GTA IV Review

 

 

 

 

Right, time for a new review on the blog and this one will be on the action game, GTA IV, which I finished recently and thought I would do a full review of it on here. 

So, with that said, let's take another look at this game and see how it fairs after 13 years...

And as I will mention a bit about the plot, the warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS MIGHT BE AHEAD (BUT NOT TOO MANY!)

So, I will take a little bit of the plot from Wikipedia and add it below.

"Niko Bellic, an Eastern European ex-soldier,[24] arrives in Liberty City aboard a cargo ship, the Platypus, to escape his criminal past, pursue the American Dream, and search for the man who betrayed his unit in a war ten years prior. Reuniting with his cousin Roman, he discovers that his tales of riches were lies concealing his small dirty apartment, unprofitable taxi company, gambling debts, and disputes with loan sharks. Niko begins assisting Roman with his problems, which leads him to make his first criminal contacts in the city...".

THOUGHTS

After a seven year wait from GTA III and a four year wait after GTA San Andreas, the franchise finally landed on the Xbox 360/PS3 generation consoles and introduced the series to the world of high definition. The game itself is an excellent follow up to its predecessors but it is also a much darker more grittier game as it provides a more realistic interpretation of the criminal underworld than the more cartoonish depictions in the previous games.

GTA IV however is still a lot of fun and offers loads of missions and different activities for gamers to try out and it also features plenty of amusing and colorful new characters not to mention a likeable protagonist in Niko Bellic, a former Eastern European soldier with a troubled past trying to re-establish himself in Liberty City. Its story is also lengthy but engrossing as Niko makes various enemies but also makes quite a few friends along the way as he begins a life of crime in the US but as the story progresses we learn another reason as to why Niko has travelled to the states.

GAMEPLAY  

As for the gameplay, GTA IV has a major overhaul in its presentation here in terms of both its visuals but also its movement and game mechanics. So, I will break down the gameplay into sub sections below as usual.

MOVEMENT, HUD & HEALTH

Starting with the movement of the game, GTA deploys a similar third person perspective as the previous GTA games only this time with all the usual walking, running and sprinting as well as climbing. However, in addition to this, Niko can also take cover behind walls or other objects such as boxes or cars when he is fighting enemies as well as swap to a new point of cover. 

As for the HUD (heads up display) things are a bit different again as instead of showing Niko's health as bars in GTA San Andreas or as 100 HP in GTA III and Vice City, we get a circle instead with half the circle showing green for his health and the other half is white and denotes body armour. The map system however is mainly the same as you get a small circular map, which you follow when driving or moving on foot. Niko can also select the use of way points as he travels to new locations, which can be used while driving and are often accompanied by a Sat-nav female audio voice. Niko can pick up additional health kits and armour as he does missions or he can purchase new armour from a gun store.

WEAPONS & COMBAT

Moving onto the game's combat and weapons, Niko has access to a fair number of firearms that include handguns, shotguns, sniper rifles, assault rifles and rocket launchers. Niko can also use some melee weapons such as baseballs in addition to grenades and a new regular addition to the series, molotov cocktails. Niko can purchase these weapons from local gun stores where he can also buy extra ammo as well as armour.  

Combat wise, Niko apart from arming himself with guns, he can also perform hand to hand combat and there will be some missions in the game where Niko will get involved in some fist fights. So, Niko can perform kicks and punches as well as dodge incoming hits from his opponents. 

VEHICLES, TAXIS, TRAINS & TRAVEL BY AIR

As for getting about Liberty City, Niko has many options open to him as he can either steal cars on the streets or hail down a taxi or even in some instances take a train to where he is going. 

In regards to cars, Niko generally will obtain them by either smashing a car window to open it and get in and drive or he can jack a car on the street from a passing driver although this has to be done with caution as you can get a wanted rating if police are nearby and witness Niko do it. There is also a big variety of vehicles here ranging from sports cars to taxis to even things like cement trucks! 

Another option open to Niko here is that he can travel via the use of taxis as he can hail down taxis on the street and you can choose a location when you get in. You are also given the option to sit and wait for the drive to complete itself or pay extra money to skip it (which is what I usually do!). Niko can also even calls his cousin, Roman, for a cab too given that he runs a taxi company but you always end up getting the same grumpy cab driver every time, who insults Niko at every turn (literally!).

Niko can also travel by train in the game although this is only accessible after you carry out a certain mission but I think they work by traveling on the subway rather than above ground but I could be wrong however. Regardless, you do have that option to travel via train like you could in GTA III although this did not feature I believe in Vice City of San Andreas. 

And lastly Niko can also fly too as he will gain access to different aircraft such as helicopters and planes. You can also take a tour of Liberty city via helicopter along with one of Niko's friends but one or two missions also involve Niko flying too where he will land in a helipad, which I think later becomes accessible for future flights.

FRIENDS AND DATING

As for a new feature in the game, Niko can actually make friends with some of the criminal contacts he makes and also go out with them to enjoy different activities such as playing pool, bowling, going for something to eat or even go for a drink where Niko will always end up completely pissed! Niko often will receive calls from his friends throughout the game offering him to meet up and you have the choice to either accept or turn down their offer. You can also even call them back if you change your mind to cancel the meeting. 

The same also goes for dating in the game as Niko will go out with women on dates where he can also take them to play a game of pool or bowling as well as eat, drink or even see a cabaret show. Niko after the date can also try his luck with her, which may have mixed results depending on who his date is! 

INTERNET CAFES

Another new feature to the game are Internet cafes where Niko can login to an email account and check out new emails he will receive from his contacts. Niko can also use his emails in different missions to send messages to setup meetings for various purposes. Further to this, Niko can even meet women via email also as he can go on dating websites or check his emails for potential jobs, e.g. valuable cars to steal. 

SAFE HOUSES

The game offers Niko plenty of choices for safe houses as you progress in the main story some of whic will be fancy penthouses whereas others will be cheap, dingy apartments. At the safe houses, Niko can sleep for six hours as well as change his clothes or even watch TV to keep himself going when you have spare time and not on a mission if you just want to hang around.   

MISSION CHOICES 

Another addition to the game is a more serious one where during certain missions, Niko will have to make a life or death choice for specific characters in the main story line. This often will either leave the player the choice to either kill or spare the relevant character and on what you choose this will have a different impact on future events and might also affect the outcome of the game's ending. 

CLOTHES STORES 

Like previously in GTA San Andreas (and to an extent in Vice City) Niko can visit several clothes stores throughout Liberty city, which offer much variety in terms of fashion wear. The stores featured are the Russian Shop, which sells cheap street clothes in a Russian style and are nothing too fancy as a result. Modo is a bit more up market as it sells casual clothing as well as sportswear and lastly there is Perseus, which is a high end store that sells suits and exclusive clothing. 

MOBILE PHONES 

Another new feature to the game is the use of mobile phones even though they did appear in their own form in GTA Vice City and San Andreas where they were most likely more like bricks than a phone, here Niko will have his own mobile handset. However this time, you can actually access the mobile phone rather than get script phone calls like in the previous games. So, Niko can use his phone to make calls, check for new messages as well as receive incoming messages from his contacts. You can also gain access to an app that will allow Niko to call a local radio station that will text the name of any music track Niko listens to on the radio. 

RADIO STATIONS

And last of all are the radio stations themselves and this time around the player will quite a lot of choice available to them in terms of music radio stations and talk radio. Some of the stations featured include Liberty City Rock, that plays classic rock and metal, Liberty City Hardcore, which plays hardcore rock music, Classics, featuring hip-hop artists, Radio Broker that has more recent indie rock, Fusion FM, featuring jazz music and lastly Vladislovstock FM, which features Eastern European music. 

Other radio stations included are PLR (Public Liberty Radio) which is a liberal political chat show, WKTT (We Know The Truth) Radio which is a more conservative political chat show. And lastly there is Integrity 2.0 which features Lazlow Jones, who is a real life DJ that has featured in all of the previous GTA games also and provides another source of amusement once again here. 

GRAPHICS 

As for the game's graphics, GTA IV is easily the best looking game in the franchise up to this point as it is the first game to receive a high definition presentation, so the game's environments and character models are a big improvement over the previous games. The environments offer plenty of variety as there is much to explore around the city from the big wide open city streets to the enclosed alley ways to disused areas as well as the open sea and beaches. Character model wise it does have to be said that they do look a bit dated by today's game standards but they are still pretty good for their time and a big step up from the earlier games.

VOICE ACTING (Warning: this section may contain the odd spoiler or two!)

As for the voice acting, this has always been a strong point of the series and GTA IV is no exception as the voice cast all do an excellent job here. 

Starting with Michael Hollick, who is great as the main character, Niko Bellic, an Eastern-European former soldier, who has come to Liberty city to start afresh but falls into a deadly life of crime. Hollick, himself is an American actor but here he provides an excellent Eastern European accent and really does a great job at conveying Niko's mixed emotions about life in Liberty City. Hollick however was reportedly unhappy with Rockstar after the game was finished as he felt he was underpaid for his work on the game especially given its great success afterward. 

Jason Zumwalt is also great as Roman, Niko's cousin, who feeds Niko with delusions of grandeur over the success of his business only to find he is not as successful as he made himself out to be and often gets Niko and himself into a lot of trouble with some bad people. Roman also offers quite a bit of comic relief in the story and all too often likes to talk about finding women with "big titties!". 

Timothy Adams is very good in his role as Brucie, who is a steroid junkie body builder, who also trades in cars and bikes and Niko works for throughout the game on certain missions as he steals specific cars for his workshop so they can be modded. 

