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Comments
SP does have it's moments. The meeting in Rome and the Nine Eyes program certainly make it feel like Spectre is all knowing and all seeing. The "big" personal connection falls totally flat for me though. Plus, YOLT had one certain ingredient that SP can never match. An epic Barry score.
SP's plot-line is indeed anything but inconsequential. A malevolent organization such as SPECTRE gaining access to all the data of all the world's leading intel organizations? Sound a right proper cluster F to me.
Instead of destroying the world (to gain what?), Blofeld wants to rule it. Sounds as plausible as it is terrifying.
Point taken.
Perhaps because the film is somewhat parochial in as much as the focus is almost exclusively on western Europe and north Africa. If Bond had teamed up with Leiter and the CIA it might have leant SP a more global and geopolitical punch.
But the Americans were barely more present in YOLT. They are basically depicted as clueless, inactive pawns in a game that concerns them directly, while the UK and Japan lead the investigation. The US may be surprisingly absent in SP, but this can be at least partially explained by a British focused narrative: Nine Eyes is C's thing, it comes live in London at midnight GMT, MI6 is in turmoil, etc. I buy the SP premise more than YOLT's, I find it more plausible, even in its most far fetched elements, I also never liked the "world destruction" trope as SPECTRE's aim.
All three are also beautifully shot and YOLT and MR are probably my favorite John Barry scores.
SPECTRE is the closest thing during the Craig-reign, that delivers this.
That's fine. You could sub China, India, Russia and/or Japan for America and still enhance SP's geopolitical scope, if your aim is heightened geopolitical impact. YOLT, as you say, wasn't about just Great Britain. Japan was also in the mix, but the fact that SPECTRE's goal was to trigger thermonuclear war between the USSR and the US actually DOES bring those two countries into the picture in a very real way. At the end of the day, SP is an inwardly looking film while YOLT casts its eyes abroad.
YOLT had a s**t Director in Gilbert too......far too interested in humour above plot.
But hey- Sixties. It HAD to be BIG! :P
:-j
However, I wouldn't lay a finger on Lewis Gilbert. He's a very good director. The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker were very good films, and that leads us to look at someone else for the fault. Roald Dahl who wrote the screenplay, and Harold Jack Bloom who did the essential story for the film, jettisoning Fleming's wonderful plot.
Spectre on the other hand lacked the wonderful set designs of Ken Adam and Peter Lamont. Another problem it had was the pacing and editing of the story that was more of a two-parter worthy material rather than one film. While I loved it thoroughly, and still class it as the best Bond film in the last 15 years, it also was missing the proper thumbnail for any 007 adventure, "Sex and Violence", if you know what I mean. Still, despite of the twist that irks some of the fans, the writing was great, to tell you the truth.
So, that summary brings us to evaluate the question as asked before:
Which film feels bigger? You Only Live Twice.
Which film feels better? Spectre.
Best Bond set ever!
Yes this was a nice touch!
And I would consider YOLT the much better film.
Thoroughly entertains from start to finish,.while SP lumbers along.
The Blofeld reveal in YOLT is one of the most chilling scenes in the history of the series. Gives me goosebumps. The look on Connery's face is perfect. A mixture of both interest and contempt.
I could watch the last 45 minutes of YOLT on loop over and over again and remain riveted.
I do like that SP homaged YOLT with cratar lair, and the Blofeld reveal taking place there.
Also correct me if I am wrong, but was Mi6 aware of Blofeld by name before he introduced himself to Bond?