James Bond U.S. Poster Rankings: No. 15

The next poster in this series is for Sean Connery's last official outing as British spy James Bond, and the designers behind the artwork didn't put in too many man hours to come up with anything other than this main design.

 

 

15. Diamonds are Forever

The above poster, released in American cinema theaters in 1971, is quite similar to what the rest of the world saw.  It was the same concept in America, Europe, and Asia to have 007, standing in his typical Connery pose, surrounded by two beautiful ladies.  Both women have diamonds piled in their palms and the three characters are being propped up by the mechanical arm of an odd-looking vehicle.  Behind Bond and the women is a barrage of explosions and helicopters.

 

While there are other Bond posters that are probably more appealing than this one that have already been revealed lower on this list of my favorite U.S. one-sheet posters, this one ranked higher than those due to the glitz and glamour of the ladies and the diamonds, which is due to the main location Bond visits in Diamonds are Forever.  007 ends up spending a good amount of time in Las Vegas, and it is because of that, which the casino showgirls and shiny jewels signify in the poster, that made me put this one a little higher on my list than it probably should be.  I have been to Vegas several times and recognize numerous of the locations seen in that part of the movie.

 

Like I mentioned before, the image you see above was used almost exclusively in the world-wide marketing of Diamonds are Forever.  There really isn't a better poster than that one, so again, like I did with Goldeneye, I will show some fan-made artwork.

 

 

This retro design includes actual characters from the film, instead of two random women who are only hanging out with Bond because of their level of attractiveness.  In fact, the prominent images seen in this poster are of the two henchmen, Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd.  In the background is where our hero can be found standing atop an elevator car.  Although the elevator Bond is standing on isn't the one the artist is alluding toward, one of the most thrilling action scenes found in the film takes place in an elevator in the first half of the picture.

 

 

This final piece of art design showcases photo stills from the movie.  The remaining space is taken up with cascading diamonds and casino chips, which is appropriate considering the Las Vegas location.