78 replies to this topic

[Judo chop]

Wow, Judo Chop. I'm not a big fan of YOLT but you really take it to task. I just think it's kind of lazy and more focused on spectacle without than making it a more interesting story and leaves so many holes as far as things just happening that it really takes something away from it.

Yeah, I

[Mr. Blofeld]

Wow, Judo Chop. I'm not a big fan of YOLT but you really take it to task. I just think it's kind of lazy and more focused on spectacle without than making it a more interesting story and leaves so many holes as far as things just happening that it really takes something away from it.

Yeah, I’m hard on it. Like I said, my opinion is influenced by the film’s position in the series; had it been a 1976 film starring Roger Moore, I might not be so quick to spray it. The truth of the matter is that I can’t separate the film from the fact that it’s only 2 years removed from the greatest Bond performance of all time and 2-5 years removed from the most Fleming inspired, wit-filled, solidly written spy adventures of all time.

I'm afraid I must agree with you, Judo chop: YOLT is, really, just a bigger-budgeted rehash of Dr. No -- right down to the white bikini Kissy sports during the volcano shootout.

When I first viewed the Bond films, I watched YOLT before Dr. No -- leading to my surprise, confusion, and inevitable dismay when several scenes from YOLT were mirrored in the earlier film:

* A gang of thugs chase Bond in a car, but are killed violently.
* The villain's evil plot involves disabling the U.S. space program; Dr. No only mentions this, while YOLT shows the evil plan at work by using big-budgeted shots of models in space.
* Aki is essentially a Japanese, female Quarrel, while Felix Leiter is mirrored by a giggling Tiger Tanaka.
* Helga Brandt is Ms. Taro, albeit with a more violent end and the physical features of Fiona Volpe.
* Blofeld is a bald Dr. No: They share the same calm demeanor, work in an insidious hidden hideout, and wear matching Nehru jackets.
* The finale of YOLT is a bigger-budgeted version of Dr. No's: It features the explosive destruction of the villainous lair, Bond disguising himself as a minion, and 007 and the film's Bond girl making love in an open boat.

All in all, I'm pretty disgusted at how low the producers went in order to craft a "success" for YOLT.

[00Twelve]

Wow, I've somehow never caught all those parallels before. That's pretty funny...

[Mr. Blofeld]

Wow, I've somehow never caught all those parallels before. That's pretty funny...

Well, that's what you get from hiring a short-story/children's book writer whose only connection to Bond was (besides his friendship with Ian Fleming) having seen "the one with the crazy car".

[BoogieBond]

Gave it a 7.
Do like the opening hour, but gets a little dull after that.
The location of Japan is fantastic and does have some great scenes.
They did start to churn them out at this Bond though, and Connery is bored.
Also loses points as this is a missed opportunity of adapting an excellent novel, and swapping the timeline round, with Bond falling to pieces and then getting the opportunity to avenge Tracy.

Edited by BoogieBond, 08 July 2008 - 08:59 AM.

[Johnboy007]

6/10

The one thing about this film I can't argue against is the scope. There isn't anything that feels cheap. Absolutely top notch in that regard. Helicopters galore, extras galore, and special effects galore. John Barry's score is beautiful and Sinatra's song is haunting. Donald Pleasance's Blofeld will never again be matched, and serves as the ultimate James Bond villain.

That about where the positives end for me. It all feels a little bloated and a little tired. Connery looks like he can't be bothered to do this sort of thing any more. Certainly I'd hate for Japanese paparazzi to follow me into the bathroom, but surely he could have done a better job of not looking bored during filming. The one liners are all a bit cheesy and most of the supporting cast is pretty dull. It doesn't help that half of them are dubbed (I'm a little tired of the same woman dubbing nearly every early Bond girl). Sometimes I almost wish they just spoke Japanese and ran subtitles.

In all I like that they didn't hold back, but You Only Live Twice makes it seem like the formula was already tired and cliche way back in 1967.

[DaveBond21]

Do like the opening hour, but gets a little dull after that.

I do agree with you there. The first hour is really solid.

