Rating: 
Summary: Very Entertaining
Review: In this entry, we finally get to meet Ernst Stavro Blofeld, though we meet two others in later films, since Blofeld has as many faces as Felix Leiter! Connery is great as always as James Bond, and he is complemented by a great supporting cast of Japanese actors. The Japan setting is different and refreshing. Even the opening gun-barrel trademark has an oriental-sounding musical variation on the Bond theme. The plot: SPECTRE has taken to hijacking space capsules, particularly American and Russian vessels, and plans to, as Blofeld puts it, "inaugurate a little war". Bond must infiltrate Blofeld's (played by Donald Pleasance) fortress with the help of ninjas. The fight scene with the ninjas and SPECTRE troopers is spectacular. Note: this is Connery's last Bond for a little while, until 1971.
Rating: 
Summary: A great action thriller film
Review: An exiting adventure that leads to space, "volcanoes", and much more. A great film for the entire family. Spy-like action. A classic 007.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as engaging as other Bond fare, but not a total loss.
Review: Sean Connery's fourth adventure as 007 is his least captivating. SPECTRE, headquartered in a spectacularly designed dormant volcano, is meddling with USA and Russian space capsules, raising tensions to a high. With each side threatening action, Bond had his work cut out for him. The film boasts a spectacular look at the people and cultures of Japan, but the screenplay is seriously lacking. Roald Dahl's screenplay discards the elements of the excellent Ian Fleming novel and opts instead for half-hearted attempt at a Bond action thriller. "Twice" isn't at all a bad movie, but it pales in comparison to its predecessors in the series. As far as casting goes, the major problem is with the main villain, Ernst Stavros Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE. Donald Pleasance, a very talented actor, is all wrong for this particular role. His Blofeld speaks in a cold monotone and has a rather bizarre appearance, but is just not suited for the character. He is menacing only in the least, and this is not how Blofeld should come across. However, the film has several memorable action sequences, as well as the previously mentioned volcano set, expertly designed by Ken Adam for the price of $1 million (the entire budget of "Dr. No!"). For these reasons, its worth watching.
Rating: 
Summary: Bond in the Orient Falls Flat
Review: Perhaps it was because this was the first Bond book I ever read, having grown up on a steady diet of Sean Connery and the awesome action and violence of the movies, but I found Fleming's last full-length Bond book a yawn. Taking place after On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1963), in which 007's betrothed, Tracy, is murdered at the hands of his arch-enemy Ernst Stavro Blofeld, You Only Live Twice opens with Bond a bit of a wreck and of no use to MI6. M sends him off to Japan in the hopes that "Tiger" Tanaka, head of the Japanese Secret Intelligence Service, can somehow whip him into shape. The otherwise slow, unexciting story involves Bond's investigation of Dr. Shatterhand, a mysterious scientist and botanical genius who has cultivated every form of deadly plant imaginable in a secured garden. In the course of stopping the fiend who breeds poisonous plant life, Bond comes to discover that Shatterhand is in reality Blofeld, giving even the reader sober if perverse satisfaction as 007 literally strangles the life out of him. Not a great tale by and large -- I stuck it out and went on to become a raging Bond aficionado, finding in most of the other books (beginning with Casino Royale) ample justification for my abiding fasination with this character.
Rating:
Summary: Fleming's last Bond novel still packs a punch
Review: Don't skip this book because you didn't like the movie. Here we see Bond's final showdown with Ernst Stavro Blofeld. As always, Fleming thrills us with exciting locations, gorgeous women, and breathtaking action. Wait till you read the ending
Rating:
Summary: Another classic by Ian Fleming, dispite it's age
Review: Bond, normally calm, smooth, and thoughtful, returns from failed mission after failed mission. As a last resort, M sends him to Japan to work with Tiger Tanaka. Bond accepts it, but little does he know that his future nemesis turns out to be his infamous arch-villian, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who has created a Garden of Death.
Detailed throughout, and clearly well written. We see a new perspecive of Bond, one we have never seen before, or may ever see again. He is agitated, and anxious. He even thinks on resigning. In Japan, the plot runs thick enough just to keep us interested until the final meeting between Blofeld and Bond, a duel between titans.
No question about it, although this may run slow near the middle, the final chapters all make up for it in a fight that will never be seen in literature or on the big screen ever. Oh, yes. Here's another interesting point that will wet your appetite a little more. Only in this book will you see James Bond's obituary.
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: 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: 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: 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.
|
