Pros and Cons: You Only Live Twice

1234568

Comments

  • welshboy78welshboy78 Posts: 10,292MI6 Agent
    Exactly, she is beautiful, but I feel more like protecting her,
    Rather than doing the " Naughty" :)

    Bet you feel the same way about Christmas also!! :))
    Instagram - bondclothes007
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    No, with Christmas, she's never walk again. ;)
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • heartbroken_mr_draxheartbroken_mr_drax New Zealand Posts: 2,073MI6 Agent
    No, with Christmas, she's never walk again. ;)

    {[]
    1. TWINE 2. FYEO 3. MR 4. TLD 5. TSWLM 6. OHMSS 7. DN 8. OP 9. AVTAK 10. TMWTGG 11. QoS 12. GE 13. CR 14. TB 15. FRWL 16. TND 17. LTK 18. GF 19. SF 20. LaLD 21. YOLT 22. NTTD 23. DAD 24. DAF. 25. SP

    "Better make that two."
  • RemingtonRemington CAPosts: 239MI6 Agent
    Funny thing with YOLT. Sometimes i really like it. Sometimes not so much.

    Pros:
    .The locations, cinematography, and score are all top class.
    .Without it, there might not be any Austin Powers.
    .Donald Pleasence is iconic.
    .Tiger Tanaka.
    .Bond's "death".
    .Beautiful theme song.
    .Ken Adam's sets. The Volcano set is spectacular.
    .Little Nellie.
    .Aki and Kissy are gorgeous.
    .Aki's death is disturbing.
    .The first act, up until the bath scene, is perfect for me.
    .The movie is just HUGE. Everything about it is epic.

    Cons:
    .Compared to the previous films, the writing isn't too special.
    .Connery is still good but past his prime.
    .The turning Japanese scenario could've been done better.
    .The scenes between Bond and Kissy on the island i usually skip.
    .The writing and dubbing of Kissy.
    .The special effects are pretty dated. Not a big problem.

    Note:
    .Me and my 8 year old cousin watched about 9 Bonds last summer. He made me watch this one with him twice :))

    8/10 -{
    1. Connery 2. Moore 3. Dalton 4. Brosnan 5. Craig 6. Lazenby
  • Dirty PunkerDirty Punker ...Your Eyes Only, darling."Posts: 2,587MI6 Agent
    edited April 2017
    Remington wrote:
    Cons:
    .Compared to the previous films, the writing isn't too special.
    As much as I like the movie, that is my main issue with YOLT, it's such a departure that could've lowered the series' level. I wish they had done Diamonds in 67 (or any other Fleming novel) so that they could do Her Majesty's with Twice being the follow up. Well, at least we got a proper OHMSS.
    a reasonable rate of return
  • WadsyWadsy Auckland, New ZealandPosts: 410MI6 Agent
    My Bond marathon continues... I just saw this film the other day and... oh boy. I have quite a fair bit to say.

    Pro's:

    * First appearance of Blofeld on-screen played superbly by Donald Pleasance
    * Aki was a fantastic Bond girl
    * Tiger Tanaka was a memorable Bond ally, first since Kerim Bey in From Russia With Love
    * The first half of the film has quite a bit of action and memorable moments

    Con's:

    * The dying plot in the pre-credits. Why did the secret service feel that this was even necessary? Did they KNOW that James was going to be a target for SPECTRE, having defeated them three times already? Or was it just a coincidence? M's statement does not answer this question
    * Poor writing in comparison to ALL previous Bond films
    * Sean Connery's performance is nothing like, and again I say this, ALL previous Bond films. He came across as bored and un-interested and it clearly shows
    * Kissy's performance and portrayal in the film
    * Lack of memorability from the film as a whole, it's just Home Brand spread on a piece of bread
    * The entire volcano sequence and segment is boring in my opinion
    * Like TB, this film does not 'really' acknowledge Bond's past with SPECTRE (even though #1 knew the death of Bond was a hoax)
    * The score of the movie

    Overall... Compared with the prior films with SPECTRE, Connery's earlier performances and even GF, this film just does not hold up as memorable or worthwhile. It is a dud, pretty much like DAF and most of the Pierce Brosnan era (my opinion). I was actually happy that they hired a new actor to do the next film. Their only mistake was asking the original actor to return for what was it? $2 million USD?

