Diamonds are Forever - The first Roger Moore Bond film (without Roger Moore though)

I'll start with a fact: most serious Bond fans HATE Diamonds Are Forever. I used to watch it when it was on TV in the eighties (when I was a child) and I loved it. Nowadays, I guess I can see where people are coming from. It is a bit of an odd-one-out among the franchise.

Sean Connery returns as Bond (after the unsuccessful George Lazenby took over the titular role for a single outing). Now he's older. And it shows. Plus it doesn't really carry on from On Her Majesty's Secret Service; it feels like it's more a continuation of Connery's last Bond film, You Only Live Twice. Also, due to Lazenby's Bond not being financially profitable in American, Diamonds Are Forever is conveniently sent almost completely in the USA (including the first ever American Bond girl). Also, to add a few more pennies to the film's takings, we have plenty of product placement throughout. Therefore, Diamonds Are Forever seems to have its share of oddities before you even get to the plot.

Bond chases diamonds to America and ends up getting tangled up with his arch enemy Blofeld (again). There's not much to the story, but that doesn't matter too much as it flows along nicely. However, one criticism that was always applied to Roger Moore's Bond films was that they couldn't be taken seriously. People seem to prefer Connery's more serious outings. However, almost every line has a - naughty - double meaning to it and some of the situations do border on the comical.

Then, just when you think you're in a smutty comedy, you have two of the creepiest hitmen ever seen on screen thrown in there. By today's standards, they're not too politically-correct. But whether it was then or now, they still seem to have been airdropped in from a much darker story.

Diamonds Are Forever is a mixed bag. Most serious Bond fans will hate it. I only like it because I remember it from my childhood and I never really got all the plot holes and silliness that came with it.

Don't hate it too much. It's not that bad, but it certainly is the `odd Bond out' from Connery's time as the secret agent. You may only watch it once, but if you like Roger Moore's `lighter' Bond, you may get some enjoyment out of this.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that