Diamonds Are Forever: Is it Connery's Worst?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- Are the last Bond movies of each actor their worst? Being James Bond and I explore this theory and evaluate whether it might be a thinker, or a stinker!
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When David is not running an advertising and marketing company, his hobby is The Bond Experience which is primarily a video blog where he discusses Bond experiences and the people and brands that help to create those experiences...
Over the past fifteen years, David Zaritsky has been featured and sourced for articles in Time Magazine, The Boston Globe, The Courier Times, USA Today, Star Magazine, MM&M, The Exchange, The Guardian, The New York Times, Bond on Bond, American Media Inc., AP Wire and online social media outlets. David has been a speaker at Johns Hopkin, Hofstra University, Columbia as a Bond Experience expert. His collection represents one of the most complete example of Bond lifestyle items. Invited to cover Tom Ford, Omega, Heineken, Coke, Orlebar Brown, NPeal, Floris, Lock & Co., Sunspel, Turnbull & Asser, and a multitude of location partnership events, David has represented social media experiences for many years. In addition David has provided props and decor for Johns Hopkin Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace Premieres as well as the Devereaux Foundation 007 Fundraiser. The mantra of living like Bond, one moment at a time emanates from a concept of experiencing the joy of collecting small moments in life that add up to amazing journeys and stories....
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Connery,despite his lack of fitness,was clearly having fun again in this film.
Interesting cos you're the first person I've ever read say Connery was having fun, everyone else says he's phoning it in.
What??? Contemporary and retrospective critics have all said he was more relaxed and having fun than in his previous 2 efforts.
@@jonburrows8602 what the critics say and what the general populous think are usually two different things, I don't read critics cos they're usually pretentious arseholes paid to say whatever they think will be popular as opposed to genuine opinion but the comments I see here on TH-cam repeatedly accuse him of showing lack of interest, my personal opinion is there's no difference in his acting in diamonds to any of the others people just see things that aren't there cos they're aware he only did the film for money and not cos he genuinely wanted to come back, reviewers were most likely going with the line he was having fun cos everyone at the time was just glad to see him back, it's all personal perspective but from what I read Sean's perspective was he agreed to do the film on the basis that the money he received from it be used to fund a Scottish education program or something so that's all he cared about. He was sick of bond though that was certain.
@@jonburrows8602 He spent more time on the golf course than he did in the studio.
@@jonburrows8602 he was wayyyy more engaging in thunderball gtfo
As a child I was traumatized by the scene where James Bond was lying in a coffin and was almost burned.
Too bad in the end they laughed it all off as if it were a joke. Pretty much removes any tension the scene may have had.
I was 20 when I first saw Diamonds are Forever in Dec.1971. I remember seeing a long line outside the theater. It had been 4 1/2 years since Connery played Bond and people couldn`t wait to see him. When the gunbarrel sequence came on the screen , there was thunderous applause from the audience and when Connery appeared and said " my name is Bond - James Bond ", the audience cheered and applauded. I`ll never forget it. You see , people didn`t care if this movie was good or bad. They came to see Sean Connery play James Bond again.
I thought YOLT would have been an excellent final film for Connery. Lazenby should have done a 1-2 punch in OHMSS and Diamonds. Would have felt so much cleaner.
YOLT is awful tbh
Lego Qui-Gon Jinn it’s flawed for sure but I think it would have been a better note to go out on for Connery, rather than Diamonds (or Never Say Never Again).
Connery should have play in O.H.M.S.S. and as final film should be ''Live and Let Die'' in 1972 to celebration 10 years Bond films.
@@ΜακηςΛ-ε5ρ Connery looked better than ever in "Outland"; he could easily have played Bond through "For Your Eyes Only". Not sure why, 7 years earlier, he looked 20 years older. Hell, he looked better in "The Rock" than he did in DAF.
