Rating: 
Summary: Quirky but memorable Bond adventure
Review: One of the quirkier James Bond films, which causes me to love and loathe it in equal measure, You Only Live Twice was Sean Connery's fifth and penultimate go-round as James Bond ( I don't count Never Say Never Again, and neither should you). The plot deals with Bond's efforts to figure out who is capturing American and Soviet rockets. I love it because like all the great Bond movies, it feels like a travelogue - you get to see a lot of Japan, where most of the movie takes place; a change in director to Lewis Gilbert makes the whole movie feel more epic; the volcano set, where the villain hides out, is a classic; and "Little Nellie", the little helicopter, is a great gadget that we should all be using by now. Why aren't we?!!What DON'T I like? First off, our man JB doesn't really do a whole lot. He mainly gets carried along by the plot as needed - he doesn't even drive a car at all in this movie (it's the only one where that happens). Also, the whole thing feels strangely half-formed. There are parts where you might think your DVD player has skipped a chapter - I mean, you don't even learn the Bond girl's name until the credits! The whole thing is just a little too far over the top- giant sets, giant plot. The plots got this big when Roger Moore took over, but he was more capable of handling it by treating the whole thing with a tongue-in-cheek attitude. Sean Connery was just too much of a man's man to deal with hollowed-out volcanoes. Check it out, though - you may disagree. It's still mindlessly enjoyable if you don't think about it too much. The score and title song are great, and it's fun seeing where Mike Myers came up with virtually every joke in the Austin Powers movies.
Rating:
Summary: You'll Only Watch It Once
Review: There exists general agreement among fans that YOL2 is the weakest Connery chapter. There are a number of reasons offered for this, an important one of which is the surprisingly weak script from Roald Dahl. Modern viewers will recognize a number of stereotypical "idiotic bad guy" cliches that have been thoroughly lampooned since this film's 1967 release. The film also lacks particularly frightening villains; what tension is in it is created more by American and Russian stupidity than by the malevolence of a challenging anatgonist. Others blame Connery, suggesting that he had lost interest in portraying the character by the time of this episode, although he returned for DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, the film after the next (and the not-canon NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN). Finally, strict action or special effects fans will compare this movie unfavourably to THUNDERBALL. In some ways, however, YOL2 also demonstrates a recovery from the direction that THUNDERBALL threatened to take the franchise in. Bond has returned to the humoursly charming womanizer of GOLDFINGER; he's more clown and less lout. Even if one has difficulty suspending disbelief when confronted by the ridiculous orbital manueverings and badly dated sfx, Connery's dry one-liners help to keep one laughing with the film, rather than at it. Bond, while still as supercompetent as he was and will be, is also slightly more human and forced to work a little harder to foil SPECTRE's plot to plunge the world into WWIII. SPECTRE, the criminal organization that will dominate the next two films and was a plot device for FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and THUNDERBALL, finally gets a (disfigured) human face in this movie, as Blofeld (played by the uninspiring Donald Pleasence) is revealed after Bond is captured a second time. YOL2 can, in some ways, be seen as a rather slow chapter moving the larger SPECTRE arc along to its climax in the next film, ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE. The real weakness of YOL2 is its heavy reliance on the exoticism of Japan to carry the movie. To the modern action movie fan Japan has long since lost its "mysterious Orient" quality, and so gratuitous scenes involving sumo wrestling, geishas and gun-toting ninjas come across as embarassingly colonial instead of intriguingly foreign. The Japanese characters, including the two Bond women (Akiko Wakabayashi as the delicately competent Aki and Mia Hami as the courageous Kissy), manage, in some occasions, to escape their stereotyping, and Tetsuro Tamba's 'Tiger' Tanaka is a worthy member of the "helpful local" Bond gallery, YOL2 is the first Bond movie that is not plagued by overdubbing problems. In fact, the production complaint I have is that the 007 theme is stretched, too loud to be background, over the long helicopter battle sequence. This is a substantial improvement from its predecessors for those used to today's big-budget action movies. The casual Bond fan will probably enjoy watching YOL2, but purchasing it for repeated viewing is probably for the collector or serious devotee only.
