36 replies to this topic

[DanielCraig007]

I thought it was the best Bond movie Connery was in. Even though some of them weren't as good, how would you rate this one?

[Qwerty]

You may want to check out this thread: http://commanderbond...on-thread/23259

[Scottlee]

I love the first half hour and the final half hour. Between that though there's an embarassing amount of plot-holes and things that don't make sense, even for an escapist Bond film. I would cite this as being my least favourite of the six Connery films.

[Turn]

YOLT is an okay film. As Scottlee said, way too many plot holes and set pieces, kind of like a forerunner to the Moore era where the emphasis is on what looks cool with a plot thrown in.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

I thought it was the best Bond movie Connery was in. Even though some of them weren't as good, how would you rate this one?

Welcome DanielCraig007! You Only Live Twice was the 3rd Bond film I ever saw as a child and the one that turned me from a casual watcher to a 007 fanatic. Essentially, YOLT was the first film to "anthologize" the series, i.e., EON basically chuked most of the material from the Fleming source novel except for some of the characters and the location and basically remade elements from the first 4 films in a bigger and more elaborate way. As it stands, YOLT is probably the fastest moving of Connery's Bonds loaded with action, beautiful girls, gizmos and the most exotic location yet in Japan and was my favorite Connery Bond film as a child. It's also probably the most scenically beautiful thanks to the work of cinematographer Freddie Young. Its plot(a supervillain trying to bait two nations into WW3 for his own personal gain) was basically recycled in The Spy Who Loved Me and Tomorrow Never Dies so watching those other 2 "remakes" might make for a fun viewing comparison. Donald Pleasance's Blofeld was clearly the inspiration for Mike Myer's "Dr. Evil" character and the lovely Karin Dor gives a highly underrated performance as the film's femme fatale. On the whole, YOLT makes for an enjoyable mixture of travelogue and Bond escapism.

[Double-0-Seven]

I enjoy many things about it, but it's my least favorite of Sean Connery's next to Diamonds Are Forever.

[darkpath]

I actually very much like YOLT; however, were I to have my druthers, I would have them lose the rear-projection scenes, such as when Bond and Aki are driving around in her car. I find them glaring compared to the image quality of the other scenes without the rear-projection. I can understand some of them; but I feel that they grossly overused the technique.

On the other hand, what other Bond films other than YOLT and LTK have ninjas?

Also, given my druthers, I would have preferred that the martial arts advisor had been the late To•shi•tsu•go Takamatsu (sorry, it censored it unless I broke up the first name), generally believed to be the last combat ninja.

Edited by darkpath, 30 December 2006 - 08:28 PM.

[tambourineman]

Im not a big fan, great start but the second half goes straight downhill. As soon as Bond goes to that village to be transformed into a japanese man I start losing interest.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

Im not a big fan, great start but the second half goes straight downhill. As soon as Bond goes to that village to be transformed into a japanese man I start losing interest.

I love the entire last 45 minutes of You Only Live Twice. I showed my sister the sequence starting with Bond's "wedding" to Kissy to the end. John Barry's score is hypnotic, the exotic Japanese locations are beautifully captured in Technicolor and Panavision by Freddie Young, we get to see the inspiration for Mike Myers' "Dr. Evil" character and the action packed final battle between Tiger Tanaka's Ninjas and Blofeld's men is my favorite of the 1960s Bonds final battle sequences. I think You Only Live Twice will probably be the first Connery Bond I show to my nieces.

[DaveBond21]

It's OK. To me, only DAF is worse in the Connery era. It is pretty obvious that Sean is tired of playing 007 by now, and the action sequences are quite poor (although I love the fight on the tanker, with the camera panning away).

Love the cinematography - note the Sumo wrestling and Japanese wedding scenes and I loved Little Nellie too.

But actually, the whole movie seems "grey" to me, it's less colourful than all the other Bonds until TND.

Other amusing scenes - who is filming the baddie car being taken away by the magnet-helicopter, and also Helga Brandt's silly plan to kill Bond in the plane, with the plank of wood!

[bill007]

I thought it was the best Bond movie Connery was in. Even though some of them weren't as good, how would you rate this one?

