You Only Live Twice (1967)

This is the BEST BOND EVER!

No doubt about it. This is the quintessiential Bond flick. Why? Because it delivers action packed excitement, torrid romance, a very exotic locale and perhaps the greatest Bond theme song ever. The movie pulls you in and you can't turn it off! For a 1960's film, the effects are really good and the Japanese actors (and actresses!) are believable and sexy. There's plenty of action, what with a great helicopter dogfight, high tech Bond weapons and Ninja warrors. My only criticism is that when the Soviet spacecraft is launched in space (later to be intercepted) they show a GEMINI space launch!!! UGGH! But this faux pas not outstanding, it is the only Bond film I recall when James has his cocktail STIRRED NOT SHAKEN! This is a blast. Excitement galore. SEE IT! July 15, 2008

good

I got the dvd faster than I expexted which is good, it just the box of dvd was broken, but thanks anyway July 5, 2008

"Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond"

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It's difficult to believe that this movie is more than 40 years old (counting from the date of this review)!!

(Sir) Sean Connery made six EON (or "official") movies with him starring as James Bond. They were: (1) Dr. No (1962) (2) From Russia with Love (1963) (3) Goldfinger (1964) (4) Thunderball (1965) (5) You Only Live Twice (1967) and (6) Diamonds are Forever (1971).

As you can see from the above list, this movie is the fifth spy film of the British Bond series. As well, it is the fifth to star Connery as the fictional MI6 agent Commander James Bond (code number 007).

This movie is based on the 1964 novel of the same name as the movie by Ian Fleming (1908 to 1964).

Briefly, Bond is told to go to Japan after American and Russian spacecraft mysteriously disappear in orbit. With each nation blaming the other amidst the Cold War, Bond travels secretly (he's thought to be dead) to a remote Japanese island is find out who is behind these spacecraft disappearances and comes face to face with Ernst Blofeld (Donald Pleasence), known as "number one" since he is head of SPECTRE (SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion).

This movie reveals the appearance of Blofeld who was previously a partially unseen character.

The title song is sung by Nancy Sinatra.

Connery brings his characteristic savoir fare to the role. As well, there are beautiful Japanese Bond girls in this movie.

There are gadgets in this movie courtesy of Q. The main gadget is a Wallis WA-116 Series 1 gyroplane (similar to a helicopter but smaller) code named "Little Nellie." Bond tell us that, "She's a wonderful girl." You'll have to watch this movie to see why.

M and Miss Moneypenny also make an appearance.

This movie was filmed mainly in Japan and London, England.

Total box office for this movie was about one-hundred eleven million, six hundred thousand dollars. In today's dollars, that's about seven-hundred and twenty million, four hundred thousand.

For Bond enthusiasts, they will notice Charles Gray in a small part as a British contact living in Japan. He went on to play Blofeld in the next and last Bond movie starring Connery. Also Burt Kwouk has a bit part in this movie. He's the one that played "Kato" in the Pink Panther series starring Peter Sellers.

Personally, I don't understand why this movie gets such a bad rap. In my opinion, it showed considerable imagination, especially in the last half.

I only had two minor problems with this movie. First, Bond presumably unexpectedly encounters a locked safe. He just happens to have a safe cracking device on him to open it! (It's amazing it wasn't broken since he has a gruelling fight just before he encountered the safe.) Second, again unexpectedly, Bond has to climb down a very tall structure. Again, he just happens to have suction cups on him to aid him in this task!!

The DVD (the one released in May, 2007) is flawless in picture and sound quality. The picture has been digitally restored and I'm sure the picture is just as good (if not better!!) than when it was released over 40 years ago. As well, there is one extra in the form of an audio commentary.

Finally, here is some information to consider. This DVD is actually the first disc of the two-disc "Ultimate Edition." Bond fanatics might want to purchase this two-disc Ultimate Edition since the second disc has "the best collection of special features ever assembled for Bond." (Unfortunately, the Ultimate Edition is no longer available but it can be purchased second-hand).

In conclusion, this is the last serious James Bond movie starring Sean Connery. Because of this, this movie is a must-see!!

(1967; 2 hr; wide screen; 32 scenes)

<>

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June 21, 2008

Bond in the Orient...

1967's "You Only Live Twice" was Sean Connery's fifth outing as James Bond and his growing disenchantment with the role unfortunately shows through. This movie also marks a decided movement towards increasing implausible story premises and spectacular special effects at the expense of ties to Ian Fleming's original novels.

The movie opens up with a pre-credit sequence in which Bond is apparently assassinated, a nice set-up for the outstanding theme song "You Only Live Twice." The actual plot concerns an attempt by the evil SPECTRE organization to start a war between Russia and the US by hijacking their spacecraft in orbit. British Intelligence sends Bond to Japan in search of arch-nemisis Blofeld, where he works closely with his Japanese counterparts, including at least one attractive female agent. Bond and his Japanese allies will ultimately find and assault the SPECTRE headquarters, located in an extinct volcano, in a splashy finale featuring dozens of ninja warriors.

This movie never quite hits the stride of its predecessors. Bond seems out of place in Japan. Donald Pleasence's urbane, cat-petting Blofeld is a less than menacing villain, while the special effects seem to be covering for a less convincing storyline. It all still makes for a good show, highly recommended for fans of the 007 franchise. March 12, 2008

A Bond Gem with minor flaws

"You Only Live Twice" seems to often go overlooked by many fans. To me it still ranks with the best of the early Connery reign. The films many attributes include outstanding action, spectacular sets and Sean Connery. Yes, Sean Connery (albeit slightly disenchanted with the role) still keeps us immersed in his "serious" approach to Bond. Granted, his disappointment with the producers was a major issue in what may seem, at times, to be an uneven performance but there are other factors to consider as well. Script, direction and editing (in this case, add a couple of wardrobe mistakes) also play an important part in almost any performance. It just so happens that this project, especially toward the end, was rushed to meet a deadline.

The major flaw with YOLT is that it is too long. This was also the case with "Thunderball". After the success of the first three installments, especially "Goldfinger", the producers had so much more money to play with that they wanted it all on the screen. The pacing of these two films suffers as a result. Whereas Connery's terrific performance in "Thunderball" helped that film immensely, YOLT, out of necessity, must rely on its sets and action to boost its entertainment value. A telltale snippet of dialogue is when Bond, having just experienced his awesome Ninja warriors, wryly asks Tanaka, "What about ME ?"

Personally, I have long held the notion that the producers, were they so inclined, could probably offer us superior versions of both "You Only Live Twice" and "Thunderball" by intelligently re-editing and deleting about 10 to 15 minutes of each film. The "theft of the warheads" and "wedding" scenes come to mind immediately.

Nevertheless, YOLT is a superior entry in the series. In addition to the aforementioned facts, it contains great cinematography work and yet another excellent music score by John Barry. It is, in many ways, the Bond version of "Alice in Wonderland". As repeated viewings will prove, it is certainly far better than ANY of the Roger Moore films. By the way, this latest remastered version (the same as the Ultimate 2-disc package) is the one to get.
February 12, 2008

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