"I love you...?": Let's discuss... You Only Live Twice (1967)/ Poll

24

Comments

  • edited May 2012 Posts: 940
    Getafix wrote:
    I've always ranked it significantly higher than TB. TB sits below most of the Moore and Dalton movies in my rankings. Dull as dishwater IMO.

    Nooooo! For a film which is 'boring', it has arguably THE best one liners in the whole series! (closely matched only by DAF). SC is having a blast in it. He moves like a panther and excells in that playful, mischievous quality which he shows in scenes with Domino, Volpe and Largo.

    The Bahamas location was done to stunning effect, the water sequences are still impressive today, let alone the mid 60's and the women are the hottest in the entire series etc etc etc. A far more classic adventure than YOLT in my opinion!
    JWESTBROOK wrote:
    I still don't see the 'Connery looks bored' argument when I see the film. Don't notice anything.

    I watched it recently and scenes which REALLY stand out include the briefing with M on the boat. He acts like a man with a week to go before his retirement.

    The sumo wrestling scene is another prime example. He doesn't want to be there!

    Even his tone of voice in these two scenes alone - the "Yes sir" to M and conversation at the sumo wrestling arena with Aki seem so monotone compared to the energetic SC from previous films.

    There's a missing spark in his performance. Even without the knowledge of SC not enjoying his time in Japan, it's clearly visible on screen if you critique his performance in a fair way next to his outstanding first four Bond performances.
  • Posts: 11,425
    JWESTBROOK wrote:
    I still don't see the 'Connery looks bored' argument when I see the film. Don't notice anything.

    Totally agree. If he's bored, it doesn't show.
  • Posts: 4,762
    slyfox wrote:
    Getafix wrote:
    I've always ranked it significantly higher than TB. TB sits below most of the Moore and Dalton movies in my rankings. Dull as dishwater IMO.

    Nooooo! For a film which is 'boring', it has arguably THE best one liners in the whole series! (closely matched only by DAF). SC is having a blast in it. He moves like a panther and excells in that playful, mischievous quality which he shows in scenes with Domino, Volpe and Largo.

    The Bahamas location was done to stunning effect, the water sequences are still impressive today, let alone the mid 60's and the women are the hottest in the entire series etc etc etc. A far more classic adventure than YOLT in my opinion!
    JWESTBROOK wrote:
    I still don't see the 'Connery looks bored' argument when I see the film. Don't notice anything.

    I watched it recently and scenes which REALLY stand out include the briefing with M on the boat. He acts like a man with a week to go before his retirement.

    The sumo wrestling scene is another prime example. He doesn't want to be there!

    Even his tone of voice in these two scenes alone - the "Yes sir" to M and conversation at the sumo wrestling arena with Aki seem so monotone compared to the energetic SC from previous films.

    There's a missing spark in his performance. Even without the knowledge of SC not enjoying his time in Japan, it's clearly visible on screen if you critique his performance in a fair way next to his outstanding first four Bond performances.

    Agree about Thunderball, it's so exotic and colorful, a true classic Bond. I might be able to see the dullness in the underwater scenes where no action is occuring, but other than that, it's mighty enjoyable!

    And you're right about Connery, there is something HUGE missing in his performance. Especially like you said about the sumo wrestling scene, the way he says "I love you" to Aki is so horrid that words can't describe. I know it was a code, so perhaps he was saying it strangely so she'd get the point, but still.....wow!
  • Posts: 940
    00Beast wrote:
    slyfox wrote:
    Getafix wrote:
    I've always ranked it significantly higher than TB. TB sits below most of the Moore and Dalton movies in my rankings. Dull as dishwater IMO.

    Nooooo! For a film which is 'boring', it has arguably THE best one liners in the whole series! (closely matched only by DAF). SC is having a blast in it. He moves like a panther and excells in that playful, mischievous quality which he shows in scenes with Domino, Volpe and Largo.

    The Bahamas location was done to stunning effect, the water sequences are still impressive today, let alone the mid 60's and the women are the hottest in the entire series etc etc etc. A far more classic adventure than YOLT in my opinion!
    JWESTBROOK wrote:
    I still don't see the 'Connery looks bored' argument when I see the film. Don't notice anything.

    I watched it recently and scenes which REALLY stand out include the briefing with M on the boat. He acts like a man with a week to go before his retirement.

    The sumo wrestling scene is another prime example. He doesn't want to be there!

    Even his tone of voice in these two scenes alone - the "Yes sir" to M and conversation at the sumo wrestling arena with Aki seem so monotone compared to the energetic SC from previous films.

