You Only Live Twice...is boring....

Kevin Roegele

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Dull, dull film.

1. Connery is bored throughout, and has almost nothing to do except press buttons.
2. The women fall on him so he doesn't need to charm them.
3. The Japanese agents virtually hold his hand so he doesn't need to figure out anything himself. They escort him from one set-piece to another.
4. The bad guys are lame except Blofeld.
5. The 'Bond gets married' scenes are tedious.
6. The least memorable Bond girls of the series.
7. Yawn.
 
I'd have to agree. I really don't like YOLT that much at all. The plot is really contrived and at times, it's like watching a Godzilla movie with all the awful dubbing. It has a couple of good moments, but it's obvious why Connery wanted out at that point.
 
SpyderDan said:
I'd have to agree. I really don't like YOLT that much at all. The plot is really contrived and at times, it's like watching a Godzilla movie with all the awful dubbing. It has a couple of good moments, but it's obvious why Connery wanted out at that point.

:up:
 
Tiger Tanaka and Lil' Nellie make it watchable for me, actually no, I just really wanted to type the words "Tiger Tanaka" together, so cool.....
 
There are a few nice scenes in YOLT, and Pleasence's Blofeld is great. But there was a lot of things lacking. SPECTRE's scheme was weak at best, I mean they want to destroy the world, and then what? Some fights are quite exciting, but the whole movie seem more episodic and unconsequential. I mean, Bond meets his contact in japan, contact gets killed, and it's just an excuse to get into a fight with the abdguys form early on, the faked death doesn't lead to anything, Bond seduces Osato's secretary only to escape yet another murder attempt, etc. By themselves, those bits are often quite good, it just makes no sense as a whole.
 
Everyman said:
There are a few nice scenes in YOLT, and Pleasence's Blofeld is great. But there was a lot of things lacking. SPECTRE's scheme was weak at best, I mean they want to destroy the world, and then what? Some fights are quite exciting, but the whole movie seem more episodic and unconsequential. I mean, Bond meets his contact in japan, contact gets killed, and it's just an excuse to get into a fight with the abdguys form early on, the faked death doesn't lead to anything, Bond seduces Osato's secretary only to escape yet another murder attempt, etc. By themselves, those bits are often quite good, it just makes no sense as a whole.

Good call. It's just a series of set-pieces with a thin narrative thread. The script is more or less..

13. Amazing set.
14. Fight scene.
15. Amazing set.
16. Gadgets.

Thanks to Austin Powers, YOLT is considered one of the definitive and classic 007 films, but it really isn't. It's obvious why Connery was not happy playing Bond here.
 
Kevin Roegele said:
Dull, dull film.

1. Connery is bored throughout, and has almost nothing to do except press buttons.
2. The women fall on him so he doesn't need to charm them.
3. The Japanese agents virtually hold his hand so he doesn't need to figure out anything himself. They escort him from one set-piece to another.
4. The bad guys are lame except Blofeld.
5. The 'Bond gets married' scenes are tedious.
6. The least memorable Bond girls of the series.
7. Yawn.

This I'll agree on.
 
Kevin Roegele said:
Thanks to Austin Powers, YOLT is considered one of the definitive and classic 007 films, but it really isn't. It's obvious why Connery was not happy playing Bond here.

How did Austin Powers do that?
 
Kevin Roegele said:
Good call. It's just a series of set-pieces with a thin narrative thread. The script is more or less..

13. Amazing set.
14. Fight scene.
15. Amazing set.
16. Gadgets.

Thanks to Austin Powers, YOLT is considered one of the definitive and classic 007 films, but it really isn't. It's obvious why Connery was not happy playing Bond here.

I think it influenced subsequent Bond movies a lot, especially TSWLM and Moonraker. And it gave the false perception that most of the James Bond badguys want to take over the world, which isn't true. Even in You Only Live Twice, Blofeld is working for China.

