Review Detail

I've been trying to figure out how to begin this review. I suppose I can start by saying Diamonds Are Forever might be my least favorite Bond movie, certainly my least favorite of the Connery Bonds and it always bothered me that it was Connery's last time in the role, officially. When Never Say Never Again came out, it just didn't feel right and that was mostly due to the music. But even as it was, it featured a great villain in Largo and two very very hot and memorable Bond Girls. To say that this version of the film is better than the original and easily replaces it in my collection is a huge huge understatement. You have raised this to the level, for me, of the very best of the Sean Connery 007 movies. It is far better than Thunderball, whose plot hinged greatly on the coincidence of Bond being at the same hospital as the pilot. It is much better than Diamonds Are Forever whose ridiculousness annoys the Hell out of me. I think it is better than You Only Live Twice and maybe even Dr No. I would honestly rank this version of this movie up among Goldfinger and From Russia With Love.
The music choices throughout are so damned perfect. "History Repeating" was such a brilliant choice for the opening. I always liked the song, but it fits so well with Connery repeating his most famous role. And though it doesn't entirely sound like a Bond theme.....it is Shirley Bassey. And then throughout the movie we are treated to something of a greatest hits discretely in the background, even including a very short snippet of one of my personal favorites "If There Was A Man" --not the Pretenders' vocal, but the instrumental. If I were to search for something to complain about, it would be very difficult. I might have to go all the way to the ending credits and say Aimee Mann's version of "Nobody Does It Better" does not segue quite perfectly with Carly Simon's, but that would be such a stupid thing to nitpick at. I suppose the picture in the very beginning is not perfect at times, I assume because you are cropping out credits by zooming in. Again, hardly worth mentioning.
Overall, fantastic. It is one of the most memorable Bond films. Kim Bassinger....OMG. I forgot how hot she was. And Fatima Blush was clearly ripped off entirely later in the Brosnon GoldenEye. Even the presence of Mr Bean didn't hurt this, as the humor was minimal and far superior to Mr Kidd and Mr Wint in Diamonds Are Forever. I very highly recommend this and honestly rank this version among the very best 007 movies. Extremely well done! So glad I got to see it!