    There's a missing spark in his performance. Even without the knowledge of SC not enjoying his time in Japan, it's clearly visible on screen if you critique his performance in a fair way next to his outstanding first four Bond performances.

    Agree about Thunderball, it's so exotic and colorful, a true classic Bond. I might be able to see the dullness in the underwater scenes where no action is occuring, but other than that, it's mighty enjoyable!

    And you're right about Connery, there is something HUGE missing in his performance. Especially like you said about the sumo wrestling scene, the way he says "I love you" to Aki is so horrid that words can't describe. I know it was a code, so perhaps he was saying it strangely so she'd get the point, but still.....wow!

    Yes exactly! That delivery is terrible compared to the SC of before. Compare his body language whilst watching the Sumo wrestling match and meeting Aki for the first time to the spark and the energy he has watching the Gypsy Camp belly dance in FRWL, or chatting up Jill in GF, or playfully interacting with Domino for the first time in TB etc etc. It's easy to spot it when you compare it to his greatness in the previous entries.
  • edited May 2012 Posts: 4,762
    @slyfox: Yeah, the comparison is so noticable! (not sarcasm)
  • edited May 2012 Posts: 11,189
    Connery is awesome but sometimes he sounds like he doesnt care in parts of all his movies :))

    I was watching FRWL the other day. It's quite funny how he answers the phone when he's on the river bank with Silvia Trench at the start.

    He's like "yeah...James Bond...I can report in an hour...make that an hour and a half" (yawn)

    I even asked my mother and she agreed.

    BUT Connery's just cool so he can get away with it. The 'don't give a damn' attitude suits him.

    As for Twice, he has some good lines but SOMETHING isn't quite there. ESP compared to TB (which I've always considered to be one of his best performances).

    Like when he says "there's nothing here but volcano's" while he's in Little Nelle. Jesus Connery, I know you're awesome but at least sound a LITTLE bit more interested.

    There is a difference in the way he looks aswell which doesnt help. He's clearly put on a bit of weight. Only 2 years earlier in TB he looked in great shape.
    I genuinely enjoy YOLT and don't get the flack on these forums BUT I don't rank it as highly as his previous 4 films. I do rank it above DAF though. Not so much because of Connery but because of the pacing, music and sets which are all great.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,266
    Even after reading all these posts I don't know why YOLT never sticks with me. The title song I think is fantastic, as is Barry's score. Aki I find interesting and far more sexy then I've thought of her before (watched the movie last week). But still, it lacks.... I don't know. Yes, Connery seems bland, and he/Bond just doesn't seem to care for Aki's death. I think it's the only time in the series he just absolutely doesn't care. I love Little Nelly, but the battle against the helicopters wasn't convincing for me. The big fight at the docks was, however. And no, I don't like Donald Pleasance's Blofeld. He's also too bland.

    All in all, the film, even with the great locale's and action sequences, never really works. I think it's partly becouse of Connery, partly becouse of the direction, partly becouse of the script. It never really feels like one big story.

    Still, that said, I'll repeat there's a lot to love, amongst which of course too Tiger, a great ally!
  • Just watched this and had tons of fun with it. Really enjoyed it. maybe it's because I've had a beer or two and I was up early so I'm really tired, but I think this might have overtaken TB as my favourite Connery film.

    btw mods/anyone else, does this count as a YOLT appreciation thread? I wanted to start one but found this.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,804
    I think this might have overtaken TB as my favourite Connery film.
    A Good pizza & suds film to be sure- YOLT has the energy, but really, it's a Moore film before its time. TB is the LAST great Connery Bond, period.
    IMO, of course.

    B-)
  • RC7RC7
    edited December 2012 Posts: 10,512
    chrisisall wrote:
    TB is the LAST great Connery Bond, period.
    IMO, of course.
    B-)

    I want to love TB and some of it I do, but from about 45 mins in it just drags. I think I'd have to pick YOLT.

  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,804
    RC7 wrote:
    I want to love TB and some of it I do, but from about 45 mins in it just drags. I think I'd have to pick YOLT.
    Personally, I love the 'drag'- it's SO much better for me than NSNA's last third...
    :-c
  • YOLT is a great Bond film because it manages to be fun without the silliness of DAF. Tanaka is great, Kissy is a beautiful Bond girl and Pleasance is the best Blofeld, IMO. The climatical scene in the volcano base is one of the most memorable and the theme song is great. Also, this is the first and only time Connery's Bond seems to have some genuine feelings for the girl; most of the time he comes across as a sociopath, which is okay because it is what he does best, but it was nice to see something more meaningful. Some things that were lacked from the novel are Dikko's friendship with Tiger and Blofeld's garden.
  • chrisisall wrote:
    I think this might have overtaken TB as my favourite Connery film.
    A Good pizza & suds film to be sure- YOLT has the energy, but really, it's a Moore film before its time. TB is the LAST great Connery Bond, period.
    IMO, of course.