I think my main problems with YOLT are that it went too far in ther ealm of sci-fi (a flaw most of the bad Bond have) and that the parts are better than the whole. A lot of the actions have no influence on the plot whatsoever. Even Bond faking death is inconsequential and it is supposed to justifie the title!
 
Everyman said:
I think it influenced subsequent Bond movies a lot, especially TSWLM and Moonraker. And it gave the false perception that most of the James Bond badguys want to take over the world, which isn't true. Even in You Only Live Twice, Blofeld is working for China.

I think my main problems with YOLT are that it went too far in ther ealm of sci-fi (a flaw most of the bad Bond have) and that the parts are better than the whole. A lot of the actions have no influence on the plot whatsoever. Even Bond faking death is inconsequential and it is supposed to justifie the title!

The sci - fi elements of YOLT are miniscule compared to Moonraker, my least favorite Bond Movie.
 
SpyderDan said:
How did Austin Powers do that?

Because it was basically a spoof of YOLT, but it's assumed that all Bond films are generally like that.
 
Kevin Roegele said:
Because it was basically a spoof of YOLT, but it's assumed that all Bond films are generally like that.

Oh okay. I haven't seen really Austin Powers in a long while. I'm by no means a fan of that series.
 
SpyderDan said:
Oh okay. I haven't seen really Austin Powers in a long while. I'm by no means a fan of that series.

Me neither.
 
ANTHONYNASTI said:
The sci - fi elements of YOLT are miniscule compared to Moonraker, my least favorite Bond Movie.

Yes, but YOLT started it. Before, the villains was most of the times using conventionnal weapons for his scheme (usually a nuclear bomb). In YOLT, he needs a crew of astronauts and a space engine that no superpower has ever used.
 
You Only Live Twice: 6.5/10
Connery Era 3/6

16/20
15. Licence to kill
16. You only live twice
17. Dr No
 
dutchmarvel said:
You Only Live Twice: 6.5/10
Connery Era 3/6

16/20
15. Licence to kill
16. You only live twice
17. Dr No

Please stop doing that.
 
I've read the book. It kicks major ass and thats all I have to say on the subject.
 
Kevin Roegele said:
Dull, dull film.

1. Connery is bored throughout, and has almost nothing to do except press buttons.
2. The women fall on him so he doesn't need to charm them.
3. The Japanese agents virtually hold his hand so he doesn't need to figure out anything himself. They escort him from one set-piece to another.
4. The bad guys are lame except Blofeld.
5. The 'Bond gets married' scenes are tedious.
6. The least memorable Bond girls of the series.
7. Yawn.
I agree. It's probably the weakest of the Connery Bond films along with Diamonds Are Forever. Too bad they didn't make On Her Majesty's Secret Service in its place. I think if Connery had known OHMSS would mark a return to a more serious Bond tone, he would have done that one (not trying to bash George Lazenby here or anything).
 
Well said Kev, I always considered it to be one of the worst in the series too.
 
Hm....I respect your opinion but we just seem to disagree on a few of the Bond movies. Let's just say we both like Goldfinger and think Thunderball is overrated then.
 
DACrowe said:
Hm....I respect your opinion but we just seem to disagree on a few of the Bond movies. Let's just say we both like Goldfinger and think Thunderball is overrated then.
That might just be the only thing we really agree on. ;)
 
True but maybe Goldfinger is a too easy agreement. A Bond fan saying they like Goldfinger is like a human saying they enjoy breathing oxygen.

But we both agree The Spy Who Loved Me is very good, so that will work then.
 
DACrowe said:
True but maybe Goldfinger is a too easy agreement. A Bond fan saying they like Goldfinger is like a human saying they enjoy breathing oxygen.
Believe it or not, I know a few Bond fans that dislike GOLDFINGER. Heresy, I know.

But we both agree The Spy Who Loved Me is very good, so that will work then.
A great, entertaining film indeed.
 

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