I never buy into the theory that all those ninjas and a hollowed out volcano make for an exciting finish. I always prefer Bond to have one-on-one fights, rather than 2 armies battling each other.

[Blonde Bond]

I never buy into the theory that all those ninjas and a hollowed out volcano make for an exciting finish. I always prefer Bond to have one-on-one fights, rather than 2 armies battling each other.

Just finished watching YOLT and I have to agree. In way too many Bond movies they use long boring battles between two small armies, when the movies are supposed to be about the man, the legend, James Bond.


As a movie (as Bond movie especially) I prefer this over Thunderball. I really dig the locations of this movie, soundtrack and all. It was the first oriental Jimbo Bond adventure. Also, it's the first one that's little silly and serves as the guidebook for all James Bond parodies.

As younger chap I really liked Ernst Stavro Blofeld in this movie (I have fond memories about this movie), but when I got old (old, it's a state of mind) it think they pretty much ruined Blofeld's menace and they went even further in DAF, when they casted Henderson as the silly drag queen, zero menacing Blofeld. It was already bad that he had zero menace in this 5th Connery flick.

Other than that, I do enjoy the movie greatly.

PS; Connery really does look "stubby" in his Ninja constume

[ChrissBond007]

9/10

The first Connery film I ever saw and I love it! Yes Connery isn't at his best, but he's always very good in his role. I love the locations in Japan, good music, great action scenes and some great fun. Finally we see the face of Blofeld, Donald Pleasence looks very evil until we see how short he is. That's why Telly Savalas was better, but I liked Pleasence also in the role. I love the last scenes in the volcano and it's funny to see Bond as a ninja.

So I would rated it above Dr. No, Thunderball and of course Diamonds Are Forever. For me Gilberts's best and one of my favs.

Edited by ChrissBond007, 20 August 2008 - 03:17 PM.

[solace]

I love the music from Yolt but I think it suffers from being the first book to pull away from the original book version. I think the writers realy missed a trick by not doing OHMSS then YOLT later on with Lazenby. Connery could have made DAF at this point then George could have taken over done the next seven or eight. (their I go again)

[Double-Oh Agent]

I give it a 7. It's a good but not great Bond adventure.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

I'm afraid I must agree with you, Judo chop: YOLT is, really, just a bigger-budgeted rehash of Dr. No -- right down to the white bikini Kissy sports during the volcano shootout.

When I first viewed the Bond films, I watched YOLT before Dr. No -- leading to my surprise, confusion, and inevitable dismay when several scenes from YOLT were mirrored in the earlier film:

* A gang of thugs chase Bond in a car, but are killed violently.
* The villain's evil plot involves disabling the U.S. space program; Dr. No only mentions this, while YOLT shows the evil plan at work by using big-budgeted shots of models in space.
* Aki is essentially a Japanese, female Quarrel, while Felix Leiter is mirrored by a giggling Tiger Tanaka.
* Helga Brandt is Ms. Taro, albeit with a more violent end and the physical features of Fiona Volpe.
* Blofeld is a bald Dr. No: They share the same calm demeanor, work in an insidious hidden hideout, and wear matching Nehru jackets.
* The finale of YOLT is a bigger-budgeted version of Dr. No's: It features the explosive destruction of the villainous lair, Bond disguising himself as a minion, and 007 and the film's Bond girl making love in an open boat.

All in all, I'm pretty disgusted at how low the producers went in order to craft a "success" for YOLT.

It's true as you, Raymond Benson and John Brosnan have noted, You Only Live Twice could is essentially "Dr. No in Japan."

YOLT was basically an action packed "greatest hits of Bond from 1962-1965" package and the first Brosnan Bond film in spirit, if not in actor. In addition to the aforementioned similarites to DN-


DN-Mr. Osato is a version of Professor Dent.

FRWL-Bond "dies" in the PTS. SPECTRE is playing the game and pitting the West and the Soviets to accelerate the Cold War for their own purposes. Blofeld arranges the execution of one of his underlings for failure.