Ryan Johnston is excellent also as the rather dubiously named Patrick "Packie" McReary, who is part of an Irish American crime family, who Niko works with and later befriends Packie as well as his sister, Kate. Johnston also delivers some of the game's best dialogue and one-liners and is certainly one of the most memorable characters from the game. 

WARNING: BIG SPOILER IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!! 

Moti Margolin does a fine job also as Dimitri Rascalov, who turns out to be the main antagonist of the game although he does initially work with Niko up until a certain mission but then things soon turn sour as a result. Niko will also later do a mission that involves Dimitri one way or another that plays a big part in deciding the outcome of the game but I won't say anymore than that!

Mary Catherine Donnelly also does a very good job as Kate McReary, sister of Patrick, who is the main romantic interest for Niko in the game although I'm not sure she ever returns his affections in the same way. Kate's character is also greatly affected by the choices Niko makes in the game and can have a big impact on the ending of the game. 

Anthony Patellis is excellent also as the mob boss, Jimmy Pegorino, who Niko works for in certain missions and he too also plays an important part in the ending of the game but I won't go into that here. Suffice to say though, Patellis gets some amusing dialogue to deliver as Pegorino is often surrounded by incompetent subordinates and he has a soft spot for Niko given he is a more efficient hired gun.

Rebecca Henderson is also very good in her role as Michelle, who is early on a romantic interest for Niko and friends with Roman's fiance, Mallorie. Michelle however soon is revealed to be not all that she seems, so during the main game, Niko get's a real surprise when Michelle turns up during a particulalr mission but I won't say more than that! 

And last of all is Coolie Ranx who does well in his role as Little Jacob, a Jamaican drugs and arms dealer who Niko befriends and also can later go out with for a game or pool or a drink. Little Jacob can also later be called upon as backup for some missions and features in specific missions throughout the game. The only problem with Coolie's performance is for the most part, you simply CANNOT understand a single word he says! 

FLAWS (Warning: this section might contain spoilers!) 

As for flaws... yeah GTA IV is not quite perfect. 

For starters one thing that really bugs me about the game is that the overall speed and movement of the characters feels pretty sluggish, as Niko moves around quite slowly when he is not sprinting. The combat of the game also feels sluggish when it comes to aiming and firing your weapon not to mention you really need to be careful where you aim your grenades as you can literally blow yourself sky high if you aren't careful! 

Further to the sluggish controls for movement, this also applies more annoyingly to the cars in the game as most of the cars have truly horrible handling and they turn WAY TOO SLOWLY! So, if you are in a mission e.g. if you are chasing a bad guys car and you smash into a wall or lamp post, if you are driving a really sluggish car with poor handling, you will almost certainly fail that mission before you have successfully turned your car and tried to catch up! There are some cars however that have better handling than others such as the high end sports cars, which drive and handle pretty well but that aside most of the cars in the game feel really slow like they are stuck in quicksand! 

Another big problem I have with this game are the lack of checkpoints on missions, which can be REALLY frustrating on certain missions and this is particularly infuriating in the final mission of the game for the "revenge" ending, which I won't go into here. However what I will say is, if you fail this mission then you have to start the whole thing ALL OVER AGAIN!! This is further compounded by the fact that you often have a long drive to get to the waypoint of the mission itself you need to be at and listen to the same dialogue over and over again! So, why Rockstar did not include any checkpoints in this game for missions is frankly beyond me. 

Then there are the calls that Niko gets from his friends to meet up, which also pop up all too often and at points in the game where you are literally about to start a mission! Its like the game knows you are about to start a mission decides to try and deliberately try and put you off it! This can be further annoying if you get a call relating to the main story, which you might take but if you do the game prevents you from being able to save the game at a safe house and you are forced to just head to the mission. 

Another issue is to do with the lack of first aid kits and even armour during some missions as Niko will of course often take a lot fire during them. There will of course be access to at least one first aid kit and armour set to be found in most missions but this doesn't always apply to armour as in the finale "revenge" mission of the game, I didn't find ONE set of armour anywhere and yet this is the final mission where there really should be some available!

The game can also be a bit frustrating and vague at times in what it tells you to do with one example being a mission where you get a message telling you to wear a suit, so you need to buy one at the store Perseus. However on going there the first time, I picked up a jacket, trousers, shirt and tie with shoes yet when I went to the mission it wouldn't start. I later found out that I had to buy a full suit from the store but it wasn't too obvious at the time, which was pretty annoying. 

And last of all I think the game towards the end does drag on a bit too long as it really does bombard you with too many missions and you keep going from one new contact to another thinking you might be getting closer to the end but find out later you further to go than you think. So, I think the game could definitely have benefited from being a big shorter although I do appreciate GTA games are generally pretty long. 

So, that;s it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up, GTA IV is an excellent follow-up to the games before it and it offers an impressive visual overhaul to the series as well as an excellent, gripping story for the most part not to mention plenty of missions and other activities that will keep you entertained. 

The game does have some drawbacks of course with its sluggish movement system and for the most part, the cars have truly horrible handling that are way too slow to turn and manevour which will often cost you in missions. The lack of checkpoints is also very frustrating especially as you often have long to travel before you get to the main starting point of the mission itself and if you fail, you need to start all over again! 

However, if you can forgive its faults then GTA IV is still well worth checking out after nearly 15 years, its still a game that is worth another look and a solid entry in the franchise. 

So, I will give GTA IV a rating of:

8.5 out of 10 

So, that's it for now and I will be back next month with more posts.

Till then its bye for now!

Unlawful Entry Review (Revisted) "What are you gonna do?? Arrest me?!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK time for another revisit of a previous review I did (a new one will be coming soon don't worry!) which is of the 1990's thriller film, Unlawful Entry about an unhinged cop, who stalks a couple in living in LA. 

So, after almost 30 years how does Unlawful Entry fair??? Let's find out! 

And the usual is coming... 

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY 

So, the story begins with a couple, Michael and Karen Carr (Kurt Russell and Madeline Stowe) who live in an upscale apartment in Los Angeles, who's house is broken into by an intruder one night.  The intruder struggles with Michael as he get's free, he goes for Karen and holds a knife to her throat and takes her out the back door and pushes her into their swimming pool as he escapes.

Not long after, the Carrs call the police and two officers are sent to their house, Pete Davis (Ray Liotta) and his partner, Roy Cole (Roger E. Mosley) and Pete seems taken by them, particularly by Karen.  The following day while Michael is out on business, Karen is awaiting for the police to come around but they don't, so Michael suggests Karen call the station to speak to one of the officers they spoke to.  

Not long after, Pete shows up at their home and organises the speedy installation of a state of the art security system and as a mark of gratitude, Michael and Karen invite Pete to dinner.  After the dinner, Michael tells Pete that he would like to get revenge on the intruder, which prompts Pete to ask Michael if he would to do a ride-along with his partner, Roy, which Michael accepts.

On the night of the ride-along, Michael is taken along several stops by Pete and Roy and at the end of the night Peter drops Roy off the station and tells Michael he has one more errand to run.  Pete then takes Michael to a hideout where he has found the intruder that broke into the Carrs home, named Ernie Pike (Johnny Ray McGhee).  Pete gives Michael the chance to get his revenge by giving him his nightstick to beat Pike with but Michael refuses, so Pete viciously beats up Pike instead, much to Michael's alarm.  On returning home, Michael tells Karen about the night and that he is now concerned that Pete might be mentally unhinged and he tells Karen he no longer wants Pete around them.

The following morning, Pete shows up at the Carrs house and explains to Karen that things got ugly as Pike allegedly resisted him and Michael didn't take so well but he Pete further explains that he now restrains perps with all its takes after he was once shot in the chest when arresting a suspect.  Karen however says she is glad that Pete got the intruder and Pete leaves her with Karen now feeling more reassured.

However, on the opening night of a new club, of which Michael is a co-investor, Pete shows up and Michael warns Pete to stay away from him and Karen and that he is a sick guy and he suggest seek help.  Pete however does neither and instead starts to make things difficult for Michael as he has a clamp put on his car and cancels his credit cards.  Pete even goes as far as to bust in on Michael and Karen's bedroom while they have sex, as Pete claims he was responding to their alarm, which went off shortly before.  Michael furiously tells Pete to get out and the following day goes to the police to file a formal complaint against Pete.

Michael's lawyer, Roger (Ken Lerner) advises him to try and bribe Pete to back off trying to destroy Michael's business reputation.  Michael then meets Pete and offers him $5,000 to walk away but Pete refuses the money and instead tells him that Karen doesn't feel safe with him (as Pete talked with Karen earlier after he did a talk for the school that Karen teaches at) and she needs to feel better protected.  Michael furiously warns Pete to stay away from Karen, prompting Pete to punch him in the stomach and point a gun at his head, threatening to kill Michael, Pete then let's him go and drives off.

Michael then approaches, Roy at his apartment for help, who is initially reluctant but in the end he invites Michael in so they can talk.  Roy later gives an ultimatum to Pete to back off the Carrs or else he will go upstairs and tell them what has been going on.  Later that night though, Pete and Roy chase a drug dealer on the streets, Leon (Dino Anello) back to his apartment where they arrest him.  However, Pete takes his chance to shoot Roy dead and kill Leon to make it look like Roy shot the dealer in the line of duty.  

And its from here Michael turns up the heat on Michael and has him arrested for drug charges after the police discover a supply of cocaine at his house and he is put in jail.  This allows for Pete to move in on a distraught and vulnerable Karen, so he can replace Michael as her partner.  And its from here that Michael must try and find a way to get out of jail and save Karen from the psychopathic Pete...

THOUGHTS

Unlawful Entry might be a somewhat cliched thriller in some ways but it is still a pretty entertaining and gripping movie and it was yet another film that capitalised on the concept of the "blank" from hell as there were already a couple of films that year of the same type with Single white female featuring the "roommate" from hell and "The hand that rocks the cradle" the "nanny" from hell.  So here we get the ultimate cop from hell in the seemingly charming and likeable Pete, who really has a dark side you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of.