Great Screen Name DC007. Man, you snatched that one out of the goody-bag.

You may want to check out this thread: http://commanderbond...on-thread/23259

[RazorBlade]

Okay here goes. I used to love this film. But I have been rethinking it and now see it as the beginning of the Moore era, not that there's anything wrong with that, rather than DAF. As such, it doesn't fit in with the previous bond films. I still like individual scenes, the music, the setting and the cinematorgraphy but the bad guy is silly, the plot inane, and the action sequences lacking. YOLT is now downgraded- middle of the pack.

[Moore Not Less]

YOLT is something of a guilty pleasure for me, despite Sean Connery's non-performance, his ridiculous Japanese disguise, and Donald Pleasance being miscast as Blofeld.

The majority of my pleasure comes from John Barry's stunning score. I have never visited Japan, but Barry captures the whole spirit and essence of what I imagine Japan to be based on what I have seen of it on film. The Wedding Music is my favourite piece of all Bond music, blows me away every time I hear it.

[bill007]

Agreed.

[Fiona Volpe lover]

Ypu Only Live Twice and On Her Majesty's Secret Service are my two favourite Bond movies,they tie equally to me. You Only Live Twice is just amazing escapism,it's wonderfully over the top and silly without degenerating into Roger Moore-era camp {not that I don't enjoy that too}. Little Nellie,the roof top fight where the camera swoops over to reveal Bond knocking down the villains one by one,the volcano,the ninjas,the wedding,the exquisite death of Aki,the list of endless,I just love You Only live Twice so much. And the effects still look pretty good.

[Judo chop]

Both DAF and YOLT are among my bottom 4 films in the entire series; only TWINE and AVTAK are worse. I rank YOLT even below DAF for the fact that it follows TB, the greatest film of the series. It bothers me that Connery could put on a performance as spot-on as his in Thunderball, and then pack on 30 lbs and totally crap down his leg just a couple years later. Here his portrayal is so much a shadow of his previous Bonds that I cannot find a way to enjoy it. I can

[Gothamite]

I really thought YOLT was just a silly, tired film and I rank it in my bottom 5. None of the characters were interesting and there was barely any interesting dialogue. Even DAD made big efforts to keep the characters fresh and interesting. Here it seems the characters and plot are just catalysts for cool things to happen involving space and missiles.

[DamnCoffee]

I think YOLT started of the trend of the humorous Bond movies! It wasn't Moore it was Connery.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

I think YOLT started of the trend of the humorous Bond movies! It wasn't Moore it was Connery.

I agree the humorous aspects started with Connery but I think that came 3 years earlier when Bond popped out of the water with a rubber duck on his head in Goldfinger.

[HildebrandRarity]

Other amusing scenes - who is filming the baddie car being taken away by the magnet-helicopter...

More importantly, who is filming the Intruder rocket approaching the last US space capsule on view in the SPECTRE mission control room?

;-)

YOLT is all fun and games which was supposed to round out the enormous Connery era with no expense spared. That rocket base remains the most expensive set ever constructed in film history, inflation-adjusted that is.

He he.

[PrinceKamalKhan]

Other amusing scenes - who is filming the baddie car being taken away by the magnet-helicopter...

More importantly, who is filming the Intruder rocket approaching the last US space capsule on view in the SPECTRE mission control room?

;-)

Why, Freddie Young, of course (Blofeld hired him after seeing his work on Doctor Zhivago.

YOLT is all fun and games which was supposed to round out the enormous Connery era with no expense spared. That rocket base remains the most expensive set ever constructed in film history, inflation-adjusted that is.

He he.

Perhaps it might be fair to call it the first Pierce Brosnan film, i.e. big budget, non-stop action, little relationship to Fleming's novels. You Only Live Twice was certaintly the Tomorrow Never Dies of the 1960s.

[HildebrandRarity]

Other amusing scenes - who is filming the baddie car being taken away by the magnet-helicopter...

More importantly, who is filming the Intruder rocket approaching the last US space capsule on view in the SPECTRE mission control room?

