Welcome back, Thunder Nerds. We are doing you only live twice today, so I hope you guys enjoy it. Mister Saint John Smart is here as always for the Bond retrospectives, and, yeah, there are a few tangents early on this one, talking a few things about Bond news and and some other stuff. So apologies for the tangents, but they should be chapter points should you wish to skip forward and get to the you only live twice retrospective. Let's dive on in.

Thunder Nerds are go. Three two one. Thunder Nerds are go. I'm a keep it 100 now. Not everything has to be canon with each other.

Not everything has to fit into the same universe. Not every not everything has to like, when we talk I feel like this is part of what this this whole multiverse shit has has done. It's made everyone go like, oh, okay. Now now that fits in with this, and it's like, no. It doesn't need to.

Like, we're talking about we're not do we try and do this something? You know how fans try and be like, oh, it's a code name. It's like, no, it's not.

No. Like It's not

a fucking

code name.

Get off with that shit,

man. I am worried that that's gonna happen because I keep reading all that online. Don't. One thing that makes me a bit worried, however, also freely excites me, Pierce Brosnan teasing that he's open to returning to the series. But then he also says, I wouldn't play Bond, which makes me think

Yes, you would.

That he's gonna be

Yes, you would. Unless he's gonna play M or something. Like

Makes me think it'll be I I was the previous. No. I was the previous joke.

Was the previous

Let me take you under under my wing. Originally, you might say double o seven.

Like, no. No. No. No. I I think that, look, if you wanna do a a wink wink nudge nudge and bring him back as m or something.

But even then, it's it's too much, man. It's it's it's you know what it's like? It's like when they considered bringing Connery back for Skyfall Yeah. And then they decided, you know, what?

They chose not to.

Yeah. It was gonna be too distracting to the last third of the film. It's like that. It's like if you bring Pierce Brosnan back and he becomes m or something, it's it's no. No.

No. No.

It's just like unnecessary fan service.

Yeah. It's fan service for the sake of fan service, which is always a terrible idea.

It's like cameo porn. It's like

100%. It's

It's like Marvel when they're like, let's just bring everyone in because people wanna see these characters, which And it Marvel that Yeah. That works.

It works.

You know, I think a

lot of

people are getting getting over it

now. Yeah. I think they are. And I think that part of it is that what happens is even the most, you know, critical or or what what's the word I'm looking for here? Even the most, like, reserved of fans who might be like, oh, I don't know what they're doing here, can can succumb to immediate fan service and be like, oh my god, a cameo.

Do you know what I mean? But but it doesn't take long for it to wear off and for you to like think back and go, oh, it was a bit that was a bit lame actually. Like, you can in the moment, you might be like, fuck, this is sick. But like you a lot of us are when when we're not there in the moment, we've had a bit of time between it, can look back and go like, oh, it's not actually as cool as I thought it was when I was I I when I was watching, I thought it was like the best thing I'd ever seen, but actually Yeah. I can see that they were just trying to give me like immediate, you know, kind of

Like

a nostalgic Yeah. Bit. Yeah. 100%. And then it wears off really fast, I think.

And I remember when The

Force is a a hell of a drug.

It is. And The Force Awakens when it came out, I thought I'm not gonna lie you, I thought it was the best fucking Star Wars film when I came out of this. I was like, this is amazing. Like, that was so great. And then you give it, like, a couple of months and then people are like, it's a New Hope.

And you're like, oh, oh. Hey. You know what mean? Like

It was the same for me. I watched the movie. I was like, oh, that was fantastic. And then I jumped online and read a comparison of Force Awakens and New Hope, and I was like, oh my god. Oh my god.

Dog. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. It's the same movie.

Yeah. It's like it's and then and then when you when you see it, you're like, fuck, I've been taken for a fool here. Like, I've contributed to this filmmaking 2,000,000,000 something dollars, but I didn't even notice that it was just a replica, like, of this of this other film, but Yeah. Because they

they just

ripped off. Now okay. What else is going on in the world of of the world of Bond? Is there anything you need to kind of get off your chest, talk about? You know what freaked me out?

Seeing seeing like Amazon double o seven Amazon and not EON anymore on one of the logos. That was weird. Yeah.

It's scary times. Scary times. Yeah. Pierce Brosnan. Would you if you had the choice Yep.

Would you have the next Bond film? Pierce Brosnan as Bond for one last go. Or scrap that idea, have brand new young Bond. Would you have Pierce Brosnan in the film as a different character? Or what what's what's your thoughts with that one?

I would not have him as a different character. I just wouldn't have that. It's off for me, it's off the cards. It's like if he doesn't come back as Bond, I don't want him as another character, just like that Sean Conroy girl. Right?

So we're in agreeing to that. Would I want him as Bond in Bond 26? It's not it's not that I don't want him. Also okay. Here's what I would say.

If you if you don't do it now, then don't do it. If if you're not gonna do it here at Bond 26 juncture where we're at a crossroads, because it can only it should only be one film in my opinion. If he comes back, you do it for it's a it's a Diamonds are forever scenario, it bridges the next one, and look, I would I want him to come back. I would actually enjoy that, but I I'm not I'm not like steadfast and hell bent on it happening. If it doesn't happen and we get a young new dude my my biggest thing is it it's not it can't be a Tim Charlemagne.

It can't be a Tom Holland. I don't want any of those types of people. I want a guy that I barely fucking heard I want someone that I look at and I think that's James Bond. And if it's Pierce Brosnan for one more film, I'm 100% down for it. But if it doesn't happen here, and then we go and have another bond for Yeah.

Let's say two or three films or whatever, and then and then that guy goes Pierce would be dead. But do do you know what I'm saying? It's like, I don't want Pierce then Bond. This is he's he's at a silver fox point now, and and you know what? I don't wanna segue here, but I don't wanna get away from this.

I I'm gonna barely touch on this, but I was watching I got a real craving the other day. You know, sometimes we just get a craving to watch something, you're like, fuck, I'm gonna oh, man. I need to watch that, and then you just get a craving something. I got a craving to watch Die Another Day, and the I'll tell you how it was born where it was born out of. It was born out of the fact that, like, it's the bond it's the it's the it's the first Bond film I ever saw, and it's the Bond film I've seen the least of, I would say, bar probably like Quantum of Solace.

I've not seen Die Another Day Yeah. Nearly as much as I've seen Golden Eye to World Is Not Enough in the Pierce Brosnan run. For me, Pierce's first three films, I love them all for different reasons. The one that I've actually fallen out of more so, which is surprising to me, is Golden Eye, actually. Tomorrow Never Dies rises for me.

World is Not Enough continues to rise. I go back to Golden Eye and there's just sometimes I watch beats of it and I go, like, I love what some of this is doing. I love that it's, you know, on the on the tither of the Cold War, like, it's almost like the the the pre title sequences around the Dalton era and then the and then it cuts into the new era after that twelve years later thing. I love that. But there's a lot that I also don't particularly like, I think is a bit cheesy on a rewatch, whereas I don't think that with some of the others.

I went back to Die Another Day, and it's the same old fucking story. I think the first half of the film is seriously awesome. Like, I and I'm not gonna get into it now because we got but I just I did watch it and I went it's a shame that this was his last film because he is so good in it still. The first half of the film is so good. Everything after the like, for me, it's the sword fight, and then after it kind of dips a bit.

