The best character in this movie: the one minute and counting guy.

As an adult, I can certainly recognize the deficiencies of this film. But I was 11 years old when I saw Diamonds are Forever in 1971. It was the first bond film that I remember seeing and it absolutely blew me away. It began for me and obsession with all things James bond that continues to this day. So it remains a guilty pleasure. And I think the score, and especially the title song, or brilliant.

Many years ago I left London for an interview in Manchester. As the train attempted to pull out of King’s Cross Station I heard a familiar voice call out ‘There is something terribly wrong with this train’. Sitting diagonally opposite me was Charles Gray aka Blofeld who proceeded to talk to his companion in his booming Shakespearean tones all the way to Manchester. ‘I’ve so dreaded the prospect of making this tedious journey …. alone’ 😂

If Roger Moore stared in this movie, I feel audiences and fans would be less critical. If feels like Connery was in a Moore Bond film. Diamonds Are Forever is a very silly movie, but it has some interesting ideas, a good musical score, and the Las Vegas setting is fun. It's fun, but definitely not one of the best.

If I'm feeling crap this film always cheers me up so it's not the perfect Bond film but it has a great witty script and the cast seem to be having a good time so it's a feel good romp more than serious thriller

The "Bond, James Bond" at the beginning always bothered me. They sped up the audio compared to the original trailer. Makes him sound like a chipmunk.

''Diamonds Are Forever'' is a follow-up of ''You Only Live Twice''. In the first scene after gunbarrel, Bond is still in Japan looking for Blofeld, only as the head of a global criminal organization. There is no reference to Tracy, to Draco and there is no Irma Bunt. D.A.F. would be a revenge film, if Connery was playing at O.H.M.S.S. or Lazenby at D.A.F.

Good review guys. Connery, Wint and Kidd, a superior John Barry score, probably the best title song, one of the funniest, pun laden scripts. DAF - a guilty pleasure.

Diamonds is more of a Roger Moore Bond film. Roger should have done this as his first and bowed out after Octopussy, letting Dalton take over for A View To A Kill.

I agree with both of you. It just depends on what mood I'm in that day.

Two biggest cheers I’ve ever heard from lines in the movies: “Avengers Assemble!” Avengers Endgame by Captain America “My name is Bond,James Bond” Diamonds are Forever by Sean Connery as 007 His return was a BIG deal and I never forgot that moment- it’s probably why I always look back fondly at this movie despite its obvious faults! The action is terrible but the dialogue is smart and funny and the whole movie has great style and class!

This was a pay day for Connery, he was totally mailing it in, smirking his way through the whole movie. Didn’t work out, drank, ate and partied his ass off the last decade. But it was a fun corny movie.

The 50th anniversary of this film was in December... it is an interesting installment in the series being a transition from the Connery era to the Moore era.

I love both of you guys' takes on this movie. I've watched or listened to this review at least a dozen times. You guys compliment each other so well. This movie has so many head-scratching moments and scenes, but I still enjoy watching it. It's just a fun movie. Great content on your channel, Joe!

Great review, guys. I’m with Joe on this one (and also agree that A View to A Kill is much superior). As noted, what always gets me is how dated it seems today (clothes, hair, music) with Connery just going through the motions. Elevator fight is one of the great Bond fights scenes though.

Was looking forward to rewatching this one because of Wint & Kidd and still loved them. To me the crematorium would come in quite handy to get rid of bodies, so that I found believable. And that they didn't just blow up the last place because of Tiffany being there, also seemed somewhat logical to me. But yeah, a lot of it was a bit iffy but fun.

"I gotta bruddah!" That's Horror film icon and Rob Zombie regular Sid Haig!

Diamonds are Forever is my favourite James Bond movie.Jill St John was a good girlfriend for Sean Connery and they had good chemistry on the screen.