Performance wise, You Only Live Twice is worse because it's obvious how bored Sean Connery was and just phoned it in. It's the rest of the film that somehow manages to pull it together to carry his bad performance. Diamonds are Forever, Connery at least was enjoying himself again but this was a script that clearly was more a Roger Moore style movie. But just because it's bad doesn't mean its not entertaining,
I love "Diamonds Are Forever". If you make the grave mistake of taking it seriously, you're lost. Even though the plot is actually quite complex (as it adds a third party to the diamond smuggling ring in the novel), most of that doesn't really play a role once we're in Vegas and it becomes basically a self-parody - and it does it beautifully!
Connery is dry as as martini as he walks through Roger Moore sceneries and, unlike "Moonraker" or "Die Another Day", the film is very self-aware and never slips down into trash. "Diamonds Are Forever" will never leave my top 10 - even if it's just 10.
For all the reasons you stated you didn't like this movie are the exact reasons i love Diamonds are Forever. I actually much prefer the stranger out there Bond Films like this one and The Man with the Golden Gun as opposed to the more Realism based Bond films of the Daniel Craig era which are way too serious and take themselves too seriously for my personal tastes.
You got to love this film and all of the awkwardness which you very well point out. Nice to hear your thoughts but for me its one of my all time favourite Bond films! Great score by John Barry, many of memorable scenes and great locations and set designs.
I prefer Connerys films but to me Roger and the films of the 70s/80s are just as much Bond but in a different way.
Worst Connery is Never say never again of course... unless your one of those not counting it in the first place ;)
Howard Weber > Let me tell you what happened when I first saw Diamonds are Forever back in December 1971 ( I was 20 at the time ). Now you have to remember that Connery was away from Bond for 4 1/2 years. When the gunbarrel sequence came on the screen , there was THUNDEROUS applause from the audience. Then , when Connery appeared on the screen and said " My Name is Bond - James Bond ", the audience went nuts. They cheered and applauded like I never heard before. To this day , it`s still the loudest audience reaction I`ve ever heard watching a Bond movie in a theater. And yes , I`ve seen every Bond movie in the theater , most of them on opening day.
In fairness to this film much of the dialogue is actually quite well written and film-noir esque in places. But yeah, it has some awful campiness that really spoils it.
Hilarious review, guys! I don't necessarily disagree with anything you said, but I do feel the film has a certain charm to it that you failed to convey. You have to go into it knowing it's a comedy. Some of the dialogue is pure gold and the score is fantastic! I would argue that Connery is more engaged here than in YOLT. However, it does feel very cheap and tacky at times as you pointed out. I've always enjoyed it for what it is.
I know it's unpopular... But I absolutely LOVE Diamonds Are Forever!!!!!!
Big fan of DAF and the score is excellent!
I feel like the difference between this and other "bad" Bond movies is that DAF is actually trying to be the way that it is. And you're right, it's actually a pretty funny movie, and Connery looks like he's having a good time (which, by all accounts, he was).
I read somewhere that this film was on constant rotation in Howard Hughes personal theatre, at his Vegas hotel. No joke.
You probably will never see this comment but at 6:45 if a movie goer plopped down $10 dollars for watching a film, that would have been outrageous in 1971. A movie then would have cost $1.65 per person. Which shows how old I am.
What, no mention of Never Say Never Again?
Neither should you
Unofficial Bond film.
i'm surprised that you didn't mention connery's actual last bond film 'never say never again'...whether you liked it or not, that was his last bond film, not diamonds...
To me the film the rock is the last Connery bond film
It’s literally just a knockoff that wasn’t even produced by Eon. It’s not a real Bond movie.
I think this movie is is my bottom five.
This always felt like a Pink Panther movie without Inspector Closeau to me.
It is very much a parody. I mean look at the poster. But a good one, it's fun and silly.
Half of it was like a version of colombo
Perfect comparison!
Well the Shirley Bassey theme song , Diamonds are Forever, was good. The rest was pretty much inspiration for Austin Powers.
The drag and double making sounds like something Dr. Evil would do.
Connery's voice is different here than it was in Dr No through to YOLT and sounds more Scottish. Best Bond movie of them all is OHMSS. Crying shame Lazenby burnt his bridges.
I noticed that too! I always wondered why that was.
Shame that Lazenby messed up that's true.