But even then, I love the Ice Palace. There's still some really, like, iconic Bond iconography in there, but it's a damn shame that he didn't the thing about this, I was I was watching, you know what I thought? I I I found myself thinking this, I cannot believe if you told me, and I didn't know, if you told me or said to me, guess which actor of James Bond, guess which two of the six actors were essentially fired and didn't didn't know they were gonna leave before they left, I would not say Pierce Brosnan was one of them. I I would never guess that. I would I would because he's so to me what I imagined James Bond to actually look like in my mind that it shocks me that of all the people and and the films were doing they were only going more and more up in how much they were making at the box office every time a Brosnan film came out.

It was a resurgence that the likes of which they'd never seen in Bond since Connery was in the role, video games, magazines, films, and then to he got shown the door. That's crazy. Wild. That's so crazy. So

Well, I I completely agree with you in terms of yeah. Pierce Brosnan returning. It's now or never. If it happens, it happens. That's amazing.

I would love that.

I would too.

If not, I would I would love another bond.

And it but it's under the preface. Handled properly. Exactly. That's that's the preface. If it's not, I would like Pierce Brosnan one more time.

Would now my only thing about it, and this is what I worry about, is would Denny Villeneuve, would he want his own new Bond to if it's his first Bond film, would he wanna reinvent that character and and would bringing back a guy who's already got four established James Bond films be a that's my only res that's the only thing that keeps me from thinking it's gonna actually happen.

I see. I like I was saying before, I'm worried that it'll be Pierce Brosnan as m, and they established the fact that James Bond is a code name, and he's training the new young James Bond some shit like that.

Okay. I got a question.

I'm I'm scared.

I've got a question. I've just thought of something. Yeah. They they announce the cast, and, you know, I'll I'll use I'm not gonna say all, but I'll I'll use this Ralph Ralph Fiennes as Em. What's your reaction to that if that happened?

Do do you are you excited by that or worried by that?

I would be excited by that because they he's a good actor. Yep. He's I thought he was a good m. Yep. I thought he he was good.

It would just be setting up kind of like it's a new Bond film where the actors change and it doesn't matter. Yeah. Because all the actors so you've got a new actor playing Bond, but you've still got Bernard Lee as M. Yep. It's I think it's the same kind of scenario That's what was gonna say.

I was I was great finds again.

I agree. I think you're right.

It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Continuity doesn't fucking matter.

We all know that the Bond continuity is some of the looser continuity in any, you know, kind of, I guess, major thing, like and I think that at the end of the day, it would be no different to Judi Dench returning in Casino Royale when she'd just done four James Bond films with Pierce and and then it became entirely clear in Casino that it was a reboot. It was it was not for the first time, not a hard well, for the first time ever, like, we had Bernard Lee go from Connery to, you know, George to Moore or whatever, but there was never a hard reboot set. Whereas in Casino, they try and say this is a different timeline to the other 20 you've seen, but it still am and we're not gonna explain why. I don't think I would mind that. I don't know if they will do that.

I I think I don't think he had long enough, in my opinion, as Em. I I think he could he could continue in that role for a while personally because

I agree.

He it's not like he has heaps of scenes that it's like, you know, really difficult to go in and shoot. It's like he's shooting James Bond. He's only in there in little kind of stints doing the the briefing type stuff. I think that'd be a nice way to to homage the previous era and bring in a new queue and a money penny, but that m remains and and and restarting it and don't explain it. I think would be a good idea.

I really like that. I like that.

Yeah. You go. You go.

So Yeah. If not Pierce Brosnan, who who is your pick currently for the next Bond?

Well, what's your thoughts on this Callum Turner? Who? So so I've

Callum Turner?

No. Yes. So Callum Callum Turner. Callum? Callum Turner.

Google this. This is who I've seen the bookies are saying in the last week and a bit, he's like the favorite. And again, that that they change their thing all the time, but I I'd never heard of him, and I'm not sure what I think of him as Bond, personally.

30 he's 35 years old. I thought they were looking for someone Yeah.

I I remember them talking like mid twenties is what I remember them saying.

I he does look he does look like a handsome fella, pretty suave, but I wouldn't see him and go, oh, that's Bond.

Either. But then would I have seen Daniel Craig and thought that?

True.

I don't know if I would have.

I see. I still for me, a favorite of mine is Aaron Taylor Johnson.

Yeah. Same. He he's still my favorite, but I don't think they're gonna do that.

He's my favorite.

I think it's sailed. Think that ship sailed. Look, man, I I just I just wanna okay. I know this sounds really shallow and really, I guess, high level. I just wanna look at the guy they cast and and immediately say to myself, that is James Bond.

That's all. That's all I want. I know that sounds Yeah. That's really, like, broad, but I I just wanna look at him and go, fuck. That is James Bond.

That is that's perfect. I I want that. Yep. And maybe I won't get that. Maybe I'll maybe it'll be another thing where the they they cast someone and you look at it and you go, oh, no.

I'm not sure about that. Like a Matt Smith type thing with doctor who you go, no. No. No. That can't be.

And then when you see, you go, that works. Right? But I I

That makes sense.

Selfishly, want that. Now I I think back and I think I'm not of this era, but if I was of the era of of, you know, the eighties and they showed and they said the new double o seven is is Timothy Dalton, I saw a photo, I'd go, that's James Bond. Yeah. Right? If they

He's Brosnan.

Pierce Brosnan, I'd go, that's James Bond.

Yeah. That's Bond. It's so believable. I can see it immediately. Different man.

It's a different face. You look at him and you go, that's the same character.

And I want that. I wanna look at an actor and say immediately, holy shit, that's James Bond. They found him. So yeah.

What do you think of Jacob Elordi?

He has got the look. You know what? It's hard it's hard fuck. It's it's hard to say no because when I think of him in my mind's eye, I think that looks like James Bond. Do you think he would do it?

I don't know. I don't really know much about him, to be honest. I haven't seen him act. I've only seen him in trailers. I haven't seen anything with

him He's in very good in Euphoria.

I do like his look though. He looks like he looks like Bond.

He can act, man.

To me.

He can act. Like, he's a he's he can act.

He's from Brisbane.

He is. And he's and he's tall. He's very tall. Think he's like six foot something, so he's he's got the height of Bond as well. Good.

And he's a he's a

damn good actor, man. Like he's fucking phenomenal in Euphoria, and he's he's killing it at the moment. I feel like he's almost too big now for Bond with how many things he's he's in. Like, I I almost think that

Yeah.

And I think I think he was talking about turning down Superman. So I wonder if he's gonna be of the of like, oh, I don't wanna play a

Yeah. I don't wanna

don't wanna

play be a the James Bond guy.

Yeah. Or just yeah. Exactly. I I wonder if that's where he is in his career or because he he's at a point where he is the hot new property and things are gonna come his way whether or not he's James Bond. So it's it's gonna be a question really, do you wanna play James Bond?

And and if someone had said to him before he'd made it, would you play James Bond? He'd say, fuck, a 100% I will. But now where he is, he's gonna have to consider how that will play out his career. Look, hasn't hurt Pierce, maybe did for a bit. Didn't hurt Daniel though.

I think he could do it. It would depend and I but I don't think we get into Daniel's

Daniel's done very well with post Bond career, think. Because he's he's doing his Knives Out movies now, and there's about three of those now.