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section will contain spoilers and strong language!)

As for the performances well they are pretty good overall as the film's strong cast all do themselves justice in their roles.

And to start off, Kurt Russell is excellent as Michael Carr, who befriends Pete after an intruder breaks into Michael and Karen's house, however its not long before Michael's friendship with Pete turns sour, as Pete's mental instability soon comes apparent.

Kurt has his share of good moments in the film that include the scene where Michael admits to Pete that he would like to get revenge over the intruder that broke into his house.  So, Michael tells Pete "I tell you, I wouldn't mind one more shot at that son of a bitch!" and Pete reacts surprised saying "Really?" and Michael says "Hell yeah!  I'd like to kick the shit out of him!".  Pete says "I'm sure you would?" and Michael says "Wouldn't you?" and Pete says "Oh, I already know what I would do.  I'm just wondering about a nice civilised guy like you".  And Michael then says "After what he did to Karen, I think all the rules are out the window. I'd rip his fucking heart out!" and Pete smiles and says "Michael, you're a scary guy!".

Then there is the scene where Michael returns home after his ride-along with Pete, which ends on a rather ugly note with Pete brutally beating up the intruder that broke into the Carr's house.  And Michael tells Karen "I went with the guys on a few calls. Got to watch them be cops. We dropped Roy off and Pete had a little surprise for me. The guy who broke in here".  Karen then reacts surprised "He caught him?" and Michael tells her "He did a little more than that" and Karen asks "The guy's in jail?" and Michael says "Hospital, more likely.  I mean he really beat the living shit out of this guy, which is what I was supposed to do".  And Michael tells Karen "Pete was showing off for me. He had it all set up, so I could be the big man and nail the guy".  Michael, however clearly unsettled by the night stands silently for a moment as Karen asks if he is alright and Michael says "I think our cop friend is a little too tightly wound, that's all".

Another good scene from Kurt is where Michael at his new club, tells Pete to leave him and Karen alone and not to come around anymore, which Pete doesn't want to seem to listen to.  So, in the scene Michael tells Pete straight up "Pete.  I would like to get something straight here.  I'd like you to leave".  However Pete instead insists that he should go on trying to protect them both as there are more criminals out there and they are now a target for them.  So, Pete says "A friend would be thanking me" but Michael tells him "I'm not your friend. I'm nothing to you. You got that? I think you're a sick guy, Pete! I don't want you around me or my wife!".

So, as Karen suddenly appears, she catches the tail end of their argument and Michael has to tell her he will be with her in a minute.  However then Pete gives Michael a look and says "What are you gonna do?  Call the cops?" and Michael furiously says "Get the fuck out!" and Pete says "Lower your voice" but Michael shouts "Fuck you!" and Pete warns him again "Lower your voice" but Michael even angrier shouts "FUCK YOU!!!".  Pete however confidentially says to him of his business investor nearby "The pigeon's watching.  I hope he doesn't fly away on you!" and he leaves.

Another noteworthy scene is when Michael and Karen have sex in their bedroom not long after their house alarm went off but they are suddenly interrupted by Pete, who enters their room and shines his torch at them before suddenly leaving the room.

So, in the scene Michael furiously gets dressed and storms down the stairs and yells at Pete "Just what the fuck do you think are you doing???!" and Pete, who by now is at the front door says "I was responding to your alarm, Michael".  However, Michael is in no mood to listen and he shouts "Bullshit!  You tripped it yourself!" and Pete asks "What?" and Michael says "And the credit cards and the boot on my car.  You did that, didn't you??!".  And as Roy turns up at the front door and asks what is going on, Pete tells Roy it was a false alarm and Michael says angrily "False alarm my ass!!".  

So, Pete looks up at Michael and says "I'm as embarrassed about this as you are" but Michael enraged yells at him "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!" so Pete looks apologetically at Karen instead, who appears on the stair and says "I'm very sorry, Mrs Carr" before leaving. So, Michael furiously runs up the stairs and says "This son of a bitch is crazy!" so he runs into the bedroom and dials the phone to talk to his lawyer, Roger. So, as Michael get's through to Roger he says "Yeah, Roger. It's Michael. I'm sorry, I know it's late. How do I get a psycho cop off my back?!!".

Then there is the scene where Michael confronts Karen over her meeting up with Pete for a coffee, not long after Michael tries to bribe Pete, which ends badly with Pete threatening to kill him.  So, Michael confronts Karen at her school and asks her "What is going?  With you and Pete?" and Karen says "What are you accusing me of?  We had a cup of coffee, for Christ sakes!" and Michael says "That must have been one hot cup of coffee!".  Karen however insists "If you think anything else happened then your crazy!" and Michael says "Am I?  He just put a gun to my head" and Karen shocked asks "What?" and Michael again says "Yeah, he just put a fucking gun to my head!  He wants you.  He thinks you want him".  Karen then responds surprised "I swear he didn't get any of those ideas from me!" but Michael says "Well, he didn't pull them out of the air, Karen!  So, what is it? You get off on leading him on? Talking to him about us? About our marriage? Jesus! I told you he's dangerous. What's it gonna take? Me in a body bag?!!".

Last of all is the scene where Michael has been arrested and put in jail for drug charges, as Pete has framed Michael to get him out of the way so he can have Karen all for himself.  So, in the scene Michael lies in his prison cell and is visited by Pete, who gloats at him for his predicament.  So, Pete says to Michael "I want you to know that she's gonna be taken care of. I know what Karen needs. And isn't it her happiness that we both want?  If you could find us, why don't you look us up? I'd love to have you over for a barbecue".  And Michael all the time sits silently, rage boiling inside him and he finally looks Pete dead in the eye and tells him "If you go near her....I'll kill you!" and Pete suddenly grins and pretends to be scared and says to him "So, long, Mikey!". 

Ray Liotta next is great in his role as Pete Davis, the psychotic cop, who at first appears charming and befriends the Carr's but its not long before start to turn ugly as it some becomes evident that Pete is a psychopath in the making.  

And Ray has plenty of good scenes that include the one where Pete takes Michael out on a ride-along with his partner, Roy and at the end of the night after Pete drops off Roy, he takes Michael to a hideout where he finds the intruder that broke into their house.

So, in the scene Pete grabs the intruder, Ernie Pike and slams him against the passenger window where Michael is sitting in Pete's car.  And Pete says "Michael!  Meet Ernie Pike!  Come out and ID this piece of shit!" and Michael get's out the car in surprise, he says "You got him!  That's him!" and Pete then says to Pike "Did you hear that?  You've just been made!  You've just been made scumbag!".  And as Pike apologises to Michael, Pete smacks him and says "Fuck off!  He doesn't want to hear you're sorry.  He wants to kick your ass!  Guess what scumbag?!  I'm gonna let him!".  So, Pete turns to Michael and says "Right, let's go!" and Michael, stunned, asks "Are you serious?" and Pete says "Yeah!  You said you wanted to rip his fuckin heart out, didn't you?!".  Then all of a sudden, Michael feels unsettled as the reality of the situation hits him and he nervously smiles and says "But, I mean that was....just talking...".

Pete then grabs Pike by the throat and leads him toward Michael and he passes his nightstick to him but Michael says "Come on, Pete.  You got him.  Nice going, just take him in" but Pete won't back off and says "He put a knife to Karen's throat. Are you going to let him get away with that? Come on! Hit the motherfucker!  Hit him!  Hit him!" but Michael refuses "Hey, no.  I'm not doing this!" and he throws down the nightstick.  However as Michael does so, Pike manages to run off but not for long as Pete throws his nightstick, which hits Pike in the back and Pete runs up and starts to mercilessly beat Pike, shouting "Motherfucker!" but Michael, shocked shouts "Pete!  Pete!!  Jesus, that's enough!!" and Pete stops and looks up at Michael with a scary glare.

Then there is the scene where Pete turns up at Michael's new club at the opening night and the two of them have a drink but Michael tells him he wants Pete to leave him and Karen alone.  So, in the scene Pete toasts a drink to Michael "Here's to your club, Michael" and Michael says "Pete.  I want to get something straight here.  I want you to leave" and Pete, surprised says "Michael, what is with you tonight? Why did you even invite me here?!".  However, Michael firmly tells Pete "Telling you and inviting you are two completely different things!" and Pete says "Is it because you were up late last night?".  And Michael asks "How did you know that?" and Pete tells him "I drove past your house on patrol and saw your lights were on. You went to bed after three" but Michael insists "You don't have to protect us now.  You caught him!".  However Pete goes on to say "One guy's caught and you think that's it?  You saw how much evil shit there is out there. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't try to protect you and Karen?!".  Michael now starts to get angry and says "Goddamn it, you listen to me, cos I'm telling you, leave us alone!".

Pete then says to Michael "Nobody expects you to be me, I'm a cop. I make my living tackling guys like Pike. You don't. You needn't be ashamed!" and Michael asks him "You think that's what this about?" and Pete says "Yeah. I bet you had one hell of a night last night when you got home. Juices flowing and everything. A friend would be thanking me!".  But Michael tells him he's not his friend and he thinks he is a sick guy just as Karen comes over to speak to Michael and he tells her to give him a minute.  So, as Karen leaves, Pete angrily taunts Michael saying "What are you gonna do?  Call the cops?" and Michael furiously says "Get the fuck out!" and Pete says quietly "Lower your voice!" but Michael is in no mood and yells louder "FUCK YOU!  FUCK YOU!!".  And Pete leans in on Michael says "The pigeon's watching.  I hope he doesn't fly away on you!".

