You Only Live Twice (1967)

[Scott]

YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967) - Watched this for the first time. Saw a part of it many years ago. This is a nice Bond film. Bond has to become Japanese and enters a Ninja school. The most interesting thing about this film is that most of it is spoofed in AUSTIN POWERS and instead of Mike Myers you get Donald Pleasence as the bald grey suited evil dude with the cat who rides around in egg shaped transports. Also the space scenes are copied in AUSTIN POWERS only they use a giant Bobs Big Boy to swallow the ship. Didn't know about the obvious link between the two movies till yesterday. The film played on AMC yesterday. By the way the Bond movie is also fun.

[daveblackeye15]

One of my favorites since it was the first Sean Connery Bond film ,and also the third ever, watched. Mie Hama as Kissy Suzuki is one of my favorite Bond girls. Yowza!

Great battle at the end also.

[The Burgomaster]

When I was a kid, this was my favorite Bond movie (for awhile).  I think I liked it so much because of the massive ninja attack at the end.  Over the years, it has slipped lower on my list of Bond favorites.  Right now, GOLDFINGER is my favorite.

[plan9superfan]

Sean Connery rules, Daniel Craig drools!

[dean]

I enjoyed it, but couldn't get my head around the changes from the book to the movie [the book was my favourite in the Bond series and was much different]

Also, Goldfinger is still my favourite Connery Bond film as well.

[trekgeezer]

Scott, Donald Pleasance's character's name is Ernst Blofeld, founder of SPECTRE (that's the Special Executive for Counterintelligence , Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion).

Blofeld has also been played by Telly Savales and Max Von Sydow. I can't remember which one it was in but Roger Moore once hooked Blofeld's wheelchair on a helicopter skid and dropped him down a smoke stack.  Does anybody remember which movie that was in?

[The Burgomaster]

Trek Geezer:

That movie was FOR YOUR EYES ONLY.

And don't forget that Blofeld was also played by Charles Gray in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER.  Interestingly, Gray played a different character (a good guy) in another Bond film.  It might have been YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE!

[AndyC]

trek_geezer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> in but Roger Moore once hooked Blofeld's
> wheelchair on a helicopter skid and dropped him
> down a smoke stack.  Does anybody remember which
> movie that was in?

I think it was For Your Eyes Only.

You Only Live Twice is one of my favourite Bond films, because it has almost everything a Bond film should have -- megalomaniacal villain with plan for world domination, gigantic secret fortress full of high-tech stuff, lots of cool gadgets (like the gyrocopter), combination of detective work and wide variety of fighting (guns, helicopters, army of ninjas), sexy girls and exotic settings. The Connery Bond was also a perfect combination of tough guy and playboy. All this movie really lacks is a henchman with a cool gimmick. That and a chance for Bond to spar with the villain in a social setting early on. Blofeld is, of course, not a public figure like some of the other villains.

But really, this movie is stylish and fun, and a fine example of what the more recent Bond films are doing wrong.

[Scott]

Kissy Suzuki was nice and so was the other female. Also liked the later Pierce Bronson one with Michelle Yeoh.

[Scott]

Yep, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE really did have a lot of everything.

[daveblackeye15]

When I first read the book I was surprised by how much of it was different. Though I didn't usually apprecaite a book with less action back then I still liked the book.

[Neville]

No my favourite Bond by any stretch, but lots of campy fun to be had. Connery in (pseudo)Japanese makeup? Check. Gadchets? Check Big battle at the end? Check Ninjas? Sure as hell!!

[AndyC]

And this was years before ninjas became popular. It was on the cutting edge, to use an irritating cliche AND a bad pun.

[plan9superfan]

Sean Connery is the one true Bond, all the others (including Daniel Craig) are wannabes.

[Neville]

Oh, c'on! There's at least one good Bond movie for every actor that played him, that makes them all (including that Australian dude) decent Bonds in my book. About Craig, he was great on "Layer Cake", so I think he'll do just fine.