The James Bond Rewatch: Current Movie - SPECTRE

[Veknoid_Outcast]

I’m finally caught up!

Did a double header yesterday.

Thunderball:
This one is better than I remember it. Some of the action sequences, for example the plane hijacking and the climactic underwater battle—while overlong—are just great, and Paluzzi shines as a scary, calculating villain.

One thing I really like is the way Young captures the symmetry of the SPECTRE and MI6 briefings; they’re mirror images in a way.

The movie kind of spins it’s wheels for a bit, both at the in Nassau and at the Shrublands—you could probably cut 15 minutes from this movie and end up with a tighter package—but overall it’s a decent installment.

It’s somewhere between a 6 and a 7. I’m going to round down and say 6/10.

You Only Live Twice:
This one is worse than I remember :P

I like the supporting cast of heroic sidekicks but didn’t love the villains—outside of Blofeld they’re forgettable. And even Blofeld is a bit disappointing. He’s more manic and theatrical here than in his cold cameos previously.

The movie is less coherent and professional than others in the canon. Bond’s transformation into a Japanese man is weird and culturally obtuse, SPECTRE’s space technology seems unrealistic, and the movie is edited unevenly, with several jump cuts that leave out necessary connective tissue.

Also, Connery seems less and less interested in the role.

I liked the staging of some of the action scenes—there’s a wide aerial shot of Bond beating up bad guys that I just love—and the musical theme is great.

Overall a mediocre entry for me.

5/10