It's undeniably bad. But it's not boring. Up until Craig's films I could honestly say that even the bad 007 films (this and A View to a Kill for example) were not boring. I suppose that says something about the series as a whole. Too bad that this is Connery's swansong though. To think he did absolute classics like From Russia With Love and Thunderball (both his best film and his best performance respectively IMHO) that this is how he left the series. His last 2 films were meh at best. Great review series though guys ...

Would have been better with Lazenby. The Blofeld Trilogy is weird. Two Bonds, Three Blofelds, and Moneypenny flirting after Tracy died.

It all started in 1967. After the great success of Thunderball, the production decided to make OHMSS. Connery loved the idea because the plot would give him the acting opportunity to emphasize more on the character of Bond than with gudgets. When production decided to make YOLT instead of OHMSS, Connery was greatly disappointed and started losing interest for the role. That's why during the making of YOLT he decided to quit the role. Just think of what a glorious exit would be for Connery if instead of YOLT he was starring in OHMSS back in 67, then returned as Bond in 1969 doing YOLT or DAF as a revenge adventure for the death of Tracy, and then retire from the role... So the decision of making YOLT instead of OHMSS turned the Bond movie history upside down. And if Lazenby was decently good in OHMSS, then you can imagine how brilliant Connery would have been, knowing now his great acting charisma during his after Bond career. When Connery returned in 1971 for the making of DAF he had totally lost interest for the role. He is obviously bored and doesn't take it seriously. He didn't even accepted to do a proper haircut or an eyebrow treaming or loose some extra pounds to look alike the Bond he was. If you see the way and charisma he played Bond in FRWL or Goldfinger or Thunderball and then watch this, you almost believe that he is another person. But also here we have a huge mistake of the production. They had Connery back. And instead of reconnect him with the series and regain his acting attention by making DAF a revenge movie for the death of Tracy, they did that??? DAF was really the beginning of the change of genre for the Bond franchise. The turn from the “action spy thriller“ genre to the “action comedy - silly parody “ genre! And this period would last all the way the Moore Era till 1987... Actually this is a Moore kind of Bond movie with accidentally Connery instead of Moore. If you think about it we are being so hard on it only because we cannot accept that Sean Connery made a Bond film like that, in contrast to what he gave us in the past!! If this exact movie was made with Roger Moore the criticism would be way more forgiving because we got used to the silliness of the Moore Era. In conclusion it is a very weak movie but not the weakest if you concider the silliness of some later Moore films. The presence of Sean Connery himself in DAF makes it better because even if the plot is silly, even if Connery is bored, not acting etc., he is so more believable as Bond than Moore. Even in this one. He is more manly, more dark, more suave, more tough and he seems more dangerous when he has too. Just look at the way he moves, he fights, he stares even in this which is his weakest Bond movie in contrast to Moore s portrayal as Bond and you will understand what I'm talking about. That's why I think DAF was a bad movie but not the baddest of the whole franchise. That's my opinion. Regards

I always thought that the moonlanding scene was making fun of the conspiracy thinkers who believed that the real moonlanding was fake. I loved Charles Gray. Pleasence was better but i liked Gray more than Savalas. Must be the scar of Pleasence and the cigarette pipe of Gray. It gives Blofeld something sinister.

Another Outstanding Review I agree with Joseph on many points, However I really like the Barry Score “007 and counting even the extended version is good, great score in a horrible special effects sequence. Well done lads you got through DAF

Great review and could not agree more with all of these opinions; 'Diamonds' always to Dad felt like a "Made for TV" movie and not up to the standards expected. Fun show!

Diamonds follows a totally different formula to the other Bond films. In terms of screenplay it’s very unique. 1. It’s more of a dot line story flow and not a straight line. Transitions are drastic, but it intentionally cuts out explanatory moments (like Bond finding Case’s home, why Plenty is dead, Bond finding the Baja oil rig, reaching Blofeld in the beginning super quickly). I see this as a method used to accelerate the campiness and mysteriousness, removing the realism. 2. The few careful build ups in the story (meeting Plenty, going to WW’s floor, the whole tape thing in the oil rig) are always dismissed as a cheap gag that goes nowhere. The plot then reverses from the gag back to the original storyline and resumes with a scenario jump into the next scene. 3. The story is made to work without transitions, and each scene on its own works alone. Along with the dialogue, it’s made to just be a simple and fun movie without any complications. I can’t say it’s the best Bond movie ever, but this construction is fascinating as a movie fan in general. I love Diamonds.