It was the worst! The story was weak and silly! Sean was clearly uninspired and just not interested! He was just 41 and yet he looked out of shape, fat and old! May be even older than Daniel in his 50s in NTTD! Sigh! Sean should've acted in OHMSS and bow out. It would have been his career best in the Bond series......
Really wish Connery kept You Only Live Twice as his swan song. This film felt like Joe Montana playing for the Chiefs.
Dang, at least he went to the AFC championship game with the Chiefs.
Actually for me, Diamonds Are Forever is the worst movie of the whole series!!
I think ohmss was the worst
Spectre is the worst for me
Die Another Day for me
He’s 41 and looks 55 in it
Die another Day for me but this comes a close second
The "I gotta brudda" character is Sid Haig!!! He manages to make such an impression with just that one line and what, two others scenes without lines.
You both disliking DAF - I think how little you would like it if it had someone else as Bond (such as John Gavin). Connery gives a more enthusiastic performance here than in YOLT.
4:10 a kind way of saying he'd let himself go. He should have been told "if you want the money get down to the gym".
I like this film
The only good thing about this film is John Barry's great score!
And Shirley Bassey's return to the franchise. Agree with you about Barry's music. it's one of his best in the series.
@@CaminoAir It wasn't his best though.
I love listening the soundtrack album on its own. I think the music is among the best of the series.
@@CaminoAir no.
@@thefoxcritic1 Barry's score here sounds more consistently fitting than some of his other Bond scores, which sound either like overuse of a main theme, or a patchwork of different tones. Not Barry's fault in some Bond movies.
It's his second worst. His avbsoluse worst is Never Say Never Again.
Very good, honest, review. You are hard core Bond fans and know your stuff. It is the worst of the Connery movies. I think it was Connery himself who changed to tone more to make it a bit more campy than his earlier movies. He said it in an interview in 1986 I think. Because he had power, people listened to him and I think he ruined it. I still say the line "It's a small world" to this day! One of the best attempts to kill Bond was to cremate him in a coffin. I always remember that from when I was a kid. I grew up with Roger Moore so when I saw the earlier Connery movies they weren't my favourite as a child but when I got older I could appreciate the brilliance of From Russia with Love. This was a bad movie. Connery is by far the best Bond but for this one he was just in it for the money!
The elevator fight is the best of the entire franchise.
Oh, come on. I actually agree with you-it was a really good fight, but not better than the fight on the train in FRWL. Nohow.
"you speak English. I speak English!"
"Who is your floor ?".
"Small world".
Joe nails it - Diamonds falls so heavily because it follows Majesty’s, like a comic strip after poetry.
i agreed on the Tiffany character.
i was surprised t osee how cool and feisty..she is in the first half of the movie..cos all i remember about her from the first time i watched this movie long long long time ago is her being one of the biggest bond bimbos.
I think it also suffered from being mostly filmed in America, so it didnt have that British/ international feel like a proper Bond film should have. Connery didnt look as bad as I remembered, but I felt the clothes were dated, rather than timeless like the early Bond films. I also think the plot was muddy and this was the beginning of the campiness that continued with Roger Moore, until For Your Eyes Only came along as kind of a return to form. This still had some good moments, good lines, and I do think Connery's worst is probably still better than some other's typical films. I actually liked Connery better on Never Say Never Again, which was years later. By then I think he took on the role with renewed interest.
The producers wanted an Americanized Bond film because OHMSS did poorly in the domestic market.
@@ricardocantoral7672interesting, especially with OHMSS being the superior film. The producers do seem to often be guilty of trying too hard, trying to catch trends, stay with the times, etc. , instead of getting back to the basics and simply having a great story. Sometimes they get it right, like with Casino Royale.
I like how Connery didn't even shave his back hair for this one. He was really in not-give-a-fuck mode. As much as I enjoyed this one, this should have been Roger's first.
