Some decent stunts and witty repartee help to gloss over what's become Double-0 formula, but most of Diamonds - from the unthreatening skeevy henchmen to a Howard Hughes-esqe plotline - ends up to be a veritable fugazi. Truly, between the spa mud bath murder, moon buggy chase, horrible acting by one of the worst Bond girls ever, and the singer of 'Big Bad John' adding support, this chapter amounts to being more of a comedy than Peter Sellers' Casino Royale did four years earlier. Women get flung at him with no wooing necessary and the heavies look about as formidable as Maxwell Smart. And speaking of 'age,' the leading man starts to show it-if not completely in looks, than interest.
Nothing about James Bond should come as a standard issue experience, but this go-round simply starts to become imitative of the glory days. Moore gets shouldered with this association, but - make no mistake about it - Connery kick-started it but good with this, a largely forgettable romp where the series starts to show its age. Essentially, Diamonds Are Forever plays out as a swanky harbinger of the campy Roger Moore escapades that would follow. A rough among the Diamonds, Sean Connery's occasionally entertaining return to the role that made him famous single handedly pilots the 007 series into the over-the-top, almost comedic, spoof-worthy skies that would dominate the '70s.
