My Movie Review on Diamonds Are Forever · 8:13pm Nov 24th, 2021
Greetings and salutations, my friends.
This is your top-of-the-line film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, for the 5th installment of this year's "Thanksgiving Treat", and for my 6th analysis on a member of the James Bond franchise, I'm gonna give you guys my take of Sean Connery's 6th outing as the title character: "Diamonds Are Forever".
Here's the rundown of it:
In the wake of killing his arch-nemesis, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, James Bond is assigned with investigating a diamond smuggling operation. To crack the case, he goes under the guise of a professional smuggler and assassin named Peter Franks to infiltrate the smuggling ring and get close to a smuggler named Tiffany Case.
However, when members of the smuggling ring are mysteriously murdered, Bond discovers that a greater scheme is afoot and that a larger dark power is after the diamonds.
I can hardly believe that it's now been over a year since Sean Connery passed away. Time has slipped by so fast that it almost feels like Father Time himself is purposefully shortening our days, weeks, months, and years. In spite of this, my goal to review every James Bond movie starring Connery as 007 himself hasn't stopped, and I'm deeply honored to be doing so.
As with the previous 007 films I reviewed, "Diamonds Are Forever" is the one I chose to review next based on it being made after the others. I watched it on more than one occasion before, so I'm not a stranger to it by any means.
Having watched the film again not too long ago, I will admit that I didn't think it was perfect. The prime nitpick I personally noted was not just some of the cuss words, but that the outfits many of the female characters were wearing seemed to be a little too...exposing. In this case, there were many women wearing outfits that did little to conceal their breasts, which didn't sit well with me in the slightest.
Other than that, I really must say that this movie was as fun as I remembered it being!
For instance, the direction by Guy Hamilton, and the screenplay by Richard Maibaum and Tom Mankiewicz, were awesome!
Just like the other 007 movies I reviewed, "Diamonds Are Forever" had a gripping story capable of keeping an audience's interest 24/7, which was particularly thanks to Guy Hamilton's directing. Returning to the director's chair for the second time, Hamilton helmed the project with all the confidence he could muster, and it was clear that he wasn't wanting this movie to be a dull experience in the slightest. The action sequences may not have been the most lively, but they were still engaging and entertaining. Likewise, the overall mystery regarding the diamond smuggling kept my attention no matter what, particularly thanks to it turning out to be part of something bigger than expected. Plus, there were enough thrills, surprises, and suspenseful moments to help the film be unpredictable, and accompanying it all was a witty side that was genuinely amusing beyond compare. The dialogue the filmmakers incorporated was fun too.
Aside from the movie being a pleasant experience...I really can't lie that the film's title song is one of my all-time favorites in the James Bond franchise. The music that played during the song was mesmerizing, and the lyrics were enjoyable and managed to genuinely capture what someone's obsession for diamonds would look or feel like. With the song being Shirley Bassey's second contribution to the 007 franchise, I truly believe that "Diamonds Are Forever" is another one of Bassey's best works. She practically hit the nail on the head with her singing, and the best part is that she sounded incredibly passionate as she sang.
Finally, the acting, characters, and character development were fantastic.
As always, Sean Connery nailed it with portraying James Bond. I'm well aware that he only returned to the part for the money, of course. But, what astounded me the most about his performance was that he took on role with a sense of serenity and relaxation, which was most likely thanks to taking a break from the role in order to recuperate from the stress and anxiety the part may have previously caused him. He portrayed Bond with as much charm and wit as possible, and his presence helped the character be as enrapturing of a focus as ever. The character himself was as three-dimensional as he was in the previous movies.
The film's supporting cast and characters were fun as well.
In my opinion, Charles Gray did a much better job with portraying Blofeld than Donald Pleasance did in "You Only Live Twice". The witty side he incorporated was fun to watch, and in the process he still managed to help Blofeld come across as a formidable, cunning, and intimidating threat. And speaking honestly here, Blofeld was much more compelling as an antagonist compared to when he appeared in "You Only Live Twice", and he had a greater sense of development and personality.
Along with that, Bruce Glover and Putter Smith were amazing in the roles of Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd, and the characters themselves were instant showstoppers. The particularly things that helped Wint and Kidd standout were how Glover and Smith made their characters a balance of humorous and intimidating. And yes, I could definitely tell that Wint and Kidd were clearly a homosexual couple, but that actually added onto how despicable the two of them were as villains.
In conclusion, "Diamonds Are Forever" isn't a flawless member of the James Bond franchise. But, it's still a fun and worthwhile movie regardless. As the final Connery-007 film starring that was produced by Eon Productions, this movie now has the feel of a fitting goodbye between Connery and Eon Productions.
So, I rate "Diamonds Are Forever" 4½ out of 5 stars.
On a side note to this review...when I was researching "Diamonds Are Forever" in preparation for analyzing it, I discovered recently that the beginning of it took place not long after the ending of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", which starred George Lazenby in his only endeavor as James Bond.
Because of this, I was inspired to check out the aforementioned movie at some point in the future. After I do my analysis of "Never Say Never Again", of course.
Whilst, as you point out, not a flawless film, it serves as a fitting final canon outing for Sean Connery as Bond.