Another good scene from Ray is when Michael meets up with Pete in the LA hills and attempts to bribe him so that he will back off putting pressure on him with his business partners.  However, Pete is not listening to him and instead says "I used to work these hills. I knew this lady. She was out walking her little poodle. A coyote comes charging out, snatches up the poodle and takes off. All we ever found of that little doggy was its diamond-studded leash. When Karen first met you, she thought you were different than her gambling father....".  And Michael suddenly reacts surprised, saying "What?" and Pete continues "It's interesting how people follow patterns. She doesn't feel safe with you either, Michael. Karen needs to feel protected when those coyotes come charging out of the brush".  

Michael however now is furious again and he angrily says "Listen. You stay the fuck away from her...!" then Pete suddenly punches Michael in the gut, who goes down coughing.  And Pete stands over Michael and grabs the back of his head and says "Assaulting a police officer??  A nice civilised man like you, Michael?!" and Michael gasping says "What are you gonna do?? Arrest me?" and Pete says "Arrest you?" and takes out his gun and points it at Michael's cheek and says "...I could kill you!" and he let's him go and drives off.

Then there is the scene where (SPOILER!!!!) Pete and Roy chase a drug dealer, Leon, back to his apartment where Roy frisks him and meanwhile that happens, Pete closes the doors and windows, puts his gloves on and takes out a sidearm from his leg. Then Pete aims the gun at Roy and shoots him in the chest and he then gives Leon the gun and says to him "Take the gun...." and Leon, hysterical shouts "I don't want the gun!!" but Pete firmly says "Take the gun....!  Go!" and Leon takes it and runs but then Pete grabs Roy's gun and shoots Leon in the back, who falls down dead.  And Pete looks coldly at Leon and says "You killed my partner, Leon" and he turns and sits down and looks at Roy, who is lying on the floor, dying from his wounds and Pete coldly says to him "You're not going upstairs to talk to anyone!" and Roy not long after passes away.

Then we have the moment where Michael is put in jail for drug possession after Pete had set him up and Pete visits Michael in jail as he taunts him about being with Karen.  So, Pete says to Michael "Having trouble making bail, Mike? Money's a little tight, huh? Karen's really upset. You really shouldn't have done this to her. She's all alone now. But don't worry, not for long. I want you to know
that she's gonna be taken care of. I know what Karen needs. And isn't it her happiness that we both want? Hmm? If you could find us, why don't you look us up? I'd love to have you over for a barbecue".  And the whole time, Michael has been sitting silently in anger and he finally says to Pete "You go near her....I'll kill you!" and Pete smiles and pretends to be scared and says to him "So long, Mikey.  You look good in blue!".

And last of all is the scene where Pete and Michael have their climactic fight scene as they struggle with each other at Michael and Karen's home and Pete takes the upper hand by hitting Michael in the face with a frying pan.  Then the phone rings and Pete answers it as it is the security firm that installed the system in the Carr's house,  And Pete pretends to Michael and says "Thank you for calling. I was swinging a golf club and it went though the... It went through the patio window. It's OK. There's glass everywhere, but it's OK. Yeah, the password's pyramid....".  However there is a beat then Pete says on the phone ""No. No, I did not change the password!" and Michael suddenly tells him "I did!".  So, Pete furiously puts the phone down and asks "What's the password?!" and Michael says to him "Figure it out, asshole....seven letters!  Fuck you!" and he laughs and Pete now filled with rage says "This is gonna cost you, Michael!".

Madeline Stowe next up is also very good as Karen, Michael's wife, who Pete ends up falling for and his obsession with her grows as the film goes on.

And Madeline has some good scenes also that include the one where Michael comes home from his ride-along with Pete, clearly shaken up by Pete's psychotic display as he viciously beat up the intruder that broke into the Carr's home.

So, in the scene Karen asks Michael "Are you sure you're OK? What's the matter?" and Michael says to her "Just I think our cop friend is a little too tightly wound that's all" and Karen asks him "Don't you think you are overreacting a little bit?" and Michael says "Not really".  Karen then says to Michael "You're upset and I understand, but shouldn't we give him the benefit of the doubt? Maybe he got rough, but you're acting like Pete's the criminal" and Michael looks at her and says "Am I? I was there, Karen. I saw it. I don't care what you think. We stay away from this guy".  Karen then becomes annoyed and asks "You don't care what I think?! Fine.  I won't bother thinking!" and Michael says "Knock it off" and Karen then yells "No, YOU knock it off!  I'm sorry, but I don't share your new found sympathy for the man who broke in here and put a goddamn knife to my throat, Michael!".

Then there is the scene where Karen and Pete go for a beer at a local cop bar at lunchtime after Pete gives a talk to the kids at Karen's school and they discuss Karen's background.  And Pete asks in the scene "How did you and Michael get together?" and Karen says "I was a waitress in his first club" and Pete, surprised asks "Really? You were a waitress?" and Karen says "It was my first job".  Karen the continues with her story "It was the first job I ever had. The first one I needed. We were kind of well off. My father, as it turned out, had sort of gambling problems. And I, umm... People started coming over and taking our cars in the night. It was kind of a scary time".  And Pete then asks her "Did Michael take you away from all that?" and Karen says "Things always came real easy to Michael".  Pete then asks a more personal question "Is that why you married him?" and Karen looks a little taken aback and says "I married him because I fell in love with him.  This is....I hardly know you and we're talking like this".

And last of all is the scene where Karen and Pete proceed to akwardly make out, as by this time (SPOILER!) Pete has murdered Karen's friend and fellow(ess) teacher, Penny and Karen had earlier unwittingly discovered her dead body and tried to hide her fear from Pete that she knew.  So, in the scene as they make out, Karen feels for Pete's gun, which he has stuck in the back of his trousers and she finally grabs it and points it at Pete.

So, Karen in the scene shouts at Pete "Get out!" and Pete asks "What are you doing?" and Karen shouts "You're a sick FUCKING brutal asshole now GET OUT!!".  Pete then walks slowly toward her and says "You're not gonna kill me..." and Karen says "I swear I'll kill you!" and Pete continues to advance "You know this is right" he says and Karen yells "STAY AWAY!!!".  And as Pete advances, Karen nervously pulls the trigger but nothing happens, so Pete says "Do it again!" and Karen pulls the trigger again and again and its clearly empty, so Pete hits her saying "You really think I'd give you a fuckin loaded gun, huh?!".

Roger E. Mosley is also pretty good in the film as Roy, Pete's friend and fellow police officer, who ends up his realising that his partner also has a screw loose.

I will for time only mention two of Roger's scenes, the first where Michael approaches Roy at his apartment and asks for his help but Roy at first is reluctant.  So, Michael says to Roy "Office Cole. Your partner, I went to him.  I tried to work things out" and Roy smiles and says "Didn't you know enough to stay away from him?  He's playing you.  Every time you react, it just gets worse".  So, Michael says "So, its cops on one side and everyone else on the other?" and Roy looks at him and says "Yeah.  That's it!".  Michael then tells Roy "He threatened to kill me last night. How should I react to that? If anybody knows this guy is coming apart, it's got to be you. Come on, man. The guy's after my wife. I don't know where else to go".  Roy however decides to just go into his apartment and close the door, but a moment later he opens it again and says to Michael "Come on in".

And lastly there is the scene where Pete and Roy go for a jog together where Roy warns Pete to back off Michael and Karen, especially Karen, who Pete believes he is better for her than Michael is.

So, in the scene as the two of them jog together, Pete says "He doesn't understand. I'm better for her than he is. He doesn't love her. He can't take care of her the way that I can. She needs it!".  Roy however tries to dissuade Pete and says "What the hell are you going on about? She's never gonna be yours. You listen to me! Nothing... Nothing is ever going to happen between you and her. She is some fantasy in your head!".  Pete then says "You don't know what you're talking about!" and Roy says "I don't huh?  You tell me what you were doing with him the other night. Tell me you didn't stick a gun in his face!" and Pete tries to play his actions down and says "I was just playing with him!".

Roy then angrily says "I'm not playing with you! You've got to back off this madness! You've got to put in for stress leave and see a doctor and get your head straight!".  Pete then asks "Or?" and Roy says "Or I will go upstairs and tell them exactly what is going on with you. Understand?!" and Pete surprised says "You'd do that?" and Roy answers "You goddamn right!".  Roy then grabs Pete firmly by the arm and says to him "And if you don't do it in the next 24 hours, that is EXACTLY what I will do!! Now, you go have coffee with a shrink and it will be all right. You'll see!" and he pats Pete on the back and starts off his run again leaving Pete alone to think over what has been said.

Ken Lerner next is also pretty good as Roger, Michael's lawyer, who helps him out to a certain
extent with Michael's problems with Pete.

Ken has a couple of scenes worth mentioning such as the one where Roger suggests to Michael that he try and bribe Pete to make him back off as Pete is pressuring Michael's business reputation.  And Ken tells Michael "Your friend, Officer Davis, called Lurie and asked him lots of questions. How well does he know you? Has he done business with you before? Lurie's pulling his people out. He thinks you're under investigation" and Michael angrily says of Pete "This fucker is ruining me!".  Roger then suggests to Michael "You know what this is? Some kind of cop scam. This putz is just supplementing his lousy income. Pay him off".  And Michael looks incredulously at Roger and says "Roger, as my lawyer, you are advising me to bribe a police officer???" and Roger says "No. I'm advising you to donate to the son of a bitch's favorite charity!".

And lastly there is the scene where Roger meets with Michael while he is being held in prison for the drug charges (set up by Pete).  And Roger says to Michael "I don't think they'll set bail too high. It's not like you're a professional dope dealer" and Michael bemused asks "Professional??" and Roger says "They dredged half a pound of cocaine out of your house. So, I'd say we've got a problem" and Michael tells his problem is real simple in that Pete wants him out the way so he can have Karen.