GF-"Little Nellie" is basically a helicopter version of the Aston Martin. Bond's battle with Oddjob is basically recycled in his battles with the thug in Osato's office and Hans at the end. The countdown to the bomb exploding in Ft. Knox is basically reused for the countdown to the Intruder swallowing the space capsule.

TB-Underwater scenes. SPECTRE's lethal redhead.

I figure Broccoli & Saltzman must've thought at that time the series can't last much longer so they might as well go all out and make the most spectacular film yet and give customers what they've come to expect, only larger and more exaggerated. That stated, I still adore YOLT as being the film that turned me into the Bond fan today when I first saw it on TV as a child.

I never buy into the theory that all those ninjas and a hollowed out volcano make for an exciting finish. I always prefer Bond to have one-on-one fights, rather than 2 armies battling each other.

Just finished watching YOLT and I have to agree. In way too many Bond movies they use long boring battles between two small armies, when the movies are supposed to be about the man, the legend, James Bond.

I adore the army of good guys vs. army of bad guys battles in TB, OHMSS and all 3 Gilbert films. It'd been nice to see one of those again.

[Fiona Volpe lover]

I'm afraid I must agree with you, Judo chop: YOLT is, really, just a bigger-budgeted rehash of Dr. No -- right down to the white bikini Kissy sports during the volcano shootout.

When I first viewed the Bond films, I watched YOLT before Dr. No -- leading to my surprise, confusion, and inevitable dismay when several scenes from YOLT were mirrored in the earlier film:

* A gang of thugs chase Bond in a car, but are killed violently.
* The villain's evil plot involves disabling the U.S. space program; Dr. No only mentions this, while YOLT shows the evil plan at work by using big-budgeted shots of models in space.
* Aki is essentially a Japanese, female Quarrel, while Felix Leiter is mirrored by a giggling Tiger Tanaka.
* Helga Brandt is Ms. Taro, albeit with a more violent end and the physical features of Fiona Volpe.
* Blofeld is a bald Dr. No: They share the same calm demeanor, work in an insidious hidden hideout, and wear matching Nehru jackets.
* The finale of YOLT is a bigger-budgeted version of Dr. No's: It features the explosive destruction of the villainous lair, Bond disguising himself as a minion, and 007 and the film's Bond girl making love in an open boat.

All in all, I'm pretty disgusted at how low the producers went in order to craft a "success" for YOLT.

It's true as you, Raymond Benson and John Brosnan have noted, You Only Live Twice could is essentially "Dr. No in Japan."

YOLT was basically an action packed "greatest hits of Bond from 1962-1965" package and the first Brosnan Bond film in spirit, if not in actor. In addition to the aforementioned similarites to DN-


DN-Mr. Osato is a version of Professor Dent.

FRWL-Bond "dies" in the PTS. SPECTRE is playing the game and pitting the West and the Soviets to accelerate the Cold War for their own purposes. Blofeld arranges the execution of one of his underlings for failure.

GF-"Little Nellie" is basically a helicopter version of the Aston Martin. Bond's battle with Oddjob is basically recycled in his battles with the thug in Osato's office and Hans at the end. The countdown to the bomb exploding in Ft. Knox is basically reused for the countdown to the Intruder swallowing the space capsule.

TB-Underwater scenes. SPECTRE's lethal redhead.

I figure Broccoli & Saltzman must've thought at that time the series can't last much longer so they might as well go all out and make the most spectacular film yet and give customers what they've come to expect, only larger and more exaggerated. That stated, I still adore YOLT as being the film that turned me into the Bond fan today when I first saw it on TV as a child.

I never buy into the theory that all those ninjas and a hollowed out volcano make for an exciting finish. I always prefer Bond to have one-on-one fights, rather than 2 armies battling each other.

Just finished watching YOLT and I have to agree. In way too many Bond movies they use long boring battles between two small armies, when the movies are supposed to be about the man, the legend, James Bond.

I adore the army of good guys vs. army of bad guys battles in TB, OHMSS and all 3 Gilbert films. It'd been nice to see one of those again.

