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Outdoor Living UK - Diamonds Are Forever [1971]
![Diamonds Are Forever [1971]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VMAXVAH7L._SL160_.jpg)
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List Price: £9.99
Our Price: £1.99
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Manufacturer: MGM Entertainment
Starring: Sean Connery, Jill St. John, Charles Gray, Lana Wood, Jimmy Dean
Directed By: Guy Hamilton
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Audience Rating: Parental Guidance
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 5050070000405
Format: PAL
Label: MGM Entertainment
Manufacturer: MGM Entertainment
Number Of Discs: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM Entertainment
Release Date: 2003-11-03
Running Time: 115
Studio: MGM Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: 1971-12-17
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: CONNERY RETURNS FOR ONE MORE BOND ADVENTURE
Comment: One of the better things about this installment is things get interesting almost immediately, despite the below average opening sequence. Bond unleashes a vat of stuff on a guy who was being made into a clone, I guess he drowned in it or something. What was that aimed at Bond, a squirt gun?. Not a very good opening, the theme song was another classic by Shirley Bassey. And of course, as is the tradition with Sean Connery's James Bond, he is drinking within the first few minutes of the film. But soon after this, Bond ends up trading identities with a man named Peter Franks and this is where it starts to get really interesting.
Diamonds Are Forever deals with the villain Blofeld who is smuggling huge quantities of diamonds with the ultimate goal of using them to create a super powerful laser with which he plans to hold the United States hostage, demanding whatever ransom he wants. While it is surprisingly entertaining in the way that Bond switched identities, resulting in the belief that he is dead, some things about the premise of this film bothered me. For example , for such a small quantity of diamonds being transported, I'm not sure I understand the need for the tremendously elaborate methods by which it is transported. They are stuffed into a teddy bear and awarded at a rigged carnival game, they're put into a dead man's coffin, cremated, and delivered in a urn etc. Why don't they just put them into a trunk of a car and drive them to where they are going?
The guys in the helicopter died early in the film, for example died because of their own stupidity. Here's a lesson - if someone hands you a box and starts to quickly back away, it may be a good idea to achieve some distance between you and that box yourself. Also the two inseparable thugs Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd delivered some of the worst acting I have seen in a Bond film, which increased my morbid satisfaction felt during their deaths. Not only could they not act but they spoke almost exclusively in cliches - "If God had meant for man to fly, he would have given him wings" is an example, there is also another thing - in one scene Bond is managing an escape and he jumps into a moonbuggy driving off to eventual safety. What was going on there? at any rate the chase scene was entertaining enough.
Despite all the shortcoming of this film, Diamonds Are Forever still stands as an above average Bond film. Sean Connery is just as effective as ever in the Bond character and the story was more realistic then some of the other Bond films. Also the ever present one liners were better then usual.
Its good to see there was some thought put into the story of Diamonds Are Forever. But some parts were not thought out at all. For example there is a scene where Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd drive out of a cave and into the desert, and after they drive out the cave closes making it look like another part of the desert. Sure the cave's opening is hidden but there is a road leading right up to it. Also when Bond finally gets to Willard Wyte's location he pretty much stands still and lets a couple of scantily clad women smack him around for a while. Luckily the plot is interesting enough to overcome these things. I have also noticed that at the end of most Bond films he always ends up on a boat at sea, having obviously gotten the girl.
All in all Diamonds Are Forever is a heavily flawed film but it also has many strengths that make it interesting to watch - and it is worth watching.
Thank you for reading my review.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Give the film a chance
Comment: Diamonds are Forever may suffer from the producers trying to cash in on Sean Connery's hey day and supplying some characters that a post Austin Powers audience find laughable. However this film gives a great glimpse into the seventies and has many famous franchise trade marks that are now toned down now. Just pretend your're sat there on your two tone brown sofa in your flares wearing your tank top and Roger Moore was still best know as the Saint. Great action, great set pieces and it stars for many the only true James Bond. Just give the film a chance. In your two hours you get a car chase through the centre of Las Vegas and a moon buggy ride. Plus you one get one of the best James Bond themes tune ever! Bargain
Customer Rating:
Summary: awful Mr Bond you are so old go home
Comment: So bad it is not a joke. Sean Connery looks like he hasnt been taking his diet and lumbago pills. Stiffness like this makes a plank look alive. Poor story, poor acting and tired plot. OK the villians are fun and after all it is a Bond movie, but dreadful tired and sad. One scene in particular always makes me laugh, that is where the guy falls off his 4 wheeler and waits for Sean Connery to amble up over the sand dune to jump on him and boy does he have to wait. Yawn, Yawn, avoid this it stinks
Customer Rating:
Summary: Diamonds, glitz and action...
Comment: I don't find this Bond to be at all memorable. It is a pretty bland film, with just a few outstanding moments. The location of Las Vegas is not used to its full potential, except for a pretty decent car chase sequence. The storyline is a bit beleagured, and slightly padded to fit the 2hour running time. A diamonds scam is a bit weak compared to other Bond plot outlines. However, Blofeld is a fantastic villain for this movie, and it is good to see him have a whole film to himself, rather than just being the man behind the machinations who makes henchmen do the work. And talking of henchman, the two gay henchman are pretty funny, but don't really add much to the film. Neither does Jill St. John as the Bond girl, remaining pretty dull throughout the film. The finale on the oil rig is pretty spectacular, with lots of helicopters and explosions. The making of documentary, like all the other on the Bond DVDs is very thorough, revealing and interesting. I've always discovered something new watching these docs, and for the Bond fan they are pretty much essential. However, the doc on Cubby Broccoli is quite dull, long and not very informative.
Customer Rating:
Summary: No kissing scenes in the film
Comment: I am surprised that there is not one kissing scene between Sean and Jill in this film unlike other James Bond films, I wonder is my DVD censored?
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Editorial Reviews:
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After the poor reception given to George Lazenby in Her Majesty's Secret Service, Sean Connery was no doubt lured back to the series with a gadget-stuffed briefcase full of cash (most of which he allegedly gave to charity) for this wry, snappily made seventh instalment in the series. Some of its secret weapons include a smart script, a Las Vegas setting providing plenty of neon reflections on windscreens for a memorable car chase through the Strip, and the comely Jill St. John as Tiffany Case, a diamond cut-above most of the preceding Bond girls. (Apart from Diana Rigg in Her Majesty's Secret Service, that is). Blofeld and his fluffy white cat are on hand to menace 007--it's the Nehru jackets and steely surface-look of this one in particular that the Austin Powers spoofs are sending up. Blofeld's initial cover as a reclusive Howard Hughes-like millionaire points to how the series was catching up with more contemporary figures and issues. Other highlights include two truly ferocious, karate-kicking female assassins and a sizzling moon-buggy chase across the dunes. --Leslie Felperin On the DVD: The mind boggling possibility of casting Adam West (TV's Batman) as Bond was seriously mooted because the suits at United Artists wanted to Americanise the franchise, th e documentary reveals. Sean Connery was eventually persuaded to return but demanded a record fee to reprise his role, and then donated all the cash to his charitable foundation, the Scottish International Education Trust. The rags to riches story of larger-than-life producer Albert R Broccoli is told in the second documentary. The commentary is another in the series of edited selections from interviews with cast and crew, which are exhaustive in the wealth of detail offered but a little exhausting to sit through. Sundry trailers, radio and TV spots plus a few deleted scenes complete the comprehensive selection. --Mark Walker
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