What if George Lazenby had been in Diamonds Are Forever?

edited May 2011 in Fan Creations Posts: 232
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  • Posts: 4,813
    Hey very nice! I saw lots of George Lazenby clips that were totally new to me! I recognized most- UNCLE, Stoner, NTYTD, etc... but those shots of him in the black tux.... where were they from? Whatever it was from, he looked visibly older but not too old- he looked GREAT.

    Good trailer- did you make it yourself? If so, the only criticism I would have is make the music flow better if possible- it looks more like clips simply stuck together if you don't.
  • Posts: 4,622
    I would have been happy for the second best Bond of all time to have carried the entire Roger Moore and Dalton stints but not DAF. Sacrilege, blasphemy and equally strong words.
    DAF is Sean gold, all the way. 24 carat Sean if you will.
  • Posts: 232
    @Master Dahark Thanks for the suggestions. Actually, I took a final cut pro class at my college, and today was the last day. I don't have final cut pro on my home computer. But this trailer was my final project for the class, and it gave me a chance to make use of all the George Lazenby footage that I've collected through out the years. It's extremely hard to find footage of Lazenby without his 70s mustache, and looking fairly Bondian. A lot of the footage came from rare TV appearances, but I'd like to keep it a mystery to see if people can guess where it's from.
    @timmer I feel what you're saying. I too love Connery, but this was now Lazenby's era. I really feel that Roger Moore owned the 70s, and the 80s from Octopussy on, should have been Dalton until LTK. Pierce was the 90s, Daniel Craig etc.. Lazenby deserved one more, the fans deserved a follow-up to OHMSS. Sean Connery's Diamonds Are Forever is the one I'll always know and love, but I still can't help but wondering "what if?" Sorry for the sacrilege.

  • Posts: 825
    Well I'm glad Sean Connery came back in Diamonds are Forever. George Lazenby was that good as Bond. Still he's the worst Bond today that in my options. I just glad Roger Moore later came & took over after Sean left Eon series for good. I read somewhere he was a canidate of the unoffical Never Say Never Again but it was Sean Connery took the role but I found that a load of rubbish X( . That unoffical Bond movie was only made For Sean Connery only. I heard him in a interview along time ago. George Lazenby only did Bond spoof in The return of Man from Uncle & Alfred Hitchcock episode Diamond aren't forever as James. That I certianty I know.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,074
    It would have been amazing to have Lazenby and Savalas in a serious adaption of DAF.

    Still, the entertaining "Sean-is-back" DAF we finally got with the enjoyabely fun Blofeld by Gray is, I guess, the next best thing.
  • NicNacNicNac Administrator, Moderator
    Posts: 7,582
    Moved to Fan Creations
  • Posts: 4,813
    @jarrod i see- well then that's A+ work! I too would have preferred AT LEAST one more Lazenby film
  • Posts: 232
    Thanks again Master Dahark,
    Well in my opinion, it would have been preferable to have Lazenby against Savalas in a serious, earthly follow up to OHMSS. But in a way I quite like Connery's comeback a lot, and it does introduce a kind of humor that Moore was able to adapt and perfect. I love Moore's era as much as Connery's (but for different reasons, I grew up on Moore as a child, and Spy Who Loved Me was the first I saw in the theater). But OHMSS is my total favorite, and I really think if Lazenby was given a second film, audiences would have grown to like him more (also, I think it would have given Lazenby a little more confidence in a second outing).

    Previously, others have done DAF/ Lazenby tribute trailers on youtube, but I was always dissatisfied by the rather modern approach taken. Foe example, the 80s UA logo is used rather than the Transamerica one, or the trailers include tons of Lazenby footage with his various mustaches. The thing I was really aiming for was to make a trailer in the early 70s tradition even including the GP rating. I also used John Barry recordings on all the music. One piece in particular is an instrumental version of the DAF, yet it's kind of got a moog sound. All the Barry recordings are from around the early 70s to be consistent with the time period. The passing of John Barry was one thing that prompted me to work on this, and I probably went overboard with all his wonderful music cues. I wanted to shorten the trailer down to about 3 1/2 to 4 minutes, and add film grain, but I ran out of time.
  • Posts: 4,762
    I wish that had been so. Although I did not enjoy Lazenby at all in OHMSS, perhaps he would have been better in DAF with more experience. Also, Connery is out of shape and older in DAF, and cheated us out of a better Bond experience. I also believe that Lazenby would have given us better action and more closure to the whole Tracy stuff.
  • I have a theroy about Bond actors. They seem to play it straight for the first film, while giving hints of what type of Bond they will be. From what I saw of Lazenby I think he would have been an athletic, physical Bond, with some real emotion. Too bad we'll never know.
  • Connery should've left after TB, its his best film so he'd be leaving on a HUGE high. Lasenby should've done YOLT, OHMSS and DAF. Then hand over to moore.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    I agree. As much as everyone here knows Sean is like a god to me, I still would've liked to see what George would've done in DAF in a revenge tale. I'm sorry, but all DAF is is a campy mess that was lost potential. The only moment of revenge we see is in the PTS, and Bond doesn't even kill the correct Blofeld for Christ sake. A DAF with Lazenby could've been the serious film and successful outing DAF 1971 should've been, and we would've gotten a brilliant Bond v.s. Blofeld minus the campy additions that plague Moore's entire era.
  • edited January 2012 Posts: 163
    I would have liked Lazenby in DAF so that we could have judged how good or not good he turned out to be. Connery should not have taken the Bond role, and I agree , he should have left on a high after TB. If Peter Hunt's and Lazenby's chemistry mix was settlted by then, then Hunt would have done a better job.
  • Posts: 1,548
    The film would have been just as bad! If Connery couldn't save it, poor old George wouldn't have stood a chance
  • Agent007391Agent007391 Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start
    Posts: 7,854
    Well, if they took out all the camp that just plain destroyed DAF (lose Shady Tree, at least, I hate him; stupid name, no real significance and not even... he was in what, five minutes of the movie and people think he's memorable? How is an old man barking at people and telling bad jokes memorable?!), it wouldn't matter who played Bond (it could have been Adam West) and DAF would have been far superior to what we have as DAF.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    LeChiffre wrote:
    The film would have been just as bad! If Connery couldn't save it, poor old George wouldn't have stood a chance