    YOLT gets a 5/10.
    1. FYEO 2. OHMSS 3. LTK 4. FRWL 5. TLD 6. TSWLM 7. GF 8. AVTAK 9. MR 10. DN 11. SF 12. LALD 13. TB 14. OP 15. CR 16. GE 17. YOLT 18. TMWTGG 19. SP 20. TND 21. TWINE 22. QOS 23. NTTD 24. DAF 25. DAD 26. NSNA 27. CR '67

    1. Dalton 2. Moore 3. Connery 4. Craig 5. Lazenby 6. Brosnan
  • heartbroken_mr_draxheartbroken_mr_drax New Zealand Posts: 2,073MI6 Agent
    edited May 2017
    ^ The biggest flaw of the film for me is that they give away the plot so early in the film. The film's too big for itself.

    TSWLM is almost like the 2nd go for Gilbert (I mean the plot is similar, just on sea) - it's a much tighter, better made film.
    1. TWINE 2. FYEO 3. MR 4. TLD 5. TSWLM 6. OHMSS 7. DN 8. OP 9. AVTAK 10. TMWTGG 11. QoS 12. GE 13. CR 14. TB 15. FRWL 16. TND 17. LTK 18. GF 19. SF 20. LaLD 21. YOLT 22. NTTD 23. DAD 24. DAF. 25. SP

    "Better make that two."
  • WadsyWadsy Auckland, New ZealandPosts: 410MI6 Agent
    I see what you mean. That wasn't as big an issue for me as it was some others, but it definitely took away the suspense where it was needed. The entire film just feels like a huge step down in quality from everything seen previously, and that MI6 really don't have much involvement.
    1. FYEO 2. OHMSS 3. LTK 4. FRWL 5. TLD 6. TSWLM 7. GF 8. AVTAK 9. MR 10. DN 11. SF 12. LALD 13. TB 14. OP 15. CR 16. GE 17. YOLT 18. TMWTGG 19. SP 20. TND 21. TWINE 22. QOS 23. NTTD 24. DAF 25. DAD 26. NSNA 27. CR '67

    1. Dalton 2. Moore 3. Connery 4. Craig 5. Lazenby 6. Brosnan
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Wadsy wrote:

    Con's:

    * The score of the movie

    I'm surprised by this; most consider the score to be one of the film's assets. What is it you dislike about it?
  • GrindelwaldGrindelwald Posts: 1,294MI6 Agent
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI0pjLQ6dwg&list=PLhILsHS_uOWbHOMHyIcJfaRg2IeREm9_T&index=1

    YOLT 50 today.....I guess we should be toasting in sake and not vodka martini for this :))

    First Bond I ever saw back in '88 (same yr as Osato died , too)
  • GrindelwaldGrindelwald Posts: 1,294MI6 Agent
    Con's:

    * The dying plot in the pre-credits. Why did the secret service feel that this was even necessary? Did they KNOW that James was going to be a target for SPECTRE, having defeated them three times already? Or was it just a coincidence? M's statement does not answer this question (I like the symbolic nature of that scene , death and re-birth)

    * Poor writing in comparison to ALL previous Bond films (decent in itself though)

    * Sean Connery's performance is nothing like, and again I say this, ALL previous Bond films. He came across as bored and un-interested and it clearly shows (he did okay)

    * Kissy's performance and portrayal in the film (much preferred Aki)

    * The entire volcano sequence and segment is boring in my opinion (that's the best part of the whole movie if you ask me...what if it was possible to have such a base in a volcano...couldn't happen but cool notion)

    * The score of the movie (wonderful if you ask me)

    Connery paid 1.1 mill for DAF....I find GF kinda overrated and this is much more fun than Brosnans although GE is better
  • VesperMelogranoVesperMelograno The SouthPosts: 901MI6 Agent
    Question about YOLT. Does anyone know how they filmed the car being lifted by the magnet?
    I've always wanted to have Christmas in Turkey
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,618MI6 Agent
    I'd say that they've had a car that was fixed on the magnet when the helicopter lifts it up.

    The dumping may have been done with a kind of movable bolt. The fake magnet was large enough to hide 2 cows inside, so there could have been a lot of tec hidden there
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • VesperMelogranoVesperMelograno The SouthPosts: 901MI6 Agent
    So you think it was life-size and not a model?
    I've always wanted to have Christmas in Turkey
  • JTMJTM Posts: 3,027MI6 Agent
    From the look of it i'd definitely say real helicopter and real car.

