129 replies to this topic

[JimmyBond]

I can usually find a bunch of things fun in the Bond films, even TWINE is watchable (I'm quite fond of DAD, btw). However DAF is at the bottom of my list, it just moves from scene to scene with no real ambition, no one really seems to care about what's going on. Least of all Bond, his performance might be more spirited than his sleepwalking through YOLT, but that sure aint saying much.

[ChickenStu]

I wouldn't say this is the worst Bond movie. I think it's Connery's worst, and I don't really like it all that much, but I wouldn't say it's the worst. And I certainly don't think it's any worse than "Die Another Day" or "A View To A Kill".
However, I do prefer "Never Say Never Again" to this, so if that's not saying something, I don't know what is!

[PlayItBogart]

I'd rather go with Diamonds are Forever over Die Another Day. Not because Diamonds are Forever is superior (It just has seniority), but I couldn't stand to watch Die Another Day one more time. The dialogue, Halle Berry getting a crapload of airtime...I can't believe I liked it the first time I saw it.

[Mr_Wint]

I think there are many good things about DAF altough it isn't my favourite Bondfilm. The scenes in Amsterdam, the casino-scenes, the first meeting with Blofeld and the car chase is classic Bond. The whole film has a nice, cool, atmosphere mostly thanks to Ken Adam's beautiful set design and Barry's music. DAF also has some of the most memorable dialogue ever written in a Bondfilm. Overall, I think DAF is a very memorable film and far better than DAD.

[Scottlee]

I find DAF very watchable these days, far more so than at least two or three other Bond films (DAD and YOLT, to name two). The script is razor sharp thanks to Tom I-Can't-spell-his-name, and Sean Connery gives a much better performance than he does in YOLT. There are huge problems of course. A lot of the film looks rushed, and what appears to be a very clever plot seems rushed and skimped over in several places, mostly obviously when the oil rig action suddenly ends. The casting is also attrocious. I can't stand Jill St John in the lead Bond girl role, and both Charles Gray and Peter Burton are hopelessly mis-cast too. The only good piece of casting happens with Wint and Kidd, whose presence is wonderful and adds a lot to the film.

There is a wonderful soundtrack though (one of the series best). Watching the film, even with the flaws, has always given me a tremendous feel-good factor I can't completely explain. I would at least rank it above YOLT in the list of Connery's best Bond films. It's like a guilty pleasure you can't help enjoy after the seriousness of OHMSS. I still would have preferred a second Lazenby film and the whole realization of a 'proper' sequal to Tracey's demise, but hey, what we end with isn't too bad at the end of it all.

[LadySylvia]

Honestly? I think that DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER is the worst Bond movie I have ever watched. At least DIE ANOTHER DAY's first half was pretty good . . . until the setting changed to Iceland. But I have to say this about DAF - it is probably the funniest Bond movie I've ever seen.

[jaws_dentist]

this is wint and kidd's movie.

DAF was a missed opurtunity .... this is defo one script that could be re -written , beefed up and thrown to daniel craig.

its the lamest film but bizarely has the GREATEST theme tune.

Edited by jaws_dentist, 18 March 2007 - 10:24 AM.

[TheREAL008]

I wouldn't say it's bad or worse than DAD, but the cheese running throughout the film and an aging Connery running thru the movie the movie either doesn't help it's case much.

[LadySylvia]

I wouldn't say it's bad or worse than DAD, but the cheese running throughout the film and an aging Connery running thru the movie the movie either doesn't help it's case much.

It's odd that you would call Connery "aging" in this film, considering that at age 40 (when he shot the movie) he was only 2 years older than Craig, who was 38 when he did CASINO ROYALE; 2 years younger than Dalton and Brosnan when they did THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS and GOLDENEYE, respectively; and 5 years younger than Moore when the latter did LIVE AND LET DIE.

[TheREAL008]

True, but compare Connery of 1971 to a 40 year old man of Today. Compare the diffrences and you'll see that Sean Connery of 36 years ago looks like a fifty year old. My point is that Sir Sean looked like he had outaged Bond by five years max.

I could be wrong of course.

[Diabolik]

Oh, Mike00say, you silly boy!

DAF isn't a very good film, but DAD is the worst official Bond film ever made (followed closely by AVTAK).

DAF at least had Connery. And although it had some things that streched credibility, it didn't have any invisible cars or Bond stopping his heart and then bringing himself back from the dead by sheer will. Pleeeeeeease!