Roger then says to Michael "Look. This is way over my head. I got in touch with Sam Gershon. He's the best criminal attorney I know. He'll represent you at your hearing".  Michael then tells Roger "You guys need to talk to Roy Cole. Davis' partner, Officer Roy Cole. He told me that if anything else happened, he'd help me out".  Roger takes a moment then tells Michael "Cole's dead. In the line of duty, in a shoot-out. I talked to his captain" and Michael realises that Pete must have killed Roy and says to himself "Then he wont stop until he kills me".  Michael then looks at Roger and says "Get me out of here, Roger" and Roger says "I will.  Its all in hand" and Michael firmly says "No, you listen to me.  Just get me out of here!".

And last of all is Deborah Offner as Penny, Karen's friend, who is also a teacher at Karen's school, who has a thing for Pete although her affections would never be returned of course!

And Debbie's most notable scene is where Karen sets it up for Pete to give a talk to the kids at school, which he does so and Karen and Penny stand up the back of the classroom watching him.  And Penny, clearly into Pete, observes him walk over to a kid in the class who asks to see his handcuffs and she says quietly to Karen "Do you think I can get him to use those on me??" who just smiles.

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

Finally moving onto the director, Jonathan Kaplan does a fine job here with the film as he keeps the tension and suspense going well throughout as you get more and more engrossed in watching the Carr's predicament and Pete's descent into craziness.  Kaplan also was known for having already directed the acclaimed drama, The Accused starring Jodie Foster, who played a rape victim, so this is a strong follow up film to that one. Since the late 90's however, Kaplan has mainly been working in TV as a director on such shows as Law and Order.

As for the music, well its a bit of a surprise this one as it was scored by James Horner but it sounds nothing like a typical Horner scorner as you could imagine as it is a bit more restrained in its use of orchestrations and instead makes use of bass, piano and even some synths.  Regardless of that, it is still a pretty good score and it suits the menacing tone of the film very well and shows once again that Horner was one of the best composers of his generation, who often produced good work.

FLAWS

As for flaws....yes, Unlawful Entry ain't perfect.

And to kick off, one of the things that bugged me was to do with the whole idea of Michael and Karen even befriending Pete in the first place as a police officer coming to their house, to later follow it up with Pete neatly arranging for the swift installation of a state-of-the-art security system into their house.  It just seemed to be ridiculously convenient and pat for the purpose of the film that Pete would be so accessible as a friend to well to-do LA couples!  Not only that of course they invite him to dinner and Pete takes Michael along for the ride-along at night.  It just doesn't smack of reality in a any way to me and seems pretty daft that a police officer would even get embroiled with a couple to that extent in the first place!

Further to this point, who would fit the bill for the system here? I mean did Pete maybe pay for it as a gesture of good will or maybe the Carrs did themselves however their finances according to Karen were already looking a bit ropey as she mentions in the film that they are struggling to afford the big house they live in.

The film is also guilty in its use of the typical thriller cliches such as Pete using his powers as a police officer to stop pretty women for speeding, such as the one in the film, who he later hooks up with her for sex, only to then throw her out the car when he realises he wants to be with Karen instead but can't be.  And in that scene Pete tells her "My only problem is with sleazy lowlife whores like you!" and he throws her out the car, its a pretty contrived scene in itself.

Then there is of course the whole thing of the dead fake-out of Pete where (SPOILER!!) in their struggle near the end, Michael punches Pete down a flight of stairs and he lands heavily on his side, going limp, and Michael prods at him with Pete's gun, and Pete looks dead only to spring up alive a few moments later!  Its a cliche that's been done to death in so many thriller films and its a pretty obvious one here.

Another cliche is also of course the whole fake-out of Pete pretending to go away from the Carr house when he turns up at the locked door with Penny inside, she is reluctant to let him in, so he leaves some groceries for her to pick up later.  So, Penny does the usual thing of opening the door to take them in only for Pete to suddenly grab her and well...you know the rest!

I also thought it was pretty vague as to what Michael's job actually was in the film also but from what I gather, he was some sort of property developer as he would invest in doing up new clubs, however this is never explicitly stated in the film.  And this is something of a bugbear for me in films where character's parts are poorly written in certain areas and their background of Michael's profession is certainly a bit ropey here.

And last of all I'd say it was also pretty silly how Roger, Michael's lawyer, was willing to sell his house just to bail him out of jail.  I mean the guy is a pretty understanding lawyer is all I'm going to say!  Michael of course had extenuating circumstances with his arrest and jail time but even so, Roger is going homeless for this guy and doing it rather willingly!  You would think as a lawyer he would have a spare 250 grand behind him somewhere! Well...OK maybe not! ;-)

WARNING: BIG SPOILER IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!

And last last of all you have to wonder how the aftermath of the film would pan out for the Carrs given that Michael shot a police officer dead in his own home not long after being released on bail for drug charges. I mean they could say it was a self defense killing although it was more a rage kill from Michael, who just wanted to put down Peter for good. To be fair though they did have evidence of Pete's psychopathy with the murder of Penny, Karen's friend, so they could back up Pete's behavior with this I guess.

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up, Unlawful Entry after 29 years, is still a gripping and entertaining thriller that is well worth checking out, especially for the performances of the three leads, who are all strong, particularly Ray Liotta, who is great as the unhined cop from hell, who stalks the LA couple.  Its a film that of course is guilty of some thriller cliches and is pretty far fetched at times but if you can put that aside then there is still plenty to enjoy here in what is a pretty solid early 90's thriller.

So, I will give Unlawful Entry:

8 out of 10

So, that's it for this one and I will be back soon with another post of sorts.

Till the next one, bye for now!

Diamonds Are Forever Review (Revisited) "How the hell do we get those diamonds down again??"

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, I figured I would do another revisit post of a classic Bond film, which I had actually just watched a Cinema Sins video on and the film is Diamonds are Forever, which was Sean Connery's last official swansong in the role of 007 and I figured why not update my review for it. 

So, after 50 years (unreal I know!) how does this Bond film still hold up??? Well, let's take another look and find out...

And the usual warning is coming up...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!! 

STORY

Right so the film's pre-credits sequence begins with James Bond (Connery) trying to locate the supervillain, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Charles Gray) who he eventually finds him at a facility where Blofeld is creating clones of himself through surgery.  Bond kills a test subject and then is confronted by the "real" Blofeld but Bond then kills him by drowning him in super heated mud.   

After this the story then moves on to two assassins, Mr Wint (Bruce Glover) and Mr Kidd (Putter Smith) who are targeting and killing several diamond smugglers.  At a MI6 briefing, Bond meets with his superior, M (Beranrd Lee) who suspects that South African diamonds are being stockpiled to depress prices and M orders Bond uncover the smuggling ring.  Bond soon after disguises himself as a professional smuggler and assassin, Peter Franks and he meets up with Frank's contact, Tiffany Case (Jill St. John).  

Later on, the real Peter Franks however soon turns up at Tiffany's apartment building and Bond manages to intercept him and the two men get into a fistfight which ends with Bond killing Franks.  Bond then switches his ID with the dead Franks to keep up the charade that Bond is Franks instead and together with Tiffany they smuggle the diamonds out using Franks corpse into America as they arrive in LA.

Bond soon meets up with his CIA associate, Felix Leiter (Norman Burton) at the airport and he travels to Las Vegas to a funeral home where Franks's body is cremated and the diamonds are passed onto another smuggler, Shady Tree (Leonard Barr) who is also a stand-up comedian.  Bond himself however is nearly killed by Wint and Kidd as they place his unconscious body into a coffin and activate a cremation oven but Bond is saved when Shady finds out the diamonds in the casket were fakes planted by Bond and the CIA.

Not long after, Bond travels to a Vegas casino hotel named the Whyte house, named after its owner the reclusive billionaire, Willard White (Jimmy Dean).  While there, Bond catches the tail end of Shady's act however Shady himself is later murdered by Wint and Kidd who are after the diamonds but they didn't realise they were fake until after they killed him.  After this Bond goes to the craps tables were he meets a sexy casino hustler, Plenty O'Toole (Lana Wood) whom after gambling, takes her back to his room.  However Bond is then ambushed by gang members, who throw Plenty out a window who manages to land in a pool.  Bond then discovers that Tiffany is waiting for him in the bedroom and the two of the spend the night together and Bond instructs to retrieve the real diamonds from a circus casino.

At the casino however, Tiffany flees from the scene and passes the diamonds onto another smuggler but she later changes her mind when Bond meets her again at the hotel pool where O'Toole is found dead.  Tiffany then drives Bond to the airport where the diamonds are given to Whyte's casino manager, Bert Saxby (Bruce Cabot) and Bond follows their destination to a remote facility by sneaking into the van of Professor Metz (Joseph Furst).  At the facility it is revealed to be a laboratory where Metz, who is a lazer refraction specialist is building satelitte.  Bond sneaks into the lab area but his cover is soon blown and he is forced to escape the facility using a moon buggy (yep that's right!) and he regroups with Tiffany and they head back to the Whyte house.

Back at the Whyte House, Bond then scales the top of the building and opens a rooftop window and jumps into what appears to be Willard Whyte's office.  However Bond instead finds two identical Blofelds, who have been using an electronic device to make their voice sound like Whyte's.  Bond kills one of the Blofelds, who is revealed to be just a look-a-like and Blofeld at gunpoint orders Bond to leave where Bond is then gassed and taken out by Wint and Kidd and placed in a pipeline in Las Vegas valley and left to die.  Bond however manages to come around and escapes the pipeline and heads back to the Whyte house where he makes a call using a similar device to make his voice sound like Saxby's, which enables Bond to learn Whyte's real location.

