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7
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10 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Troy
Howarth |
James
Bond, secret agent extraordinaire, is called in
to investigate a diamond smuggling operation and
uncovers a far more sinister plot involving his
arch-nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Bent, again,
on world domination, Blofeld has developed a laser
satellite with devastating potential...
By 1967, with the release of
You Only Live Twice, Sean
Connery had grown thoroughly disenchanted with
his star-making role of James Bond, secret agent
007. Vowing to abandon the series, frantic producers
considered a number of replacements (including
notorious British hellraiser Oliver Reed) before
settling on an Australian model with no acting
experience, George Lazenby. The resulting film,
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
(1969), is controversial to this day. Some (like
myself) regard it as a work of art in the Bond
franchise, while others refuse to accept it or
its star. Contrary to popular belief, the film
did not bomb at the box-office and Lazenby
was offered a chance to continue with the
series. On the advice of his agent, who felt the
series was doomed to crash and burn without Connery,
Lazenby stepped away from the role and into relative
obscurity. A shame, really, as he was superb as
Bond and actually did a better job in his debut
performance in the role than Connery did in his
first crack, Dr. No (1962).
With Lazenby AWOL, producers
Harry Saltzman and Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli
courted Hollywood vet John Gavin (the bland "hero"
of 1960's Psycho)
but ended up going back to Connery with an offer
too good to refuse —
translation: lots of cash.
Connery's return to the series
is a peculiar film closer in spirit to the nauseating
Austin Powers parodies than any other Bond film.
Perhaps because of the initial desire to sign
Gavin, it's also a somewhat 'Americanized' film
with U.S. locales and a goofier flavor than the
comparatively reserved British-lensed entries.
Diamonds Are Forever
continues to split the 007 fanbase, but it's a
lot of fun if approached in the right frame of
mind.
The comic tone is neatly established
in the opening montage of an enraged 007 smacking
around a number of contacts (including the obligatory
leggy brunette in a skimpy bathing suit... do
you hear ME complaining?) as he attempts to find
Blofeld's hiding place. The camp tone also extends
to Blofeld himself, previously incarnated by Donald
Pleasence and Telly Savalas. While Pleasence's
take is best remembered because of his distinctive
chrome-dome, scar-faced look, the gifted thespian
didn't get much to do in the role and was in fact
a last minute replacement for a German actor who
fell ill during the shooting. Savalas, in OHMSS,
is more formidable and up to the physical challenges
the screenwriters invented for him; all told,
he's perhaps the best of the big screen Blofelds.
Here we have effete Charles Gray, marvelously
bitchy as always but seldom posing a real threat.
The height of camp comes when
Blofeld disguises himself in drag —
it's am amusing scene that Gray clearly relishes,
but tips his character so far into caricature
that it's impossible to take him seriously. Speaking
of impossible to take seriously, we have Blofeld's
homosexual henchmen Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd. Wint,
played to prancing perfection by Bruce Glover
(father of Crispin), and Kidd, a lesser performance
from musician Putter Smith, are introduced disposing
of a contact in the desert... only to skip off
together hand-in-hand into the sunset! None too
politically correct, perhaps, but I must confess
to finding them a funny pair —
impossible to take seriously, again, and thus
impossible to find offensive.
No Bond film is complete without
sexy girls, and Diamonds
certainly has its share of eye candy in the form
of Jill St. John and Lana Wood. St. John is one
of the first Bond women to really qualify as an
active protagonist —
sassy, tough and determined, but still in need
to being rescued from time to time, she hardly
qualifies as mere window dressing. Wood is sexier
still in her small role as the unforgettably titled
Plenty O'Toole. ("But of course you are.")
As for 007, Connery plays the role with wit and
vigor, making a better impression than in his
somewhat ill-tempered turn in You
Only Live Twice. He returned to the part
only one more time, in the shootoff entry Never
Say Never Again, by which time the magic
was gone —
he should have heeded the title and passed on
the script, an anemic reworking of the terrific
Thunderball (1965).
One wonders what the film would
have been like had Lazenby taken the role... I
would assume it would have dealt with the climactic
loss 007 suffered at the end of OHMSS
and, as such, would have been a leaner, meaner
revenge story. Like it or not, we get camp instead
—
and it's a lot of fun on that level. Director
Guy Hamilton (Goldfinger,
The Man With
The Golden Gun) keeps things moving at a nice
clip, and the film looks and sounds terrific thanks
to ace work from cinematographer Ted Moore, production
designer Ken Adam (Blofeld's penthouse lair is
a particular marvel) and composer John Barry.
The title song, performed by Shirley Bassey, is
a series highlight.
Where the film fails, and really
shows its age, is in the pathetic special effects
work of the finale. In short, the entire climax
aboard Blofeld's oil drilling platform is botched
in execution, a mishmash of footage and laughable
effects (poor optical work depicting the results
of Blofeld's laser satellite would not be out
of place in one of Christopher Lee's Fu Manchu
adventures!) that detracts considerably from the
final result.
Not one of the key entries
in the series, perhaps, but good for a few laughs
and preferable to Roger Moore's first two Bond
adventures.
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MGM's
collection of James Bond films on DVD is a marvel
of the medium. In addition to properly formatted
widescreen prints, the entire collection is graced
with copious extras that should keep 007-philes
happy. Diamonds Are Forever,
which always looked rather tatty in fullscreen TV
prints, is restored to its 2.35:1 splendor — print
damage is virtually non-existent (various scenes
exhibit some dirt, though). Colors are vivid and
consistent throughout. The original mono mix has
been maintained and no 5.1 remix has been attempted,
appropriate for a film that's very much of its time.
Extras include an informative making-of booklet,
audio commentary with director Guy Hamilton, a featurette
(Inside Diamonds Are Forever) that includes
some alternate footage from the film, cut scenes,
trailers, TV and radio spots and a documentary on
co-producer Broccoli, Cubby Broccoli: The Man
Behind Bond.
The featurettes,
hosted by Patrick Macnee, contain a wealth of information
that ranges from technical aspects (neat trivia
on how a key stunt had to be rescued in the editing,
for example) to the casting and genesis of the film
along with various recollections from cast and crew;
Connery, who appears content to distance himself
from the franchise, appears via only some on-set
interview clips. Hamilton's commentary is a trifle
dry but contains some valuable nuggets, and comments
from collaborators like screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz,
for example, tend to be repeated from the documentary.
Simply
put: if you like your martinis shaken not stirred,
this is a good disc for you.
12/14/03 |
| UPDATE
OOP for a couple of years, Diamonds
Are Forever was reissued in November 2006
by MGM. This completely remastered 2-disc edition
— with new, additional extras — is a part of The
James Bond Ultimate Collection Vol. 1, which
also contains four other 007 films. |
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