Review of You Only Live Twice (2007) by Kory K — 24 Oct 2008

Unlike Dr. No and FRWL, I haven?t seen this a million times (more like 100 times), unfortunately that?s because I don?t really like it that much. This is the place where the producers completely abandoned Ian Fleming and fully embraced the ridiculous aspects of the series.

This is where the gadgets turned into elaborate vehicles and the villains started operating out of volcanoes. Blofeld?s scheme here is over the top even by James Bond standards, stealing rocket ships please.

And Ninjas? WTF? That?s about as out of place as aliens in an Indiana Jones movie. And making surgically making James Bond into a Japanese man is weird and borderline offensive. What?s with the emphasis on building covers in this movie anyway, it?s not like anything bond does here is very incognito.

It does have its moments of course, Donald Pleasence is quite good as Blofeld, and the last battle is certainly? big. Really, this is the movie I blame for James Bond going way off the rails into high camp.