Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: You Only Live Twice (The James Bond Classic Library) by Ian Fleming ISBN: 1-56731-080-X Publisher: Fine Communications Pub. Date: July, 1997 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $9.98 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.12 (154 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Still a Bond Worth Watching
Comment: Despite the fact that so many people think "You Only Live Twice" is a weakly-plotted Bond film--it's actually one of the more heavily plotted, as the short list of story elements includes, whew, 007's faked death, spaceship hijackings, Ninja training, Bond's "conversion" to being a Japanese man and subsequent "marriage," and an all-out assault on a volcanic hideout--the film remains one of the most imaginative and breezy of the entire series. As is reasonably well known, Bond goes to Japan to discover who or what is behind spacerace hijinks that are pushing the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of war. He finally comes face-to-face with archnemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld (a disappointing Donald Pleasance, who looks but just doesn't quite sound or act the part), but not before sampling the "exotica" that is the Far East. Connery starts to show his age in this one, no longer the lean and mean figure that just two years before graced the screen in "Thunderball," but a paunchier fellow who nonetheless still looks good in a suit. The supporting cast of mostly Japanese actors is topnotch, despite being rather poorly dubbed--and the two female leads are just plain gorgeous--but it is the toys that start to outshine the human cast, predicting what would become the norm in the later Moore films (two of which, "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Moonraker," share both this films' basic story elements and director, Lewis Gilbert). Nonetheless, everything from Nancy Sinatra's lovely theme song to Maurice Binder's striking opening credits sequence to a stunning aerial shot of Bond squaring off against thugs on the deck of a ship to John Barry's pleasant score give this film a supercool 60s feel, making it one of the more consistently stylish, if not more serious, Bond films. Other bits to watch out for: an anonymous, sword-wielding Ninja who gets his moment of glory, a Toyota roadster that appears to be the inspiration for the Mazda Miata, the almost fairy-tale-like villain's lair, and, of course, the helicopter version of Bond's Aston Martin.
Rating: 5
Summary: First Bond film to dispose of Ian Fleming, but still good
Comment: One of the best of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels was "You Only Live Twice," the story about James Bond avenging his wife's death at the hands of Ernst Stavro Blofeld. But producers Harry Saltzman and Cubby Broccoli were put off by the books obsession with death (and the fact that the preceeding book, OHMSS, hadn't been made into a movie yet) and hired Roald Dahl to throw together a story about stolen spacecraft.
Although You Only Live Twice could have been a lot better on the silver screen, it is still an enjoyable film. Japan is a great setting for what was supposed to be Sean Connery's final Bond. The directing by Lewis Gilbert is superb. He puts an interesting twst on several scenes, including a frantic rooftop fight that is shot with a wide angle rather than a closeup.
The plot is fantastic and somewhat silly but it doesn't need to be realistic. This is a Bond movie, after all. The story gives Connery the opportunity to partake in several scenes that have become part of the Bond legend. The helicopter chase is exciting (and dangerous for the aerial cameraman, as I later learned), and the battle inside the impressive hollow mountain (as later spoofed by the Simpsons) is classic Bond action. Bond even tries to board SPECTRE's rocket, foreshadowing what would come in Moonraker.
My biggest complaint with this film is Blofeld himself. After concealing his face in the other Bond movies, his revealing is very anti-climactic. Donald Pleasance never lived up to the meanacing, mysterious Blofeld portrayed by Anthony Dawson in From Russia With Love and Thunderball. And, after seeing Mike Myers's hillarious Dr. Evil, you can never take him seriously.
You Only Live Twice is classic James Bond fun and excitement. It is also the inspiration for another great movie franchise, Austin Powers. If you like either series of movies, make sure to watch You Only Live Twice.
Rating: 2
Summary: beginning of the plastic 'franchise' and the end of connery
Comment: this was the bond film in which it became soooo evident where the films were headed (into gadgets over plot, style over subtance, decortaive women and decorative locations) that connery understandably decided to take a hike.
sure, he was talked back into one more shot (the really awful diamonds are forever) but really thunderball was the last bond with an enthusiastic performance connery (and thunderball lacked the tightness of the first three).
the bond films ceased to be small gritty edgy thrillers and instead became a merchandising haven.
only briefly did this film series try to get back to its original inception (the two with dalton). it has been forgotten that living daylights did very well, but the new producers panicked after license to kill's weak box office (the summer of batman) and predcitably went straight back to the easy.
but, in the long run, they may have killed the future of the franchise by their unwillingness to shake the formula.
 |
Title:Diamonds are Forever ASIN: B00004W9C9 Publisher: MGM/UA Video Pub. Date: 17 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $26.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $24.28 |
 |
Title:From Russia With Love ASIN: B00004W9CA Publisher: MGM/UA Video Pub. Date: 17 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $26.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $24.28 |
 |
Title:Thunderball ASIN: B00000K0E9 Publisher: Mgm/Ua Studios Pub. Date: 19 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $34.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $31.48 |
 |
Title:On Her Majesty's Secret Service ASIN: B00004RG65 Publisher: MGM/UA Video Pub. Date: 16 May, 2000 List Price(USD): $34.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $31.48 |
 |
Title:Goldfinger (Special Edition) ASIN: B00000K0E6 Publisher: MGM/UA Video Pub. Date: 22 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $14.99 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