Yeah he gets like that when film is boring for him
Sean Connery will always be THE best Bond to me, but Diamonds is easily one of the all-time WORST James Bond movies. I tried, and always failed, to appreciate this movie. It's just a dud on so many levels. Every element of this film is sub-par (weak villains, dated costumes, campy characters and settings, lack-luster settings and sets, boring finale, easily John Barry's worst score, cheesy tacky style, terribly bad special effects, total lack of suspense, convoluted plot, laughably stupid moon-buggy chase, etc.). At least Moonraker, for all it's faults, has the wonderful sets by Ken Adam and a brilliant score by John Barry. And with Moonraker, the camp kind of works, (Moonraker doesn't feel cheap by comparison), whereas Diamonds just feels sleazy like a B-rated movie with a low budget. Bond films, like Bond's tastes, should never feel cheap and Diamonds lacks class. Diamonds just stinks, face it. Diamonds comes close to ranking at the very bottom of all Bond films for me.
I think it's a load of rubbish, sadly. I feel Connery was a financial mercenary by this point and this was a form of revenge on the producers - he was having fun as he had got his own way, and unfortunately he lacked the artistic credentials to either realize he was taking part in something that wasn't very good, or just didn't really care as long as he was being paid a fortune and got the contractual concessions he was looking for, or maybe he just enjoyed the shoot as a fun experience. Either way, it's just pants, and I think Connery is the quintessential Bond.
100% agree. I’ve tried to watch this flick several times and I was only recently able to finish it. I usually love Bond films even if they don’t hold together, but this one I actively dislike.
When I was 10, my parents wouldn't let me go to OHMSS with my friends. (Sad Face) My first Bond film--in the theater in those days (for $2.50, not $10.00)--was Diamonds. I was probably 12-13, maybe just entering adolescence, and I was amazed. The action, the women, the excitement, the women--it was incredible. It made me a Bond fanatic. I read all the books. I saw the movies at theaters that ran older films (including a triple-feature once), and had a man crush on Connery. I remember seeing the older Connery films and wondering what happened--he looked so fit and trim. Your criticisms are justified, but at the time, it was probably the best movie that I'd ever seen.
I really agree guys. Gone are the real graceful movements, his youthfulness and his thin profile. It's just not the same guy. Throw in the atrocious clothing styles of the 70's and the magic is gone. No one moved like Connery in his early films.
If I remember correctly, they got Connery back for about $1.5 million (most of which set up a film school in Scotland) and a three-picture deal with UA (only one movie of which, the disturbing drama "The Offense", was actually made).
1.25 million
I always found DAF really hard to sit through. The only good thing about it is the theme song IMO.
Great stuff guys! It is definitely Connery's worst Bond!
I have a question for both of you gentlemen "Does Connery regret not doing OHMSS?" I agree that this is his worse in all of his movies.
Connery would have ruined OHMSS. Even with Lazenby’ shortcomings OHMSS is desperately underrated and a refreshing break from Connery. He shouldn’t have come back for DAF.
@@jackdunkley1605 I agree with you Jack about the OHMSS being underrated, however based on stories from the filming of YOLT Connery wanted to dive into the character rather just the action adventure side. My question which has still not been asked (media) or answered by anyone (readings from published articles or video interviews) is would Connery have stayed to play Bond for a sixth time if the producers would have offered OHMSS.
@@jackdunkley1605 Connery would not have "ruined" OHMSS but he definitely would not have exhibited the vulnerability that Lazenby did.
@@dgomez007 Connery was Bond for everyone until the early 70s. Producers, although his relationships is very bad after ''Thunderball'', wanted him in ''Live and Let Die''. If he had played in O.H.M.S.S. he would had play in D.A.F. as a revenge film (now is a follow-up of ''You Only Live Twice''). His appearance and performance fits perfectly, after Tracy's death.
@@ricardocantoral7672 After watching Connery in The Offense, he could have easily played the emotional scenes. He was pissed off with greedy producers after YOLT.
No its not connerys worst. Never Say never is the worst.
Did you guys forget Never Say Never Again?
Not a proper Bond film
That Looney Toons joke with the scorpion was really funny 😆
The only thing DAF contributes to cinema is self-parody which eventually paved the way for Austin Powers. The film is bitterly disappointing for me, because this is the climax of the SPECTRE run. Really this should have been a revenge film with Bond allying with Marc Ange Draco to bring SPECTRE and Blofeld to their knees. It's a crying shame really because the early 70s did indeed usher in revenge pics. So this approach would not be out of step with cinematic trends at the time. DAF is a mostly stupid film that brings nothing to the franchise and certainly is a hollow ending to the SPECTRE continuity.
