Every summer the commercial tv channel «TV Norge» seems to run their James Bond cavalcade. It starts with «Dr. No» and continues until the very latest Bond film. I`ve always liked the Bond films with Connery plus the 1969 film starring George Lazenby, or so I thought. Although much of the thrill must be said to be gone anyway, the first five films are fine. Especially «Thunderball» must have been gorgeous for it`s time, and it was! It was a matter of virtue for us Norwegians always to use the film`s original title, so we said «In Her Majesty`s Secret Service» and «You Only Live Twice» instead of «I hemmelig tjeneste» and «James Bond i Japan», between connoisseurs, at least. Knowing all the previous Bond films in the early 70s was some kind of cultural abc and a sign of good manners.
However, today I think the 1969 film is full of what a Bond film would be like in the years to come; too many action-filled persecution scenes. As if this weren`t enough, as the film is nearing it`s end, we get an over the top bobsleigh scene. Yes, the whole movie is very 1969, although, like the other Bond films, it`s restored bordering to the unrecognizible. «Diamonds Are Forever» is, despite it`s glamour and Bondness, so bad it`s almost falling apart. I have to cherry-pick what I like about it. What I surely don`t like are the two gay men in the desert, the cremation scene, the moon-vehicles in the desert and the oil-platform in the end.
Add on top of this a sad reminder of the man I never became, in my case even more so than most of us, and you`re in for a so-so time in front of the TV set.
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