They were not set up in the funeral home. The two guys snuck into the funeral home and dealt with Bond; the funeral director only became aware of the situation later if at all.

BTW, Shady Tree was played by Leonard Barr, who was Dean Martin's uncle (!). Dino was born in 1917, I don't know when Leonard was born.

This was one of the most entertaining of your plot summaries. It is better than the overall film. Diamonds ranks in the near the bottom of my rankings. It is certainly an oddity in the series. I prefer You Only Live Twice, Connery’s previous one to this. I can live with some of the campiness in Diamonds as there are some good lines and some fun even cool, memorable moments. All the events in Amsterdam work. I almost wish the rest of the movie was set there. What bothers me the most is how this being Connery’s final final Bond film, they don’t finish the Bond/Blofeld conflict with a solid, satisfying conclusion. Given Connery’s somewhat weathered look, they could have leaned into how the character changed due to Tracy’s murder. At least one acknowledgement by Bond about this tragic, life altering event could have added more heft. However it’s great that Diamonds can spark hours of discussion. The title song is great!

It's terrible that Scott gave Tommorrow Never Dies a 3 but give this bad movie a 7.

Yes this film isn't the best Bond movie but could have been far worse if John Gavin was cast originally and it would have been a real dud thank goodness UA got back Connery to reprise his role

All Connery Bond movies are.....imho. Great.

Another great review. I’m kind of with Scott on this. I like it in spite of how silly it is. No logic applies. I cannot defend it. Witty dialogue, good cast and Connery’s charm make it watchable for me

This was the best, most concise summary of the Diamonds Are Forever plot. 👍🏽👍🏽

My view was the 1,007th! Bwahahaha! Love your work, guys.

Connery did it for the $$$ Pos movie

Wow, Joe really hates this one 😂

Weren't there conspiracy theories at the time that suggested that the moon landing was fake? So perhaps, since Diamonds Are Forever is a comedy, they were making fun of those theories by showing the actual set where a fake moon landing would've been filmed? Sort of like what Capricorn One did later?

Loving theses!! Congrats on 1000 subscribers!

Wait?! Scott gives this a 7 but Tommorrow Never Dies a 3? WTF Scott!

Also, in that first Mankiewicz draft, it was Q (!) who brought the real diamonds into the U.S. by ... putting diamonds in golf balls, as in the novel.

25:48 yes the exposition is great but I get lost after that and I didn’t understand the plot until you guys explained it upfront and I’m a huge Bond film fan

Jill St John is stunning in this!❤❤❤

Yes, the revolver should work with factory ammo after being in mud.

This is a guilty pleasure for me. Admittedly it's mostly due to nostalgia being the first Bond movie I saw. I have become aware of its shortcomings as an adult but I can't hate the film and still get a lot of entertainment out of it.

Lana Wood? Really?, she must have really left an impression on this guy more than she did in the movie?

37:46 Props for that Calvin Dyson shoutout.

I always liked Ed Bishop as Klaus Hergescheimer (from G Section, here to check radiation shielding) and Bond's ruse with the ID to access the door. I thought Bishop would have been a good choice to play Felix Leiter. He could have played that part as either serious and 'cool', or as flummoxed and humorous, so he could have played Felix in any Connery Bond. Eric Cohen from 'The Cinefiles' said that 'D.A.F.' felt more like a Dean Martin 'Matt Helm' adventure, which I think is accurate.

