r/70smovies

" I can't believe it's not butter"

As long time follower of the series I'm just glad Connery is back in "Diamonds are Forever" after a one movie hiatus. Sadly this was his last official Eon Productions film as Bond. Though he came back in "Never say Never Again" in the 83 in a independent non-Eon Bond movie. This is probably the weakest entry of the Sean Connery lead Bond series IMO. Much more tackle.

May contains spoilers below.

Well aside from its budget, I was thinking why these producers can't take it up a notch when it comes to the film's budget. I mean it's the one of the biggest if not the biggest franchises ever. You know fans wanted more from Ian Fleming's spy thriller and it's always jam packed in theaters. I mean those cheap explosions from Helis to submarines to the nuclear silos, and it feels like everything is rushed. Maybe the pacing, like for example when Bond was just talking to Mr. Whyte about Blofeld's plans, then the next scene, he was already on that plane invading Blofeld's oilrig. I'm not sure if it is badly edited or what, but compared to the previous entries, I thought those films are very well constructed chapter per chapter. Ok I get it they're trying to fit it into the whole 2 hours, but they should get rid of some convoluted scenes instead of those important ones that connects to the more important scenes if that makes sense.

The Bond girl in this film, well she's beautiful as Tiffany Case (Jill st. John) but she's probably the weakest Bond girl compared to the previous ones IMO. Again they change the casting for the main villain Blofeld. Charles Gray as Blofeld I thought, he did a very magnificent job. The thing is they changed the actor for like 3 times already at this point. As for Connery as James Bond, he did alright he's still the right man for the job when it comes to this role. Oh there are two new villains here Mr Kidd and Mr Wint. Well, they are subpar when it terms to Bond villians more like over the top characters.

I do have my favorite parts in this movie. The car chase scenes in Vegas where Bond and Ms. Case in a Ford Mustang chased by a group of police cars. I thought that was badass. Fun fact, the stunt man who did the jump from the parking lot over the parked cars was Bill Hickman, the same stunt driver who drove the Charger in Bullitt and the Pontiac in The French Connection. The close encounter fight scene at the elevator against Peter Frank, reminds me of that train fight scene in "From Russia with Love" that is really well choreographed! And the music, the song Diamonds are Forever. I mean you can't go wrong when Shirley Bassey performed a James Bond intro. From Goldfinger to DAF, one of the most powerful, dynamic voices you'll ever hear.

Despite its flaws, it is still one of the most successful Bond films ever. From a budget of 7.2m and it generates 116m, I mean how big is that in the 70s. If adjusted for inflation, it is still in the top 10 highest gross Bond films of all time.

god speed to Mary-Louise Weller, aka "mandy pepperidge" from "animal house". she was 80 years old.

Bronson film number 4 for me. This was a good one! Didn’t expect to see a young Robert Duvall and a young Randy Quaid.

Watched Lady Snowblood tonight, starring Meiko Kashi and directed by Toshiya Fujima.

I did not know this was the movie that inspired Kill Bill, until I started watching.

I liked this a lot. Quentin Tarantino obviously did too.