    B-)

    I watched TB not long ago and I did really enjoy it. It's big, massive, exotic and Connery is on fire. But I thought YOLT was better paced and I enjoyed it more. Alright it has Bond turning Japanese but other than that I thought it was brilliant.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,804
    Also, this is the first and only time Connery's Bond seems to have some genuine feelings for the girl
    Aki? It seems he wrote her off pretty darn fast... :-?
  • I spent most of Saturday with a hangover of alpine proportions but later that day put on You Only Live Twice, of which I recently got hold of a copy, and I'll be truthful, I almost enjoyed it. It was certainly better than I remember it, and while having castigated it a few number of times, I did find it an overall decent watch, but it does get slightly dull towards the end at the Volcano hideout

    It's quite alarming how much Connery has aged by 1967, from his earliest appearances, and if you compare him in From Russia With Love, the Scot really has aged considerably I noticed throughout, and of course by now, past his supreme best, it was a good decent movie overall for the most part and I spent a lot of the time wondering why I had berated it so often on previous reviews

    Some of the women really are beautiful, Sinatra does a quite brilliant theme, there is some very good action sequences, the bits I didn't like most were the nonsense 'Little Nellie' flying scenes and the aforementioned volcano ending, but Pleasance did make for a very good Blofeld, and those piranha fish were quite threatening

    It was a real shame that the first girl was poisoned, as I rather took to her, but the second was an adequate replacement, and Helga Brandt was a good character that deserved more screen time. You can understand why Connery had had enough of the series by then and withdrew from the part during production, but you never can tell, while watching any frustrations he may of had. This would of been the ideal time to have departed the franchise, while he was still just about plausible, instead of an ill advised sixth appearance in '71

    Yes I enjoyed this film for the most part, it's a welcome addition to my collection now, with only Thunderball and Quantum of Solace missing, but I came to the overall conclusion that this release is the forgotten movie of the James Bond series. It's as though it's a seperate entity from the rest, or never noticed or even appreciated - the forgotten Bond movie

    In any event, I watched it (as a last watched Bond release) and it was a decent watch and for the most part, quite enjoyable. I will have to raise it a little on the rankings list
  • Posts: 1,817
    YOLT is an almost perfect classic Bond adventure. It has great moments, music and locations. My only issues are the poor special effects of SPECTRE's rocket landing, the filmakers seemed to have used George Méliès technology.
    Connery is not on his best, but Connery even in a low level is great.
    Of course I've prefer the novel as they close the Blofeld trilogy, but there's the book for that purpose.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    One thing I can say for this film: The Bond/Moneypenny piece is one of the best in the series thus far. I love it.
  • Posts: 1,817
    One thing I can say for this film: The Bond/Moneypenny piece is one of the best in the series thus far. I love it.

    And he gives a piece of information on his life before MI6 which is rare.
  • Its always been a personal favourite of mine. If I haven't watched a Bond for a while its always one I would go for. Great fun, great action, love the Little Nelly sequence and the volcano set is still amazing.
  • edited December 2012 Posts: 266
    I watched this and DAF yesterday and i personally feel YOLT is the better film but it has many flaws and i see that a lot of people think Connery is bored but i am not so sure he is bored i think he wants to put in a performance but the script doesn't really give him a lot to do. I get the impression that this was an ideas film with lots of people having great ideas i.e Little Nellie and the spacecraft which swallows other spacecrafts and with Blofelds lair being a hollowed out volcano and then they took little things from the novel like Bond turning japanese and Blofelds lake of piranhas and the Ama island and said to Roald Dahl now using those things put a script together, and the end result is a bit mish mash and the character of Bond suffers a bit with trying to fit all these things in. Saying that though i do enjoy it and i prefer it to Connery's last official outing but i feel it's the weakest of the 1960's Bonds.

  • Is still the hottest Bond girl of all time. And YOLT is an underrated little gem.