25:15 one of my favorite moments from the whole podcast series 😂😂😂😂

Diamonds is great! It's fun! Is it a little silly? Not as silly as the Roger Moore Bonds, even Live & Let Die. And as a last Sean Connery, it's still better than Never Say Never Again. Some of those are sillier than the first Casio Royale. It's almost like they were headed that way, and wrote this for Roger Moore, but they were able to get Sean Connery to hand off the franchise even though he wanted to bail before this. But if you;re going to complain about what he's wearing, go all the way back to Goldfinger and that Baby Blue Terry Onsey! But I guess if anyone can pull off he could. Even an orange diaper with pirate boots and suspenders in Zardoz. Burt Reynolds was first choice for that. But as a kid in the theater for this, it was fun. I guess you had to be there.

Great review guys, kind regards from Bonnie Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

I liked DAF when I was kid…it’s great to see Connery back as Bond, and it’s a fast paced story thats trying to be reminiscent of Goldfinger. However, as I’ve gotten older and more critical I’ve realized it’s easily one of the most convoluted stories in the entire franchise…this movie is very silly, and barely makes any sense. Question: Are Mr. Wint and Kidd SPECTRE operatives? It never seems clear that they are…and if they aren’t working for SPECTRE, who are they working for??

I have a picture of Sean Connery with his signature on It from this film

Plenty O’Toole 🥰😍😘

I'm completely with Joseph. Pretty much every scene in this film has something wrong with it. I struggled to sit through this when I first watched it. It's supposed to be fun/wacky, but actually I find it pretty boring. For me the only really good element is the song, which is a classic.

In my mind for the continuity I always imagine the first four Connery films, then there is a split path to me where on the one hand you’ve got YOLT and Diamonds as a sequel to YOLT, and the other path is to have OHMSS as a direct sequel to Thunderball, it just fits a lot better. Majesties is the same sort of tone to the first four films, and been a sequel to Thunderball you see why Bond and Blofeld don’t know each other, and feels like the culmination of the Spectre arc started in Dr No. Diamonds feels more in line with the over the top everything that started in YOLT.

In Mankiewicz's first draft (after taking over for Maibaum), it was made clear Blofeld was dead.

Love your videos and like all the Bond films I have no dislike for any. DAF fun adventure.

Such a letdown after the magnificent OHMSS. Thie is the real beginning of the Roger Moore Bond films. Some great one-liners but otherwise cheese.

Watching this movie and Live and Let Die, both Sean and Roger could’ve done both movies to be honest. Rogers first bond movie still had the small elements of the Connery era left and Diamonds are Forever had the small elements of comedic moments that Rogers bond films had!🙏🏻 The funniest moment in this movie for me personally was when Tiffany says: “Keep honking on that tooter Charlie or you’re gonna get a shot in the mouth”😂💀 Love the video guys🙌🏻

You guys make so many valid points for this film, and it's great to have done it so affectionately. But again, for something so comical, you can forgive it for not living up to the scrutiny. Problems arise for me when a film demands its audience take it seriously, but it can't hold up to such scrutiny. Casino Royale is like that. The Madagascar sequence alone has so many holes and contrivances while mischaracterising James Bond and it gets away with it because the stunt work is otherwise excellent. But it shouldn't. If DAF gets this treatment so should CR06, and I eagerly await your new review of that.

One of the weakest offerings with a plot that wanders, but John Barry’s score holds it together like glue. It is more a series set pieces loosely strung together by a silly thread.

No disrespect intended Joe but I think Scott really gets the Mankiweicz trilogy.

I like this movie. The correct answer is that I didn't make this film a revenge movie. The revenge-themed "License to Kill" and "Quantum of solace" are unpopular works.

Does anyone know which film these guys think is the best one of the Bond films?

Found this to be an enjoyable Bond film. Not the best in the series.....but plenty good. Connery for this one shows some definite signs of aging. But it's clear he is still a great JB.