Bond then goes and saves Whyte who is double crossed by Saxby, who attempts to kill Whyte but he is killed himself by Leiter's men in a gunfight.  And with Whyte's help, Bond raids the lab and uncovers Blofeld's plan to create a laser satelitte using diamonds, which has been sent into orbit and with the satelitte, Blofeld plans to destroy nuclear weapons in China, the Soviet Union and the United States and he then plans an auction for global nuclear supremacy (althought I don't quite get it myself!).

And its from here Bond must try and find a way to locate and stop Blofeld from carrying out his evil plan....

THOUGHTS

As a Bond entry, Diamonds are forever is an enjoyable one in the series which while its not one of the best regarded Bond films its still has enough enjoyable moments in it.  The tone is however fairly camp and it introduced some new characters, particularly the villainous Mr Wint and Mr Kidd who were essentially almost two homosexual stereotypes.  Blofeld's return to the series however is welcoming given that Blofeld remains one of Bond's most memorable villains although I will say a bit more about him later in the review.   

The return of Sean Connery to the role was also a welcome one given that George Lazenby had already turned down the offer to make six more Bond films and Connery himself was paid over a 1 million dollar fee for his role in the film.  Connery would then later return to the role one last time for Never Say Never Again, which was essentially a remake of Thunderball but it has been panned by the fans and critics. Diamonds are Forever however, while its not his strongest film, is still pretty entertaining by comparison.  

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section will contain spoilers!)

As for the performances well they are a bit of a mixed bag here but its certainly not all bad.

And to start off with its star, Sean Connery does a fine job again as James Bond, although he is starting to show his age a little in the role despite being only 40 or 41 at the time of filming, Connery is already showing a few grey hairs and wrinkles! ;-)  But regardless of that Connery still plays the part with enough charisma and charm to keep the audience entertained even if Connery does look a bit bored in certain scenes!

Connery has plenty of good moments in the film that include the scene at the start where (SPOILER!!) Bond kills one of the Blofeld clones, thinking to be the real one and he drowns Blofeld in heated mud.  And Bond turns up the temperature control level on a panel and grins and says to the deceased Blofeld "Welcome to hell, Blofeld!".

Another scene worth mentioning is when Bond meets with M for a briefing with Sir Donald Mungen over the smuggling rings.  And in the scene Sir Mungen asks Bond what does he know about diamonds and Bond replies "Well, hardest substance found in nature, they cut glass, suggestsmarriage, I suppose it replaced the dog as the girl's best friend. That's about it!".

Then there is the scene when Bond first meets Tiffany Case and he walks into her apartment where she is wearing scant clothing.  And Bond says to her "That's quite a nice little nothing you're almost wearing. I approve" and Tiffany pours Bond a drink warning him "I don't dress for the hired help. Let's see your passport, Franks".  And Bond gives her his passport (or rather Franks passport) and she looks at it and says "Occupation: Transport Consultant? It's a little cute isn't it? I'll finish dressing" and Bond sarcastically says "Oh, please don't, not on my account!".

Then there is the moment where Bond meets with Plenty O'Toole at the casino and she says to him "Hi, I'm Plenty" and Bond looks at her alluring and revealing dress and says "But of course you are!".  And Plenty says "Plenty O'Toole" and Bond says to her "Named after your father perhaps?!".

Another good scene is when Bond is gassed unconscious and taken out to the Las Vegas valley and placed in a large open pipe, which is fed into the pipeline.  And when Bond comes around inside the pipeline he sees a small rat close to him and he smells something in the air and says to the rat "Well, one of us smells like a tart's handkerchief!" and Bond sniffs himself as it was the aftershave that Wint was wearing and he apologies to the rat "I'm afraid its me.  Sorry, old boy!".  And this is followed up by the moment where Bond emerges from the pipe when a couple of oil workers open a hatch and Bond says to them "Thank you very much. I was just out walking my rat and seem to have lost my way!".

Then we have the scene where Bond goes up to find Whyte and encounters Whyte's two female friends, Bambi and Thumper who give Bond more than he bargained for as they kick his ass between them.  And in the scene the two girls throw Bond into a swimming pool below and they try to drown him but he instead manages to dunk their heads down below the water instead!  Its a pretty daft scene but fun all the same.  

WARNING: BIG SPOILER COMING UP! 

And lastly there is the scene near the end when Bond and Tiffany are having a special dinner onboard a cruise ship but the dinner is served up to them by Wint and Kidd, who have stashed a bomb inside a large cake.  

And in the scene Wint opens a bottle of wine for Bond and pours a glass, giving the cork to Bond to sniff, which he does and he says to Wint "That is quite potent, not the cork, your aftershave" and he tastes the wine "The wine is quite excellent. Although for such a grand meal I would have expected a claret".  And Wint says to Bond "But of course. Unfortunately our cellar is poorly stocked with clarets" and Bond having rumbled Wint says to him "Mouton Rothschild IS a claret. And, I've smelled that aftershave before, and both times - I've smelled a rat!".

Jill St. John next up however is a weak link in the chain of the cast here as her performance as the sexy and sassy diamond smuggler, Tiffany Case is pretty lame to say the least as she appears to deliver her lines almost half heartedly and certainly doesn't do so great with her more dramatic moments.  In short Tiffany Case remains one of the flimsiest of Bond girls and Jill's performance certainly doesn't help back the character up.

Regardless of that Jill has one or two good moments though that include the scene when Tiffany attends the circus casino and she plays a water gun game to win a prize (the prize actually is a bear which has the real diamonds stashed in it).  And as Jill wins the game, a young kid playing next to her insists she was cheating, so Jill fed up says to the kid "Go blow up your pants!". 

Then there is the scene where Tiffany is waiting for Bond, lying in a large bed and wearing a negligee as Bond turns the light on and this is just after some goons through Plenty out of hotel room window. So, Tiffany says to him "Sorry about your fulsome friend. I bet you really missed something" and Bond says to her "Well the evening might not be a total loss after all". Tiffany then says "Why don't we talk first" and Bond says "Well, what would you like to talk about?" and Tiffany says "You pick a subject" and Bond says "Diamonds" and Tiffany says "Good boy!". 

Another notable scene is when Tiffany goes to her place and finds Bond sitting on a sunbed and she angrily says to him "You've got a lot of guts showing up here! After letting me freeze my behind off at a blackjack table for two hours waiting for some nonexistent diamonds! And what the hell is my black wig doing in the pool?!". Tiffany however looks closer at the pool and we see Plenty is dead, drowned in the pool with a weight tied to her feet. Tiffany looks shocked and says "She's..." and Bond finishes her sentence "Dead. Supposed to be you. The next link in the pipeline". 

Tiffany then asks Bond "What are you talking about?" and Bond tells her "A dentist is dead in South Africa. That little old lady in Amsterdam. Shady got his last night. They've missed me once. And you're next. Now, who's your connection?". Tiffany suspcious then says "You sound like a cop to me..." and Bond slaps her and firmly asks her "I said who's your connection?!" and Tiffany comes clean and tells him "All I know, his voice is on a phone. They got me this place and told me to wait for further instructions" and Bond then says "You'll find that rather difficult to hear underwater".  

And lastly there is the scene where Tiffany stops Metz from leaving the gas station to allow Bond to sneak into his van so Tiffany drives her car infront of Metz's vehicle.  And in the scene Tiffany says to Metz "Keep leaning on that tooter, Charlie, and you're gonna get a shot in the mouth!" and she says to the gas station attendant "Hey Curly, how about my stamps?!" and the station attendant relents and get's the petrol pump ready to fill up her car.  However at this point, Tiffany notices Bond has gotten into the back of Metz's van and she says to the attendant "Hey, I wanted high-test! (i.e. petrol) Forget it, Curly, you had your chance and you blew it!" and she get's in her car and drives off.

Although of course they can't resist later on making Tiffany's character into a real bimbo onboard Blofeld's oil rig where she is caught by Blofeld trying to switch the tapes and one of them is stuck in the rear of her bikini. Tiffany in the next scene tells Bond "I did it! I switched the tape round" but Bond says to her "You stupid twit! You've put back in the real one!".  

And last of all is the final scene of the film where (SPOILER!!!) Bond having dealt with Mr Wint and Mr Kidd hugs Tiffany. And Tiffany says that often repeated line by Bond girls as they hug "Oh James!" and Bond asks her "Oh, yes, what was it you were about to ask me?" and Tiffany says "James. How the hell do we get those diamonds down again?" and they look up to the sky where Blofeld's satelitte is still orbiting that contains the diamonds and they both smile. 

Charles Gray does fair better as Blofeld however his performance doesn't have the creepy stillness of Donald Pleasance in You Only Live Twice or the credibility of Telly Savalas in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (although I still think Telly was the best Blofeld).  Gray had also appeared in one of the previous Bond films, You only live twice as Dikko Henderson, one of Bond's British contacts (albeit rather briefly).   

Gray has some good moments all the same that include the scene Blofeld meets with Bond at the Whyte house.  And Bond asks Blofeld what he intends to do with the diamonds and Blofeld says to Bond "An excellent question. And one which will be hanging on the lips of the world quite soon. If I were to break the news to anyone it would be to you first, Mr Bond, you know that".  But Blofeld soon then asks Bond to leave and says to him "But its late, I'm tired and there is much to be done, Mr Bond" and he press a button opening a lift door.  And Bond walks cautiously towards the lift, prompting a response from Blofeld "Well go on, go on, it's merely a lift. Or should I say elevator? In any event I'm sure you'll find it far more convenient than mountaineering about outside the Whyte House!".