    The film wouldn't have necessarily turned out like the 71 DAF.
  • Posts: 7,653
    I would not have minded a second 007 movie with George Lazenby.
  • "The film would have been just as bad! If Connery couldn't save it, poor old George wouldn't have stood a chance"

    I should agree with you there, but would Peter Hunt have made difference?

  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,978
    If DAF had to be made in 1971, that I would have rathered it debut a new Bond. Even at 41, Connery was badly out of shape for Bond, and Lazenby was a total non-entity as Bond.
  • I think it may well have worked, Mr Connery was only coaxed back anyway because of a rather obscene amount of money in his general direction, some of the old die hards may have welcomed it, but looking back now and even at the time perhaps it was not a wise decision. Point being, Mr Connery was blatantly not suitable for the role by this stage, should and could of quit after Thunderball, looked as badly out of place by the early 1970s in the Bond part as anyone else we could imagine at any stage in their Bond career. Would Lazenby though have made a marked improvement?, Yes I really do feel but the only problem is that we never got to see it occur, we can only talk about it years later. Poor George really deserved another shot at 007 after his brief appearance, I know he was signed up for a whole handful of Bond films, and maybe that would of been one too many but at least if not for his Agent, I would have welcomed the Australian to have made just one more picture at the very least. I think Lazenby gets unfairly knocked sometimes by people merely on the basis of his one appearance and some think it was a bit of a let down, and would maybe assume it would follow a similar pattern with subsequent Lazenby releases
  • Think of it this way: the studios payed Connery a TON of money to come back, and as a result, there went most of the budget. If Lazenby returned, most of that money would have gone into the MOVIE. We certainly missed out
  • Lazenby starring in a grittier revenge-driven Diamond Are Forever most certainly should've happened. Even if the critical reaction to Lazenby wasn't that great you can't have Bond get married then have his wife get murdered on their wedding day and then simply press the reset button and act as if nothing happened in the next film. An issue that huge needed closer. And as much as I loved Connery he came back looking 15 years older and 20 pounds heavier in DAF to "call it in" and get his paycheck.
  • edited January 2012 Posts: 401
    Two words: John. Gavin. DAF could have been, much, much worse than you all think it is.
  • Dr_Metz wrote:
    Two words: John. Gavin. DAF could have been, much, much worse than you all think it is.

    You're right on the money there. When I look back at some of the men that were close to becoming Bond I can't help but scratch my head. Both John Gavin and James Brolin were more than considered, they were signed on for a short period of time. They're two of the most bland and uninspired actors I've ever seen. They're not terrible actors, they're just not good ones either. The casting of Sean Connery was so inspired and perfect. Then I look at those two and wonder if EON was simply content to cast anyone with the right look.

    If you don't believe me check out these autrocious screentests by James Brolin.



  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    edited January 2012 Posts: 28,694
    ^
    When did he audition? Was it around TMWTGG and OP, since Maud was there testing with him? No, it has to be OP because John Glen was in the reel. But why would Brolin audition for OP when Moore was still playing Bond?
  • edited January 2012 Posts: 401
    But why would Brolin audition for OP when Moore was still playing Bond?
    One of the reasons Moore stayed on for OP was because EON needed him to compete with NSNA, which came out the same year. Moore originally wanted to leave after FYEO. They probably tested Brolin before deciding on keeping Moore.

  • It was for Octopussy. Moore had stated that he intended to retire with FYEO. But after Connery was announced for NSNA EON decided they had a better chance of beating it with an established Bond. So they thankfully got Moore back.
  • edited January 2012 Posts: 401
    So they thankfully got Moore back.
    I agree. Brolin as Bond would have been just awful. And OP is actually one of Moore's best Bond films, so some good came out of him staying.

  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    ^
    I never knew this! I'm so glad roger stayed on. I shutter to think of an American Bond. If Brolin would've been cast tons of unworthy American actors would've been cast instead of much better choices of the European/United Kingdom variety.
  • edited January 2012 Posts: 4,813
    I may be shunned for this, but in this day in age, what with the new Superman and Spider-Man both being played by English actors, I feel like maybe after Craig is done, the right American actor could have a chance

    *edit-- of course, I may only be saying that because I want to play him! ;D
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