I agree it would be nice to see another battle, I could soon get fed up with Bond taking on everyone like Rambo!

[Cruiserweight]

I've always had a hard time staying interested through out this film.

[HildebrandRarity]

I have a bias because I believe this is the first movie I ever saw...or at least it's the first movie I ever saw that left any sort of impression.

I believe I saw this movie at a drive-in with my parents during what I now think to be an Autumn re-release in anticipation of Sean Connery's return as James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever in 1971.

I recall making a hollowed out volcano rocket base in the front yard...out of garden earth and cardboard boxes! And then there was all the judo chopping mimicking.

Leaving aside my biases, You Only Live Twice is the first truly Eon-ised 007 film and the first of the Bond-And-Beyond variety which spawned DAF, TSWLM, Moonraker, AVTAK, GoldenEye, TND and DAD. Note that - with the exception of AVTAK - each one was a major hit in the year of its release.

YOLT has a beautiful score, Main Titles sequence and title song,
awsome sets and cinematography and really gives you a feel for a location and culture that i've yet to experience.

When James Bond is killed we see his decent into Hell, only for him to be reborn after being ejaculated out of a submarine into the warmth of an eastern sea.

YOLT is "Bond And Beyond" and has, i'm willing to bet, one of the most expensive movie sets ever built.

Ranking: 10th out of 21...soon to be 11th out of 22.

[Turn]

I have a bias because I believe this is the first movie I ever saw...or at least it's the first movie I ever saw that left any sort of impression.

I believe I saw this movie at a drive-in with my parents during what I now think to be an Autumn re-release in anticipation of Sean Connery's return as James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever in 1971.

I recall making a hollowed out volcano rocket base in the front yard...out of garden earth and cardboard boxes! And then there was all the judo chopping mimicking.

I believe I saw YOLT the first time around the same time, the rerelease double feature with TB. I went to see that with my dad and uncle.

I too remember images like the volcano and the title song kept running through my head. The other scene that stood out is when the fake ninja attacks Bond with the bamboo spear and Bond kills him. I could have sworn he drew blood at the time, but it must have been my imagination.

I never created my own hollowed out volcano, but I would fashion my own Bond gadgets out of GI Joe equipment.

[Judo chop]

Watched YOLT last night.

Like a stunningly beautiful women with a siren’s voice, but with no sense of humor, no goals, no beliefs, and no personality whatsoever. Yes, Ken Adams’ sets are wonderful, yes, much of the cinematography is righteous, and yes, the score can sweep you off your feet with a single phrase and then pin you to the couch the next. But, as with the girl, the attention to superficial beauty almost becomes pitiable when the empty soul is bared.

I’m not sure what to make of it, but many of Adams’ sets, for me, seem to reflect the cold apathetic personality of the film. Stainless steel is a common material he uses. Perhaps it’s only coincidence, perhaps Adams tapped into something inherent in Japanese style, or perhaps he read the script and met it on its own ground. In any event, they are achievements wasted.

I would note that the lovely visuals are not as ubiquitous as the most avid YOLT defenders might have us believe. They are tremendous when they appear, but Gilbert also spends a fair amount of time kicking about in the mud and muck.

YOLT sparkles with life for the first time the moment Bond encounters Tanaka, and it endures for 20 minutes or so as the two talk shop on the train and continue their investigations. I can see the potential for another great Bond ally in “Tiger”, but unfortunately the insuperably destructive combination of a slipshod script (as laughable as Moonraker’s) and an uninterested Connery (brazenly, and for the first time, boasting both toupee and additional weight) crush any hopes early on.

One nice thing I’ll say… the score is something very special. So inspired, I sat down with my fretless bass and worked on my ear and my phrasing, matching the melodies as they swept across my surround sound. At times, she’s like the mournful wail of a cursed spirit, doomed to forever lament the day she sold her soul.

[Turn]

Watched YOLT last night.

