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Connery looks disinterested (not on the level of Diamonds) and wishing he was somewhere else and of course he stepped down from the role as James Bond during film production. Best things are - Nancy Sinatra's theme intro, Donald Pleasance' Blofeld, one or two action bits and pieces - and that's about it
I have actually viewed it. What do you think I am? The casual viewer? I watch Bond movies on a weekly basis, I mean come on, I watched three in a row last night, it's not like I watched YOLT one time and decided I didn't like it. Sheesh! You want evidence? Better get your shields up! How about Connery when he says the "I love you" line? Couldn't have said it more flatly and unenthusiasticly. How about when he is on the Ning Po with Helga? Out of all the scenes Connery has with his women, this fell remarkably short of expectations. He doesn't look like he cares at all that there's an attractive (well somewhat) woman standing in front of him having him tied to a chair! Then there's his scenes with Aki and Kissy, I mean come on, no chemistry whatsoever. It's ridiculously forced, because of his lazy performance. And in all honesty, TSWLM isn't as great as people make it out to be, but it is still miles above YOLT, which is third to bottom in my ranking!
Puts on flame proof hat
The only part where he seemed 'disinterested' if you will, was when he had the Japanese identity, and even this could be attributed to his staying in character in order to keep a low profile.
Man, we sound like we saw two totally different movies... :))
Shocking. Positively shocking.
Can't be too surprised, I mean, it has the better 007, better action, better pace, better soundtrack, and more varied locations. I'd certainly pick it before YOLT.
Well, it's not difficult for YOLT to be better than TSWLM: YOLT is the original and TSWLM the copy. It's the same plot, only TSWLM goes further into sci-fi.
Connery is not so much lazy in YOLT as bored. The script, however, is starting to get lazy.YOLT is not a bad movie, but it is a serious drop of quality compared to the first four. In a way, I dislike it more for the trend it created than for its own flaws: other Bond movies made the same mistakes, and made them worse.
Side note: Did you ever notice that when Blofeld shoots Osato, his cat flips out & bolts? They tried to hid it in the editing, but the cat is near the wall on the ground. Never noticed it in the VHS or even the inferiour DVD before.
Maybe I am projecting too much of what I read about the shooting. In any case, what I find lazy is the script. But not nearly as lazy as its clones.
And this is where it was lazy. Instead of making something closer to Fleming's novel, they took the title and decided to go sci-fi, to go for spectacle, they threw away plausibility and any bit of realism through the window. Lazy, lazy, lazy. That said, it was not nearly as lazy as its clones.
Also the fight where Bond is wearing the white shoes stolen from a goon seems to feature Bob Simmons exclusivley with Connery obviously busy that day.
The women exotic and beautiful
Locations supreb especially the volcano set
Action very good
THE BAD
Formaliac plot that resembles some fo the worst imitators of the day
Pleasance as Blofeld
THE UGLY
Connery in what he believed to be his swan song is awful, he is over weight, and looks bored. His acting is uninspired and lacks the fun he displayed in the two previous film.
Being a Double-0 is not 'fun'. It's a dirty, messy job being the world's geo-political janitor.
I rarely read novelizations, especially when there is a novel the book is (at least theoritically) based on. I remember enjoying the novelization of TSWLM. YOLT would have been much better had they been closer to the novel. It is not an easy novel to adapt, especially without the revenge angle, and it would have ended up lesser than the original I suspect, but still, the novel deserved a better treatment.
EON hands were tied and they had to discard the novel plotting because of them reversing the sequence of the books making YOLT befgore OHMSS. In the book YOLT is almost like a sequel to OHMSS. Bond is mourning the death of his wife and when he discovers Blofeld in Japan he sets out on a mission of vengeance.
They had to toss all of this in favor of the formuliac hogwash full of gadgets, space age shytt that we got.
They did reverse order with FRWL following DN and it worked. I know the revenge element would have had to be ditched, and probably to the loss of the story, but they still could have made a story based on the Garden of Death, keep most of the action sequences and the interaction with Blofeld, who could have survived.
I rank Brosnan and Connery equally (tied in 3rd place), DAD had a faster pace but that doesn't necessarily mean better, it did have more varied locations but BETTER SOUNDTRACK?!
I think DAD is Arnolds worst score whilst YOLT is one of Barry's best. And although I like Arnold and I hope he returns to score Bond 24, none of his score's well ever be as good as John Barry's.
No Bond composer will ever top the great man.
Connery's YOLT Bond was getting jaded & world weary IMO (a parallel to Connery himself in the role, heh)- by then he EXPECTED to lose friends & lovers to the insidious game. His scene with Helga was PERFECTLY played. Tired of it all, his heart not into it any more... the great precursor to the Bond of OHMSS.
When viewed this way, YOLT is reasonably flawless, from a Connery performance POV. No?
Just another reason for me to rate YOLT highly :)
It has been my personal fav film since that time. My Aunt Betty used to record all the Bonds back then not for me but for her boyfriend Sydney back then. it was just by accident that they were watching YOLT that I got to see it. Thanks to them Bond has been a big part of my life ever since.
Actually YOLT is a family favourite.
And just so you know, I didn't say all that to try and justify my longtime love of a Bond movie- I didn't even own it until a few weeks ago, so I've just seen it with fresh eyes.