Then there is the admittedly stupid scene where Blofeld wanders through a casino in drag and this catches the attention of Tiffany who only sees him from behind so she chases after him out onto the sidewalk where she is soon pushed into a limo and is sat right next to Blofeld who sits with a wig and make-up on, stroking his cat.  And Blofeld says to her Tiffany "Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in!  I'm delighted to meet you, Miss Case.  I'd so dreaded the prospect of making this tedious journey alone!".

And then we have the scene when onboard Blofeld's oilrig near the end, Blofeld catches Tiffany trying to switch the cassette tapes used to launch the codes for the satelitte and she has the other tape in her underwear.  And Blofeld says to her "Tiffany, my dear!  We're showing a bit more CHEEK than usual, aren't we?!" and Tiffany hands the tape to Blofeld and he says " Take her below and lock her up with Mr. Bond".  And as Tiffany is lead off, Blofeld looks at the tape and says to himself "What a pity, such nice cheeks too. If only they were brains!".

And last of all is the scene Blofled makes to escape the oil rig when government agents attack it and he delivers the priceless line as he picks up a phone and says "Prepare my bathosub immediately!". This is then followed by Blofeld getting inside his bathosub (great name!) and crane operator lifting it and readying to drop into the sea when Bond knocks out the operator and takes his place. So, Blofeld grows impatient as he shouts at the absent operator "Sub to crane! Lower crane! Wake up, man! Lower the crane!". Bond then looks at the controls and presses one that sends the bathosub into the water with a rough landing, which angers Blofeld who shouts "You stupid idiot! You could have killed me!". Bond then lifts the bathosub with the crane angering Blofeld who shouts "I said LOWER! NOT UP!" and Bond then uses the crane to smash the bathosub against the control center of the rig causing it to begin exploding and Blofeld's final words being "DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU!".  

Bruce Glover and Putter Smith are also pretty good in their roles as the creepy henchmen, Mr Wint and Mr Kidd as you can almost imagine they are like a gay couple version of Anton Chigurh as they relentlessly murder anyone that stands in their way.  And it also has to be said that they also can't resist making a series of cheesy puns when they make their kills aswell, which does get a bit annoying after a while.  

I will mention them together as they really are a double act so their scenes worth mentioning include their first when they are out in the desert and they meet with a diamond smuggler who is also a dentist to do an exchange for money and diamonds.  And before the smuggler arrives, Wint notices a scorpion on the ground and says to Kidd "The scorpion" and Kidd says "One of nature's finest killers, Mr Wint" and Wint says to him "One is never too old to learn from a master, Mr. Kidd!".

And later in the same scene after they have killed the dentist smuggler, Wint and Kidd kill off another smuggler who arrives in a helicopter by giving him a case with a bomb inside but before they do, Wint tells him that dentist was sick "Bitten by the bug!" and "He said to give you this!" and gives the pilot the case, which detonates as he flies off.  And this prompts the glib one-liners from the duo as Kidd says to Wint "If God wanted man to fly...." and Wint finishes the line "...he would have given him wings, Mr Kint!" and the two then holds hands and walk off together through the desert.

Another good scene comes between the two of them when they are onboard a plane, following Tiffany Case.  And Kidd spots Tiffany through the curtains of the section of his cabin and Kidd says to Wint "Well, they're both aboard, and I must say Miss Case seems quite attractive..." and this prompts a jealous glare from Wint and Kidd says "....for a lady!" and Wint continues to glare and Kidd laughs nervously.  

Then there is the scene when Bond is knocked out by Wint and Kidd at the funeral home and he is placed in a coffin and they activate the creamtion oven.  And as the coffins starts to move into the oven, Wint glibly says to Kidd "Very moving" and Kidd says "Heartwarming, Mr Wint" and Wint says "A glowing tribute, Mr Kidd!" and they leave hurriedly.  God these guys are on fire!  (Sorry!).

Then there is the moment when Bond after having met with Blofeld is gassed in the lift and then taken out by Wint and Kidd and placed in their car where they drive Bond into the valley.  And as they look at the unconscious Bond and Wint says to Kidd "If at first you don't succeed Mr. Kidd...?" and Kidd finishes off the line "Try, try again, Mr Wint!". 

And last of all is their final scene where Mr Wint and Mr Kidd try to finish off Bond and Tiffany as they pose as catering staff onboard the cruiser they are on. So, Mr Wint shows off the trolley of food the have and says to them in a put-on French accent "On specific instructions and with the complements of Mr. Willard Whyte: Oysters Andaluz, Shashlik, Tidbits, Prime rib au jus, Salade Utopia...". And we then see Mr Kidd set a timer on a bomb underneath the trolley and place a cake topping over it and Wint says "And the piece de resistance..." and Kidd produces the beautiful cake and Wint says "The bombre suprise!". Tiffany appetised walks toward them and says "That looks fantastic! What is it?" and Wint tells her "Ah, but then there would be no surprise, Madame!". 

Jimmy Dean also does well in his role as the reclusive billionaire, Willard Whyte who is being used by Blofeld in order to carry out his own plan.

Dean also has some good moments in the film that include the one where Bond along with Leiter finally track down Whyte at his summer house and they lead him out of his secluded hideout only for a gunshot to fire off and we see Bert Saxby taking shots at his boss.  And as Saxby is killed by the CIA agents, Bond says "Saxby" and Whyte who didn't see Saxby die asks "Bert Saxby???!" and Bond says "Yes" which prompts the classic line "Tell him he's fired!!".

Another scene is when Bond brings Whyte and Leiter to the research station he smuggled into earlier where the satelitte was being worked on by Dr Metz, who Blofeld has recruited to help him with this plans. So, Bond asks Whyte "Was Dr Metz on your payroll, Mr Whyte?" and Whyte says "No. But I heard of him. Everybody in our business has. The world's leading expert on laser refraction. A committed idealist to peace. And how in the hell Blofeld got his hooks in him, I will never know!".

And lastly there is the scene where after a series of attacks by Blofeld using the satelitte to destroy several nuclear missile sites around the world, Bond ponders where Blofeld might be as Whyte tells him of Blofeld's demands to the world. 

So, Whyte enters and tells Bond "Well, Washington just got word from your friend with the cat. Would you believe that this whole damn country is bein' held for ransom and we've got till noon tomorrow to pay up!" and Bond says "So that's his plan". Whyte then tells Bond "An international auction with nuclear supremacy goin to the highest bidder!". Bond asks Whyte "Tell me, what does he need to control that satelite?" and Whyte says "A simple set of tapes fed into a computer bank. All he really needs is a building" and he lies down on a couch. Bond then asks "And these tapes? Large or small?" and Whyte says "Concievably any size. From six inches to a cassette". 

Bond then suggests to Whyte that Blofeld could be anywhere on Whyte's map if he is still using his empire as a cover for his operations. And Bond says to Whyte "Blofeld could be anywhere on this map. From Alaska to Florida. From Maine to Oregon. From Texas to Baja California". Whyte then suddenly sits up, surprised, he says "Baja?! I haven't got anything in Baja!" and he storms over to the map on the floor and we see Baja as one of the plants. 

Norman Burton does OK in his role as Felix Leiter although I have to say he isn't one of the more memorable Leiter's but he still does well with the part.

And Burton still does provide some good moments such as his first scene where Bond meets with Felix at the airport in Vegas with Felix posing as an airline staff member. So, as they wheel out the coffin containing Peter Franks body (who Bond killed earlier) Bond greets Felix and says "Well, well, well Felix Leiter, you old fraud!" and Felix says quietly to Bond "On behalf of the CIA, welcome to America". Felix then opens the coffin feels through the body and says quietly to Bond "I don't get it. I know the diamonds are in the body but where?" and Bond says "Alimentary, Dr Leiter!". Felix then shuts the coffin and says to Bond "So long, James. Keep in touch".

And lastly there is the scene where Felix runs up after Bond who has gone up to find Willard Whyte in his secluded penthouse. And Felix runs in to find Bond in the swimming pool with the two girls, Bambi and Thumper while he dunks them under the water (a scene that Connery appears to be enjoying I might add!).  And Felix says to Bond "Oh, great!  Willard Whyte is about to be executed and guess who's giving breaststroke lessons???!" and Felix asks "Where's Whyte?" and Bond "Haven't found out yet" and he let's the girls up for air but then pushes them down again and says "Still haven't found out!".   

Lana Wood on the other hand is pretty naff in her part as the other Bond girl in the film, Plenty O'Toole who appears only briefly which is maybe just aswell given her acting leaves much to be desired (although her figure is a different story! ;-).

And Wood get's some of the film's worst lines although she does get one good one where Bond has finished playing at the crap tables in the casino and Plenty follows him, impressed.  And Plenty says to Bond after he gives her $5,000 in chips "Hey, Mr Franks, you are a terrific guy!  A little weird but a terrific guy!".

But this is followed by one of the worst lines in the whole film when Bond takes Plenty back to his luxurious hotel room and she says to him "Wow!  What a super place you have!".  Although to be fair it is followed up by the better line when the Slumber inc funeral home goons come back for the real diamonds and one of them grabs Plenty and throws her out the window into a swimming pool below.  And Plenty protests as she is lifted out the bedroom, naked except for her underwear, yelling "Hey, what the hell is this? A pervert's convention or something?  Now listen, you can't do this to me! Stop that! I've got friends in this townnnnnnn!!" and she is thrown out the window and lands into the pool below.    

And last of all Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell and Desmond Llewellyn all do their own little bit in the film and do it well although in their respective roles as M, Moneypenny and Q.