    YOLT%20Magnet%20Helicopter_zpsryxabd0x.gif
  • sniperUKsniperUK UlsterPosts: 594MI6 Agent
    So you think it was life-size and not a model?

    It certainly was real, the KV-107 had a lift capability of 7 tons , very easy to lift a car on the cargo hook with a dummy magnet , release is easy , I have seen it done from Lynx ,Wessex etc at airshows in the past before H&S kicked in, hook operated by the loadmaster.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 SwitzerlandPosts: 870MI6 Agent
    It was real. You can watch the Documentary on YOLT in the Mission Dossier on YOLT's Blu-ray. There it is explained a little.
    Dalton Rulez™
  • Dirty PunkerDirty Punker ...Your Eyes Only, darling."Posts: 2,587MI6 Agent
    I listened to the YOLT commentary recently. I believe they mentioned that it was real.
    For anyone interested, I'll be uploading my review on it today or tomorrow (if it my editing ever wraps up).
    a reasonable rate of return
  • BlackleiterBlackleiter Washington, DCPosts: 5,615MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:
    Wadsy wrote:

    Con's:

    * The score of the movie

    I'm surprised by this; most consider the score to be one of the film's assets. What is it you dislike about it?

    I'd like to know the answer too. In my opinion the score to YOLT is at least one of the top 3 in the series (I'd include OHMSS and TLD in that group).
    "Felix Leiter, a brother from Langley."
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 3,906MI6 Agent
    ...and the title track has gone on to become a jazz standard, I probably hear more covers of that one than any other Bond theme song
  • FiremassFiremass AlaskaPosts: 1,910MI6 Agent
    ...and the title track has gone on to become a jazz standard, I probably hear more covers of that one than any other Bond theme song

    Right now I'm listening to a killer surf rock version of YOLT by Deadbolt. It's on a compilation CD called Secret Agent S.O.U.N.D.S.

    And on a related note, Man or Astroman plays a smoking rendition of the Goldfinger theme on that same CD.

    Highly recommended.
    My current 10 favorite:

    1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
  • heartbroken_mr_draxheartbroken_mr_drax New Zealand Posts: 2,073MI6 Agent
    Barbel wrote:
    Wadsy wrote:

    Con's:

    * The score of the movie

    I'm surprised by this; most consider the score to be one of the film's assets. What is it you dislike about it?

    I'd like to know the answer too. In my opinion the score to YOLT is at least one of the top 3 in the series (I'd include OHMSS and TLD in that group).

    It's an incredible soundtrack. Majorly iconic music including "Capsule in Space" and a beautiful love theme too. The Wedding is a stunning piece of music. I will say that I'm not a fan of the action theme (A Drop in the Ocean) it's a bit skittish and not the nicest thing to listen to. But other than that, fits the film's beauty and scale.
    1. TWINE 2. FYEO 3. MR 4. TLD 5. TSWLM 6. OHMSS 7. DN 8. OP 9. AVTAK 10. TMWTGG 11. QoS 12. GE 13. CR 14. TB 15. FRWL 16. TND 17. LTK 18. GF 19. SF 20. LaLD 21. YOLT 22. NTTD 23. DAD 24. DAF. 25. SP

    "Better make that two."
  • GrindelwaldGrindelwald Posts: 1,294MI6 Agent
    Helga reminds me of an evil mrs Peel......
  • Doctor WhoDoctor Who Posts: 62MI6 Agent
    edited July 2017
    Pros:
    Fast paced
    Multiple iconic scenes
    Great fights
    Little Nelly
    Beautiful scenery
    Tight pacing; doesn't drag like Thunderball
    Neither too ground nor too over the top. The perfect midway point between FRWL and DAF.
    The Ninjas
    The wedding scene
    Tiger

    Cons:
    Helga's plotline isn't written well
    Killing Aki off

    If the last two things didn't happen, I'd say this film would be tied with Goldfinger for the most iconic, best Bond. But as such it sits just below Goldfinger as the second best Bond film in my opinion.
  • Dirty PunkerDirty Punker ...Your Eyes Only, darling."Posts: 2,587MI6 Agent
    edited March 2018
    N-NANI?
    Screen_Shot_2018_03_06_at_23_08_37.png
    Connery looking down the lens in Goldfinger for half a shot made quite a stir (not shake), here but there are 4 shots of Charles Gray as Henderson looking at it after "don't ask me who's doing it either".
    Was he a SPECTRE agent and was killed for helping out on a mission for England, betraying their trust?
    He did say he knew more but how much more?
    a reasonable rate of return
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 3,906MI6 Agent
    edited February 2020
    This one will be much easier to cons-ify than the first four, but I will need to make special effort to pros-ify.

