Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Guy Hamilton

Writers:

Richard Maibaum (screenplay) and
Tom Mankiewicz (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 December 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

"Diamonds Are Forever"...forever...forever...forever...

Plot:

A diamond smuggling investigation leads James Bond to Las Vegas, where he uncovers an extortion plot headed by his nemesis, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

Plot Keywords:

Diamond | Smuggling | James Bond | British | Casino Owner

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Sean Connery	...	James Bond
Jill St. John	...	Tiffany Case
Charles Gray	...	Blofeld
Lana Wood	...	Plenty O'Toole
Jimmy Dean	...	Willard Whyte
Bruce Cabot	...	Saxby
Putter Smith	...	Mr. Kidd
Bruce Glover	...	Mr. Wint
Norman Burton	...	Leiter
Joseph Fürst	...	Dr. Metz (as Joseph Furst)
Bernard Lee	...	'M'
Desmond Llewelyn	...	'Q'
Leonard Barr	...	Shady Tree
Lois Maxwell	...	Moneypenny
Margaret Lacey	...	Mrs. Whistler

Also Known As:

Ian Fleming's Diamonds Are Forever (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | West Germany:16 (nf) | South Korea:15 | Brazil:12 | New Zealand:PG | UK:PG (tv rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1971) | Peru:14 | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (video rating) (1987) | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG (re-rating) (1994) | UK:A (original rating) (passed with cuts)

Filming Locations:

3rd Floor, Reguliersgracht 36, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Company:

Eon Productions

Trivia:

Bond's escape through a moon landing "movie set" refers to the popular conspiracy theory of the time that the real moon landings were faked. The scene is filmed in a Johns-Manville gypsum plant located just outside of Las Vegas. During filming the wheels kept falling off. In one scene where a car turns over you can see one of the wheels that had broken off the buggy rolling in the foreground. In 2004, Sean Connery bought the moon buggy for approximately $54,000.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Bond is fighting the real Peter Franks in the elevator, Franks drops the glass shard before his wrist gets hit for the second time (the one that supposedly makes him drop the shard).

Quotes:

[first lines]
James Bond: [tossing chinese man around] Where is he? I shan't ask you politely next time. Where is Blofeld?
Chinese Man: Ca-Ca-Cairo.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: John Turturro/Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (#20.6)" (1994)

Soundtrack:

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

Unbelievably lousy

I'm an old man of 58 who saw this when it first came out. I think I remember thinking it was OK. I watched it and other Bond film again because I could see them in HD. I'm sort of amazed at how weak and lazy this film was, just a fraction of the creativity of the first four Bond films (Dr. No, Goldfinger, From Russia With Love and Thunderball). When I say "fraction," I mean about a tenth as good. In those earlier films, you could have some success jumping into fantasy land and imagining being part of the action and suspense, so to speak. In this film, you'd fall asleep even trying! Connery had gain so much weight and looked so old that he is unbelievable as a carrier of "00" designation.

All I can say is, gee, I wish I could have make as much money in my life as Connery did here and give almost nothing to customer to earn it.

Finally, I liked seeing Jill St. John in high def, actually my main reason to watch this. She is extremely attractive here. She's about 68 years now. I wonder if she is still a "10" for that age category.