Three of them. Yeah. Fourth is, I think, confirmed, and he's done heaps of other stuff amongst that. Yeah. So I think I think that that, you know, similar way to Doctor Who, that has been broken.

It's it's not that curse of, oh, you play this role, you don't book anything else has dissipated with James Bond, I think. I think that he could do them. It would be more a question of how long would he do it. You'd be I from my mind, you would be looking at two to three James Bond films. And I'm I still I'm very of the feeling that the next guy is gonna do three.

I I have a weird omen that that no other no no actor has ever played Bond in the EON official lineup for the same amount of time. I think the next number we're getting is three because it's not gonna be eight. So and I'm not counting never say never again, I'm talking official. I'm not talking about that, Phil. But anyway, should Not yet.

Should we not yet. Never say never. Should we should we get into You Only Live Twice because

Okay. You Only Live Twice. Good movie.

Yep.

Bond goes to Japan.

Mhmm.

Fights Blofeld. That's about it. And we're out of time.

Cool. Let's wrap it up. Alright. So I have notes for You Only Live Twice, and I watched it a few weeks ago. When did you watch it?

I watched it a few weeks ago, and then I watched it this morning.

Oh, you've done two?

Again, two.

Interesting. Interesting.

Yeah. Just to refresh it. It's one of my most In my mind.

I I feel like this is one that I've rewatched a bit. It is surely, we we just just kick this off. Is it the most parodied James Bond film or the most iconic James Bond film?

That's written in my notes. It is there's so much. Mainly Austin Powers.

Yep. Simpsons is in the volcano lair, isn't it as well? Like when he's flipping

Well,cano the lair. The look of Doctor Evil, Blofeld.

Yep. Yep.

The piranhas in the and freaking sharks with freaking laser beams on their freaking heads.

Yep. And just that in general in in films of that kind of nature that the big the big lair, the piranhas or the do you know what I mean? The the henchmen. Yeah. The it's got it the cat the

oh, it's got The little cars that are driving around the volcano lair.

Yeah. Massive sets at

the time. Wearing the jump suits and the little hard hats.

Oh, man. It was the set was massive at the time. It could fit a helicopter in

a And Adam, like

Oh, man. He's a freak. An absolute freak.

He killed it. He killed it in this one.

Crazy. Like, imagine imagine having the mind to to come up with some of the then you know when you're watching a Ken Adam Bond film. Can see you you know this one was written by Roald Dahl, the screenplay?

I was I was just about to say that.

Yeah. Crazy.

I'm about to say Roald Dahl because I that's that's wild. I did not know that. There was there was a few things watching it again, and I picked up on a few things. The henchmen that Bond fights inside that office building. Yep.

And when ends up, Bond gets thrown through the paper wall and then

he Mhmm.

And again, with the set design.

Oh, awesome. That looks awesome.

The whole theme of being in Japan is awesome. It's so good all throughout the movie. Like, Bond goes through the paper walls and then they knock over like a set of samurai armor. Yeah. Bond gets the kana and

Yep.

Like, so that guy he fights, I thought I'd seen him before. Turns out that's Peter Myvea, The Rock's grandfather. Oh, Dwayne Johnson. That's Dwayne Johnson's grandfather.

Fuck. That that's a that's a great bit of trivia. I did not know that. That's hectic. Yeah.

I've always loved that fight scene. Always. I've I've always just really enjoyed that fight scene. See see, they can do good fight. Like, it's so weird that we go from Thunderball's point five sped up fight scenes to to back to this, and it's fine.

It looks fine.

Yeah.

And look, it's

a bit of a

telegraph jump. The jump that he does when he gets hit by the statue is a bit extreme, but you know what I mean? Like, flies over. The

the opening is is really cool.

Yeah. So let's talk about let's talk about the pre title sequence.

Pre title well, the gun barrel, I I noticed, was in black and white when I think Thunderballs was in color, wasn't it?

I don't know. I actually don't know.

That might be something might be something we can look up later. That's interesting. I

didn't notice that.

Yeah. I think Thunderball was filmed in color. What? The only Twice Gun Barrel was black and white.

But I thought they only shot them like that's interesting. See see, I thought that he only shot two gun barrels or one gun barrel. I thought I thought that there was the one with the rando, and then there was Yeah. And then there was one with

The one where he wobbles a bit on his knee.

So is it is it two that he shot then that Connery shot?

Think ugh.

No. No. You've got me wrong. I thought maybe just

alright. Probably because we don't have a lot of time.

Because George George George shot obviously one, lol. Roger shot two, I reckon. Pierce only shot one. Tim, I reckon, shot one. Daniel shot, like well, shot five.

Yeah. Yeah. Like every film, there's a new one. Pierce's is the best. That's a one sec wonder.

That's awesome. Yeah. Now you've got me wondering, man. That might be something we need to to to look into possibly. What what was there a gun barrel with color?

I'm gonna Google it quickly. What but what about the intro? What what about, like, going into space, like, the country's kinda talking to each other and arguing and then and then going to

I Yeah. I love the plot of this movie.

Yep.

Trying to get The US to think that Russia has, you know, hijacked their spaceship, their rocket Yep. And then doing vice versa to Russia so that they basically declare war on each other.

Mhmm. Mhmm.

It's it's simple Simple

and classic.

Effective. It's classic. It's so good. I I love it how when they go when they're like, oh, our man in Hong Kong is working on it now. And then it just cuts to Sean Connery with that

With the chick.

With that woman in bed.

Yeah. What about what about the the music in the film as well?

Great reintroduction.

What about the music? It's beautiful.

It's so good. There's it's one of my favorites. When he's

Such a good score.

I noticed just this one little bit when he's at it's after the scene where he's in the spa

Mhmm.

With all the Yep. All the women.

Yep.

Directly after that, he's out the front of that big office building where he's gonna have the little meeting. And as he's pulling up in the car

Mhmm.

It's playing like the the usual like, Bond not like the Bond theme, but the you only live twice theme. Mhmm. Yep. And there's like this, like, added in, like, bass guitar almost

Oh.

Like sound, and it's just this one like like it's I thought it was really good. Gave me a bit of a

It's man, it's

such good

such a good score. I love the score when he's running across the rooftop just beating everyone up at the at the warehouse type area down down the bay. That's a weird dot. Like yeah. You know how, like, helicopter,

like It zooms right out. It's a shot from up high.

Yeah. It's in a helicopter.

Okay. Helicopter. Yeah. And Yeah. You just see Bond taking on all of them.

That's a that's a Sick. Weird shot, but I like it.

I thought it was sick. I thought it was sick. Give me two seconds. Just give me two seconds. Hang on.

I'm just gonna pause it. Hang on. Yep. I'll be back. What are gonna say?

Even the theme song, like, You Only Live Twice, I love that one. That's one of the best. That's one of the better one.

It's one of the best. The music as it builds, like,

Nancy Sinatra, she killed it. Awesome.

Did you

know Shirley Batty does a version of it?

Don't think

I've discovered it. No. I asked Siri to play You Only Live Twice on Spotify.

And it played And all

of sudden, it was fairly bassy, and I was like

Does it sound good?

It does sound good, but I prefer the original.

Yep. Okay.

