You Only Live Twice

Rating:
Summary: James Bond tangles with Ernst Blofeld in Japan
Review: "You Only Live Twice" is a James Bond techno-thriller in which Sean Connery, Nancy Sinatra's title song, and the spectacular rocket base set all take turns overwhelming the story. The script for this 1967 film is based very loosely on Ian Fleming's 1964 novel, is more of a disappointment once you realize it was written by Roald Dahl. A pair of satellites belonging to the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. are swallowed up by a mysterious spacecraft belonging to SPECTRE, the super-criminal organization run by Ernest Stavro Blofeld, played this time around by Donald Pleasance (and the first time we actually see Blofeld's face). The idea is to provoke a superpower war so that SPECTRE can come in afterwards and pick up the pieces (presumably all wearing suits to protect them from the radiation).

After "Moonraker," this is the James Bond film that makes the most of science fiction hardware. The secret rock base is located inside a Japanese volcano, which makes for a big battle sequences between SPECTRE's troops and Japanese ninja secret agents (or would that be secret agent ninjas?). In retrospect, this scene is one of the most important in the Bond series because it upped the ante for all future films. There would still be all the fun gadgets and gizmos, but giant set pieces like this one would becomes required elements from here on out. In fact, Bond movies now usually begin with such set pieces and not just end with them.

"You Only Live Twice" is a mixed bag. John Barry's score is his best for the entire Bond series, which says something right there, and the title song gets my vote for being the best of the Bonds as well. Plus you have Sean Connery as James Bond (even if he thinks he is turning Japanese). But there are some substantial parts of the film where nothing really happens, and even the beautiful Japanese scenery cannot detract from how badly things start to drag. However, I appreciate the fact that Mie Hama as Kissy, breaks the Bond girl mold. For that matter, this film gives Japanese actors a chance to play something other than brutal World War II soldiers or prison guards, which is certainly of some cinematic importance.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining Connery
Review: After four excellent Bond films comes Connery's 5th effort You Only Live Twice. Twice is possibly Connery's worst Bond film, yet it contains things previous OO7 films or Diamonds Are Forever lacked or had less of. YOLT has spectacular Oriental sets by Ken Adam, the most action of any Connery film (dock gunfight, space capsule hijack, car chase, helicopter battle, building fight, gunfight in Blofeld's crater), an ingenious idea for SPECTRE's headquarters (an inactive volcano crater), great costumes, the first appearance of SPECTRE No.1, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (played fairly well by Donald Pleasence), stunning cinematography, and an excellent pre-title (our hero faking his own death) However, this is not the best Connery pre-title it is edged out by two other pre-titles in Diamonds Are Forever and the best, Thunderball. Though Twice has some good things, it has some nagging faults, one of which is Connery's slightly wooden performance. The others are lack of good crisis situations, the script by Roald Dahl, and the killing of Aki. However, the worst thing is that Twice has so much potential with things like the Oriental setting, Sean Connery, Ernst Stavro Blofeld and SPECTRE, great girls, beautiful cinmatography and costumes, lots of good action, a good pre-title, and a bit weak yet original plot. But for some odd reason, Twice is considered by some to be the worst official Connery film, including myself.

Rating:
Summary: James Bond meets Dr. Evil!
Review: At the height of a cold war threatening to heat up, Russian and American spacecraft vanish after making contact with a mysterious spacecraft. Predictably, each country blames the other for an outrageous act of space piracy and of war. The British disagree, sending in the one man who can find the truth, save the world, fall in love and get the best vodka martini all at the same time: James Bond.

Heading for the islands of Japan, Bond uncovers a SPECTRE conspiracy to trigger WWIII, discovering a secret space-port in a dormant volcano and finally meeting the horribly scarred "No. 1" himself, Ernst Blofeld. Never seen by face, ("Thunderball" and "From Russia with Love"), Blofeld actually looks a lot like british actor Donald Pleasance. Despite the "unmasking", Pleasance uses an utterly cold to preserve the malevolent mystery of the evil empire's capstone. With the help of an army of modern ninjas (armed with cigarette-rocket launchers) and on the brink of nuclear war, Bond stages an epic assault on SPECTRE.

