golden pedestal hes often put on. Hes good. But is he miles ahead of moore, dalton, craig and brosnan? Heck no.
AJB007 Favorite Film Rankings
Pros and Cons Compendium (50 Years)
Understood, but it's really starting to be more annoying than funny. At least to me. But I will agree with you that Connery isn't looking his best in DAF, although he's still effective. DAF has some very enjoyable elements and I was thrilled that Connery was back, but I would have preferred a more serious comeback film.
Pros:
1) Effective camp while still remaining dangerous. In fact, I'd describe the film more as kinky than campy.
2) Connery's return. While I would have loved to have seen George Lazenby continue, it's always good to see Connery as Bond, no matter the film.
3) Wynt and Kidd are witty and satirical. While they camp up being gay, they nonetheless undermine the stereotype (then) of gay men as effete and ineffective -- they are, in fact, among the most dangerous of any of Bond's adversaries. And they also come across as an actual couple.
4) An iconic, very effective soundtrack. The theme song is to the early 1970s what "Goldfinger" and "You Only Live Twice" are to the 1960s. I especially like the return of "007."
5) Upping the violence and sex. Though it may be a bit cartoonish today, the amount of both in this film is considerably higher than in previous films, giving it an adult fairy tale quality.
6) Charles Gray as Blofeld. I know this is a point of contention among fans, but I find his villain to be exactly the sort of bloviating, self-important type that ran corporations in those days. I'd have been okay if he was given a different name, but the idea of his using plastic surgery to alter his appearance and learning new mannerisms and inflections is right out of the Fleming novels.
7) Jimmy Dean (who I met years later in a Williamsburg, Va, restaurant, when was blocking my way to the men's room). Although the character could have done more, his performance was fine.
8) Lois Maxwell as Moneypenny. She looks resplendent in this film.
9) The last great Ken Adam production.
10) Tiffany Case. Not everyone likes the character or Jill St. John, but I thought she did a fantastic job, to the degree that I wish there had been more.
Cons
1) A dour, mostly colorless 1970s look, with muted cinematography and a cold color palette.
2) A low budget climax that doesn't properly address Blofeld's demise or the end of SPECTRE. In fact, the end of SPECTRE as a villain was problematic.
3) Questionable special effects that, at times, seem a step back from those in previous Bond films to that point.
4) The Las Vegas location. The seediness of the city and the whole "gangster" tone don't feel authentic in a Bond film, though one could argue some of this is in the book.
5) Lana Wood -- the dubbing in particular makes her come across as a kooky child.
1. Thunderball 2. FRWL 3. Casino Royale 4. TLD 5. OHMSS 6. SkyFall 7. GF 8. TSWLM 9. GE 10. FYEO
And as for being fat, there are and were a hell of a lot of 42-year old guys who would be very happy to be in the shape he was here- check out http://expectyoutodie.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/diamonds-are-forever.html for a deleted shot of him naked just before getting into bed with Tiffany.
{[]
I actually don't think Connery was really fat in DAF. But it's a generational thing. In 1970, only like 10% of people were fat, and fat back then was like 20 extra pounds. Fat today is 50-100 extra pounds, and the majority of people would love to be 20 lbs overweight.
Honestly, Connery being a little pudgy in DAF wasn't my main problem. Brosnan gained some in DAD and Moore looked a little bloated in OP, but I liked those movies because they still rocked their roles anyway. In DAF, Connery just wasn't trying. And that's more of a problem than how he looked to me.
I could imagine Dalton and Craig literally beating up and humiliating Blofeld before slicing him in half. And it sure wouldn't be a cartoony punchline like "Welcome to hell, Blofeld".
AJB007 Favorite Film Rankings
Pros and Cons Compendium (50 Years)
And that's Connery's fault? Last time I looked he didn't write the screenplay for DAF. ?:)
AJB007 Favorite Film Rankings
Pros and Cons Compendium (50 Years)
AJB007 Favorite Film Rankings
Pros and Cons Compendium (50 Years)
Hey, I've heard that the man Dalton went as flemingesque as inflating these balloons himself so that it would give his performance a harder edge when they popped
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
AJB007 Favorite Film Rankings
Pros and Cons Compendium (50 Years)
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
Okay, now you're just provoking both of us! :v
True, and so was Moore