[Craig is 007]

DAF is one of my favorite Bond movies, it is not bad at all! It's great.

[avl]

I wouldn't say it's bad or worse than DAD, but the cheese running throughout the film and an aging Connery running thru the movie the movie either doesn't help it's case much.

It's odd that you would call Connery "aging" in this film, considering that at age 40 (when he shot the movie) he was only 2 years older than Craig, who was 38 when he did CASINO ROYALE; 2 years younger than Dalton and Brosnan when they did THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS and GOLDENEYE, respectively; and 5 years younger than Moore when the latter did LIVE AND LET DIE.

Not really...as looked a LOT older than Craig, Dalton or Brosnan..and Moore, who was (and is) older than him I believe...and a lot older than himself in YOLT...

[Keir]

I didn't mind the film too much, and there were quite a number of scenes that I found memorable (and some great lines!). But...
do the nuclear bombs going off seem like a footnote? I was born in Loserpeg just north of North Dakota and if a nuclear silo went off, we would have known. The scene with the Red Chinese was hilarious with Chinamen running around in flames while the Soviet sub just turned a bright red before a clearly fake explosion was thrown in.
Jill St. John (imagine if she were to be canonised and a street named after her) was tough in the beginning and suffered a lobotomy midway through.
The moon buggy chase was ridiculous.
How many times must Bond destroy EVERYTHING Blofeld has worked for before he just shoots him himself? And why the hell,after Bond kills the double, does Blofeld just casually walk to the safe with his back turned to Bond?!
I have always loved the line "YOU KILLED JAMES BOND!" but if you're a spy and everyone knows your name, you are a terrible spy!

[erniecureo]

Jill St. John (imagine if she were to be canonised and a street named after her)

Took me a minute...St. Jill St. John St. ...very clever.

[DaveBond21]

Here is the British website TV cream with their amusing review of DAF:-



Diamonds Are Forever

Connery's comeback caper, easily the best 'non-serious' Bond of the lot. It's endearingly daft without being offensively stupid (yes, Moonraker, we're looking at you), goes all over the place without getting tedious, and features the great more-than-just-a-dodgy-stereotype sub-villains Kidd and Wint.

OK, so Charles Gray is a disappointingly avuncular Blofeld, Jill 'Tiffany Case' St. John and Lana 'Plenty O'Toole' Wood don't do much, and the theme song's by Shirley bleedin' Bassey again, but what a plot! Directionless, profligate, vulgar and wantonly episodic, just how Bond should be.

You can imagine the scene - with only weeks to go until shooting starts, round the big conference table a hundred harried writers nervously pitch their little bits of business - "OK, so there's this robotic pipe-welder, right..." "There's a bomb hidden in a big fake trifle..." "Bond fights two feisty kung fu ladies in bikinis!" "How about we have Q playing the fruit machines?" "... and so the car goes up on two wheels..." "... he sticks the marching band cassette down her pants..." "... false fingerprints..." "... TWO Blofelds..." "... a moon buggy!!" - and Good Old Cubby, at head of table, holds up his hand for silence, takes a drag on his cigar, leans forward and says, "Fellas... we'll shoot 'em all!" And we're so glad he did.

[LadySylvia]

I admit that DAF was funny, but I've seen other funny Bond movies that are just as good. I can only wonder if this reviewer had called DAF the best "non-serious" Bond, because it starred Connery.

[dodge]

How bad? THIS bad:

from a review by Todd Alcott:

"Who is James Bond? JB is a smug, balding, doughy, middle-aged swinger, missing only the velour shirt and the gold medallion to complete the picture. The only piece of i.d. he carries is his Playboy Club card...Once upon a time, JB would seduce a woman in order to get information from her; now he'd just as soon strangle her with her bikini top and then punch her in the face. Once the epitome of cool, Bond has become a smirking, exasperated, reactionary crank, and before this movie is over he will defend his straight-white-male Britishness from simpering gay assassins, Italian gansters, a Jewish comedian, a bi-racial team of female martial artists, redneck doofus cops, an egghead peacenik and a cross-dressing supervillain.

"...the Moore Bonds, I'm afraid, begin here with DAF. Everything in DAF points to taking the piss out of James Bond and his formula, from the silly moon-buggy chase through the desert to the ever-decreasing menace of its antagonists to the rushed who-cares sloppiness of its climactic battle."