Diamonds a 7 wow

I agree with joe on this one: i still like the movie and the comedy but it seems so cheap and boring and goofy. It’s crazy how this was the film after OHMSS. Probs the weakest movie in the official series

If this was a first or second entry into the franchise it would have been a good one. But when comparing to all the entries prior, it fails in any and all comparison.

to borrow one of joe's phrases, diamonds are forever has some of the most fingerprints in my collection...i love this movie and watch it constantly...easily in my top ten...the opening in japan is clearly a reference to you only live twice, with m even mentioning that connery's bond has been on holiday...jill st. john is great (although her character does get a little 'girlish' by the end)....the only casting misstep i believe is charles gray, who i love, but not as blofeld...other than that, it's a great flick and one, as i said, that i watch over and over again....peace to you both...rocky

31:36 Scott's hilarious Shady Tree impression.

Very enjoyable review! I LOVE this movie, but I can appreciate the thoughtful comments on both sides.

I had never watched Diamonds since I had always had been turned off by the little clips I had seen over the years, but I watched it in full on TCM this past Thursday during their September Bond month and I have to say everything you guys said was true it was hokey, cheesy and certainly reflective of that 70’s period but in the end it wasn’t as bad as I had always feared. Connery did not look as bad as I thought he might and plus it’s Connery. There is that charisma and presence that only he can pull off. It was watchable, compared with Spectre, or the Timothy Dalton movies.

Goodbye sean best 007 ever

Gotta love the apology to Calvin Dyson. But I kinda laugh if every you say Charles’ name...follow it with a clip saying “it’s just a jump to the left!” Possibly thanks to Calvin but it works. 😂

Never ceases to amaze me: from the glories of the best Bond film, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” starring the best Bond, George Lazenby, we descended to this crapola! The forerunner to a series of comedies, with an overpaid star looking old enough to be Lazenby’s father! The trailers announced, “He’s back!” My reaction was, “Too bad!” As the two following films proved, any script involving Guy Hamilton and Tom Mankiewicz was bound to be crud. As if the tacky sets and locations weren’t enough, there was the additional treat of the ‘70s fashions. (Note the short pink tie!) Jill St John was painful to hear, and Charles Gray was miscast and wasted. The best actors in the film were Jimmy Dean and Leonard Barr! It took 12 years, but Sean Connery redeemed himself with the excellent “Never Say Never Again.”

After Die Another Day this is probably my next least favourite Bond film. Such a huge disappointment and so tonaly different to OHMSS. And no continunity with that previous film. Not the revenge sequel that film deserved. Connery looks bored and sadly Lazenby wasn't back. There are a few things in it that are good and l can watch it within marathoning the films, but as a stand alone, meh!

I never thought the Kazoo was Barry's choice.

They should made a follow up to her majesties secret services to show bond avenging tracy.

Out of all the Bond films, this one most ventures into the area of outright comedy. And it is pretty good at that, if you watch it that way. More so than some of the Moore films which are littered with moments of farce, Diamonds goes for lightheartedness in many of the major elements, from the plot, to the Vegas setting, to Boefeld, to the pretty clever and funny dialogue, to Connery's performance as Bond himself. The Marx brothers may not be the right analogy, but I would compare it to something like the Blues Brothers as far as the tone and what it is trying to do (even though the Blues Brothers came later).

Put down the crack pipe Scott. A 7?!?!

The guy who wrote the first couple of Moore Bond movie's wrote this, so this is the start of the camp comedy era...... a disgraceful follow up to OHMSS

The first 7 films are my favorite classics

Connery looked like the love child of Alabama governor George C. Wallace in DIF.

Hello! DAF is not such a bad movie, it seems to me. We have to go back to the mentality of the time: sexuality, the end of the code of censorship for films, the rumors about the missions on the moon, ... I think that they have very freely amused themselves to make a parody of Bond movies, but they dared to do things like incorporate openly gay characters, disguise the villain as a woman, or stupidly film a toilet! I think it could be shocking for the time. And then the title song is one of the best for a Bond. Sorry for my english but I go through the translation of google! (I'm from France)

Rating this movie a 7 is an insult to every other movie that's been rated a 7. "Diamonds are forever" is the worst Bond film ever.

