Top 5 scenes in ‘Diamonds Are Forever’

Eon Production’s seventh instalment in the thrilling, 60-year James Bond franchise saw the reprisal of Sean Connery as 007.

As well as Connery’s return as the suave, fortuitous, and somewhat cold-hearted British spy that we’ve all come to love, Diamonds are Forever includes multiple scenes that stand out in the memories of Bond fans.

From the iconic craps scene to the scene where Bond is nearly cremated alive, Diamonds Are Forever brought 007’s audiences a whirlwind storyline, full of thrills.

Below, we’re rounding up the top five scenes from Diamonds Are Forever…

 

#5 The Lift Fight

Bond, posing as diamond smuggler Peter Franks, meets the real Peter Franks in an elevator. Awkward, right? Well, Bond is on his way to meet one of Franks’ contacts, Tiffany Case, and poses as an English-speaking German man when the two cross paths. He checks his watch, asks what floor Franks is heading to, and proceeds to start a fight with Franks on the way to the third floor.

On the floor, Bond sprays Franks with a fire extinguisher (creative, yes), and proceeds to hit him with it, knocking Franks off the balcony, plunging to his death.

 

#4 Mr Wint, Mr Kidd, and the Cruise Ship

Towards the end of the film, with Peter Franks dead and Ernest Blofeld thought to be, Bond and Tiffany Case are relaxing on the deck of a cruise ship. Two room service stewards arrive, and the audience sees a bomb placed underneath a placebo cake. It turns out that the stewards are Mr Kidd and Mr Wint – two assassins that tried to kill Bond earlier in the film.

However, when Kidd and Wint attempt to kill James Bond, the former is set on fire by him, who throws wine on him, and then jumps into the sea engulfed in flames. Bond then manages to attach the bomb to Wint, and throws him overboard, exploding upon impact.

 

#3 Bond meets the Blofelds

‘Good evening, Mr Bond’; the infamous first line spoken by one of the Blofelds in one of the film’s opening scenes. James Bond has followed Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Charles Gray) to his secret facility, where he’s producing clone robots with voice-changing capabilities. As a second Blofeld casually struts down the staircase, the ‘real’ Blofeld begins to explain how he’s expanding his criminal empire. Bond shoots the lookalike Blofeld, but, as we later find out, both Blofelds are fake.

In his typically cool and collected manner, James Bond continues his conversation with Blofeld no.1, before leaving the facility, with the audience on tenterhooks as to what Bond has up his sleeve…

 

#2 The Craps Casino Scene

Casino scenes are a given in 007 films. Normally, we’ll see Bond playing Poker, dressed in a sharp black and white tuxedo, but in Diamonds Are Forever, James Bond plays craps for the first, and only time so far in the franchise. This time, the white tux is out, and the suspense is brewing. Bond, posing as Peter Franks, wins £50,000 at the craps table, before taking the bubbly Penny O’Toole back to his room in typical Bond fashion.

There, Penny is attacked and thrown out of the window and into the pool below by gang members. Bond goes on to meet Tiffany Case, where they discuss retrieving the diamonds that Blofeld and Franks have stolen.

 

#1 Bond Burnt Alive…Nearly

Perhaps the most famous scene in Diamonds Are Forever, and our number one, is the coffin scene. James Bond is placed inside a coffin, which Mr Kidd and Mr Wint are scheduling for cremation. Bond travels into the ovens, and as flames begin to engulf him, there seems no way out. But, this is a James Bond film, so naturally Bond manages to escape.

Yet, Bond’s escape can’t be attributed to his wit or skill this time, as he’s saved by diamond smuggler Shady Trees. Thus, Bond escapes, and lives to fight another day – another 19 films, actually.