  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    Didn't Mie Hamma threaten to kill herself if she didn't get a role in YOLT? I think I read that somewhere and found it quite bizarre.
  • edited December 2012 Posts: 3,494
    Didn't Mie Hama threaten to kill herself if she didn't get a role in YOLT? I think I read that somewhere and found it quite bizarre.

    Yes, she did but it was a matter of honor. She would have felt great shame and disgrace in being sent home despite trying her best to learn English not working out as well as it did for Wakabayashi. Honor is everything to the Japanese and thankfully the producers recognized this by keeping her and dubbing her as they did for others. Hama is an 11 on a 10 scale for me :x
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    edited December 2012 Posts: 28,694
    Didn't Mie Hama threaten to kill herself if she didn't get a role in YOLT? I think I read that somewhere and found it quite bizarre.

    Yes, she did but it was a matter of honor. She would have felt great shame and disgrace in being sent home despite trying her best to learn English not working out as well as it did for Wakabayashi. Honor is everything to the Japanese and thankfully the producers recognized this by keeping her and dubbing her as they did for others. Hama is an 11 on a 10 scale for me :x

    I knew you were the man to go to, @SirHenry. Thanks for clearing that up, and I can understand that. If anything, the Japanese hold honor for their nation very high. @4EverBonded would be a great person to ask about that as well.
  • Major_BoothroydMajor_Boothroyd Republic of Isthmus
    Posts: 2,722
    I love the rooftop fight sequence. The birds eye view of Connery brawling his way across the roof as if God himself has taken a few minutes to watch the spectacle is beautiful. Along with Barry's soaring score adding to the majesty - it's the apex of 60s Bond cool.
  • Posts: 15,125
    I used to love it as a child, not so much now. For me, YOLT is where the series started going downhill. It is not the nadir of it, but it shows a serious drop in quality and all the bad ones in the future had elements brought by YOLT: heavy sci-fi elements, cartoonish plot, a cartoonish villain, silly scenes that are implausible (even for a Bond movie), etc. Blofeld from a cold, calculating villain, is turned into the caricature that will become Dr. Evil. I love Pleasence as an actor, but he was miscast. I always wonder if Eric Pohlmann could have done better, with or without the scar. At least he had the right voice! And like people mentioned here, yes, Connery started looking out of shape.

    That said, there are a few good elements: Bond faking his death was a good idea (which sadly goes nowhere), the dialogue between Bond and Blofeld is brilliant, the dock fight scene was quite good, so was the scene when Bond's "wife" swallows the poison destined to him, the hollowed out volcano one of the best sets of the series and there is a lot of investigation being done. And Little Nellie was a good gadget.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,804

    YOLT is an underrated little gem.
    Hold the phone; I just now watched YOLT right now (first time in many years- new DVD), and I find ZERO validity to the idea that Connery did not deliver a professional, engaging performance. Maybe not up to TB standards, but in NO WAY the crap execution I see so many talking about now and again.

    This movie is so much better than I remembered- comic book yes, but still maintaining the classic Bond feel. His turn in DAF was a tad livelier, but too bad the movie itself is such a total comedown from this.
    YOLT is at least as good as TSWLM, if not better. No, in thinking again, it IS better.
    My only true problem with it remains the apparent lack of remorse over Aki's death. Maybe that's an agent thing; the job at hand and all that. :-?

    Yes, an underrated gem.
  • Posts: 4,762
    I really find YOLT to be a dreadful bore. Except for a few action scenes here and there (namely the fight in Osato's office and the Kobe docks shoot-out), the movie only becomes entertaining at the volcano lair towards the end. Granted, I did like the scene when Aki was poisoned by the unknown SPECTRE assassin, but still, that's one scene out of a majority of a movie which isn't great until its finale. The Japanese locations bore me to tears, and the soundtrack is disgustingly horrid. I hope I don't also have to mention Connery's sleepy, unenthusiastic performance, which really dragged the already slow pacing down to an even slower tread.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,804
    00Beast wrote:
    I hope I don't also have to mention Connery's sleepy, unenthusiastic performance, which really dragged the already slow pacing down to an even slower tread.
    Better get your shields up, because I'm firing all phasers here. :))
    Please point to ONE instance of that. Like, one instance not influenced by YOUR READING A POST OR ARTICLE OF IT AS SUCH, AS OPPOSED TO YOUR ACTUAL VIEWING. B-)
    The common wisdom is not always wise, and often subject to herd mentality stampedes.
    Watch it. It's better than you remember (unless you HATE TSWLM, in which case, I'd direct you to a Craig or Dalton flick). ;)
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