Like a stunningly beautiful women with a siren’s voice, but with no sense of humor, no goals, no beliefs, and no personality whatsoever. Yes, Ken Adams’ sets are wonderful, yes, much of the cinematography is righteous, and yes, the score can sweep you off your feet with a single phrase and then pin you to the couch the next. But, as with the girl, the attention to superficial beauty almost becomes pitiable when the empty soul is bared.

I’m not sure what to make of it, but many of Adams’ sets, for me, seem to reflect the cold apathetic personality of the film. Stainless steel is a common material he uses. Perhaps it’s only coincidence, perhaps Adams tapped into something inherent in Japanese style, or perhaps he read the script and met it on its own ground. In any event, they are achievements wasted.

I would note that the lovely visuals are not as ubiquitous as the most avid YOLT defenders might have us believe. They are tremendous when they appear, but Gilbert also spends a fair amount of time kicking about in the mud and muck.

YOLT sparkles with life for the first time the moment Bond encounters Tanaka, and it endures for 20 minutes or so as the two talk shop on the train and continue their investigations. I can see the potential for another great Bond ally in “Tiger”, but unfortunately the insuperably destructive combination of a slipshod script (as laughable as Moonraker’s) and an uninterested Connery (brazenly, and for the first time, boasting both toupee and additional weight) crush any hopes early on.

One nice thing I’ll say… the score is something very special. So inspired, I sat down with my fretless bass and worked on my ear and my phrasing, matching the melodies as they swept across my surround sound. At times, she’s like the mournful wail of a cursed spirit, doomed to forever lament the day she sold her soul.

Nice summary there, Judo. It says a lot of what I think about YOLT. There just seems to be some spark missing that was there in the first four films of the series.

Good call on the script. Especially when Tiger utters stereotypical dialogue like "One thing my honorable mother always told me..." It makes me wonder what Richard Maibaum or Paul Dehn may have done differently.

I do like a couple of the lines like "Peking Duck is different from Russian Caviar, but I love them both" and "Mr. Osato believes in a healthy chest" although I think Bond could have had a better comeback than "Really?" Something like "I fully see what he means." It's in reading that line that Connery's boredom really seems evident. It leaves me wondering what Moore could've done with the line.

Putting in "What's the score" was a nice tribute to the novels, one of Bond's most used phrases. I think the only time other time Bond says it in a film is in DAF. But overall this script somehow reminds me of some of the flatter dialogue of the Brosnan era.

[Judo chop]

I do like a couple of the lines like "Peking Duck is different from Russian Caviar, but I love them both" and "Mr. Osato believes in a healthy chest" although I think Bond could have had a better comeback than "Really?" Something like "I fully see what he means." It's in reading that line that Connery's boredom really seems evident. It leaves me wondering what Moore could've done with the line.

Many thanks for the support, Turn. You're right. The chest line was a perfect alley-oop lob which just 2 years earlier Connery would have slammed home and probably shattered the backboard in doing so. In fact, if I were to imagine that exchange in TB, I see Connery responding with nothing more than a curious sounding "hmmm..." under his breath, but then bringing the razzle-dazzle with a half-smirk and a quick blink.

It's obvious he was given the line and spat it out as written. "Next scene, please."

But overall this script somehow reminds me of some of the flatter dialogue of the Brosnan era.

In between action sequences (which aren't particularly exciting), dialogue seems to squat. There's no sizzle, no suspense. Nothing to urge audience attention into the next scene.

[Royal Dalton]

Wonderful film. 10/10.

[dee-bee-five]

I'd rather watch You Only Live Twice over the dreary Thunderball any day.

[Col. Sun]

I also love YOLT even though it is "crazy" and in many ways closer to the Bond rip-off's like Our Man Flint or Matt Helm than the first 4 Fleming faithful Bonds.

The plot makes no real sense. Why go to all the trouble of hi-jacking space capsules when it would be much easier, safer, cheaper and just as effective for Spectre to simply destroy them -- TSWLM, re-worked the same scheme but made sense of it by making sure the stolen submarines and their nuclear missile cargos were needed and to be used by the bad guys. The stolen space capsules in YOLT are just stashed away and the crews imprisoned.

