Film Review

You Only Live Twice Director: Lewis Gilbert

Figure 01. Film Poster Release: 1967 Director: Lewis Gilbert Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime, Thriller Country: UK

A brief storyline to Lewis Gilberts James Bond You Only Live Twice 1967 is when James Bond must stop the plans of a madman on a hidden Japanese island whos trying to create World War three by interrupting other country's programs and ending in another country getting the blame. Just as Nick Rogers says here Japan is a nation with sites both bustlingly urban and beautifully pastoral, so utterly and sweepingly cinematic as to be enough location for one movie. (Rogers 2012) Shows that the film had enough of a budget to film everything in Japan and using the stunning environments and sets in Japan instead of creating them on some kind of Hollywood set, as the image below shows Japans amazing architecture which is something that couldnt just be created.

Figure 02. Ninja Training School

The most well known and jaw dropping part about Gilberts film You Only Live Twice was The Ginormous lair hidden inside the volcano all thanks to Ken Adams and his design you almost think its a model creation until actors in the movie are walking inside it just as Tim Brayton says you start to notice the touches: the sleek, menacing stairs, and the viciously shiny monorail, and the rough edges of the volcano wall, and it starts to become obvious that this isn't just a bigset, it's a detailed set too. It was designed and built, and it physically existed And that, boys and girls, is why I will never love CGI (Brayton 2012). It seems that Adams was inspired by classicism when creating the set of the secret lair as it shows the empowerment of the set how everyone looks so small and the set is towering over them.

Figure 03. Secret Lair

Out of all bond films Gilberts wasnt very good because of its unnecessary scenes and weak script which lead it to having spoofs created making fun of the environments and the characters just as Leo Goldsmith says hindsight offers a wonderful bonus to the film: Donald Pleasences performance as a pudgy, freakish Blofeld is clearly the ur-Dr. Evil. His oft-repeated enunciation of the word annihilate is hilarious (Goldsmith 2005). The image below is a great example of what Austin Powers (1997) did to tease the Hidden Lair in You Only Live Twice.

Figure 04. Austin Powers secret volcano lair

Illustrations:
Figure 01. Film Poster (1967) [Film Poster] http://ia.mediaimdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTk4NTU2Mzk1OV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMzY5M Dg0NA@@._V1._SY317_.jpg (Accessed on: 05/11/2012) Figure 02. Ninja Training School (1967) [Film Still] http://www.movielocations.com/movies/y/YouOnlyLiveTwice_Himeji.jpg (Accessed on: 05/11/2012) Figure 03. Secret Lair (1967) [Film Still] http://www.tasteofcinema.com/wpcontent/uploads/2012/10/you-only-live-twice-3.jpg (Accessed on: 6/11/2012) Figure 04. Austin Powers secret volcano lair [Film Still] http://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/article/994/994676/top-10coolest-lairs-20090615064657961.jpg (Accessed on: 06/11/2012)

Bibliography:
Nick Rogers (2012) You Only Live Twice. In: http://www.thefilmyap.com [Online] At: http://www.thefilmyap.com/2012/07/06/you-only-live-twentythrice-you-only-live-twice/ (Accessed on: 05/11/2012) Tim Brayton (2012) You Only Live Twice. In: http://antagonie.blogspot.co.uk [Online] At: http://antagonie.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/in-for-penny-in-forbond.html (Accessed on: 06/11/2012) Leo Goldsmith (2005) You Only Live Twice. In: http://www.notcoming.com [Online] At: http://www.notcoming.com/reviews/youonlylivetwice/ (Accessed on: 06/11/2012)