But it it was yeah. It was interesting. Didn't realize that she'd done that.

That's cool. Hey. You know what I found out? Thunderball is color. So

Oh, it is.

You're right. Yep. Don't know why they went back to black and white.

And Please. So Thunderball gun barrel's in color. You only

live

twice black and white guns.

Because I because I reckon, and I I could be wrong, but I feel like Diamonds Are Forever was black and white. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it was color. Maybe I'm maybe I'm just I wanna it is weird though to go from Thunderball's color to you you only live twice backwards because I reckon George would be color.

I wonder what the reasoning on that was.

Very odd. Very odd. I I I kinda think that do do you think that they one of the things I've gotten written down here I'm guessing you've got some pointers as well, but one of one of the things I wanted to talk about was, like, the idea of the film, like, You Only Live Twice, I kind of feel like they don't and it is like of that era where, you know, they just kind of go from one thing to the next thing and the next thing and the next thing. There's not much like sitting with anything for too long before you're on to the next kind of action piece. That's another thing I've got written here is is just how fast the film moves in it it it slows down for a little bit towards the end, but, like, it goes from, like, opening to, you know, we're on the at Bond's funeral, then we're into the city, then he's, like, with the dude, Henderson.

Henderson dies. He's into the building, Then he's being chased by a chick or whatever. He goes to chase the chick, then he's with targets and Aker. And it's like the film moves so fast with all its little set pieces. It's not like a Bond film you'd think of for action per se.

Like Yeah. But there is a lot of stuff, and that's one of the the things that you you notice when you go back and watch these early Bond films is just how they they kinda just come up sometimes, it feels like ideas, and go, let's do this. But there's no there's almost no thought of why it's being done. They're just like, let's just do it to do another set piece. Like, for instance

I was thinking this exact thing.

So

Like, when they fake his death, obviously so they've got the the Chinese girl, she's in on it because Moneypenny says, did you like the girl we set you up with? Yep. But why all the theatrics? Why whip him up behind the why not like, okay, lay down Bond, here's the fake blood, good luck?

Or or why not this why not this lay him down, fake blood, set the scene, shoot it, provide it to the media, or leak it or something, and then and then there is no it's just a it's just a little photoshoot. Like, is it

Why does he get flipped up inside the wall

with the bed? Is because is it because loose lips sink ships, so the thought is let's just let's actually do this as if it's for real, so that the the the less the people know it, the better? I I I do you know what I mean? Like, it's confusing. It's confusing why it's happening.

I thought that the fake death thing was a little bit like they've done it just to open the movie

and That's what it feels like. It feels like it's being done. Is gonna see

that? Yeah. Who is gonna see that and think, oh, wow. They've just killed Bond at the start

of movie. Even in the sixties What? Surely everyone at the cinema knew

No one. That it was

a cop out. Like, by that point, five films in, you don't think Bombs just died in the pre title sequence. So I think that sometimes things get done just because they're cool, and it is cool, like it is a cool opening. It's not, I would say, one of the best openings, but it it is No. It is cool.

I think that, like, one thing I I I'm finding myself wondering in these early films that we're watching is like how famous is James Bond in universe? How famous is he actually?

That he has to fake his death.

He has to fake his death. There's other ones that knew who he was the moment they met him. Like, I think Emilio Largo knows who he is probably because he's already been briefed on him. But, like, how famous is this agent? Because by the by the time we get to the man with the golden gun, someone's so admirable a Bond that they they wanna send him a bullet and challenge him mano a mano type thing in Scaramanga.

So how famous is he Yeah. In universe?

That's a really good question. I don't think I've ever really

thought about that before. Yeah. Because it it doesn't come up in the creative films.

He starts building up this He's got street cred. Reputation.

Yeah. He's got some street cred. Yeah. But it's like there's it's not really ever it's not it's not really ever delved into, but it definitely is touched upon at some points in the franchise. But it's confusing as to how yeah.

It's weird. I I I just found myself wondering Yeah. Because I obviously think, okay, we gotta reset this type thing with him. And oh, man. I've got some shit we gotta get into, but that that's probably gonna come when we get to on emergency secret service.

But, like, what about the fact that have you ever thought about the fact that this is literally like, Spy Love Me is literally this plot, but just with tanker ships that swallow submarines instead of spaceships. It it every time I watch this film, like, and and Spy Who Love Me, it kills me that they've just remade the film almost verbatim.

I was thinking the exact same thing while I was watching it this morning. I was like, hang on. I think this is very similar to Spy Love. But that's I think that this movie is where it's like we were saying before, it's so iconic that it has been parried parrieded Parrieded. Yeah.

To speak. So many times, and it's like it's such an iconic film that they've even themselves. Themselves a few films later. Yeah.

Yeah. I guess it's like maybe it's like perfecting the Bond film formula and going, like, we got it really right here and and let's just try it again, you know, in a in a similar way to The Force Awakens if we just make it underwater and do it we'll we'll just do a few things and they won't notice it's the same film.

See, there are some things with the movie that, like, there are some really good lines in it. There's there's some lines that made me laugh when he comes into the when he comes into the spa and there's all the women in there, and he goes, oh, I like the plumbing.

Jesus.

And as he said that he looks at one of the girls up and down.

Oh. This one's like one of the most like, when I was watching it, I was like, this is really bad. Like, I was watching it going, like, they're very sexy for like like, some of the

had to turn the subtitles on because I thought at first, I thought he was meant to say flexible, and then I was like, it sounded like he said something else. I'm gonna go back, and I put it back, put subtitles on.

Oh, bro. Sexy fool. Oh.

Oh, very sexy fool.

Like this one will do. Like like like what what about her? She's got her face like a pig. Also, the dubbing is so like obviously not a Japanese dude dubbing this guy. It's like in Paris.

It's like some fucking white Caucasian dude dubbing over his Japanese man.

Hello, mister Bolton. Oh, come on. Very sexy fool. I'd love to see footage of, like, the recording booth for that.

Bro, this guy when I saw this at the cinema, got the biggest laugh. People were dying at the cinema when I saw this.

It would remind me of Trey Parker from South Park doing his, like, oh, Kyle.

I took a picture of the asparagus coming out of my house.

Have you seen that footage of him in the recording, bro? Oh, bro.

But he's still

on the lines for that episode, the the human sentai pad?

No. No. The human sentai pad. No. That's

fucking hilarious. One of my favorite episodes here, Park. Also, the behind the scenes when Trey Parker's recording the he's doing the voice for the Asian character. Fuck. It is funny.

It is so funny.

This is like but this is like so but it's done in earnest. That's what's worse about this. It's done in in earnest and it's like so This is this is my private dream. Like, it's so, like, oh, bro. Anyway, so look.

There's a lot of great action set pieces. Little Nelly is a great set piece. Man,

what a what a design. Cool. A helicopter. So tiny.

Yeah. It's awesome.

That was flown by the guy who actually invented it.

It was it was very similar to the jetpack where where it was like very few people in the world at the time had access to the two things, and they found the dudes that did, and they and they got them to use them for a Bond film. Right? There's there's other things like just picking up a a car with a magnet pretty much for nothing more than just, again, this thing of, like, let's just do it because we can do it. Spectacle. One of the more questionable ones is when Bond, you know, what do you say, like, seduces this fucking dollar store version of the Thunderbolt.

