We get one last dance with Sean Connery today in
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, which finds Bond infiltrating an international diamond smuggling operation, which brings him face to face again with his chief nemesis Blofeld, who this time has a diamond-powered laser satellite with which to threaten the nations of the world.
Sean Connery has his last outing as Bond here, at the age of 41 (looking now like he's hit his 50s - I'm telling you, this man just has a +10 age handicap. Let's speak holistically here for a moment - Connery sets the tone for Bond, and he does it fantastically. He gets better with each of his first 5 movies, more comfortable and secure in the role, and brings what I can only term as an "effortless earthy suaveness" to the screen. He's great, from start to finish. With that said, he seems a little bored here - a little less engaged than those early films, but that doesn't diminish the joy I had watching him as he teaches us all about who James Bond is in the 1960s.
I think Diamonds Are Forever is my least favorite of the Bond movies so far. After a few really solid entries, Diamonds just feels lacking, staid, a real step back for the franchise. I did read that they had to pay Connery so much to come back for one more movie they had to reduce the effects budget. But the story itself is just...droll the first 2/3rd of the movie is Bond infiltrating a diamond smuggling operation, and in comparison to the threats from a few of the previous movies, it just feels - well - boring, in comparison. Once we are up against Blofeld and realize the stakes of the situation it picks up, but it never seems to get the full head of steam it should.
The production values are lacking as well - after some really dynamic action and car chase camera work in the last movie, this one only seems to know how to do static cameras. Seriously, in all the car chase scenes, I'm not sure if a camera ever moved one, just from static shot to the other. Like I said, a real step back in some aspects.
Observations -
- Credit due to the henchmen Kidd and Flint in this - marvelously creepy and they made my skin crawl everytime they showed up on screen. Great, great henchman characters.
- "Alimentary, my dear Felix", is a top 5 pun, Bond. Well done. I had to look it up.
- Some very silly elements in this one. Not sure how to distinguish between 'silly" and "cheesy" as I've termed some things in the past. Maybe silly is the better word. I'm all for silliness. But that moon buggy film set chase. And the elephant playing slots in the casino? I chuckled, confusedly.
- Is this the first movie in which Bond to fight women in real hand-to-hand combat? How progressive we're getting here in the early 1970s!
- Props to Blofeld for such great workplace safety signs in his oil rig base, including "If In Doubt - ASK!", and "No Pollution - NOT ANY!"
We've reached the end of an era - the Connery Era. New Bond tomorrow and further into the 1970s we go!
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