Diamonds Are Forever

Not one of my favourite Bond films by a country mile but still so much fun. The recent complete-James-Bond-on-blu boxed set that was released has been my ONLY time seeing Sean Connery's last 'official' outing as 007 not edited for television and full screen, so it's basically my first-time REALLY seeing it. Decent. Even at his worst, horribly toupeed, and albatrossed with a script that's simply OUCH, it still oozes and smashes from the fact Connery's still the best Bond ever.

_**The series gets silly as James Bond goes to Las Vegas**_ Agent 007 (Sean Connery) is sent to Las Vegas to uncover a smuggling ring and suspects Blofeld (Charles Gray) is masterminding the nefarious operation; meanwhile a gay duo of assassins threatens the investigation. Jill St. John plays a smuggling contact while Lana Wood is on hand as a casino opportunist. "Diamonds are Forever" (1971) marks Connery’s return to the series after four years absence and missing out on the previous movie featuring George Lazenby. This one’s entertaining throughout, but it introduced a silly, cartoonish element more glaring than anything up to this point. Then there’s the fact that the storyline is almost impossible to follow unlike the previous installments which were easy to grasp, like “Dr. No,” “Goldfinger,” “Thunderball” and “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” You just have to kick back and enjoy the madness of it all. Beautiful Lana Wood stands out on the female front, but her role is too brief (her apparel too, lol). Meanwhile Jill St. John is lots of fun, not to mention alluring. Needless to say, Vegas makes for a great setting for a James Bond flick. There are neon lights, highrise hotels, casinos, swimming pools, deserts, circuses, showgirls, tourists and thrills galore. The film runs 2 hours and was shot in Las Vegas & the Nevada desert; Netherlands; Pinewood Studios near London; Palm Springs, Ca (Willard Whyte's Desert House); French Riviera, France (pre-credits sequence); and the Pacific Ocean. GRADE: B-

MOST of the bad reviews on a lot of the Connery era 007 movies are... political. They don't like classic 60s 007 because of contemporary Woke six decades later politics. But.... this one just sucks. And, keep in mind, I say this with Connery being my favorite 007 and 4 out of his 5 (6 should NOT be counted) outings are my favorite 007 films. However, this is Connery playing a goofy Roger Moore era 007 and that doesn't work. This is Connery in a film that had all the coming Moore tropes. And that doesn't work. Had Diamonds are Forever been a Roger Moore 007, it wouldn't have been that bad. This was Moore's Bond film... only it had Connery in it, so it just didn't work.