What's her name? Volup or whatever?

I was gonna bring that up.

She's like she's like

Mate, miss miss Brent.

And she and and what's the chick from Thunderbolt? Volup or something? Like, Fiona

Fiona Volpate.

Yeah. She's she's she's she's just dollar store. Volpate.

This is one thing that I didn't like about the movie

Right.

Is that there's no iconic henchman to go along with the villain.

Yeah. Like even Really? Even the blonde dude at the end, it's like, who is

this guy? The blonde guy at the end who's in like one scene, his name is Hans. Yeah. He has no lines.

Yeah. He's not like he's not he's not Oddjob.

No. And He's not he's

not even he's not even fucking A woman. He's not even Vargas, bro.

He's not even Vargas. Vargas.

Are doing? Vargas. Like he's not even When I listen to that voice in my head of that dubbing, that it's almost like the same dude who did Amelia Largo's dubbing did Tanaka's dubbing. It's almost the same voice when you when you think about it, you know. Just doing it like a Japanese accent.

What do you do, buggy? Oh, mister Bonfan. They call him Bonfan?

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Bonfan. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Bonfan. Oh. Oh. It's very sexyful. She so this miss Brandt, she is so useless.

She so she gets Bond to interrogate him, and she pulls out the knife. And she's gonna she says she's basically it's a tool for removing skin. They use it to slice

our skin. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And then all of a sudden, I was like, oh, here we go. And then she puts the knife away and starts kissing Bond. And then

And why

she frees Bond.

But hey. Let's talk about that. Why did that happen? So so she what, she wants to be, what, taken by a western man? What is this?

What the fuck

is going on here? She's into Bond, I think.

See, that's what I That's what that that was the vibe that I got, but then That's what I thought.

Then he She traps him in the plane, and she jumps out, skydives out. And I was like, okay. This why didn't she just cut Bond's throat beneath?

Again, I I just I have to I have to just linger on this for a moment because this is the exact example that I'm talking about when I say, like, back in these old Bond films, they just went from action piece to action piece to action piece with no sensical thought of why it was happening. So we go from we go from, oh, he he would kill me if I let you go, and then, like, you know, the things I do for England and shit. We then cut to not not not like, you know, multiple scenes where we get to know her and then we cut to the plane scene where

The literal next scene.

The next scene is mid flight. There's no dialogue or something, then he's like, oh, we're be late or I don't know. And then it's very nice to have met you, but I've got to go. And she flies out the fucking plane and and then She's so she little green screen of her, like, She coming actually

almost gets wiped out by her own plane as she's there's this one shot where the plane goes, like, right past her. Like, she almost accidentally gets wiped out by her own plane.

Imagine that. So so the plane then Bond does it, it gets down, it blows up, and it fades to another scene, and then they never talk about that again. It's just like, what was the point of that scene? Was it was it deleted scenes we missed? Or was it just Potentially.

Do you know what I mean? That's bizarre. Look into that

because it it it's really bizarre.

And and

then just he's you know, Blofeld's like, we don't tolerate failure and

And isn't she a specter agent? Isn't she a specter agent? Do do you not know what Bond looks like?

She is a Spectre agent. And

Like, so Emilio Lado knows what

James Bond, and then she looked all shocked, like, oh, that was the James Bond?

Yeah.

But I thought he was dead.

Maybe maybe maybe did you look at the newspaper that that showed command Bond on the front page of the newspaper? And then when he strolls into Asato fucking head office, no one looks at that and goes, isn't that and we are Spectre agents by the way. Like, literally, Asato and her are both Spectre agents. Now Emilio Largo knew who Bond was when he rocked up Yeah. Because because he knew he was a Spectre agent.

He was in on what the the whole thing wasn't who James Bond was. So was what's her name? Kleb. And and all the agents in From Rush Would Love, they're all looking to get revenge for what he'd done. Right?

Apparently Yeah. This guy who's, like, number one most wanted inspector and he's on the front page of all these newspapers in Japan and all this because he's been he's a, you know, famous British MI six naval officer dead.

Apparently, he's the only one that uses a Walter PPK, and they see it in the x-ray, which is what Blofeld holds up.

Yeah.

And he goes, only one man uses this.

What are we all talking about?

Blofeld calls him out as well, is why I've got him in my note. Yeah. And yeah.

Like rightfully so, he should punish these people. I how did you not know that this was a response?

He deserves to get torn apart by piranhas.

And and what about how does does Osato die?

Yeah. This that's another thing So as so well, in my notes, I've got no real henchmen

Yeah.

And Miss Brandt fucking useless. Yep. So with that one so it's when Blofeld's got Bond, and he's pointing the pistol at Bond, and he goes, we

don't tolerate fucking

And then

he goes kills him.

And he kills him.

He was a blast as well. What was he doing the whole film? There's even the whole

scene corridor, so he so Bloody hell shoots him.

Mhmm.

Then they walk down the corridor. And like couple minutes later, Bond then goes, okay, now it's my now it's Bond's turn to get shot, which is when he does the goodbye, mister Bond. Famous. Yep. Famous.

And but it's like, why did you wait to continue moving with Bond after

he's that line? Like Like this. We don't tolerate the price of failure. Shoot one down and then come with me. Come with me.

You can walk with me to the monorail. Like, what are they talking about on the way to the monorail? Then

they get to the monorail, then he's like, okay. Now it's Bond's turn.

It feels janky. It feels janky. Like

Yeah. Which it reminds me of the the joke in Austin Powers when he's like, you know, why don't you just shoot him now? Yeah. And Doctor Evil's like, just don't get it, Scott.

You just you just don't get it. Yeah. You just don't. Okay. So that that reminds me another thing.

And it's cool. Again, all there's a lot of little cool things like the the idea of, you know, trapped in the plane has to like, it's a cool idea, but it's just random. It's the same with, like, trying to create this, like, sense of I don't know. Is it tension where he's at a Sarko's thing, then it's like, oh, you know, I think you're taking a risk now or something. And and, like, this whole, like and then he, like, you we met And he goes.

Huge. Smoking.

You should give up smoking. Yeah. He likes it's like

It's bad for your chest.

Yeah. It's like, okay. That was random. Like, it was just random. It's so so many little weird moments.

It's there's no I guess there's a Bond girl, but it's just weird how, like, Bond is, like, really attached to this first, like, Ackie or whatever her name is.

Well, actually, that's another thing I thought was weird. It's like attached

to word.

Peel Akki off?

I don't know.

And then bring in Kissy Suzuki.

Who is essentially no different. Like and and no and not fleshed out at all.

As a kid, without watching the movie, like, recently as a kid, I thought they were the same character.

I mean, they're not she's not fleshed out at all. Like, Suzuki is is she not flesh She's been I feel

like a lot was cut

out of the film It's weird, something because It's really weird.

It's really and I it made me laugh kinda because I was actually looking at how many different women Bond gets with in in what film.

Yep.

And so Sean Connery holds the record for the most women in one film. Roger Moore holds the record for the most women in all of their respective films.

Hang on. Hang on. Can I ask a question? Which film of Connery's is the most?

Well, apparently, it's a Goldfinger. But Really? This is what I looked up online. But I was watching this one.

This one feels like Waymo.

I think yeah. It was I think it was Geared the Goldfinger Okay.