[plankattack]

How bad? THIS bad:

from a review by Todd Alcott:

"Who is James Bond? JB is a smug, balding, doughy, middle-aged swinger, missing only the velour shirt and the gold medallion to complete the picture. The only piece of i.d. he carries is his Playboy Club card...Once upon a time, JB would seduce a woman in order to get information from her; now he'd just as soon strangle her with her bikini top and then punch her in the face. Once the epitome of cool, Bond has become a smirking, exasperated, reactionary crank, and before this movie is over he will defend his straight-white-male Britishness from simpering gay assassins, Italian gansters, a Jewish comedian, a bi-racial team of female martial artists, redneck doofus cops, an egghead peacenik and a cross-dressing supervillain.

"...the Moore Bonds, I'm afraid, begin here with DAF. Everything in DAF points to taking the piss out of James Bond and his formula, from the silly moon-buggy chase through the desert to the ever-decreasing menace of its antagonists to the rushed who-cares sloppiness of its climactic battle."

I suddenly find myself vaguely depressed, ashamed, and embarrased by my Bond fandom-ness. Is this really the character that I'm a fan of?

I think somewhere back in the mists of this thread I wrote which film I thought was worse, so I've only one comment. It's interesting how our memories of the series are coloured by the current tone of the series. In the late 70s and early 80s DAF seemed like a pretty good Bond-flick. It's only now in the CR era that it ages poorly. And OHMSS, derided during the fun-time era of 70s Bond escapades, has grown in stature (though this started a long time ago) during the 90s and now.

[ACE]

I really enjoy DAF because Sean Connery seems to be really enjoying himself. Munching great chewy, witty lines by Tom Mankiewicz and enjoying the quiet, relaxed directorial style of his golf mentor, Guy Hamilton ("Let's get this right and we'll hit the links"), Sean was in the driving seat. And if the film went over schedule, he would earn even more money. Which, as he had just invested in Dunbar & Co (a merchant bank), was all grist to the Connery mill.

Sure, he gave his $1.25 million salary to his own charity, Scottish International Education Trust (SIET). And that was laudable and good and right. However, what seems to be less talked about were his handsome ancillary benefits. A generous per diem, 2 films of his own choosing funded (Tantallon Films was his IrishDreamTime and boy, did he enjoy making the perversely anti-commericial, but grippingly intense The Offence on UA's dime) plus 12.5% of the gross. This pot was so sweet it made Sean Connery's deal for DAF qualify for the Guinness Book Of Records. Sean Connery as Eon Fleming's James Bond was the highest paid actor the world had ever known.

Yes, the story is disjointed and the action is slack. But after Thunderbore and Yawn Only Live Twice, Sean milked playing an extension of himself. His characterization had shifted from the subtle, detailed performances of his first three Bonds - although the panther movement is still there. Jill St John was buxom and fun and her presence is just a slinky, sexy joy. "Why James, there's much more to you" and "Collars and cuffs" make this very good adult fun. Well, I don't think it's a pity they weren't brains! Sean and Jill made their scenes crackle with chemistry.

There are many great moments: interview with M and Sir Donald Munger (notice Sean's jaunty walk and his more overt Scots accent), Wint and Kidd (Bruce Glover and Putter Smith have such great faces - the latter with Jimmy Dean were the continuation of Lotte Lenya casting: musicians as quirky movie characters), Moneypenny scene (the wailing James Bond theme as we pan to the brand new Hovercraft backdropped by the white cliffs of Dover still thrills me), lift fight (highly inventive), Slumber Inc (I can imagine Robocop/Total Recall-style adverts for this company), Bond meets Blofeld ("Right idea" "But wrong pussy"), Willard Whyte, entrance to Whyte's Lautner-designed desert hideaway ("FBI? CIA?" "No, British Intelligence" - YES!), rogue satellite sequence (so potent, so Bondian with that beautiful Barry cue).

Ken Adam, Ted Moore, John Barry and Maurice Binder were all back and similarly having fun. "Let's face it chaps, we've had a bloody good innings. With Sean gone, they'll be no more of these. We saw what happened to the other fellow...!"

I ramble on about DAF here



Oh, BTW, I like DAD too....

[PrinceKamalKhan]

In the late 70s and early 80s DAF seemed like a pretty good Bond-flick. It's only now in the CR era that it ages poorly. And OHMSS, derided during the fun-time era of 70s Bond escapades, has grown in stature (though this started a long time ago) during the 90s and now.

Does that mean when the Craig era is over and if EON ever decides to return to comedy Bond(which probably will eventually simply because, like fashion, types of music and political parties, styles of Bond films come and go), Diamonds Are Forever and Die Another Day will be considered "unsung " masterpieces? If so, future Bond fans better include my beloved Moonraker alongside those two.

