A diamond smuggling investigation leads James Bond to Las Vegas where he uncovers an evil plot involving a rich business tycoon.A diamond smuggling investigation leads James Bond to Las Vegas where he uncovers an evil plot involving a rich business tycoon.A diamond smuggling investigation leads James Bond to Las Vegas where he uncovers an evil plot involving a rich business tycoon.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 2 wins & 4 nominations total
Joseph Fürst
- Dr Metz
- (as Joseph Furst)
David de Keyser
- Doctor
- (as David De Keyser)
- Director
- Writers
- Richard Maibaum
- Tom Mankiewicz
- Ian Fleming(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBecause of Sir Sean Connery's high fee, the special effects budget was significantly scaled back. Connery was reportedly paid $1,250,000 to return as James Bond, a figure unheard of in those days.
- GoofsDuring the lunar rover chase scene at 1:01:45, the camera follows the rover going down a ravine while a pursuing car flips and rolls down the slope. When the car stops at the bottom of the hill, one of the moon buggy's wheels, not the car's, rolls into the foreground. In the next shot, Bond is still driving the rover with all of its wheels attached.
- Quotes
Slumber Inc. Attendant: The stiff, ehm, the deceased back there... Your brother, Mr. Franks?
James Bond: Yes, it was.
Slumber Inc. Attendant: I got a brudder.
James Bond: Small world.
- Crazy creditsTHE END of DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER James Bond will return in LIVE AND LET DIE
- Alternate versionsThe 1982 RCA Videodisc release in the U.S. omits the film's closing title screen that indicates that James Bond will return in "Live and Let Die", instead fading out at the end of the closing credit scroll.
- ConnectionsEdited into Stealth Fighter (1999)
Featured review
"Oh, providing the collars and cuffs match..."
Diamonds Are Forever is often described as a Roger Moore film starring Sean Connery, but it goes even farther than that. Whereas Moore ushered in ironic/silly codings, Diamonds contains the most overtly camp humour the series ever indulged in. The film also contains the most amount of nudity, and arguably the rudest jokes of the franchise. The title quote is Connery's quip to a girl with ever-changing wigs, while later we get the immortal "I'm afraid you've caught me with more than my hands up."
There's the sense of the odd, or uneasy, about this one all the way through. From the theme title (and what a great song!) precipitated by a cat's cry to the homosexual henchmen Mr.Wynt and Mr. Kidd. Their unnerving air is not the result of their gay, slightly homophobic, portrayal, but in Putter Smith's performance as Kidd. Not a trained actor, but an accomplished jazz bassist, this off-kilter playing creates an unconscious, unsettling atmosphere.
It's this juxtaposition which compels throughout. Like seeing Britain's top espionage agent doing the childhood "snogging with yourself" routine then smashing a man's head through a window just seconds later. It's a superficially lightweight film, but with a nasty, almost bitter undercurrent. Connery's obvious resistance to the role actually serves it well here, given that this is the first post-wife Bond movie. Bernard Lee plays an unusually terse M to complement this abrasive 007. Such a starch display cuts through the smug underpinnings of the character and makes the cheesy one-liners more palatable. He looks older than in any of his other Bond films - Never Say Never Again included but this also fits his anguished, bereaved state. In line with this most misogynistic of Bond pictures, Jill St. John's character development passes from intelligent, through to devious and down into simpering bimbo.
Incidental music is a bit disattached, and often feels like it belongs to another film. It works against, rather than with, the picture it's there to support. Yet although not quite the best of the series, this and the following Live and Let Die are the most distinctive in look, feel and style. They're light, pacy, poppish takes on the format, full of comicbook verve and wit. Guy Hamilton's direction is also very good; making the most of the LA location with use of expansive aerial shots.
The plot seems fairly complex, though maybe that's because it's underdeveloped and submerged beneath slightly irrelevant setpieces. I had to smile at the line "Get him off that machine, that isn't a toy" as Sean boards the moonbuggy. I remember after the film it became one, a primary-coloured Dinky version with a spinning radar. Brings back memories, that.
Blofeld, who has now taken up cloning and cross-dressing, is played here by Charles Gray. Although at the time it was four years before he would become the criminologist in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the two are now inseparable, in my mind at least. As if this wasn't enough high camp to go round, there's also Connery being demolished by Bambi and Thumper, a couple of sadistic female gymnasts.
If something about this quirky, offbeat Bond (and some sources list it as the seventh least successful in terms of gross) doesn't quite gel, then it greatly improves on repeat viewings.
There's the sense of the odd, or uneasy, about this one all the way through. From the theme title (and what a great song!) precipitated by a cat's cry to the homosexual henchmen Mr.Wynt and Mr. Kidd. Their unnerving air is not the result of their gay, slightly homophobic, portrayal, but in Putter Smith's performance as Kidd. Not a trained actor, but an accomplished jazz bassist, this off-kilter playing creates an unconscious, unsettling atmosphere.
It's this juxtaposition which compels throughout. Like seeing Britain's top espionage agent doing the childhood "snogging with yourself" routine then smashing a man's head through a window just seconds later. It's a superficially lightweight film, but with a nasty, almost bitter undercurrent. Connery's obvious resistance to the role actually serves it well here, given that this is the first post-wife Bond movie. Bernard Lee plays an unusually terse M to complement this abrasive 007. Such a starch display cuts through the smug underpinnings of the character and makes the cheesy one-liners more palatable. He looks older than in any of his other Bond films - Never Say Never Again included but this also fits his anguished, bereaved state. In line with this most misogynistic of Bond pictures, Jill St. John's character development passes from intelligent, through to devious and down into simpering bimbo.
Incidental music is a bit disattached, and often feels like it belongs to another film. It works against, rather than with, the picture it's there to support. Yet although not quite the best of the series, this and the following Live and Let Die are the most distinctive in look, feel and style. They're light, pacy, poppish takes on the format, full of comicbook verve and wit. Guy Hamilton's direction is also very good; making the most of the LA location with use of expansive aerial shots.
The plot seems fairly complex, though maybe that's because it's underdeveloped and submerged beneath slightly irrelevant setpieces. I had to smile at the line "Get him off that machine, that isn't a toy" as Sean boards the moonbuggy. I remember after the film it became one, a primary-coloured Dinky version with a spinning radar. Brings back memories, that.
Blofeld, who has now taken up cloning and cross-dressing, is played here by Charles Gray. Although at the time it was four years before he would become the criminologist in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the two are now inseparable, in my mind at least. As if this wasn't enough high camp to go round, there's also Connery being demolished by Bambi and Thumper, a couple of sadistic female gymnasts.
If something about this quirky, offbeat Bond (and some sources list it as the seventh least successful in terms of gross) doesn't quite gel, then it greatly improves on repeat viewings.
helpful•10749
- The_Movie_Cat
- Jul 25, 2001
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Ian Fleming's Diamonds Are Forever
- Filming locations
- 3rd Floor, Reguliersgracht 36, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands(Tiffany Case's Dutch Apartment)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $7,200,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $43,819,547
- Gross worldwide
- $43,830,091
- Runtime2 hours
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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