    I gotta irrational bias. The Spy Who Loved Me was the first Bondfilm I ever saw, and over the next two years I read all the books and caught all the old ones (including Casino Royale) on teevee. Somehow, You Only Live Twice was the last of the old ones I saw ... and so much of what I liked about ...Spy... turned out to have been repeated entirely from this film, yet I resented this film for both not being a proper Fleming adaptation and for doing the exact same things I already liked so much in a much later film! I know, makes no sense, and I gotta make an effort to assess this film more objectively.

    _______________________________________________________________

    PROS
    - Barry and Adam at the height of their powers

    - Title song delivers a Life is But a Dream type vibe, now that the Bond film has evolved into pure fantasy
    - Title song is the second most covered Bond song, after "The Look of Love" if you count that one.
    - First cover I ever heard was by Soft Cell back in the mid80s! but I've heard a lot of jazz covers since then
    - There's even a Simpsons cover, retitled "You Only Live Once", played in a relatively recent episode when Homer has a midlife crisis.

    - Finally we meet Blofeld! we never heard his name in Thunderball, so this is his big reveal, and campy as it is, its actually more dramatic than Waltz's attempt to remake this scene in SPECTRE.
    - Donald Pleasance's interpretion of Blofeld gave the world inspiration for Dr Evil, and if for nothing else the world must be grateful to this film.

    - Blofeld's HQ has not just a monorail, hundreds of minions, vast moving parts, and an impregnable control room, but also his own apartment!
    - Surely this set is bigger than the interior of the Liparus?
    - I think both the interior of the Death Star and Lando Calresian's offices in ...Empire... owe a lot to the set design of this villains HQ.
    - Blofeld's apartment contains a large renaissance painting (Rembrandt?), a huge tapestry over a huger fireplace, a nice carpet and an armoir (I think thats what its called?). The fight with the otherwise forgettable Hans really showcases Blofeld's interior decorating aesthetic.
    - "closse shutterss"

    - Also Tanaka's headquarters, Osato's offices, even Dikko's traditional japanese rooms, lotsa Adam goodness. Dig Tanaka's video monitors!
    - Osatos's hidden bar.
    - The shot where Osato interviews Bond and we see Bond's reflection on Osato's desk.

    -I just noticed this: the Osato corporate logo looks a teensy bit like the emblem of Kih-Oskh from Cigars of the Pharoah.
    Probably a coincidence, but what if it's proof of a deeper conspiracy? What if Blofeld and Rastapopolous had been working together undetected behind the scenes of both series all this time, and ... and I'm the first to notice and now I've just spilled the truth right here on the internet?!!? oh damn, now my life really is in denger, shoulda kept my mouth shut, damndamndamn...

    - At some point they had to leave Fleming behind, and this film introduces a huge repetoir of tropes to be repeated in future official films, tributes and parodies. A lot of the epic scale techno thriller imagery was done here first.
    - Dahl actually knew Fleming, worked with him in real life secret service days, so is, in theory, a good choice to write the first all-new adventure. And he would rewrite more Fleming within the year for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and in that case I think improved upon the source material.

    - Beautiful scenery of Japanese landscapes, historic buildings, and also futuristic modern architecture consistent with the Adam aesthetic.
    The travelogue content, which made up half of Fleming's book, is one element that does more or less get faithfully adapted.

    - Bond uses the plastic surgery knife/torture implement to cut Helga's bra straps
    - Aki's another crazy woman driver: Fleming would have approved.


    CONS
    - Throws out almost all the Fleming.
    - Sets precedent for all those 70s films, that they think they can just throw out whole books worth of Fleming.
    - Tells the story out of sequence, meaning the cliffhanger ending of the next film would never get resolved.
    - Fleming's book was the resolution of the saga, and the first chapter and most of the later chapters include some of the most important elements in Fleming's saga. Dahl, in choosing what to toss out and what to keep, tossed out almost everything that was actually important in Fleming's book.
    - Even to this day, we are begging EON to please include some of these important scenes in Bond25, despite knowing what a hash they made of authentic Fleming content in Bond24.