This film never fails to give me a good time.

Interesting Diamonds are Forever related tidbit: the guy that started the whole Moon-Landing-was-a-hoax conspiracy theory was Bill Kaysing. Bill Kaysing wrote a book that asserted that instead of going to the Moon the astronauts hung out in Vegas, got in fights, and bed showgirls. His book came out after Diamonds are Forever. Of course in Diamonds James Bond is hanging out in Las Vegas, gets in fights, beds showgirls, and even (weirdly) interrupts some Moon landing simulation (or hoax attempt). So yeah, the Moon hoax conspiracy theory book is plagiarized from this bad Bond movie.

My dad's a jazz drummer and worked with Putter Smith!

If the producers had taken this movie seriously and made a effort with the script, it would have been a really good Bond IMO. it has some really good set pieces and some interesting ideas. Like alot of Bond movies, the second half of the plot ruins the film.

The only thing that could make this movie make some sense to me is if ALL of the Charles Gray 'Blofelds' were surgically altered clone stand in's while the real Blofled was recovering (which he was obviously never recovered from since he was still in a neckbrace and wheelchair bound in 'For Your Eyes Only'). I can only accept in my head the the whole hairbrained scheme of Diamonds are Forever was being managed and executed by Blofeld clones which Connery's Bond thought was the Real Ernst Stavro Blofeld. After all, he did think he was killing the Real Blofeld in the pre-title scene, so there is that.

For some reason I waste time watching these Bond videos, but many of them are interesting. I don't know these two guys, but I agree with the guy with the hat on most of his points. Though parts of it don't make sense logically, Diamonds Are Forever is one of my favorite Bond movies - because I find it so entertaining. I probably saw it in the theater, but don't remember specifically. I too think the parts in Amsterdam and the intro describing the diamond smuggling were really good. I don't care for the scenes on the oil rig or the Bambi and Thumper part. I do like Jill St. John and the Tiffany Case character. And, I think she and Sean had good chemistry. They looked like they had fun making the movie. Though very different in tone, From Russia With Love is my favorite Bond movie. I love Sean Connery as Bond. I am a Baby Boomer. I remember when the Goldfinger theme was on the radio when that movie came out. I never got into Roger Moore as Bond, and kind of turned off Bond when he played the part. I have only watched the Moore films in bits and pieces. Never got into Dalton as Bond. Did like Pierce Brosnan as Bond. Daniel Craig is my second favorite Bond, though very different from Connery. And, I loved Diana Rigg as Emma Peel on the Avengers TV series, but I think On Her Majesty's Secret Service is way overrated these days. Plot is rambling, not coherent. And if Bond is so in love with Tracy, why is he having sex with all of those women in the Blofeld lair?

Guy's, the dude who smiles at the dentist has wonderful white teeth because that's his payment for doing his part in the diamond smuggling operation. Nice series guys. Thanks.

21:00 its called a slide whistle

It’s funny that we talk about Connery aging significantly in 4 years since you only love twice, but what does that say for Bond 25 which will add more than 5 years onto craig since we last saw him...

Read that Connery was wearing a hairpiece from Dr No. There is no way an actor playing Bond would be allowed to do that now.

The moon sequence was a shout out to the fake moon landing conspiracy. A subtle, inside tip of the hat.

I've only recently warmed to Diamonds are Forever and you hit on the two main points of why for a long time it was my least favourite Bond. Firstly I couldn't help thinking of what this could have been and secondly it looks cheap.

Connery will always be my favorite Bond, but this movie is one of the weakest. If not for Die Another Die it would rank #24 for me. It's too campy. At the same time it's boring. That might be a cinematic achievement: campy, dumb and boring. At least Moonraker was fun. Has the worst version of Blofeld. The dialogue is witty but the action scenes are dull. It basically announced a new, and largely weaker era.

that laugh though...

I recognize all the problems with this movie but I absolutely love it nonetheless. 🙌🏻🍸