Diamonds Are Forever - Movie Review

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

While it's fun to wax nostalgic over Sean Connery's final appearance as James Bond (drawn out of retirement from the series for a presumably fat paycheck), it's still unfortunate that the film he appeared in is more than a little bit embarassing. Jill St. John is one of the least effective Bond girls: She's beautiful, but shrill and helpless (her scream of "Eeeeee!" during a fistfight in the film's final scene is one of Bond's noteworthy lowlights). The story is borderline moronic: Blofeld (now played by Charles Gray in his third incarnation) steals a load of diamonds in order to arm a laser-shooting satellite, to achieve, of course, world domination. How's that all work? No idea, and when we actually see his creation in orbit, it's laughable.

On the other hand, Connery is fine, as are some of the film's villains (hippie bodyguards named Bambi and Thumper), and the inimitable Mr. Kidd and Mr. Wint, who, while entertaining, certainly didn't do much for Hollywood's respectful treatment of homosexuals. The Las Vegas setting (for much of the film) is unfortunately and unintentionally cheesy, as well. It's fun at times but overall one of the most hopelessly dated 007 flicks ever.

Bond #7.

Facts and Figures

Year: 1971

Run time: 120 mins

In Theaters: Friday 17th December 1971

Box Office Worldwide: $116M

Budget: $7.2M

Distributed by: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Production compaines: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Eon Productions, Danjaq

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 2.5 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 66%
Fresh: 27 Rotten: 14

IMDB: 6.7 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director: Guy Hamilton

Producer: Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman

Screenwriter: Richard Maibaum, Tom Mankiewicz

Starring: Sean Connery as James Bond, Jill St. John as Tiffany Case, Charles Gray as Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Lana Wood as Plenty O'Toole, Jimmy Dean as Willard Whyte, Bruce Cabot as Albert R. Saxby, Putter Smith as Mr. Kidd, Bruce Glover as Mr. Wint, Norman Burton as Felix Leiter, Joseph Furst as Prof. Dr. Metz, Bernard Lee as M, Desmond Llewelyn as Q, Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny, Marc Lawrence as Slumber Inc. Attendant, Laurence Naismith as Sir Donald Munger, Leonard Barr as Shady Tree, Margaret Lacey as Mrs. Whistler, David de Keyser as Doctor, David Bauer as Mr. Slumber, Sid Haig as Slumber Inc. Attendant, Lola Larson as Bambi (uncredited), Trina Parks as Thumper (uncredited), Valerie Perrine as Shady Tree's Acorn (uncredited)

Also starring: Harry Saltzman, Richard Maibaum, Tom Mankiewicz