Hold on.

Alright. Read it.

Last thing about you 100 twice. Chick at the start of the film.

Chick at the start?

Chick who he gets Chick who Tiger lends him? Like, for the oh, but then Aki Aki there's like four at least. And then and then the the what's her name? Budget.

The villain.

Five. There's like five. Yeah. Grant. Kissy.

There's like five at least.

Yeah. I think I read online six.

How could Goldfinger have more

than that? I think it's implied at one stage or something like that.

But Okay.

Anyway Yeah. Yeah. I thought it was funny the fact that, you know he's like, oh you for your disguise you will have to have a wife. And then he looks at Aki and then he goes, no. You will need someone else, a local girl.

I was like, oh sure. It has to be a different girl. It has to be another girl.

And and how's this? How's this? How he's like And why does he have to get married? Was can I ask you a can I ask you a serious question? Because I I don't know the answer to this.

Was he joking when he when he tells Bond that she has a face like a pig? Was that sarcasm or was that was that because I I I couldn't tell if that was sarcasm or if he was genuinely being like, she's got a face like a pig. And I just and then he's like, oh, great. What to hell with that

idea? Watching, and I thought it was a joke at first. Like, oh, face like a pig, and you go, oh, she's gonna be hideous, and then she's really beautiful. But then when she is revealed, she does have the upturned nose.

No, she doesn't. Does she? She's got like. Wait. So are we saying that look up

a photo of kissy Suzuki.

So you you think that he may have been dead serious?

He might have well, it just popped into my head, like, he might actually be serious.

Because I was really taken aback by that comment. Also, can we just talk about

It does have a upturned

She kinda does. Pig nose. Oh my god. She kind of oh my god. Maybe maybe that was a Babe's like a pig.

That's such a mean line.

That's so mean.

That's such a that's such a that's such a mean thing to say if that's not a joke. Can I I I gotta we gotta get into something? Yeah. We need to talk about yellow face Bond.

Yes. I

We need to talk about it. We need to okay. Why why is this bad? Bless me. Why is this bad?

I'll tell you why it's bad. It's bad because it looks like Sean Connery with a little wig and not much else, and it's pretty obvious that he's not a Japanese man. And to think that he's standing, like, face to face with Blofeld, and and it takes for the astronaut thing, it's like, what is going on? Like

It's so unnecessary. Like, they could have gotten away with just Bond wearing the the ninja outfit, you know, the robes and everything, training. Like, why is he why does he need to train to be a ninja? It's great question. Training?

Because I and he doesn't. Like, very simply, James Bond double o seven license to kill does not need to become a ninja. It's just another thing that's, like, cool for the film to

When when in Japan.

When in Japan. When in Japan. Like like so it's like, didn't need that. Is it cool? Yes, it is.

Is the ninja training school cool? Yes. Is it necessary? No. Not entirely.

Not even probably slightly for James Bond to walk through this Walter PPK instead of a little throwing star. Do you know what I mean? It's like Right.

So one thing I love about it is when they show up to the ninja training school and it goes through all these different shots of it's like real old school. Like, I don't think you'd see it in a Daniel Craig Bond film. It just shows, you know, the guy is practicing the throwing stars. Yeah. Then it's there's a whole just like a thirty second fight scene of a guy with a katana fighting off about 10 other blokes.

Yep. I really liked that.

I thought it was cool. Look, anything like

that The one where the guy is doing some moves and he goes right up to the camera, and he, looks into the camera

and See. Goes Yeah. And the one where he's like, he, like, breaks the ice, the block of ice. Yeah. Like Yeah.

All that stuff is like sick world building stuff that the old Bond films do really well. It's like no different to just Bond just sitting watching a bit of sumo wrestling earlier in the film for a little bit. Yeah. I like all that culture building kind of stuff where they just set the tone and set the atmosphere for the for the place that Bond is in, but it doesn't have really any relevance to what's going on for Bond. Like you said, like, for Tiger for to be like, first, you must become a ninja.

And if you're gonna dress him up, like, he needs to look so convincing that when he stands in front of Spectre supervillain Blowfeld, that he's gonna be convinced. And frankly, that's not good enough. For instance That's he Like, there's something even more

when he's in the astronaut suit. He's not even he's not fooling anyone. He's got his face covered anyway by the astronaut suit. And he tries to take the wrong bit of equipment

onto He brings the air conditioner, which I which I love, by the way. I love that Blofeld's like, stop that astronaut. And he's like, he's just so keen eyed that he's like, no, no, no, Bring that dude to me. Something's not right. He's like, I love that.

I love Donald Pleasant's Blowfeld. We're gonna get into that for in a second. But I just like, if we think I think his name can't remember his name. Julian Wiseman. I think I could be wrong about that, maybe.

But the guy who plays doctor No. Yes. That is a Caucasian actor dressed up and, you know, that's what they did in the time that we were talking about. He dresses him up, but they dressed Julian Weisman up as a Chinese man. Right?

Yep.

He looks you can tell, but but he plays it yeah. He pull he plays it earnestly, and that's what it was like in the time. Now, you know, a controversial Doctor Who story, the Talons of Wen Chiang, a Tom Baker serial. Oh, yeah. That does something similar.

It's not great, but again, this is earnestly done and it looks if you would have compared that to Connery, it looks miles better than Connery just walking around saying he's a Japanese dude when he clearly is so much taller, bigger, and and and nothing even like the build, and then they don't even try the hair, I didn't even realize until when I was a bit older that they were trying to make his hair. I just thought that that was Connery's hair when I was young. I didn't realize that that was like them trying to be like, oh, when he puts that on, like, you can't tell.

Give him like they give him so they give him like that the hair, and they give him big bushy eyebrows.

Yeah. And it

And then

I didn't even notice that when I was a kid.

And what's what's with the the eye the eyelid?

They try and they try and insinuate they try and insinuate that they're giving him like those Japanese type of but but when you see him walking around

one shot of it, and then it just disappears.

Looks normal, and it's like, I I don't understand how we think we're fooling fucking anyone here. So I just I had to say it, it got so many laughs in the cinema. It is, you know, the the thought of it is so dumb that he would even need to do that, to be honest. He never does that. So unnecessary.

He never needs to do that for any other mission. Like, just for this mission while he's in Japan, like, we'll we'll assimilate him in with the rest of you know, he they won't know. Like, it's dumb, man. It's so dumb. But what about Blofeld?

Face to face for the first time with Bond in this, you know, franchise that we've talked about it before being a very early franchise. Finally, the the big bad per se is face to face with Bond. What do you think of Donald Pleasant as as Blowfeld?

When I think of Blowfeld, I think of him.

100%.

I think of when it's in the earlier Connery films where you see just the hand patting the cat, I visualize his face. Yep. His introduction's really good. It kind of comes out of almost nowhere.

I love how he turns around and you see his face for the first time.

Yeah. He spends so long of the movie not like you don't know who's behind it all. And you only see towards the end of the yeah. Probably, like, towards the end of the movie that you see the cat in the hand, and you go, oh, it's Spectre. And then when he turns around so I don't think in this movie do you get a Bond James Bond line?

I don't think you do.

That's interesting if you don't because because as far as I'm aware the only film that they haven't done that was Quantum. I I thought you only lived twice, I can't remember.

I because I unless it was hidden somewhere, or I've got a terrible memory.