;-)

Why, Freddie Young, of course (Blofeld hired him after seeing his work on Doctor Zhivago.

YOLT is all fun and games which was supposed to round out the enormous Connery era with no expense spared. That rocket base remains the most expensive set ever constructed in film history, inflation-adjusted that is.

He he.

Perhaps it might be fair to call it the first Pierce Brosnan film, i.e. big budget, non-stop action, little relationship to Fleming's novels. You Only Live Twice was certaintly the Tomorrow Never Dies of the 1960s.

That Freddie Young piece in YOLT is out of this world. ;-)

By the way, I think YOLT would be even more expensive than TND adjusted for 1997 dollars.

That volcano rocket base would primarily have been CGI just as the Carver building in 'Saigon' was.

And Connery would have commanded way more for his 5th in 1997 than Pierce did for his 2nd.

And Japan was cheap in the mid 60s. It was very dear in the mid 90s. Imagine the expense to film there. It would have been ludicrous.

I suspect YOLT done *as is* would have cost $150 million or more around the time of TND, which in itself was, I believe, budgeted at around $110 mil.

I think you can chalk YOLT up as an epic Bond. Epic scale and plot, epic Barry music and epic cinematography. Too bad Sean was loosing his 'shape' and desire by then.

Edited by HildebrandRarity, 04 January 2007 - 10:54 PM.

[tambourineman]

Its tied with DAF as my least favorite Connery movie. Its just too silly, and is even worse after watching the Austin Powers movies, which spoof this movie more then any other.

I always get a kick out of the helicopter picking the car up and dumping it in the ocean though.

[Gothamite]

I thought YOLT was a bloated, uninteresting piece of rubbish and I couldn't find one interesting character in the whole thing and it is the only installment where I found Bond's mysogonism to be embarassing as opposed to an interesting character trait.

"I might retire to here!"

Ugh.

[AgentPB]

YOLT was better then the awful DAF but it leaves a bitter taste in your mouth after the masterpiece that is TB. YOLT starts the confusing trend of replacing Bloefeld (sp?). Also for most of the movie Connery looks bored, he seems to be just phoning it in. I Prefer the first four Bond films over this looney one. Although it does have an excellent title song and tiger is one of my favorite allies. The whole Bond becoming a samurai seems silly, the wedding is very dull and more enjoyable if skipped.

[Judo chop]

YOLT was better then the awful DAF but it leaves a bitter taste in your mouth after the masterpiece that is TB. YOLT starts the confusing trend of replacing Bloefeld (sp?). Also for most of the movie Connery looks bored, he seems to be just phoning it in. I Prefer the first four Bond films over this looney one. Although it does have an excellent title song and tiger is one of my favorite allies. The whole Bond becoming a samurai seems silly, the wedding is very dull and more enjoyable if skipped.

We seem to share a common opinion of this film, PB (check out the similarities in my previous post). YOLT is bad enough on its own merit alright, but is even worse in the glorious light of its predecessor.

However, I must disagree with your final comment. One highlight I can come up with is Connery

[Four Aces]

You only live twice.
Once when you are born,
and once when you look death in the face.

[Brian Flagg]

Connery looks so bored in YOLT, but everything else is quite fine, thank you! Music, cinematography, set design (thank you, Ken Adam!) and the supporting cast: Aki, Tiger Tanaka, who needs to make a comeback in a Bond film. The fight in Osato's office with Bond using the sofa as a battering ram is IMO the most underrated fight of the Connery era, maybe even the series. And John Barry's noticable lack of music in that scene only adds to its effectiveness. Love the sound of the sword blade chopping at the floor. If it weren't for Connery's bland turn as 007, YOLT might rank second on my all-time list.

[Hitokiri]

I like the movie. Yes, it's got its parts where its silly (Bond becoming Japanese comes to mind more than anything), but I'll say for the most part its just fun to watch. I'm particularly fond of the rooftop fight scene at the Kobe Docks. When the camera pans out to the helicopter shot and shows Connery fighting all those thugs, it's almost epic.

John Berry did an excellent job on the score, one of the best scores in the franchise. The track "Capsule in Space" is haunting.

[Four Aces]

The book is very good.