There are so may scenes which push credibility to the limit and beyond:

The helicopter picking up the bad guy's car with a huge magnetic and dropping it in the ocean!

Bond - a 6 ft tall Connery - being disguised as a Japanese fisherman!

The Henchmen not realizing his partner (who killed Hendersen) is really Bond (dressed in his coat and wearing his face mask) until he's carried him all the way up to the top floor office!

The volcano lair is nuts. How the hell did they build that without anyone noticing?

The helicopter attack on Little Nellie is crazy. Why attack and draw attention when Spectre could just let Bond fly around and find nothing?

I read once that Dahl's approach to the script was a bit like Alice in Wonderland, instead it's Bond who wakes up in the mad, unhinged world of sixties Japan, a mix of ultra modern and ancient tradition. Taken like this, YOLT works brilliantly. All those crazy ideas and nutty plot turns and set-pieces somehow work. And the film has incredible style; fantastic sets (which no one can deny), stunning photography which really captures the atmosphere and almost dream-like feel of Japan, excellent action scenes, a terrific pace, fantastic locations, marvelous theme song and score, a great supporting cast (Tiger, Hendersen, Blofeld etc.) and Connery. Yes, Connery is more laid back (and we know he was getting bored of Bond by then) but he still has edge, charm, grace, great throw away lines and he still looks good, if a fraction heavier than his lean TB appearance. (I think this was his last classic portrayal of Bond.)

For all of it's faults; if we want to call them faults, I think YOLT is a hugely enjoyable film and along with TSWLM, it's the best fantasy Bond film.

I can't wait for the BD or I may go and see it again at the BFI screening in late April. I've seen it 3 times on the big screen (first time when I was a kid and it blew me away) and it's scope and visuals are breathtaking. If you've never seen it on the big screen, then in truth you've never really experienced YOLT.

[Turn]

I'd rather watch You Only Live Twice over the dreary Thunderball any day.

Yes, we know. You remind us in every other thread.

You guys can have the mindless eye candy of YOLT, this is a your ticket. I'll take TB's witty script, more believable plot, better women and villains and Connery at the top of his game.

[chrisno1]

In 2008 I watched all the Bond movies and wrote a series of reviews for another site. The aim was to watch them in order in the run up to the premiere of QOS. I succeeded and the reviews were well received.
However, subsequently, I have re-read my reviews and re-watched a number of the movies (the BFI had a whole 007 season earlier this year and I saw quite a few on the big screen again!).
This is my updated review for You Only Live Twice.

YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
REVISED REVIEW 26/12/2009

It’s hard to dislike You Only Live Twice. By the mid-sixties Bond had many imitators and the producers had to throw everything, including outer space, into their next project. That the film, which at times is preposterous, succeeds is in no small part due to the energy of the technical teams who created the most expansive sets and some of the most thrilling set pieces yet seen. A budget of $9.5m goes a long way and it saves what is the most comic book film in the series so far. You Only Live Twice has hardly any plot and one dimensional characters, but it does have colour, energy and pace in abundance.

Bond is in Japan to investigate the loss of an American space capsule. SPECTRE, of course, is behind the plot, planning to start a Third World War and take over the spoils. It is worth noting this bears no relation to the novel, which writer Roald Dahl has consigned to the dustbin. That’s a pity as the novel is one of Fleming’s best. The few glimpses of Ian Fleming that do remain are buried underneath the modern paraphernalia. Additionally Bond hardly immerses himself in Japanese culture; Dahl chooses instead to poke fun at it – there is a fake wedding, a chauvinistic washing scene, a plot device makes Bond “look Japanese” and unforgivably, during a seduction scene, one of Bond’s female conquests mutters “I will enjoy serving under you.”

Dahl’s story is paper thin and his dialogue even worse, but director Lewis Gilbert doesn’t care and gets on with the job efficiently and, at times, impressively. Assistant director Peter Hunt, promoted from editor, handles most of the action scenes and they fairly bound along. His long apprentice-ship serves him well, for whenever the film slows down we are given a sudden burst of frantic energy.