Rating:
Summary: Not the best. But still pretty good...
Review: The 5th installment of the Secret Agent 007 saga finds Bond facing one of his toughest missions yet! A plot to start WWIII is at hand as more & more U.S./Russian rockets end up mysteriously missing. Obviously, neither side has anything to do with this matter except for one organization: SPECTRE! Ernst Blofeld returns after the previous "From Russia With Love" and "Thunderball" this time played by Donald Pleasance. (who'd later show up in the blockbuster hit "Halloween" films.) Indeed, this is one of the weaker Bonds in the series. (but not as bad as "The World Is Not Enough", which also wasn't as good as I thought!). STILL, the action-packed sequences and the explosive Special-FX make up for that. Another note is that the title song (sung by Nancy Sinatra) is a bit depressing in my opinion. I'd have to agree with other reviewers here that this wasn't as good as Connery's previous Bond films such as "Dr. No" "From Russia With Love" and "Goldfinger", but it's still good eye candy! I thought it was okay, but kinda boring sometimes. Also, be sure to check out the sequel, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". It's the BEST of the Bond's. SERIOUSLY!
Rating: 
Summary: Weak Plot Saved by Good Action and Special Effects
Review: The fifth James Bond movie was quite an evolution from "Dr. No" and "From Russia with Love". Gadgets galore, ever more exotic locations, double entendres along with a large dose of other witty remarks establish the James Bond as we know him today. It is perhaps this evolution that makes many Bond fans consider "Goldfinger", with fewer witticisms and gadgets, yet a fully developed spy character, to be the best Bond movie. Regardless of whether you felt the Bond movies were going down hill after "Goldfinger" or not, I still like a lot about this Bond movie. After the traditional opening scene, the movie opens with one of the best of the early credits openings. Nancy Sinatra, of "These Boots Are Made for Walking" fame, sings "You Only Live Twice" beautifully while umbrella framework shadows background scenery. In some ways I thought this opening was one of the more innovative openings until the opening for "Tomorrow Never Dies" with Cheryl Crow doing the song honors. Moving past the opening, Spectre is attempting to start a world war by stealing US and Soviet space craft while they are in orbit, hoping that the two countries will get so mad at each other that they will attack each other and blow each other up. Even when the US and the Soviet Union were most angry at each other it is extremely unlikely that each would credit the other with the ability to steal their spaceships, and even if they did blame each other, nuclear war over spaceships is implausible, at best. Unfortunately, the plot in this movie is as weak as it sounds, so forget about a really evil super villain who has a good conquer the world plan. One interesting double take is Charles Gray as good guy Henderson. In "Diamonds are Forever" Gray gets to come back and be bad guy Ernst Blofeld, taking over for the too nice Donald Pleasance in this movie. Donald is just too nice to be Blofeld. With one exception, the action and special effects are what make this movie. Cheesiest special effect goes to the helicopters shot down by "Little Nelly". Think helicopters hung by a string and then blown up. Not what you would call a great special effect. The rest of the special effects ran from good to very good. The underground Spectre base hidden in the base of a volcano used generally good miniatures, though the wheels didn't turn too well on the spaceship transport. "Little Nelly" was a pretty cool gyrocopter, though the scenes of Bond flying it had the usual unreal look of a projected back screen. The rest of this film contains a host of little details. Secret entrances, trap doors, trap walkways, and of all things, Ninjas! Oh, and the Bond women in this movie tend to show the same polarity of other Bond films. While some of these women are beautiful and compliant, some are ruthless killers. Nothing like equal opportunity! One side note. This movie was written by Roald Dahl, of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "James and the Giant Peach" fame. While some other reviewers have expressed dismay that a well-known author with Dahl's credentials came up with such a weak story, I consider that Dahl was a lot younger, and the interpretation of the screenplay can make or break a screenplay. While Dahl may have been able to make improvements, responsibility for the relatively weak plot can be shared by many of those involved. While the plot for this movie is among the weakest of the Bond films, I still think the movie is saved by the nearly non-stop action and special effects. I admit that the one-liners used throughout the movie kept the movie from taking itself too seriously, which may also distract some fans, but there is still one line I enjoy. When Bond meets Aki, a beautiful female Japanese, she says to Bond that she looks forward to working under him. Even Bond looked a little surprised when she said that. James Bond doesn't always get the good one-liners.
