Rating-6/10
You Only Live Twice is a maybe slightly more subdued Bond, however this film contains near all the trademarks we have to come to expect from James and a villain who is just insanely rich. Set around the one location for the majority of the film, you may also be mistaken this drags a lot, it doesn't though and becomes a solid plot which moves and throws you off the scent of predicting what is next to happen, I felt this was firmly an OK film, and here is why.
The story is pretty absurd and as said, for this to work, the villain would literally have to be the richest man ever, but in general, this is good fun. It has a good mix of fighting and charm to be a Bond that portrays all the hallmarks of the series yet also introduces a new side to Bond where he actually does some good spy work. I loved the gadgets and sets in this which in the story make it great to look at also.
Sean Connery maybe falls slightly from his first four roles and this is far from his or the series best, but Connery still manages to churn out an entertaining Bond and with all the kind of crazy things in the plot he deals with it well. Donald Pleasance does a fine job as the villain and his strange grace coupled with his evil side make him a very diverse villain who you just can't predict what he'll do next.
This Bond to me seemed more talky than the previous instalments, and with the author Roald Dahl writing the screenplay it is no surprise the dialogue is strong. I said before about the sets because in this film you see them more than any other film and Ken Adam does a fine job especially with the Volcano scene(you will see what I mean), he just masterfully makes these little sets without having to use special effects used in modern cinema.
The main problem with this film is that it is very dull and very little happens in the middle and towards the end, with Bond doing his spy stuff right it is fair to say, although he also never engages the audience and watching him mull around with his Japanese friends affects the plot intensely. It could also be said this was one of the first of Bond to contain the over use of humour, but I think it depends on the viewer if they like the Bond humour used.
Bond fans should be pleased by this and those who's favourite is Connery shouldn't be put off him with this piece, although nowhere near the quality of the first four. People in general may find it like I did, dull, but you may also have a lot of respect for Bond here as he doesn't fly around the world constantly and stays on one plot in one place, like a real life spy.
Overall I give this a 6/10, a solidly OK film that is not near to being Good, but escapes being just OK. With this you have to enjoy the subdued story to enjoy it because if you go in expecting what he did in Thunderball, Goldfinger etc then you will be bitterly disappointed. One more thing to say is that this is Connery's last role as Bond where the comedy isn't overused so savour it if you dislike the more humorous route that Bond went down In the 70's/80's.
You Only Live Twice is a maybe slightly more subdued Bond, however this film contains near all the trademarks we have to come to expect from James and a villain who is just insanely rich. Set around the one location for the majority of the film, you may also be mistaken this drags a lot, it doesn't though and becomes a solid plot which moves and throws you off the scent of predicting what is next to happen, I felt this was firmly an OK film, and here is why.
The story is pretty absurd and as said, for this to work, the villain would literally have to be the richest man ever, but in general, this is good fun. It has a good mix of fighting and charm to be a Bond that portrays all the hallmarks of the series yet also introduces a new side to Bond where he actually does some good spy work. I loved the gadgets and sets in this which in the story make it great to look at also.
Sean Connery maybe falls slightly from his first four roles and this is far from his or the series best, but Connery still manages to churn out an entertaining Bond and with all the kind of crazy things in the plot he deals with it well. Donald Pleasance does a fine job as the villain and his strange grace coupled with his evil side make him a very diverse villain who you just can't predict what he'll do next.
This Bond to me seemed more talky than the previous instalments, and with the author Roald Dahl writing the screenplay it is no surprise the dialogue is strong. I said before about the sets because in this film you see them more than any other film and Ken Adam does a fine job especially with the Volcano scene(you will see what I mean), he just masterfully makes these little sets without having to use special effects used in modern cinema.
The main problem with this film is that it is very dull and very little happens in the middle and towards the end, with Bond doing his spy stuff right it is fair to say, although he also never engages the audience and watching him mull around with his Japanese friends affects the plot intensely. It could also be said this was one of the first of Bond to contain the over use of humour, but I think it depends on the viewer if they like the Bond humour used.
Bond fans should be pleased by this and those who's favourite is Connery shouldn't be put off him with this piece, although nowhere near the quality of the first four. People in general may find it like I did, dull, but you may also have a lot of respect for Bond here as he doesn't fly around the world constantly and stays on one plot in one place, like a real life spy.
Overall I give this a 6/10, a solidly OK film that is not near to being Good, but escapes being just OK. With this you have to enjoy the subdued story to enjoy it because if you go in expecting what he did in Thunderball, Goldfinger etc then you will be bitterly disappointed. One more thing to say is that this is Connery's last role as Bond where the comedy isn't overused so savour it if you dislike the more humorous route that Bond went down In the 70's/80's.