The 2 hitmen just revel in their campness. I'm guessing they enjoyed working on this.
Only my opinion. Connery's worst is Never say never it just lacks any sense of urgency or drama. Brosnan's is Die Another Day laughable surfing 🏄♂️ scene. Quantum of Solace for Craig. Licence to kill is Dalton's. Can't make my mind up about Roger Moore.
The " Yeah, I gotta brudda ..." guy, was played by the late , great Sid Haig
I thought never say never again was Connery last bond movie
Jay Original That was not official. It was a Thunderball remake.
@@donaldthesavage1288 oh I c .., but even it wasn't official but yet it was very bad
What r ur thoughts regarding this movie??
Jay Original Never say never again is definitely his worst one, but they didn’t include it because it wasn’t made by Eon productions.
Jay Original Goldfinger was his best IMO.
@@donaldthesavage1288 yes it was good but I'm a little inclined to Dr no
I like Diamonds are forever but mainly because of Tiffany Case and the joy of having Connery back. It isn't his best performance but he's better here than on his previous outing and the age thing jars less than late period Moore. Some of the side characters like Wint and Kidd are great, I like the sleaze and campiness of Vegas and I even don't mind Charles Grey as Blofeld
Diamonds is by no way the worst, thunderball is probably connerys worst cos its mediocre which is worse than being corny cos at least corny is memorable, also lazenby didnt come back cos his stupid agent told him not to it had little to do with the producers, they were offering him big money to return which had he done so diamonds wouldve been a revenge film after traceys death.
This film is at least fun. I think it has elements that work really well for me, and it taps into the enjoyable campy spy stuff that Moore would later perfect.
Bernard Lee is slightly only slightly above Judi dench in my books
I believe the number song in January 1971 was Bloodrock's D.O.A.,
Unlike the earlier Bond movies, this one and along with You Only Live Twice, were a massive departure from the novels, and I mean a massive departure. The original movies had some elements of the novels, On Her Majesty's Secret Service being the closest and probably Dr No being second closest, but seriously this is nothing like Fleming had written.
Yeah that’s probably why I’m not looking forward to watching the roger Moore films; specifically Moonraker
I think it is a disaster of a film. The tone is so wayward and Connery just phones in his performance
I agree with Carl Wilson. There is a lot of great humour in Diamonds are Forever. Quite sly and subversive humour. Yes Connery is out of shape but he looks like he is enjoying himself. He seems engaged in the role. He certainly didn't look like he was enjoying himself in You Only Live Twice or Thunderball. Having Bond in Las Vegas was fun. Was it his worst film? Like Carl Wilson I think Thunderball is his worst film. If I had to rank his films it would go Goldfinger, From Russia With Love, Dr No, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever and then Thunderball. And then there is Never Say Never Again....... :-) Great video guys. Always enjoy them. Keep them up.
I feel like this movie had so much potential and would have been an awesome revenge movie after OHMSS but yeah, it’s just so not good.
You are right. I would have liked to seen it as a revenge film like you said.
I enjoy watching this movie today because of the cars and the time period when it was produced. Jimmy Dean after Burt Saxby shoots at him "Tell him he's fired!"
Just watched 💎s a couple weeks ago. I still really enjoy it.
I think his body, as visible during the scene with Tiffany before bed, also points out that he didn't care for the movie. His body looks phenomenally better in Never Say Never Again, 12 years later.
That's because he saw Never Say Never Again as a payback against producers.
At 52 he was in way better shape than at 40 in Diamonds.
I'd probably rather watch this than Thunderball.
It wasn't so much just his age, but the 60s Connery Bond looked really out of place in the 70s. YOLT should have been his swansong, as I actually really enjoyed it next to FRWL as his best two in my opinion. John Barry's score in YOLT was his best of the time!
You's should do a review on Never Say Never Again!