Rating: 
Summary: This is the BOOK, not the movie.
Review: *Why are most of these reviews for the movie? I'm on the BOOK page!* This was the first Bond book I ever read, and it led me to read most of the rest of the Bond books. The books are awesome... James Bond is actually a spy rather than a bullet dodging Rambo style superman. If you love the idea of Bond, but always thought the movies were a little stupid, try reading the books!
Rating:
Summary: Great movie
Review: This is a great bond movie it is vary action packed toward the end but lacks action in other spots perfect dvd for your collection
Rating:
Summary: Talk About Your Guilty Pleasures . . .
Review: Yes, Sean Connery looks bored in his fifth outing as James Bond. Yes, the evil plot hatched by the bad guys this time around seems more silly than frightening. Yes, the long-awaited debut of Blofeld (Donald Pleasance) may have clashed with your preconceived notion of what he really looked like. Yes, that scene where a car is tossed into the ocean by a giant magnet is a howler. Yet, despite all its flaws, You Only Live Twice is remarkably entertaining! Call it the guilty pleasure of the franchise! Whether it's watching Bond dropping mini-parachute bombs on pursuing helicopters or watching an army of ninjas storm a hollowed-out volcano, you just can't turn away from the screen. Part of the film's effectiveness has to be attributed to the supporting cast. Although Connery seems uninspired through most of the film, Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama, Tetsuro Tamba, and Karin Dor all infuse the film with a zany charm. Throw into the equation beautiful cinematography by Freddie Young, a great musical score by John Barry, grand production design by Ken Adams, and a semi-catchy title tune by Nancy Sinatra and you get a Bond film ranked in the second-tier of the series in terms of quality. While certainly a far cry from the intrigue and suspense of From Russia With Love, You Only Live Twice still distinguishes itself enough to put a goofy smile on your face every time you think of it.
Rating:
Summary: My all-time favorite Bond flick!
Review: Between the "Little Nellie" aerial battle, the Kobe dock fight, the Japanese setting, Nancy Sinatra's awesome title track, and the best snippet of dialogue of any 007 film ("Why do Chinese girls taste different from all other girls?" "You think we better?" "No, just different, like Peking duck is different from Russian caviar, but I love them both!"), I was hooked! The only flaw is where Dikko Henderson (Charles Gray) serves us James' martini "stirred, not shaken" when we all know the opposite is how it goes! ('Twas interesting to see Gray later return as Blofeld in "Diamonds Are Forever") Also, while some of the other reviewers rightfully mention the sexy Japanese Bond gals, Kissy Suzuki and Aki, they overlook the gorgeous redhead Karen Dor's role as the villanous Mrs. Brandt/"Number 11." (As they say in "Swingers," "You always double down on the 11!" HA!)
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: My personal favourite
Review: As the the first James Bond I saw in a cinema this is still my favourite.It pains me to see the likes of "Octopussy" get an overall higher rating than this, but then it`s all a matter of taste.
Sure it`s over the top, leaning towards the parody of Flint but then I think it`s refreshing to see the producers move away from the more callous and darker tone of "Thunderball".The score is one of Barry`s best and the action is certainly the series best choreagraphed to that point.The helicopter shot of Bond fighting the gang of pirates on the rooftop is one of my favourites of all the Bond films.
The DVD is an excellent package and Lewis Gilbert comes across on the commentary as a director having a lot of fun with the franchise.
Connery is perhaps not at his best, being a little overwhelmed by the films more spectacular scale but again I prefer this Bond to the more psychotic incarnations in the likes of "Dr No".
To anyone not a total Bond nut I think this is the best Bond to start your induction.Enjoy.
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