Diamonds Are Forever in Review

Stilicho Bias wrote:

I see this site is untainted by DAF-hating scum.

:)

Welcome Khan! You've jumped off the back of your bookcover and into the fun with Plenty and Tiff thread :)

lalala2004 wrote:

I'm not a big fan of DAF, but I appreciate it for what it is, which also happens to be a load of fun.

I'm intrigued by it more since learning more about Jill St. John's mafia connections.

After perusing your St John mafia connections thread, it does seem St John was a very natural fit or maybe coerced choice for the gangster moll role in DAF.
Interestingly she played a similar bad girl in the very first episode of the 60's high camp Batman series.

tiffanywint wrote:

lalala2004 wrote:

I'm not a big fan of DAF, but I appreciate it for what it is, which also happens to be a load of fun.

I'm intrigued by it more since learning more about Jill St. John's mafia connections.

After perusing your St John mafia connections thread, it does seem St John was a very natural fit or maybe coerced choice for the gangster moll role in DAF.
Interestingly she played a similar bad girl in the very first episode of the 60's high camp Batman series.

Yeah, I spent a lot of time on that thread, too. *pouts*

lalala2004 wrote:

Yeah, I spent a lot of time on that thread, too. *pouts*

Yes much hard work was flushed with the re-boot :pale:

Doubly terrible when a thread devoted to St John gets flushed down Whyte's penthouse outhouse.

We had a DAF appreciation thread, and I remember having lots of fun in it...just like the movie.

I’d call it guilty pleasure, for being so uptight about the need to be faithful to Fleming and all.

But at the same time, I prefer the movie to the dull book. This is one of the most quotable movie of all Bonds, in fact. The lines are just brilliant, and all the cast members were top notch, including the "I got a brudder" henchman and the guy who drawled, “I didn’t know there was a pool down there”.

Sean Connery not in his usual portrayal but he's clearly amusing himself. Much better here then in YOLT. Charles Gray is not the most menacing of Blofelds (Dawson), nor the most physical one (Savalas) but he is the most charming one and for this sort of Bond film he's the perfect villain. Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd are hilarious as is Willard Whyte. The brilliant John Barry soundtrack and marvellous Ken Adam sets rovide the movie with a great atmosphere. The plot is somewhat messy but the great dialogue makes up for that. Pity about the rather dull climax but happily the movie ends with the "Bombe Surprise" scene.Also I am a big fan of the title sequence and gubarrel of DAF. In the wake of the great OHMSS it's not entirely appropriate. Apart from that, a great Bond film in its own right though a bit flawed for sure.

A sloppy mess of a film.

Ed Bishop rules. I'll give it that. That and Lana Wood's ample chest.

Nifty and amusing dialogue, but pretty poorly written aside from that. The film begins to lose me in the second act. By the time they've followed up a demolition-derby car chase with... another one in the very next scene I'm resisting the urge to turn the bastard off. The oil rig climax has me shouting obscenities at the screen, with the flustered Charles Gray and the bikini'd/mostly silenced Jill St. John providing the only salves. Even they can't overcome that Bond dispatches the villain while sitting in a crane, which makes Balje's legendary tow-truck suggestions seem not-so-mundane.

Ugh. There's a grocery list of problems I've got with this thing that can't be staved off by any charming, off-kilter quirks and witty bon mots that the film might have to offer. I don't think I'll be watching it again in a long, long time.

Then again, I'd probably be inclined to watch it again before revisiting most of the post-Cubby stuff. Probably.

FourDot wrote:

A sloppy mess of a film.

Khan is gonna come a-callin'. Better be ready.

ambler wrote:

FourDot wrote:

A sloppy mess of a film.

Khan is gonna come a-callin'. Better be ready.

Well, I half-assedly went to town on it on Pre 3/14 MI6, fully expecting to flayed alive (this thing aint "underrated," certainly not in this community). But apart from getting jabbed by Sharky for not liking the Wint/Kidd motif, I got off Scott free. I think.

I know what's coming.

But...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw3g7gT4OBo#t=7m13s

I actually agree that DAF is sloppy in many respects. The plot in particular. But for all that DAF remains the funniest Bond film, perhaps the most fascinating Bond film, tremendously entertaining and downright charismatic. Roll that all together and you've got a Bond film that is bested by only a handful of entries in the series.

DAF works like a sturggling stand-up comic, throwing way too many lines in the off chance he'll get a laugh. Sure theres the occasional gold, but theres too many ho-hum moments. You really need to be in a forgiving mood to enjoy too much of it, and even then its not a patch on the best of Bond.

Lazenby in OHMSS, Connery in DN, even the Broz in GE - all much more witty and funny without making it painstakingly obvious.

colly wrote:

Lazenby in OHMSS, Connery in DN, even the Broz in GE - all much more witty and funny without making it painstakingly obvious.

Extraordinary. I need to move to another planet.

ambler wrote:

colly wrote:

Lazenby in OHMSS, Connery in DN, even the Broz in GE - all much more witty and funny without making it painstakingly obvious.

Extraordinary. I need to move to another planet.

I hope that planet's big enough for the both of us.

Stilicho Bias wrote:

ambler wrote:

colly wrote:

Lazenby in OHMSS, Connery in DN, even the Broz in GE - all much more witty and funny without making it painstakingly obvious.

Extraordinary. I need to move to another planet.

I hope that planet's big enough for the both of us.

I'm confounded at the choice of DN. Connery in TB or GF would be more suitable candidates, at least.