I'm surprised that this film gets such lukewarm response from fans or even non-fans. Though providing more material for bond-parody than, say "From Russia with Love", YOLT doesn't sink to camp. Though the Blofeld in this film takes himself so seriously that his was the model for Dr. Evil, it's still a chilling performance one that survives even Austin Powers. Bond seems even more vulnerable than he did in "Dr. No" while the Asian locations only keep him off balance, unacclimated. With fast stunts and a killer aerial sequnce involving a gyrocopter, YOLT won't dissappoint.

Rating:
Summary: Twice Is the ONLY Way to Live!
Review: Forgive me if I am more of a Bond-Movie aficionado than one of Ian Flemming's original works. Perhaps it's because I am a Sir Sean fan more than anything. But I have come to conclude after watching "You Only Live Twice" twice, three and four times - and beyond! - that no one beats Sean Connery's 007. Donald Pleasance's sets the standard for the aristocratic, diabolically calm Blofeld. The action grabs you from the get-go. Considering this was Mr. Dahl's first movie script, I felt he stayed truer to his late friend's stories than the more recent, poorly contrived 007 plots (and since "Goldeneye" Pierce Bronsan's Bond deserves much better scriptwriting). The Special Edition DVDs feature a real treat for Avenger fans: the behind-the-scenes stories narrated by the seductive voice of Patrick Macnee, the original John Steed. Add to this the original trailers and audio commentary of the director and actors, and you have a fitting tribute to one of the 20th century's great movie legacies. But as a woman of color, my main appreciation is that, unlike "Dr. No," "You Only Live Twice" features authentic Asian actors and actresses, and is the first Bond film in which the Bond girls do more than sleep with 007: they actually are working agents who can steer a getaway car and shoot to kill! Granted, I'll always be a Cathy Gale/Emma Peel Avengerwoman fan, because, unlike Bond girls, they had superbadness AND relational integrity. But for my money You Only Live Twice rates as a film worthy of its place in the 007 legacy...and as the trailers aptly state, "Twice is the ONLY way to live!"

Rating:
Summary: the best song in bond,s series
Review: Great locations, intriguing plot, and we finally get to see Blofelt, ughhh! No wonder he was kept hidden! Masterfully played by Donald Pleasance. Does Kissy Suzuki have a face like a pig? I think not! Watch out for the piranhas, but most of all, little nelly! There's also a memorable fight scene with bond on the roof of the docks, they should still have that music in the modern films! Excellent!

Rating:
Summary: "Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond"
Review: I love this film- it is probably one of Sean Connery's greatest in the role of James Bond. His adventures this time include the Russians and Americans in a popular Cold War theme of the 1960's- both believe that the other country is trying to attack them. On the brink of a third World War, Bond is sent on a mission to find out who is behind all of this. Pretending to be dead during an on-the-job trist, Bond is able to spy on his enemies without them knowing who he is. His adventures take him to Japan, where he works closely with Tiger Tanaka and Kissy Suzuki of the Japanese Secret Service.

Ernest Stavro Blofeld- one of Bond's greatest nemeses (and an inspiration for Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers movies). He is probably one of the creepiest villains of all time, too. Controlling the world takes quite a lot of work- including an underground volcano in which to hide his secret operations. Infiltrating this secret lair is only a part of Bond's job- and he does this seemingly without effort.

True to James Bond format are the chase scenes. Entertaining is the scene in which the thugs chasing Bond and Kissy Suzuki are lifted off the ground by a large magnet and dropped into Tokyo Bay. Improbable? Yes, but highly efficient, too.

Rating:
Summary: JAMES BOND TURNING JAPANESE...
Review: I really think so. YOLT, with Connery in bad make-up and bowl cut wig no less, is an enjoyable romp that makes no apologies for not taking itself too seriously...Connery in a kimono further supports that theory. Forget the unbelievable story...you have Nancy Sinatra offering proof she was a singer; Bond getting his "first civilized bath" and Little Nellie. Give me this one. some saki served at the correct temperature and a spicy tuna roll and I'm content in any lifetime.

Rating:
Summary: They just get better and better...
Review: I'm almost inclined to say that the series gets better and better as I go down the line of sequels. I liked "Dr. No" quite a bit, "From Russia With Love" about the same, "Goldfinger" was awesome, "Thunderball" was equally good and now here we are at "You Only Live Twice". I guess now that I think about it, I can't say that I liked this film better than "Goldfinger" or "Thunderball", but I probably liked it the same.