The film starts briskly with a mock funeral and soon Bond’s English contact is killed, he fights an assassin to the death and is kidnapped by a beautiful female aide. It is almost with relief he meets Tiger Tanaka, the head of the Japanese Secret Service. Tetsuro Tamba has all the best lines in the film and he relishes the interplay with Connery. The star of the show unfortunately seems weary and disinterested. Luckily there are other aspects of this show to keep us interested.

Oscar winning photographer Freddie Young provides bright, vivid colours, mixing sunsets and sunrises, mountain views, aerial shots, crane shots, vivid night lights, landscapes and space-scapes. It is a beautiful film to look at and even the action benefits from being photographed well, witness Bond being chased across a dockyard warehouse roof by assorted thugs or the aerial dogfight to end all aerial dogfights played out over a panorama of extinct volcanoes.

There is more action of course; the fights are tense, the chases fast and well edited and the final battle between the ninja assault force and the SPECTRE army is a piece of grand theatre, as dozens of demented Japanese Tarzans descend on ropes to launch their attack .

Composer John Barry provides his best work yet, blending the title theme with oriental chords that set the tone of the scenes perfectly. He also uses the James Bond Theme and his own 007 theme to good use. His restraint is note-worthy.

The magnificent production design sits head and shoulders above every thing else in this film. It is highly polished, glimmering and modern. Ken Adam’s master class however is reserved for the headquarters of SPECTRE itself, hidden in a volcano. This set cost over $1m itself and had to be specially constructed. It actually did have a working monorail, a helicopter platform and a full scale space rocket. It must have seemed a shame to blow it all up at the climax. This is Adam’s tour de force and nothing in a Bond film has ever come close.

The film loses its way when trying to instil any form of menace into the story. The main villain, as played by Donald Pleasance, is a disappointment, lacking authority in his voice and his demeanour. Admittedly, Pleasance wasn’t the first choice for the role of Blofeld, but even a wince-worthy facial scar cannot save his performance. Likewise, Teru Shimada is functional as Osato, and Karin Dor is given a hopeless role that is clearly based on Thunderball’s Fiona Volpe. Dor has none of the range or venom of Luciana Paluzzi, but also she isn’t given the lines. It is telling that the piranhas in Blofeld’s fish pond seem more threatening than this trio of ill-cast baddies who between them spurn nine gilt edged opportunities to kill Bond.

Most distressing is the treatment of the two female leads, both fairly accomplished actresses in Japan, but out of their depth here. Akiko Wakabayashi’s Aki comes off the better of the two, driving her sports car around Tokyo to save Bond not once, but twice. Mie Hama meanwhile suffers a similar fate to Dor. She is given nothing to work with and is merely window dressing, spending almost all her screen time in a white bikini and, worse, not even having her character’s name mentioned.

Unsurprisingly, You Only Live Twice was a huge success. Not because it is a great Bond film, but because it was the next Bond film and everyone wanted to see it. The producers took a bold step in changing many of the established personnel and were rewarded with a vivid and outrageous end product which, while not being any where near the best film in the series, can comfortably sit as one of the most enjoyable.

RATING - 7 from 10

[PrinceKamalKhan]

I'd rather watch You Only Live Twice over the dreary Thunderball any day.

Yes, we know. You remind us in every other thread.

You guys can have the mindless eye candy of YOLT, this is a your ticket. I'll take TB's witty script, more believable plot, better women and villains and Connery at the top of his game.

And there are those of us who love both films. I would love to see both TB and YOLT as a double feature on a big screen in all their Panavision and Technicolor glory like 1970 cinemagoers got to in this re-release:



Probably one of the best double features of all time.

[Mr. Blofeld]

At times, she’s like the mournful wail of a cursed spirit, doomed to forever lament the day she sold her soul.

Perfect description of YOLT's intentions, right there.

[Attempting Re-entry]

The one liners are all a bit cheesy

I quite enjoyed "Don't get soap in my eye"!