Sharky wrote:

Stilicho Bias wrote:

ambler wrote:

colly wrote:

Lazenby in OHMSS, Connery in DN, even the Broz in GE - all much more witty and funny without making it painstakingly obvious.

Extraordinary. I need to move to another planet.

I hope that planet's big enough for the both of us.

I'm confounded at the choice of DN. Connery in TB or GF would be more suitable candidates, at least.

DN, GF, TB - its all good. I didnt need to include every film where Bond is more naturally funny. ;)

colly wrote:

Sharky wrote:

Stilicho Bias wrote:

ambler wrote:

colly wrote:

Lazenby in OHMSS, Connery in DN, even the Broz in GE - all much more witty and funny without making it painstakingly obvious.

Extraordinary. I need to move to another planet.

I hope that planet's big enough for the both of us.

I'm confounded at the choice of DN. Connery in TB or GF would be more suitable candidates, at least.

DN, GF, TB - its all good. I didnt need to include every film where Bond is more naturally funny. ;)

Well in DN, Bond is naturally blunt, and rather humourless.

colly wrote:

Lazenby in OHMSS, Connery in DN, even the Broz in GE - all much more witty and funny without making it painstakingly obvious.

.

I'm baffled by this. Nothing in Dr. No was particularly funny, apart from maybe the scene where Bond tries to sneak his beretta away from M. Humour wasn't Lazenby's strong point and Brosnan has all the wit of a horny 8th grader just learning to play with himself.

There's also the dead driver gag in DN and the "I think they were on their way to a funeral" line.

Drax wrote:

Humour wasn't Lazenby's strong point

Disagree. I love his Moneypenny scene. Lots of his one-liners fall flat over the whole film, sure, but his cheekiness is his best asset IMO.

Some parts of Diamonds are funny, but what I find a lot more amusing are its failures. That moon buggy chase is horrible. But I can only laugh so much before finding it a snooze.

Louis Armstrong wrote:

That moon buggy chase is horrible.

The wheel comes off at that point. Literally.

Louis Armstrong wrote:

Disagree. I love his Moneypenny scene. Lots of his one-liners fall flat over the whole film, sure, but his cheekiness is his best asset IMO.

I love his Moneypenny scene too (and the M one as well)-- by humour I was referring more to the wit and one-liners a la the rest of the series and found at their greatest in DAF. He would have gotten better in time, but this was one area that didn't really fly as well in OHMSS. I do like "Maybe he should have been gift-wrapped" quite a bit though and the "Usually small..." line at Quarterdeck.

Louis Armstrong wrote:

That moon buggy chase is horrible

Connery's performance and total lack of irony make that scene work for me. Plus it has one of my favorite lines in the film in "It's gone berserk!". Kind of sums up the whole movie, really. As a sidenote I've often wondered if it was being suggested in that sequence, as many conspiracy theorists have, that the moon landings were staged.

Drax wrote:

As a sidenote I've often wondered if it was being suggested in that sequence, as many conspiracy theorists have, that the moon landings were staged.

Maybe. There is that strange moment when the astronauts seem to be simulating low-g even when they halfheartedly give chase to Bond.

I love the "WTF" expression on Sean as he's trying to figure out how to drive the moonbuggy. And the "It's gone berserk!" line is indeed absolute class. Heck, the entire scene is so knowingly and enjoyably off it's cake that even Guy Hamilton's obligatory "spell it out for the dickheads" line of "Get him out of that moonbuggy" can't bring it down too much.

A bit OT, but I thought OHMSS had its fair share of bona fide humor and that Laz carried it off quite well:

"I'm not much of a sporting man...even at my best." The irony of that coming from Bond is delicious.

"Just a slight stiffness coming on."

Ruby biting into drumstick and rolling her eyes at Bond--it's gotta be the most visually hilarious scene in all of Bondom.

Lazenby. wrote:

I love the "WTF" expression on Sean as he's trying to figure out how to drive the moonbuggy. And the "It's gone berserk!" line is indeed absolute class. Heck, the entire scene is so knowingly and enjoyably off it's cake that even Guy Hamilton's obligatory "spell it out for the dickheads" line of "Get him out of that moonbuggy" can't bring it down too much.

"What is this? Amateur night?"

If I'll attempt to cover DN...

"Sergeant make sure he doesnt get away!"

"Almost immediately."

"Freelance! For Whom?"

"Tell me, does the toppling of American missiles really compensate for having no hands?"

"My tailor, Saville Row."

"Nooooow, Mr Jones - talk before your friend comes back. [gun to head] who are you working for?"

"Be careful of her nail varnish!"

"What's the matter, do you need help?"

Barely covers it - but in all these lines Connery's either got more wit, more composure and a much more natural delivery than his DAF lines; whether its a laugh or a knowing chuckle at Bond's devilish ruthlessness, I get a much greater kick out of them. Theres no need for set ups that exist wholely to produce lines like "I was out walking my rat and I seemed to have lost my way!" Har. Har.

As for OHMSS - the whole Sir Hilary Bray at Piz Gloria exchange is the most humourous sequence ever shown in a Bond film. Right from the start he's delivering subtlely naughty gags that prey on our own sense of dramatic irony - "we live in a world of avarice and deceit!" Not to mention all the sex gags.

And theres his usual array of one liners, Draco and Olympe get some humour, and even M/Moneypenny/Q get some laughs not out of some extravagant stand-up comedy line, but just a short laugh or two playing on how they all need Bond. Great stuff. :)