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Totally agree! And having seen Laz and Rigg together, I really can't imagine Connery or any of the other Bond actors matched up with her.
The other weird thing is every time I watch this I can't get the image of the way Savalas holds his cigarette out of my head :P Not sure if this is a good or a bad thing, lol
You can see the deformity in his left index finger. It probably wasn't the reason he was cast, but that fits the Fleming theme of deformed villains.
;))
As posted previously I'm trying to create as much continuity between films as possible. So far, I've watched CR, QOS, DN, FRWl, GF, LALD, TB, YOLT, DAF, TMWTGG.
You Only Live Twice is an oddity of a Bond film for me. There are sections of the film that are just plain iconic James Bond but then there are moments that completely detract from the film (Bond becoming Japanese?! WTF?! That's the most unconvincing thing in any Bond film. Connery is 6' 2" with a Scottish accent!)
However, that all said, there is a lot of great moments and characters. The best Blofeld, Donald Pleasance, makes his only appearance here. He plays Blofeld with a low-key menace that makes the most out of his little screen time. Little Nellie is a great gadget and oddly enough, feels less gimmicky than the Jet Pack in Thunderball. The ambition and scope of the film is something of a marvel. The production design and Ken Adam's sets are incredible. The Volcano Layer and the subsequent battle at the climax of the film are easily two of the most iconic things in the entire series. Tiger is a strong ally. John Barry delivers another excellent Bond soundtrack. It's hard for me to rank this one. I want to say that I like it more than Thunderball but I'm unsure. For now, I'm placing it here. Maybe watching a few more films will help me put it in perspective.
From Best to Worst:
FRWL, GF, CR, DN, QOS, TB, YOLT, LALD
I placed You Only Live Twice here in my chronological timeline since it's obviously the next step in the Blofeld/SPECTRE timeline. I'll explain my "theory" of everything later.
Ugh, Diamonds...where do I start?
There isn't much to say about this one, folks. Uninspired villains, a lackluster script and direction? Tiffany Case starts off interestingly but she becomes a one-dimensional bimbo. Connery is probably the highlight of the film, whose weight gain is clear but he manages to inject his brand of wit into the proceedings.
From Best to Worst:
FRWL, GF, CR, DN, QOS, TB, YOLT, LALD, DAF
I placed Diamonds Are Forever here because it has to be placed before OHMSS. It starts in Japan which links it nicely to the end of YOLT. Bond shows no anger towards the man who killed his wife. I think it's crazy that Blofeld managed to predict that Bond would be coming after him and was able to stick one of his clones into the Japanese Secret Service as a Mr. Henderson and was able to set up a "puppet" in the form of Pleasance's Blofeld, which he was able to control behind the scenes.
Next one is TMWTGG. I love Scaramanga. He's a great villain. The direction is subpar, the supporting cast is all pissed off. This film is a huge missed opportunity!
Probably the best fist fight in the entire Moore era may have appeared in this film, however, in the belly dancer's makeup room. It's fast, violent and surprisingly brutal. The Funhouse is also a very cool set.
From Best to Worst:
FRWL, GF, CR, DN, QOS, TB, YOLT, LALD, TMWTGG, DAF
I put this one before OHMSS as well. The whole juvenile tone just seems to fit better after DAF. Also, the mobster, Rodney, from DAF, returns in the pre-title sequence on Scaramanga's Island in a nice bit of continuity.
Savalas was the best Blofeld for me, besides the unseen version in FRWL/TB.
:)>-
This may possibly be the best introduction to a Bond villain ever. Certainly up until GoldenEye, at least.
Totally agree. But I do love when Pleasance yells "Kill Bond! Now!!"
Are you referring to when we first see him in person or when we hear him talking to Dent?
Yeah that is a classic intro. Personally I do prefer the Goldeneye one marginally though. Love the sinister atmosphere and the "Whispering Statues" soundtrack.
Sanchez's was brutal.
"What did he promise you? His heart? Give her his heart!!"
Nice!
I've never been able to figure out why I'm not crazy about TLD- there's really no reason for it. It boasts an intricate, detailed plot, some fairly memorable adversaries, a pristine soundtrack, solid action, excellent location work, and a worthy introduction to the series with Timothy Dalton; even still, with all of those perks, I still am never dazzled like I am with other Bond adventures. It's certainly good enough to have much more re-watch value for me than the likes of MR, OHMSS, GF, etc, but there's something missing. I'll probably never figure out what it is! Alas, TLD is usually doomed to middle ground status; it could be worse though!
2014/2015 Winter Bondathon
1. From Russia with Love
2. Tomorrow Never Dies
3. Thunderball
4. The Living Daylights
5. You Only Live Twice
6. The Spy Who Loved Me
@00Beast, I can relate to your thoughts on TLD. For me, it's one of the best for the positive reasons you note, but I find Kara underwhelming, I miss more babes (TLD was lacking in the babe factor for me - darn late 80's PC) and the villains were somewhat uninteresting (except Necros). I still rate it very highly for the positive reasons you mention however, but see your point.
I just watched Jupiter Ascending (against my will) and Sean's first line is "Back from the bloody dead" :P Highlight of the movie ;)
Surely the woman would twig when the caller says their name is Mr Bond and they have a Sean Connery-like voice.
Now that you mention it, that does factor into my opinion on TLD- the pace is sometimes hard to roll with, particularly in the scenes in the first half with Koskov's fake defection and Bond and Kara's trek around Austria. Things never really pick up for me until Bond interrogates General Pushkin in his hotel room. After that, the pace moves itself along much better than before.
I have always found Kara to be disappointing as well; she's not that attractive (in my opinion) and, in her scenes with Bond, comes across like a ten year old girl with a crush on her school teacher. That whole "puppy love" aspect to her character kind of kills her chances at being taken seriously as a Bond girl. She has never been one of my favorites, to say the least!