Where does he say it in that film? And who

I don't know.

Say it to? He doesn't say it to Tanaka. Doesn't say it to

Blowfeld. I know Blowfeld has a good introduction. He turns around. He says, I am Ernest Stavro Blowfeld.

Yeah. And he's like, you only live twice, mister Bond. I love that line where he's he's got so many great lines, Donald Pleasants, as Blofeld, like the one where he's like walks over and he's like, I'm about to inaugurate a little war. Like, he he's got some really sick just villain lines. Bond James Bond.

I I you've really got me curious. Bond James Bond, you only twice. Does he not say it? I can't remember, man. Is it is it is it to Henderson when he talks to Henderson?

Like, who gets stabbed in the back? Does he say it in that scene?

Actually, there is there's that line where he go, that's stirred, not shaken. That was right. And then

Yeah. I'm gonna have to look that up, man. That's that's really weak me out because I can't think of it for the live man who it would even have been said to. So we get I'm just trying to think what else to talk about. Like, I I the the the the the the lair is sick.

Blowfeld is awesome in this film. It's short lived, man. It's so short lived.

Men always come first. Women come second.

That was see, there there was a whole section of this film at the start that has so many moments where I was like, fuck. This is worse than Thunderbolt, like, with with some of the stuff going on here, and that's saying something. So but what about what about well, again, wraps up really fast. That's another thing I can say about it. It it it wraps up very fast once it's done, and then the volcano is all of sudden acting.

It's just all this stock footage of, like, lava and shit.

Yeah. Very very similar ending to Thunderball Thunderball. Where they're in the the rafts. Yeah.

That's like three does every Bond film bar does okay. Hold up. Fun bit of trivia. Does every single Connery James Bond film bar Goldfinger end with Bond in a boat?

I was just thinking that.

Was it The Rush of Love? Is

it they're in, like

So they're in a boat and he's, like, waves away the tape in the water. Doctor No, he's on, like, just a normal boat and they let the rope go or something, they're being towed. Goldfinger, he is in the parachute, like, he he he they're just like they've fallen from the thing in the parachutes that are on the ground. That's the only one that's not. Thunderball, he is in a boat thing and then gets lifted up into the sky.

You only live twice. He's on, like, again this thing and then it goes on to the onto the ship, and then Diamonds Are Forever is on a cruise boat at the end when they look up at the sky. Remember when they go on that boat Yeah. And mister went and mister so five of the six Connery official films end with Bond like on a boat. It's kinda random.

There you go.

That's interesting. That's That's right. That's an interesting little little fact.

Trying to have what else I can say that that I haven't already said. We've already talked about the fact that this is pretty much the spy love me. Donald Pleasance is really short lived. It's a damn shame that he doesn't. Charles Grey is good in Diamonds Are Forever, but it's he's really campy in it.

I I thought it was very strange that they did go with the same actor from as mister mister Henderson, is it?

Yeah. Mister Henderson.

Yep. I thought that was a bit strange.

I agree with you. I mean, I

feel Weird choice.

But it's weird because Good actor. Good actor. Yeah. Good actor, but just it is just weird. Fact.

It's weird. Bond Bond castings are fucking weird. There is no way around it. It's weird that like, just quickly, let's let's summarize this one. Bond is Connery, then it's George Lazenby, then it's Sean Connery, then it's Roger Moore, so on and so forth.

But m, Moneypenny, and q all remain the same until Bernard Lee, obviously. I think he passed away, did he not? And then they bring in a guy who's in For Your Eyes Only. They call him M in Octopussy, but he was in For Your Eyes Only in a different role. General Goggle's there, all all through them, but he also was in From I Should Love as a different character.

Mister Henderson becomes Blofeld, who also had another actor play him, Terry Sylvanas in On a Majesty's Secret Service. That's three. Felix goes from being, you know, one actor to another to another until eventually he returns as of all Awesome. Characters, it's so random that after such a long break, when he does come back, he's still the same guy that he was in Live and Let Die, like, random. Yeah.

Bond castings are weird, man. They are so weird. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Which is why, like, were saying before, if Ralph Fiennes was to come back, it

You wouldn't even blink twice if you're a Bond fanning. Yeah. You go, like, this is just another day at the office for this for this franchise. I I really don't have much more to say about the film. I like it.

It's, you know, rewatchable in a way that I would say Tomorrow Never Dies is very rewatchable for me as a Bond film, like I can watch You Only Live Twice a lot, and I enjoy a lot of the beats of it. Think I get a bit a bit bored when it starts to get to the whole like wedding and like training of ninja, and it it it drags for a little bit. Yeah. I agree. But I don't really think I have much more to say.

I I don't think it's a I think it's the most parodied Bond film or one of the most recognizable. I wouldn't say that it's in my top five or really

That even might be because it's so out there.

I think so. It's just popular.

It is really iconic. It's also very

Yeah.

It's like the it's where it's like slightly in the campus side of things.

100%. It definitely is. It's not even a shadow of a doubt that it is. But other than that, I think we may be getting to the MVP and Yeah. We we give this one a rating for Letterboxd out of five, five star.

I'll be interested to see what I gave it in the past and what I give it now. Are you happy to move on?

Yeah. Yeah. Let's do MVP.

Let's do it. Okay. MVP. Do we wanna do a three two one? Do you or do you know who you've got?

I know who I've got.

You know who you've got?

Yeah. It's it it was hard, this one. This one was hard.

I actually found it not easy either.

Not not really, like, I couldn't pick between two people. It was kinda like, who deserve who

Who gets it. Yeah. Who deserves MVP. I I had three, and then I narrowed it down no. Sorry.

I almost had four because of the fact I found I was finding it difficult. I then narrowed it down to three, then I narrowed it down to two, and then I narrowed it to obviously one. So it was interesting because when I first saw it, I was like, who do I give it to? And then I thought of a few that I was like, oh, that person could be it. And I was like, oh, but that and then I was like, I actually had a few by the end of it, and then I had to figure out who it was.

But it didn't it wasn't like Thunderball where I was like, Connery

or Yeah. Yeah.

You know, golfing. Right. We were like, John Barry, 100%. What a score. Like, what?

It wasn't like that for me this time around. Yeah. Should we do a three two one and then and then

Yeah. Alright. Alright.

Did how many did you were you lingering on? Did you have like

I had two.

Two. Okay. Okay. This is So so we'll do a three two one. After one, we'll say who it is together.

Okay?

Let's do it.

321. Ken Done. Done. We we aligned. We aligned.

There we go. You can't beat the Yep. The volcano lair. The even the office building, like I was saying before when they had the fight.

Yep. The whole thing is just awesome. Henderson's little set

He of kills it in this one.

Oh, it's just so

This is his

yeah. It's one of his best, man. So so yeah. Look, I'll I'll tell you where my head was at. My head was at Nancy Sinatra for a bit

Yeah.

Then

I I thought about Nancy.

And then I was like, oh, John Barry though, like the music all through the film, the score is so good. Yeah. So he was for a bit, he was my second option, and then he moved down to third, and in second place, Donald Pleasance.

Bam.

I was like, fuck. What about Donald though? Because he's so good. And then it was only when I was like, oh, hang on a second. There is something even better and more iconic and bigger than Donald Pleasance in this film, and it is this set pieces in this film, and I had to go to Ken Adams.

