Directed by:
Lewis GilbertScreenplay:
Roald DahlCinematography:
Freddie YoungComposer:
John BarryCast:
Sean Connery, Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama, Teru Shimada, Karin Dor, Donald Pleasence, Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, Desmond Llewelyn, Burt Kwouk, Edward Mulhare (more)VOD (4)
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A disaster in space pushes humankind toward World War III, and only James Bond can prevent it in this magnificent, pull-out-all-the-stops movie spectacular. Sean Connery returns as Agent 007, who travels to Japan to stop the evil SPECTRE organisation and its diabolical leader, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasence), from instigating global warfare from his massive headquarters in an inactive volcano. (20th Century Fox UK)
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Reviews (8)
After the massive success of the underwater Thunderball, Bond finally went to the stars, both literally and figuratively. Bond dads Saltzman and Brocolli have changed almost the entire creative team for the fifth 007 film – Lewis Gilbert took over the director's role, Freddie Young, winner of two Oscars (for Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago) stood behind the camera, and instead of mostly "Western" locations, the story takes place all over the Far East... The result is a thoroughbred gem, which I devoured with bated breath when I was a little boy, drifting away with a great imagination of the script and an excellent visual conception. Simply the essential spectator mana of all Bond films, which managed to condense here into a magical "super spy" atmosphere. And the magic still works years later. Mentioning Connery's virtuosity is pointless, but I want to remind of how self-parody tendencies begin to creep into it, which Roger Moore then broke apart. The action scenes are excellent, and especially the helicopter chase, tinted with the notorious Bond theme, electrifies me to this day. It is a pity that the editing sometimes slips into excessive monotony (it is especially evident in the car chases), which slows the film down. Lewis Gilbert isn't as good a stylist as Hamilton or Young, but he has a knack for crowd scenes – and the one in the crater is really worth it, and he calmly trumps a similar scene from his later Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. The only issue is the fact that after filming the fifth Bond film, Connery disappeared from the series and only returned after four years and one Bond film with George Lazenby... But then it just wasn't the same. The golden age of Connery films ends with this masterpiece.
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Too many technical gimmicks and various improvements at the expense of plot density and genuine entertainment. The action in Japan may have benefited Bond, it truly feels fresh and unconventional, but they are trying something technically that doesn't work too well. The mass scenes, the megalomaniacal action with rockets, among others, it all feels cluttered and, with a distance of years, even laughable, and no matter what, Bond should have a timeless impact. Not just as a persona, but also in terms of themes and visual aesthetics. That is not the case here, not even by accident.
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All words are of little value - except Diamonds Are Forever all of Connery's Bond films are worth the full amount of stars. What does this one have in particular? You Only Live Twice has the best Bond song of the 22 films, and this film is a bit special in that it's set entirely in Japan. It has a delicious villain (Pleasance's Blofeld is simply Satan - his gradual reveal is legendary), beautiful girls (even if you don't like Asian girls) and sensational action scenes like a mini helicopter, a brawl with one or more Japanese, and a final huge fight inside an extinct volcano... and the "swallowing" of spaceships is also worth it. Among other things, I was pleased with the restored version of this film - the image, especially in the opening space shots, is literally breathtaking. I wish I could have seen this in the movie theater!
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Here we go. Not even the Japanese could keep their women safe from this extremely invasive British agent and so it’s not rare in Japan to come across citizens speaking Japanese with a strong Scottish accent. The leap into the realm of sci-fi is more than obvious, and despite the plot being far-fetched beyond belief, the film does have a certain charm.
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What definitely deserves appreciation are the scenes set in space, which certainly don't look bad. On the other hand, Bond is moving into a completely different genre, and one gets the feeling that it wasn't an artistic intention but purely commercial, just to keep people entertained. Thunderball was already a bit of a one-trick pony. The opening manages to thrill quite a bit because Bond appears to die, but you quickly find out why he lives twice. Then you're just waiting to finally see Blofeld's face. Donald Pleasence was a great choice. However, Bond as a Japanese character is a bit much.
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