Sean Connery of course plays the perfect James Bond, always good to see him in the role. I was very happy to see that the support cast regulars were all back (Desmond Llewelyn, Lois Maxwell, and Bernard Lee). The rest of the supporting cast was good as well. I was quite surprised to see Donald Pleasence in the film as the antagonist. Donald did a fine job with his role, although I'm not sure if I was very fond of his voice...not sinister enough, but I can deal with it.

The story was quite interesting and pretty well thought out. I always liked the idea of a third-party attempting to make two super-powers fight each other thinking that each other is responsible for what the third-party did. There are of course a few things throughout the film that I didn't like, but I won't get into them (because I don't want to give away anything to those of you that haven't seen the film).

When reviewing a Bond film, I feel it's required to talk about the cool gadgets used in the film. The gadgets in this film are pretty cool, although there aren't a whole lot of them.

Another requirement of reviewing Bond films is the women of the film. The women in this film were nice, but nothing spectacular.

All in all, I thought this was an excellent fifth installment to the Bond series, and hopefully the later installments can live up to the quality of the first 5 (read my reviews and find out...if I've written them by the time you read this). If you liked any of the previous Bond films, or just like the Bond films in general, I would definitely recommend checking this one out.

Rating:
Summary: First Bond film to dispose of Ian Fleming, but still good
Review: One of the best of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels was "You Only Live Twice," the story about James Bond avenging his wife's death at the hands of Ernst Stavro Blofeld. But producers Harry Saltzman and Cubby Broccoli were put off by the books obsession with death (and the fact that the preceeding book, OHMSS, hadn't been made into a movie yet) and hired Roald Dahl to throw together a story about stolen spacecraft.

Although You Only Live Twice could have been a lot better on the silver screen, it is still an enjoyable film. Japan is a great setting for what was supposed to be Sean Connery's final Bond. The directing by Lewis Gilbert is superb. He puts an interesting twst on several scenes, including a frantic rooftop fight that is shot with a wide angle rather than a closeup.

The plot is fantastic and somewhat silly but it doesn't need to be realistic. This is a Bond movie, after all. The story gives Connery the opportunity to partake in several scenes that have become part of the Bond legend. The helicopter chase is exciting (and dangerous for the aerial cameraman, as I later learned), and the battle inside the impressive hollow mountain (as later spoofed by the Simpsons) is classic Bond action. Bond even tries to board SPECTRE's rocket, foreshadowing what would come in Moonraker.

My biggest complaint with this film is Blofeld himself. After concealing his face in the other Bond movies, his revealing is very anti-climactic. Donald Pleasance never lived up to the meanacing, mysterious Blofeld portrayed by Anthony Dawson in From Russia With Love and Thunderball. And, after seeing Mike Myers's hillarious Dr. Evil, you can never take him seriously.

You Only Live Twice is classic James Bond fun and excitement. It is also the inspiration for another great movie franchise, Austin Powers. If you like either series of movies, make sure to watch You Only Live Twice.

Rating:
Summary: Good But Lacking A Little Bit Of The Bond Feeling
Review: Sean Connery Bond films are great, and You Only Live Twice, is no excpetion. This movie takes a big step in the Bond Series, with the first meeting of Bond and Blofeld. This was what the begginging of the series was leading to and it was a great confrontation. Halloween fans will be happy to know that Donald Plecense (sorry I don't know how to spell his name) plays the infamous Blofeld.

But isn't this film missing a little somthing. Bond is never behind the wheel of a car, and in the middle of the movie he goes under cover and we get aside stroy of his life in a small simple village. This part does not seem very Bond. I think it has to do with the man who wrote the screenplay. Famous author Roald Dahl, writter of Charlie and the Chocalte Factory, and Matilda, took a stab at a serious venture and in some ways messed with things that should not have been messed with.

But don't get me wrong I still like this movie a lot, and the movie has a lot of fun moments, like in the end of the movie Ninjas Vs. armed gunmen, Bond is on the side of the ninjas, who is going to win? Stupid fun like this is what makes this movie great. NUFF SAID.