Well, that was the first Bond I saw. I was 9 years old that time... So , until today is one of my favorites, by I really now , that is far from the best ones.
I simply love and adore this movie! One of my favorites! I will pop this in all the time..... So much more often than Goldfinger.
Okay, I admit to being completely mystified by the omissions -- both in Joe & Dave's otherwise excellent commentary and in the comments below -- of two indisputably effective scenes in DAF. No matter how much one dislikes the film as a whole, why is there zero mention of Bond's near cremation which, for one blessed moment, feels as though he is truly in real danger, and, most especially, the brilliantly choreographed and exhilaratingly brutal elevator fight, clearly one of the standout punch-ups in the whole series? Truly, why were those very effective scenes not even alluded to? I'll never forget the impact of that lift fight upon seeing the film on it's original release at Grauman's Chinese in Hollywood and hearing the cheers & applause of the audience at its conclusion. This, for me, was in the same distinguished company as the train fight in FRWL, Bond and Oddjob in Fort Knox, the pre-credits fight in Thunderball, the Osato Chemical fight in YOLT, and the terrific ones in OHMSS. Yes, there've been other excellent ones since -- most notably in TLD (the cargo-net sequence), Goldeneye (Bond & Trevelyan), Casino (the men's room flashback, the truck fight, and especially the unforgettably brutal stairwell fight), and, most recently, the terrific train fight in Spectre. But, of all the punch-ups in the Connery/Lazenby era, I can't see how anyone would not find that elevator brawl to be one of the few highlights in an admittedly flawed and very uneven film.
Howard Weber says > Hi Paul , I just wanted to say that I`m a huge fan of your mother. She was a under rated actress. I met you twice when I lived in Los Angeles. Once on a bus and then at The Living Daylights screening at the Village theater in Westwood. I really miss Stans Donuts. I went there every Saturday for almost 30 years.
No " never say never again" was the worst and it hurts me to say it
Cause I love Connery!
At first I thought David put on his campiness but watching more of these brilliant shows it's just his enthusiasm mixed with excitement that shows ,well done David on re-creating a bond like life
The first time I saw this was when I was 11. I'm a lifelong Bond fan, but if there is one thing I regret about the Bond movies, it's seeing Sean Connery in Diamonds Are Forever practically naked at the age of 11.
😂 Hmmmm charming...(he aged so much in a few years!)
It's not all Connery's fault. I think the story was the albatross. I think everyone is right, though about how Connery didn't care that much about giving his all.
Honestly, this is my favorite Connery Bond film. its not the best, but its my favorite. I just love the setting, Las Vegas is a place I feel James Bond thrives in and should definitely go back to in the future. Mr Wint and Mr Kidd are two amazing villains with great death scenes, the action in the movie is solid, the theme song is amazing, the humor is hilarious, the one liners are witty, the special effects are very good and the set pieces are memorable. love the gags, love the style and love Connery.
Who hurt you?! 😆😆
As a Bond fan this film hurts to watch, it is actually quite depressing to see just how much Connery had given up. What a cheap looking, ugly and utterly pointless production.
Special note to the amazing score and the elevator fight which stop this from being a 0/10.
''Diamonds Are Forever'' is a sequel of ''You Only Live Twice''. In the first scene after gunbarrel, Bond is still in Japan looking for Blofeld, only as the head of a global criminal organization. There is no reference to Tracy and there is no Draco and Irma Bunt. Connery here had given up, is aged and overweight, but if was a revenge film is perfect, as Bond after Tracy's death. The film has similar style with ''Live and Let die'' and ''The Man with the Golden Gun''.
6:41 that is absolutely spot on. I saw On Her Majesty's Secret Service and then Diamonds are Forever. It is so weird that Diamonds are Forever do not make any reference to On Her Majesty's. On Her Majestys had a huge emotional impact and amazing. Of course George Lazenby did annoy producers a lot but movie afterwards should have made a reference to it like it did in the Ian Fleming's novel You Only Live Twice. Hell they could even put this tragedy on the sidelines like in the book. I enjoyed Diamonds a lot a while ago.