So that's how I

got there. I see. My mind went through the exact same thing.

Yeah. Yeah. So Thank you. Couldn't couldn't couldn't look past him for this one.

Where where is your rating out of five?

Okay. You Only Live Twice. I'm not looking at my previous score that I've given it. I'm gonna just go off I'll I'll look at that in a second, but for me, I'm giving You Only Live Twice a very a very comfortable three stars. That's where it lands.

Not gonna get better than that for me. It's not gonna get I can't push it to a three. I feel like there's just there's just it the the last act of the film and just some of the things that happened to the film just warrant it just if I find it hard to move if anything, I'd move it down, which is surprising to me.

I felt like the ending is very anticlimactic.

Yep.

There's no good fight with Blofeld or anything like that. Even like, I know they want Blofeld to get away so that he can become like, you know, the nemesis of Bond. Yep. You know, he'll he'll see him again. But he just he gets a he's about to shoot Bond.

He gets a ninja star to the hand. He drives off on his little cart thing. The place explodes and they get out of there. And there's no proper final showdown with the villain. Even though he is gonna escape, they can still do that.

And like Bond doesn't do anything to stop him. It's the other guy with his throwing star, you know. Yep. And just I I felt weird at the end of the movie. I kinda was like yeah.

I completely agree. Three out of five for me. Three stars.

Same. Yep. You've you've gone with three as well. Think you're right. I think you're bang on, mate.

A lot more. Yeah. I think I think I think Thunderball's better than this for sure, and I think that you're absolutely bang on. Not much happens towards the end, like and that's not to say that a villain can't escape and then come back in another film. You can do that, but give me a death defying fight where you know what?

Give me give me on her majesty's secret service where there is a there is a sequence and we'll get there where there is a showdown, and then but that we don't get that in here, and and I feel like I know that he I know that they didn't cast him for being a physical presence against Bond. That's why they recast him, but but just I needed more than how this ends. This is the

At least give us a good henchman to have a final showdown with.

And then and then The big bad gets away, but Bond kills to the get through instead of just Hans

Bond didn't even get to kill the henchman. Blofeld killed anyone considered to be somewhat of a threat.

And Hans is meant to be the big the the brawn of it, and it's and he's and he's such a forgettable villain. He he wouldn't

Barely in it.

So forgettable. So no. No. You can't you can't just throw him in in his suit and tell us that he's the henchman, man. You can't do that.

Hans has got like the the barometer for this to measure if he's a if he's a if he's a memorable henchman, is if I go to my double o seven Ultimate Edition, you know, special features and I go into the the thing, and it says the villains, Hans is there. You click on it, he's got like one scene. That is the that's when I know that that's not a proper thing. Because I I go on to Odd Job and he's got like seven to eight or more scenes of like things I can watch in his highlight reel. If you've got one, that's not a highlight reel, that's just a reel for your one fucking scene in the film.

That's not good

enough. That's a scene.

Yeah. So Yeah. No no no no.

I completely agree. So did enjoy the movie though.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Enjoyed it. It's a pawn film. Yeah. A classic pawn film. Yep.

So I had a lot of fun watching it. Just not nowhere near as much fun as Thunderball.

Yep. No. I agree. 100. Let's get into the the next one briefly.

When did you last see On Her Majesty's Secret Service?

I'm gonna say maybe February 2009, 2010 maybe.

Good lord. That's ages ago. The tenant was the doctor still. Wow.

Yeah. I did a big run through when I had my DVDs. Mhmm. And I had my favorites that I constantly watched.

Mhmm. Mhmm.

And that was the thing. I I rewatched them way too much. And I started to learn everything line by line, shot by shot. And I needed to forget the movies basically to to really like enjoy them again.

Yep.

Because I love them so much, but I was like, I don't need to watch it because I have it all in my head. I can literally just think about the whole movie with my eyes closed. Yep. So I purposely not watched any of the classic Bond movies. I watched Skyfall, Spectre, No Time to Die.

Mhmm. But, yeah, I just avoided them all so I could forget them, rewatch them. And On Her Majesty's Secret Service, while I remember I loved it, it wasn't my favorite and I think that was because I didn't like George Lazenby as Bond at the time. Yep. So I didn't watch it anywhere near as much as the others.

And

so, yeah, haven't really seen it in a very very long time.

Are you excited to watch it again?

Yeah. Very.

Interesting. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because I think at the time, I remember I really enjoyed it, but I was kinda like, I just wish it had Sean Connery or Roger Moore in the movie rather than George Lasenby. Whereas now, I'm gonna appreciate George in the movie.

I think you will. I think you'll appreciate him. I think you'll at at the very least

the time.

Yeah. I think I think at the very least what you'll appreciate, and he like, by no means am I saying he's the best actor. Like, nowhere near is George Lazarus the best actor. Does he have the charisma of Connery or more? No.

He doesn't. But I think that rewatching him and I haven't rewatched this film just yet in preparation for this next podcast, by the way, but, like, I can definitely say that he's got a stillness about his performance. Like, he is he does have some he he just might not be he doesn't what he what he lacks is, like, the natural charm of Connery or Roger Moore, but he but he does he's not actually that bad of an actor is what I remembered when I last saw it. I was like, he's actually not terrible. He's just not he's lacks the charisma of of Bond.

And and he's actually where he does excel maybe more than Connery and maybe more than more is his fight scenes. Like, he looks physically like he could kick some ass, I think. And I think they shoot in the in the in the film, they shoot the fight scenes quite well. I'm really excited for you to see it. It's directed by Pete Hunt.

Pete edited Thunderball, and I think he's edited a few of the films up until now. This is his first and only go at directing. He goes for a much more novel style approach. He goes to hell with, you know, like and to the extent where he recast Blofeld. He could have bought back Donald, and he's like, I want Blofeld from the novel.

I want the physical Blofeld. I'm recasting it. I think he even kinda stood up and said, hey, I don't I wanna do this so novel accurate that I'm ignoring, which is, again, why a shame they didn't we didn't get more of a showdown with Donald Pleasant's Blofeld. They essentially act like Blofeld and Bond have never met in this film. Yeah.

Which is something you may not remember, but they treat it almost like like, don't try and guess too much. It's it's really weird, man. Just you'll you'll get it when you see it, but it's don't try and question the timeline too much because that he he almost made it from a point of view of like, this is Blofeld's first time meeting James Bond.

I remember. I remember.

Because the novel is like that. They meet in the novel, I think. Yeah. So anyway. Yeah.

Let's yeah. I'm excited for it. I'm really excited. It's one of my favorite Bond films. That's not a spoiler.

That's just I think I feel like I've said that on this podcast before, and I can't wait to watch it. It's a Christmas Bond film, kind of. It's got Christmas scenes in it, maybe the only Bond film to have it. So do we try and get it in before Christmas? Possibly.

I think that would be a nice

we try and do that. Let's try let's try for it. Possibly even Yeah. We'll figure that out. But anyway, let's leave it there.

Did you have anything else, mister Saint John Smite? Then we're calling it.

No. That's it for me. Yeah. Again, thanks for having me. I had a lot of fun.

Until the next time, good sir. Until the next time, Thunder Nerds. Hope you've enjoyed it. Over and out. We'll see you in the next one.