3. George Lazenby Is 007 In 'Diamonds Are Forever'
Blasphemy you say? Well hear me out. I dislike Diamonds Are Forever for several reasons. 1) It was the first film when Sean Connery was looking too old to play the role of Bond. 2) It had Blofeld reduced to escaping through a casino in drag. 3) It virtually ignored the events of On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I know that until Quantum of Solace we had never had a direct Bond sequel, but there has been a small element of continuity, at least in the early Bond films with the every increasing presence of Blofeld and SPECTRE. Diamond's Are Forever should have been a revenge thriller, akin to the later Licence To Kill. And this is why...
For me, this stands as one of greatest moments in Bond history. After foiling Blofeld's plans and rescuing Tracy, James Bond gets married. He is deliriously happy. He and Tracy drive off from their wedding reception, waved off by Q, Moneypenny and M, talking of all the children they will have. And then Blofeld and his cronnies drive past, opening fire on their car. Tracey is killed and we end with Bond cradling her dead body in his arms as he mutters the immortal words 'we have all the time in the world...' I get why On her Majesty's Secret Service divides audiences. George Lazenby is nowhere as comfortable in the role as Sean Connery. It's central theme is a love story. It doesn't have all the gadgetry and over the top set pieces that we grew to expect from Goldfinger onwards. It is definitely a more cerebral movie and more in keeping with the novels. But I imagine if Sean Connery had returned, audience would touted it as one if his best. Blodeld is very different (Terry Savalas' version is a scientific genius and more hands on in the action front then Donald Pleasence's version) and has an amazing presence. The ski chases, and the final assault on the mountain top lair are spectacular. And Dianna Rigg plays one of the best Bond girls ever committed to film. It is easy to see why Bond fall in love with Tracy. The biggest hindrance to George Lazneby (beside his decision not to take up a massive £1 million pay for a sequel - and 5 other films beyond that too if accounts are true), is that his one outing as Bond is a very different fare to what came before and after. Diamonds Are Forever is a much more standard Bond film with ridiculously named Bond girls, (Plenty O'Toole), diabolical henchmen (Mr Kidd and Mr Wint) and is genuinely more glossier, wittier, more gadget-heavy and had an iconic Bond song (Shirley Bassey's 'Diamonds Are Forever' is brilliant). Had George Lazenby done this film too, audiences would have truly had a chance to see how well he did in the 'classic' Bond persona. And more importantly, Diamonds Are Forever would have had a much greater impact if it had made an attempt to deal with the events of On Her Majesty's Secret. Poor Tracy is not mentioned once in all Bond's encounters with Blofeld - perhaps it was felt that with the return of Sean Connery, audiences wouldn't relate to reference to a story that didn't involve him as Bond. (Remember, only Connery had played Bond in the canon universe before Lazenby came along). The story didn't need much of an expansion. Connery's Bond is still out to defeat Blofeld once and for all, but add the whole 'you murdered my wife element' and it takes Bond to a whole new level. And the pre-title sequence in For Your Eyes Only doesn't count as a worthy closure...