Producers ignored On Her Majesty's Secret Service, as in On Her Majesty's, ignored Bond and Blofeld meeting in You Only Live Twice.
The story goes they offered Lazenby big money to return for diamonds and it was only his agent that stopped it by telling Lazenby spy films would be passe soon since there was a new decade coming however had Lazenby returned it would've been a proper sequel to ohmss and seen bond getting revenge on Blofeld for Tracey's death, mind you the opening sequence is about bond seeking out Blofeld to kill him so it does kinda continue through even if Tracey isn't mentioned.
Hilarious! Loved this!
I like this movie, Wint and Kidd absolutely stole the show here. If not for them, this would be very bottom material.
But honestly, Thunderball, imo, is Connery's weakest. It's just so vanilla.
If Craig had retired after Spectre, this last movie theory would be airtight!!
Craig should have left after Skyfall.
Disagree - QOS is his worst.
Yes this was the worst James Bond film by Sean Connery. That's saying a lot because he didn't have a bad one till now. The clothes were awful because the 70's was the land that style forgot. But the absolute worst was the way they treated Blofeld. Blofeld's character was weird, goofy and his demise at the end was something only worthy of Austin Powers' Dr. Evil. Plus, Blofeld is in DRAG! For god sake! Blofeld played who was played so elegantly by Telly Savals and so creepily by Donald Pleasance is in drag in this one! I know he's a villain but could they have given him a little more dignity. And the end scene when the oil rig is exploding and he's trapped in the escape pod should have had Benny Hill chase music over it to make it less comedic. Oh what would On her Majesty's Secret Service been like if Connery said yes?
With Connery O.H.M.S.S. would not have this romanticism, with relationship Bond and Tracy like him and Bardot in ''Shalako''. Would be more successful, but down from "You Only Live Twice".
James Bond's attire in this film hasn't aged well as fashion, but it's also inappropriate in some scenes. I remember in a Las Vegas portion he was wearing some jacket or suit that looked as though it belonged more in a British winter. And I'm sure Bond wore a black dinner suit/tux (with a red lining!) for no logical reason at all; breaking into a penthouse apartment from outside the building. I guess this might have been the key moment the dinner jacket became the James Bond Bat Suit.
Apparently, despite it being so popular just a few years earlier, no one wore black tie anymore in Vegas when this was shot. In a cut scene from the film, Sammy Davis Jr exclaimed upon seeing Bond in his white dinner jacket; "There isn't a wedding cake big enough for that guy!" Probably deleted because it illustrated how out of place Bond's get up was now.
@thebondexperience @beingjamesbond-Joe Darlington
They wanted sean Connery back because they felt on her majesty was not good they wrong in so many ways they did this movie in this way because of on her majesty. This movie was done as part of a way to look at james bond in different way. For the 1970s
Being Older, I'm 70 now, "There can only be One!" and that was Sean Connery. I loved that they did it in LV, old Downtown where you can see the Plaza that was still under construction at the end of Fremont St. Circus Circus when they used to have all that they showed in the flick and the Howard Hughes tie in with Jimmy Dean. The outside high wire act was the old Hilton/International where Elvis lived for some time. When Roger Moore came along I didn't care for him at all. To me he was just too Prissy. Then the other Hollywood guys came in and I didn't care for them either. I saw the 1st two with Craig and when they cashed in on the Poker Craze at that time in Casino Royale I was Done with the franchise. I just have the films with Connery in my library.
Just finding this again tonight, and really enjoying it. Somehow, I feel like Connery's 007 was present for two accidental B-movies; the first is Dr. No, which is amazing, and gritty, but feels like a '50's B-movie, and this, which is also enjoyable, but feels super-cheap, and a lot worse. I think his performance in Diamonds is very charming, and much more invested than anything past-Goldfinger, so, I would recommend it! However, it's stuck in that early-70's, discount-bin of ,"The Man with the Golden Gun", etc. The Bond films just didn't feel as grand in this era. The early '70's is also my very favorite period for movies, but definitely not so for James Bond; sorry 007!