[Mike00spy]

It seems like the majority of criticisms agasint DAD and easily be leveled agaisnt DAF as well... yet there seems to be more fondess for this movie. Is this due to the age of the movie? Or negative feelings towards Brosnan?

or Bond stopping his heart and then bringing himself back from the dead by sheer will. Pleeeeeeease!

You can't do that?

[dodge]

Final blasts from Todd Alcott's review:

WOMEN: "Bond seems to be through with them. The first one he meets he strangles and then punches in the face, another gets tossed out a window and into a swimming pool (and then, for no particular reason, winds up dead in another swimming pool). He has sex only with a dizzy nudist gold-digger Tiffany Case, and even then can't keep from carping at her, calling her a 'stupid twit' in a moment of anger. He's gotten angry with civilian birds before, but the insults seem to be a new, unpleasant wrinkle."

BLOFELD: "At one point in Act III, Bond asks Blofeld a question about his operation and Blofeld sighs and says 'Science was never my strong suit.' This from a man who, two movies ago, figured out a way to design and build a secret aerospace program inside a hollowed-out volcano. What, I wonder, is Blofeld's strong suit, besides the high-collared tunic he's been wearing since 1963?"

[Judo chop]

What, I wonder, is Blofeld's strong suit, besides the high-collared tunic he's been wearing since 1963?"

Veterinary medicine. That cat of his is always looking so healthy.

[Piz Gloria 1969]

quote : figured out a way to design and build a secret aerospace program

I don't he invented it

quote : The moon buggy chase was ridiculous

Yeah , but it was good in a pretty bizarre manner lol

Edited by Piz Gloria 1969, 08 May 2007 - 07:50 PM.

[00Twelve]

Final blasts from Todd Alcott's review:

WOMEN: "Bond seems to be through with them. The first one he meets he strangles and then punches in the face...

No, no, he didn't punch her in the face until after Guy said "Cut!"

I know this makes me sound like a total jerk, but for the sheer slapstick, I'd have fallen out if he'd actually punched "Marie" in the face.

[Judo chop]

Final blasts from Todd Alcott's review:

WOMEN: "Bond seems to be through with them. The first one he meets he strangles and then punches in the face...

No, no, he didn't punch her in the face until after Guy said "Cut!"

I know this makes me sound like a total jerk, but for the sheer slapstick, I'd have fallen out if he'd actually punched "Marie" in the face.

The thought has me laughing too. Nothing would say

[bond_girl_double07]

Ok, against the grain, but I quite like DAF.. Other than the general treatment of women throughout (although I still laugh every time Bond sticks that tape down Tiffany's bikini bottom ), the stupid buggy scene, and Blofeld in drag, I really like this film.. some highlights (for me at least):

The car chase (taught and thoroughly fun to watch)

Bond in the burning coffin (in a way the scariest brush with death that Bond has ever had in the films.. nobody wants to be burned alive and that scene is so claustrophobic!)

Wint and Kidd (come on, those are just fun characters!)

The girl fight

The setting (Vegas during that era looked like an ugly adolescent.. not quite the adult playground of the 50's and not the "family" vacation destination of today..)



Just my two cents, but I've always liked this film..

[dodge]

Final blasts from Todd Alcott's review:

WOMEN: "Bond seems to be through with them. The first one he meets he strangles and then punches in the face...

No, no, he didn't punch her in the face until after Guy said "Cut!"

I know this makes me sound like a total jerk, but for the sheer slapstick, I'd have fallen out if he'd actually punched "Marie" in the face.

Well, it seems Terrible Todd was off about Marie. So I offer this is in lieu as his parting shot:

"Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd are also terrible assassins. They meet the diamond-smuggling dentist out in the desert, intending to kill him, and choose a scorpion they happen to find on the spot...What kind of assassin is that? Where is the planning? What is Blofeld paying them for? And of course they pick the largest, darkest scorpion known to humankind, when even a schoolchild knows that the black ones are actually the least deadly ones."

[bond_girl_double07]

What is Blofeld paying them for? And of course they pick the largest, darkest scorpion known to humankind, when even a schoolchild knows that the black ones are actually the least deadly ones."[/color]

Dude, what the hell kind of elementary school did you go to? In the milktoast school where I went, we learned that Scorpion should usually equate running - regardless of the color

Wint and Kidd.. bad assassins OR assassins would like to utilize the element of surprise? Just saying