Watched this last night for the first time in, oh, maybe twenty years. Very enjoyable - particularly, as other posters have noted, during the first hour or so.

I found Blofeld's "Open shutters" / "Close shutters", "Open crater" / "Close crater" directions - with the guys repeating it after him - absolutely hilarious. Really very, very funny; presumably unintentionally so.

I gave it an "8" here today.

Edited by Attempting Re-entry, 12 February 2010 - 01:30 PM.

[General G.]

It's a ridiculous film -- but a fun and entertaining one. (Totters very close to being out-and-out "cheese".)

There's just so much goofy, nonsensical stuff going on... I'm sure most (if not all) of these instances have been discussed at CB at one time or another, but here's a list I compiled for my 2001 Eccentric Cinema review:

    • After dealing with the sumo henchman in the Osato building, Bond — who had no idea he'd find himself in such a situation — suddenly produces bulky safecracking equipment from his pocket once he spots an office safe. The gizmo makes a noticeable bulge in Bond's jacket... which was clearly not there in previous scenes.

    • Bond, only feet behind her, is unable to catch Aki when she runs away from him — in high heels.

    • Mr. Osato orders Bond (who is posing as a British businessman) to be killed moments after meeting him. So a carload of thugs tries to gun down 007 right in front of the company headquarters as he's leaving. Talk about bad publicity...

    • Bond watches on a video screen mounted in Aki's sports car as the same carload of thugs is dropped by Tiger's helicopter — which appears dangling a giant magnet within seconds of Aki's distress call — into Tokyo Bay. So what camera is taking these pictures?

    • In a ridiculously lame "blue screen" shot, watch as Aki's car takes two hairpin turns (or rather the film in front of the car does) while her hands remain perfectly still on the steering wheel.

    • Firing his PPK, Bond misses two henchman who are crouching only five feet away from him.

    • To escape a pack of goons at the Kobi docks, Bond makes two 30 foot dives off a building onto pallets stacked with tarp-covered boxes. Naturally, they cushion his fall. So how did he know the boxes contained marshmallows and not machine parts? Ouch!

    • During the wedding scene, Bond is pretending to be Japanese with the not-so-successful aid of a Mr. Spock wig. Watch as the 6-foot-2 Connery puts on the hunched posture of a scoliosis sufferer so as not to tower over everyone else in the shot.

    • 007 scouts out the perfectly camouflaged volcano crater in his miniature gyro-copter and finds nothing. Fortunately for the good guys, SPECTRE attack choppers pick that moment to engage Bond in an aerial dogfight. From this action, Bond and Tiger amazingly deduce that there must be something about the volcano requiring further investigation.

    • Blofeld launches interceptor rockets from his secret volcano base at night. Even with a "radar blackout" device, wouldn't the villagers on the island — not to mention anyone within a hundred miles — be able to see them taking off? (Shades of MOONRAKER!)

    • Posing as a fisherman out pearl diving with Kissy, Bond stumbles upon the secret of Blofeld's lair. Without the slightest idea of what he'd find that day, it's revealed that 007 nevertheless had the foresight to bring along the very devices — suction cups — that enable him to stealthily penetrate the hidden base.

    There's even more silliness to report, like the infamous 'bouncing dead guys' in one model shot when the volcano base is exploding. (The entire audience burst into laughter when I saw this on a double bill with FYEO in a San Jose, California theater in 1981.) But I don't wish to rag on the flick too much. It does have good stuff to offer...

[sharpshooter]

Wonderful film. 10/10.

Ditto.

[Major Tallon]

Yes, General G, you're absolutely correct! These bits, and many more (don't forget the business of publishing a secret agent's photograph on the front page of a newspaper), all detract seriously from Fleming's story, and from any tie-in between the film and reality. But whereas I usually blanch at such things, I absolutely love YOLT. A large part of the credit goes to the wonderful volcano set, but YOLT offers amazing spectacle and (dare I say it) fun that, for me, makes up for the film's many logical shortcomings.

I know I'm being inconsistent as blazes, but I can't help it. I always enjoy this movie.

9/10