I place 'Diamonds' at #3, after 'Thunderball' and 'You Only Live Twice'. The only flaw I find in it is the fire part and the silly Mustang scene. 'Never Say Never Again' would be his worst Bond for me, as it is a complete waste of effort rehashing the great Thunderball.
HOWARD W. says > You can say what you want about DIAMONDS are FOREVER. All I know is that I saw it opening day back in Dec. 1971 ( I was 20 ) and it had the best audience reaction for a Bond film I`ve ever seen to this day. Goldfinger also had great audience reaction.
For me, Connery's worst is You Only Live Twice. His performance is lacklustre, the script is flat and the film in general lacks ooomph (apart from the Gyrocopter scene and the Volcano finale, which are utterly brilliant). In Diamonds Are Forever, Connery looks interested again, he has an edge again and the script sparkles with wit. Ok, he's unashamedly middle-aged and paunchy and the film descends into ludicrous "camp" in the last 45 minutes. However, Connery bosses the screen and the brawl to the death with Peter Franks in the lift is as good as any brawl to the death in the Bond cannon. Not Connery's best film but certainly no stinker for me.
I rank this second from the bottom in my list of Bond films. It's a terrible film in so many ways. Cringe-inducing in far too many ways I can't enumerate.
Everyone: "You can't make a worse Connery Bond film than Diamonds are Forever." Kevin McClory: "Hold my beer...."
Connery is better in the previous films. Especially in first four, where everything is like a big family. After ''Thunderball'' his relatioships with producers go from bad to worst. But if D.A.F. was a revenge film and not a follow-up of ''You Only Live Twice'', his appearance and performance would fit, as Bond after Tracy's death.
1971 Let me give you a bit of cultural background. I lived as
an adult in the 70’s. Society was collapsing. You young guys can’t know how
things went south, and very deeply. Riots, killings, bombings, some by the state
were a common almost everyday occurrence. In 68 the US had 16,000+ Vietnam casualties,
and 19,000 more by the end of 1971. Drug use soared, Belushi died from it. It was
the golden age of drugs. Protests. The establishment was breaking up, the public in a state of perpetual shock. DAF reflects the chaos and loss of direction. It could summed up with this. Mike Douglas hosted a popular national afternoon variety show in the US. Reminiscing in the late 80’s, he said the during the entire
70’s run of the show, in the live audience, no one ever laughed.
Thank you, Sir
I don't get the story. Sorry.
Diamonds Are Forever is actually my wife's favorite Connery Bond film. And while it's not my favorite I've always been able to enjoy it mainly because I don't take it too seriously and can just laugh at the silly aspects of it.
The most fun Bond movie ever.Saw it in theatre in 1971. Connery deserved to take a break from his character in this film.Roger Moore looked worse in A View to a Kill.
Connery's hair was so bad
You're way too hard on this film, it's definitely not his best, but its got a lot to like in it. The score, Charles Gray, Wintt and Kidd, some good fights, a witty script, Tiffany Case, Plenty O Toole and its just an all-round weird Bond film (fake moon landing? Howard Hughes??) And................its based on one of Fleming's worst Bond novels.
I think Hughes loved the idea of his "film counterpart" having a formidable presence within the US Government.
One of the worst Bond movies made overall, not just Connery's worst. The franchise was very fortunate to have survived the debacle. Mike Myers (aka Austin Powers) got most of his comedy material from this campy dead ender.
Agree with most of your comments, Diamonds is a poor Bond movie, probably in the bottom five. Feel bad for Jill St John because, as you said, her character starts out strong and then the script writers cheat her character of any substance. Bad villain, bad henchman, bad script, poor cinematography, one of the poorer looking Bonds, and a tired lead actor. I would argue Jill St Johm is the best thing in the film.
It is underrated IMO. Has a certain something to it. Can't put my finger to it. And Connery looked different because they did trim his eyebrows
Zaritsky's Tiffany impersonation. 😆
I watched this last night (working my way through all of them) and it’s as if Connery was acting out of spite against producers who were acting out of spite to see who could make a worse film. It’s almost surprising that it didn’t kill off the franchise at times.
One could argue that Spectre is worse than no time to die, but no time to die is probably less a Bond movie with more emphasis on the female character.