    - What they have given us is more scifi than any of the previous films, and looks more like contemporary parodies of the spy genre such as In Like Flint, than the actual previous Bond films. In fact, even though this film plays it mostly straight, it is more similar to the "funny" version of Casino Royale, and a better parody of the genre than Feldman's attempt at parody.

    - For the most special effects heavy film so far, some of the effects sit unfavourably on the scale between Harryhausen and Ed Wood. The edits in the helicopter fight, the space hijackings, and the volcano explosion look like joke special effects as seen on SCTV.


    - Aki and Kissy should have just been one character. All we gain by having two sexy Japanese secret agent characters is Aki's death scene, which is very well done but irrelavent to the plot.
    - They threw out almost eveything about Kissy Suzuki that made her such a key character in Fleming's saga. And cast the weaker actress who could barely speak English.

    - Connery looks really bad once dressed as a Japanese. Where'd those droopy jowls suddenly come from? He has no business scoffing at women who look like "pigs"

    - Blofeld loses his cat before he gets on the monorail. Does he get another cat before the next adventure, or did he go back to look for Fluffy?

    - The travelogue content maybe true to Fleming but some of it really drags, especially the ninja school and the wedding

    - What if Nancy's father sang the title song? Now I've thought about it I want to hear it. Frank had a smoother tone and bigger range than Nancy.

    _______________________________________________________________

    Question: for those of you that saw this film before The Spy Who Loved Me, how did you feel about all it's new postFleming content, and the fact that ...Spy... repeated so much of it? Do you therefor like ...Twice... better than I do, and see ...Spy... as the pointless remake?
    Dicuss.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    The story goes that Nancy's dad, who Cubby actually knew, refused the offer and suggested his daughter do it.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff

    Question: for those of you that saw this film before The Spy Who Loved Me, how did you feel about all it's new postFleming content, and the fact that ...Spy... repeated so much of it? Do you therefor like ...Twice... better than I do, and see ...Spy... as the pointless remake?
    Dicuss.

    I knew what to expect going in. I'd read the book, and the film's outer space content had been well publicised so I knew it wasn't going to be a faithful adaptation. I was grateful for the Fleming material we did get. Watching it on the big screen (which I highly recommend to those who haven't) was very impressive, most of all of course being the reveal of the volcano set, and John Barry's wonderful score makes it all the more enjoyable. The weaknesses become apparent on repeated viewings, but that's only to be expected.

    Much the same with TSWLM. Obviously it was well known that it wouldn't be the book, and the tone of the film helped to conceal the similarities with YOLT. Only helped, they're there for all to see. I didn't think it was pointless. To me, it was just an example of Bond plot #2, as TND would be many years later.
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 36,053Chief of Staff
    Bond plot #1- Someone is smuggling a precious item (gold, diamonds, Fabergé eggs, microchips). Bond is sent to investigate, and finds that the villain's real scheme is much more dangerous. He will meet and link up with a beautiful (naturally) woman associated with the villain.

    Bond plot #2- Someone is trying to cause war between two world powers by interfering with major hardware (spaceships, submarines, warships). Bond is sent to investigate and teams up with a beautiful (naturally) female agent from another country.
  • Sir Hillary BraySir Hillary Bray College of ArmsPosts: 2,174MI6 Agent
    Great work, potts. Couple of quick reactions:
    Blofeld's HQ has not just a monorail, hundreds of minions, vast moving parts, and an impregnable control room, but also his own apartment!
    What, you expected him to commute from his home to the office? :D
    I agree that the volcano set, from the grand to the smallest details, is the best in the series and arguably the best in all of film.
    Question: for those of you that saw this film before The Spy Who Loved Me, how did you feel about all it's new postFleming content, and the fact that ...Spy... repeated so much of it? Do you therefor like ...Twice... better than I do, and see ...Spy... as the pointless remake?
    Dicuss.
    Believe it or not, I have never thought of them as similar films at all. I saw Spy first, so maybe that's why. I recognize there are plenty of common elements, but you could say that about a lot of Bond films. To me, the films that are almost identical (at least in terms of plot structure) are Spy and Moonraker.
    Hilly...you old devil!
Sign In or Register to comment.