Charles Gray's a clone, genetically a splice, after being assassinated by a Japanese ninjas knife; he's morphed to Ernst Blofeld, Henderson the role he had held, fulfilling what was told in You Only Live Twice (albeit as different people).

I thoroughly enjoy the James Bond movies, but Diamonds are Forever is not really among the best. In fact, this is not only Sean Connery's weakest film as Bond, but it is also one of the weaker Bond films. It does have its saving graces, but it is very disappointing.

It has its saving graces I admit- The Las Vegas sequences were very nicely done, and Bruce Glover and Putter Smith make an interesting double act as the gay hit men. And the scenery and photography is striking, plus the main theme song sung by Shirley Bassey is wonderful.

However, the plot is a bit of a mess. It seems simple certainly, but it is badly underdeveloped. I think they should have reinforced the idea of using Gert Frobe as Goldfinger's twin brother, I think that would have elevated the film if included. Then we have a tacky script that relies too much on slapstick and unfocused direction. And the acting is not great, Sean Connery is my favourite Bond mainly due to his suavity and charisma but he seems bored and uninterested here and gives an unusually flat performance in the role, while Charles Gray did nothing for me as Blofeld and Jill St John makes for an unmemorable Bond girl.

Overall, rather weak but has its moments. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Once again, Bond is back and the film has almost nothing to do with the original Ian Fleming novel by the same name. However, what is different is that after a one film hiatus, Sean Connery is back--too bad the film, in many ways, sucked. That's because by now, the plots seemed more like comic books and the character of Bond seemed more like self-parody than anything else. While in the past Connery played his character rather straight, here he was playing a smirking and smug guy--as if he was looking at the camera and saying "ain't I cute?". In subsequent Roger Moore films, this also, unfortunately was the general pattern.

Some of the silliness was still watchable and fun--such as the two gay assassins. They were far from subtle but provided some welcome color to the film. However, Jill St. John, though a gorgeous lady, was too whiny and "kooky" to be playing a serious character. Nitwit Bond girls are annoying and she was about as bad as Britt Ekland in THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN--yuck.

As far as the bad guy goes, Blofeld is back but he seems nothing like the Telly Savalas or Donald Plesence versions. Supposedly he underwent plastic surgery--but could this explain how he was different in EVERY way?! Plus, having Charles Gray play Blofeld was stupid, as he was one of Bond's friends and was killed in YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE.

Still, despite many shortcomings, this is a watchable adventure movie--but also, unfortunately, the worst of the original Connery Bond films. A bit less than two decades later, Connery returned to make a "new" Bond film (NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN),but the less said about this awful film, the better.