Lee himself delivers one of the film's best lines when Bond shows off his knowledge of wine to Sir Donald Mungen but Mungen asks him what he knows about gold.  And Bond glibly says "Well, hardest substance found in nature, they cut glass, suggests marriage, I suppose it replaced the dog as the girl's best friend. That's about it!".  And M replies "Refreshing to hear that there is one subject you're not an expert on!".

Lois Maxwell literally however only has one scene in the film and that's when Moneypenny gives Bond his fake passport.  And as Bond is about to drive off he asks Moneypenny "What can I bring you back from Holland?" and Moneypenny says "A diamond?  In a ring?" and Bond smiles and says "Would you settle for a tulip?!" and he drives off, leaving Moneypenny smiling longingly and saying "Yes".

And last of all Des has one or two good little moments although the two that come to mind are when he sets up the electronic voice to change Bond's voice to sound like Saxby's.  And Bond says to Q after making the call using it says "This time you've surpassed yourself, Q" and Q says to him "Oh not at all, made this for the kids last Christmas!".  And also the moment where he uses a magnetised ring to activate the slot machines in the Vegas casino much to the amazement of Tiffany.

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
As for the director, Guy Hamilton does a fine job here with the film in what was the second of four Bond films that he directed.  Hamilton here also paces the film out very well as it rarely lags and he shows he is more than capable on handling the action scenes although the film is guilty of having one or two boring car chases in it but that can be forgiven as its mostly all good fun here.  Hamilton would then go on to direct Roger Moore's debut and follow up, Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun.  This might not be Hamilton's best directorial effort as that would belong to Goldfinger but its still a good one and it showed Hamilton was one of the series best directors.

As for the music John Barry provides an excellent score and it is filled his usual signature tracks and themes and there are plenty of good tracks throughout the film.  A couple in particular that are worth mentioning is the one where Blofeld activates the satelitte in orbit and destroys the nuclear arms in the US, China and the Soviet Union as its a good example of Barry's dramatic musical styling (that's the best I can put it!).  And another is the music used during the film's climax on Blofeld's oil rig when Bond sabotages Blofeld's minisub by operating the crane to hoist and lower it and he slams the minisub (or bathosub!) into the side of the satelite control room, which was actually a reused theme from Thunderball.  

And I can't forget to mention that the film contains its excellent theme song sung by Shirley Bassey, which is very memorable in itself and it stands out as one of the most notable Bond theme songs. So, overall its a very good score and one of the most memorable from the series.

FLAWS (Warning this section may also contain spoilers!)

As for Diamonds are Forever....flaws....does it have any????  Or rather do the diamonds in the film have any flaws??? ;-) Yes it does have some.

And to kick off one of the problems I had with the film was to do with its campy tone and its overuse of glib one-liners and puns not only from the hitman duo of Mr Wint and Mr Kidd but even from Bond himself.  I mean lines such as the one where Bond slips the cassette tape into the behind of Tiffany's Bikini knickers and he says to her "You bitch.  Your troubles are all behind you now!".

Or another example is when just after Mr Wint and Kidd kill off the dentist with a scorpion, they give a case to another smuggler who arrives in a helicopter and Wint says to the smuggler of the dentist "He couldn't make it!  Bitten by the bug!".  I mean its pretty naff and they soon become a bit tiresome and you can just imagine the screenwriters just hanging around the office trying to come up with as many cheesy puns as they possibly could to squeeze into the script!

Also further to the point of the scorpion stinging the dentist and killing him in actual reality not alot of scorpion stings are actually fatal although some of them can and they can be particularly fatal to children (or so I read).  So again this film sets up a bit of a myth about scorpions suddenly being able to kill a man with one sting as its just thrown in for the sake of convenience to bump off an expendable character.

Another problem I have with the film to a lesser extent is Connery's depiction of Bond has him as something of a bit of a misogynist (well I guess Bond kind of is really!).  And here Bond is seen almost strangling a woman (he nearly chokes a woman to death with her bikini top for information at the start on Blofeld's whereabouts) and slapping one (where he slaps Jill in one scene when he asks her about her diamond connection).  And Bond's rougshod approach to treating women like this was I guess something that Connery did do but its something I don't think sits too well or appears that comfortable to watch in the film.

As for the plot there were one or two daft moments worth mentioning too such as the scene where Bond sneaks into the back of Metz's van while Tiffany distracts Metz by parking her car infront of him and brashly asking the gas station attendant to fill her car up.  And in this scene we can see Bond get into the back of the van, but so can the guy who's car is directly BEHIND Metz's yet the guy in the car behind says NOTHING of it to Metz or Tiffany!  And it would make you wonder, shouldn't the guy have said something as it was as clear as day to him and it looked a bit weird seeing a random guy sneak into the back of Metz's van!

Then there is a bit of a continuity error in the plot which happens in the scene where Tiffany comes back to her home and finds Bond sitting outside in a deck chair waiting for her only for Tiffany to find Plenty's dead body drowned in her swimming pool.  Now this really makes no sense because presumably Wint and Kidd killed Plenty but they already have seen Tiffany so why would they mistake Plenty for her in the first place?!  Maybe the only excuse for this is that they did it at night in poor light and thought Plenty looked enough like Tiffany and that was enough for them to make the mistake.

However there is also a deleted scene for the film which happens to explain just why Plenty was at Tiffany's home in the first place as she actually sneaked her way back up into Bond's hotel room and noticed that Bond was getting it on with Tiffany.  So Plenty angrily and sneakily rifles through Tiffany's handbag and notes her address and she goes there, which obviously leads into the case of mistaken identity of her murder.  Now this kind of makes more sense but its still a bit daft but without this scene the fact we see Plenty turn up dead in Tiffany's swimming pool in the film makes none whatsoever!  

I also found the scene where Wint and Kidd take Bond when he is unconscious out to a pipeline a bit silly too as they just leave him in a large pipe thinking he might eventually die there, which is stupid in itself as he didn't!  And it makes you wonder given all the opportunities they had to kill him why didn't they just shoot Bond and get it over with or perhaps Blofeld instructed them not to kill Bond.  Who knows???

Another issue was to do with Blofeld and his clones as it kind of gets pretty silly and confusing as to just who was the original Blofeld???!  I mean was the guy that Bond killed at the start Blofeld???  Or was he just a clone?  Or was he the original Blofeld and the one we see later was a replacement clone???  And just why the hell did Blofeld clone himself in the first place??!! Its like the writers seemed to delight in confusing the audience with all the Blofelds on display here!  In fact they would be just better with focusing on just the one Blofeld rather than confusing an audience with the whole idea of Blofeld's clones, which is a pretty stupid one anyway. 

And its also worth mentioning that Blofeld really is reduced to a rather campy character himself here even to the point where in one scene he is dressed up in drag with a wig and lipstick on!  Charles Gray does have the perfect face for a villain but he just doesn't cut it here as the menacing SPECTRE supervillain that is supposed to Blofeld, not when we see him in a skirt and high heels!

Another issue with the plot is also to do with Blofeld's plan which is pretty effing stupid to stay the least!  I mean he destroys the superpowers of the world's stockpile of nuclear weapons so he can put up an auction of some kind for world supremacy!  So is this some sort of nuclear arms pre-eBay deal he is trying to work out here with the nations of the world????  It just doesn't make much sense at all!!  Not to mention it just isn't very well explained in the film as to why Blofeld was really doing it! Is it so he can control the supply of nuclear weapons or is it so he can announce himself as the great nuclear superpower that can fire a missile anywhere at will???  Hmmm it doesn't add up at all.

And lastly just what happened to Blofeld at the end of the film?!  Yes Bond does sabotage Blofeld's mini submarine by hoisting it with the crane and bashing it into the sides of the oil rig's control room but its not clear whether or not Blofled actually survives.  So we are just left guessing as to whether Blofeld actually made it or if he was killed in the explosions of the rig itself.  We don't know so its just left open ended and no one says anymore about it although Wint and Kidd do go after Bond and Tiffany at the end so that might have been on the orders of Blofeld himself after the fact, which is enough to suggest he survived.

And another addition to this subplot with Wint and Kidd attempting to kill Bond and Jill for the last time, it is beyond stupid that Mr Wint would derive such pleasure from Bond having pulling Wint's arms up behind his legs just after his partner in crime (literally and metaphorically!) Mr Kidd has been killed by Bond!  Its almost like Bond is unintentionally giving Wint a last cheap perverted thrill before he kills him off which almost erases the fact his boyfriend has just been offed by Bond aswell!  Ah well, it is just a Bond film I guess.  

And last of all, I also found that the scene where they use Peter Franks body to plant the diamonds inside to smuggle them into America was also really stupid. I mean couldn't they have found another way to smuggle the diamonds inside the country rather than stick them inside some dead guy?! Not to mention that the diamonds they did put inside Franks were in fact fake ones, so they had to source a supply of fake diamonds also to pull this off also! 

Further to this point, after Franks body is cremated at the crematorium and his ashes are supposedly placed in an urn, how did Bond just end up with the diamonds in the urn and not also the ashes as well?! Unless of course they decanted the ashes into a separate urn and gave Bond the urn with the diamonds either by mistake or on purpose. Again this bit doesn't make any real sense whatsoever.  

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So to sum up, Diamonds are forever is still an entertaining Bond film which has plenty of fairly fast paced action and has some creepy villains in Mr Wint and Kidd and it sees Sean Connery make a welcome return to the role after George Lazenby's very brief stint in the role (although he is starting to look a bit old here!).

Its not perfect of course and the overly camp tone, its bland Bond girl in Tiffany Case and some daft plot holes do somewhat do it quite a bit of injustice.  But if you are willing to overlook all that then its still a film that's worth checking it out, even if it isn't one of the very best Bond films.

So, I will finish by rating Diamonds Are Forever:

7 out of 10

So that's it for now and I will be back soon with another post!

Till then its bye for now!