James Bond: The Ultimate Collection (1962-2012) + Volume Collections

[Verisimilitude1984]

I watched You Only Live Twice last night as part of my Bond watching.

Imo, I found the first act good, the middle of the film a bit tedious (Bond as a Japanese man still doesn't work for me) but the last act in the volcano...absolutely brilliant. That and Donald Pleasance saves the film for me.

It's also amazing to now see how The Spy Who Loved Me used a lot of what worked in that earlier film as a template for the later film - albeit underwater this time.

[Man From Hammer]

Originally Posted by Verisimilitude1984

I watched You Only Live Twice last night as part of my Bond watching.

Imo, I found the first act good, the middle of the film a bit tedious (Bond as a Japanese man still doesn't work for me) but the last act in the volcano...absolutely brilliant. That and Donald Pleasance saves the film for me.

It's also amazing to now see how The Spy Who Loved Me used a lot of what worked in that earlier film as a template for the later film - albeit underwater this time.

Yes the logic falls down a bit in YOLT. With World War 3 on the cards any moment Tanaka insists they spend another 2 days training and turning Bond into a Japanese.
Last time I watched it with the remix there were several instances of added sounds that were not present on the mono but when I viewed the other day the only one I noticed was the "whoosh" at the end of the opening gun barrel.
After battling Blofeld for the whole movie it was a shame they didn't address the situation in the following movie where neither of them seemed to recognise the other to start with

[Lyle_JP]

Originally Posted by Man From Hammer

Last time I watched it with the remix there were several instances of added sounds that were not present on the mono but when I viewed the other day the only one I noticed was the "whoosh" at the end of the opening gun barrel.

I find all the added space sounds to be annoying. In the original mix, when the astronaut yells "My lifeline, it's cu...", the only sound effect was a snip noise, followed by a deathly silence (other than the score). They added loud clanging noises of the rocket closing, which completely ruin the original sound mixer's intent.

[Man From Hammer]

Originally Posted by Lyle_JP

I find all the added space sounds to be annoying. In the original mix, when the astronaut yells "My lifeline, it's cu...", the only sound effect was a snip noise, followed by a deathly silence (other than the score). They added loud clanging noises of the rocket closing, which completely ruin the original sound mixer's intent.

Yes , I had to switch to mono last time so I was surprised I didn't notice more on my latest viewing.
Fortunately YOLT is one of the UK discs where the original track is available. Watched Golden Gun today and it seemed to suffer the same fate as OHMSS in that the levels of the music had been reduced to the background but it turns out that Golden Gun is one of the 13 titles (IIRC) that does not feature the original soundtrack on the non US discs so I couldn't check.

Only good bonus on these reissued discs is that the INSIDE documentaries were upgraded to HD and look much better than their 4:3 SD counterparts which feature on the discs that premiered in Bond 50.
I'd forgotten about the amount of wonderful behind the scenes footage some of them include

[Verisimilitude1984]

Originally Posted by Man From Hammer

Yes the logic falls down a bit in YOLT. With World War 3 on the cards any moment Tanaka insists they spend another 2 days training and turning Bond into a Japanese.
After battling Blofeld for the whole movie it was a shame they didn't address the situation in the following movie where neither of them seemed to recognise the other to start with

There are moments when Bond seems more interested in getting his end away than concern for how little time there is!

Yes, I just don't understand why in OHMSS they had Bond and Blofeld not recognise each other and seemingly meet for the first time. Also, no facial scar! Where's the continuity? And before anyone argues against it, OHMSS has a couple of scenes at the start that specifically note to the audience that all of the previous Connery films ARE in continuity! Strange.

[koberulz]

The books had OHMSS before YOLT, I believe.

How many times do you people watch these films that you can pick up soundtrack differences? I doubt I'd even notice any of what's been discussed on here.

[Man From Hammer]

Originally Posted by koberulz

The books had OHMSS before YOLT, I believe.

How many times do you people watch these films that you can pick up soundtrack differences? I doubt I'd even notice any of what's been discussed on here.

Depends how familiar you are with the movies.
I've been watching Bond on home video since 1981 so over the years I've grown familiar with the soundtracks that I like which is why I hate the reduced music levels in OHMSS. Watch the safe cracking scene all the way through and switch between tracks - while you might not be familiar with it , you will notice the difference.

When you're familiar with how a favourite movie should sound its not difficult to notice changes and the Bond movies are far from being alone in having their tracks messed about with.

One of my pet hates is the 4th Dirty Harry movie.
Right at the climax theres the fairground sequence where Harry is silhouetted in a classic shot and as he approaches the baddie the music plays and there is (was) a sound for a few seconds on the track like someone scraping a blackboard with something sharp. It always stood out. But its completely removed on the English track of the Bluray. However the foreign tracks are in the original mono and its there clear as day.
IIRC its even on the soundtrack album

[Ruemorgue10]

Originally Posted by Verisimilitude1984

I watched You Only Live Twice last night as part of my Bond watching.

Imo, I found the first act good, the middle of the film a bit tedious (Bond as a Japanese man still doesn't work for me) but the last act in the volcano...absolutely brilliant. That and Donald Pleasance saves the film for me.

It's also amazing to now see how The Spy Who Loved Me used a lot of what worked in that earlier film as a template for the later film - albeit underwater this time.

Set design doesn't get much grander than the SPECTRE Volcano lair in YOLT. That Ken Adam wasn't half bad

Moonraker also borrows heavily from the YOLT template, albeit in space.

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by Man From Hammer

One of my pet hates is the 4th Dirty Harry movie.
Right at the climax theres the fairground sequence where Harry is silhouetted in a classic shot and as he approaches the baddie the music plays and there is (was) a sound for a few seconds on the track like someone scraping a blackboard with something sharp. It always stood out. But its completely removed on the English track of the Bluray. However the foreign tracks are in the original mono and its there clear as day.
IIRC its even on the soundtrack album

I keep hoping that someone will rip the mono audio tracks from the NTSC laserdiscs so they can be synced to the Blu-rays. The 5.1 mixes are crap.

[captainsolo]

The best way to hear the original soundtracks is still Laserdisc. Despite having the original tracks on all the US BDs (Many UE DVDs didn't for space reasons since they had multiple commentaries) they are all lossy and none have the depth or impact of the LD counterparts. Some sound fine but others are laughably poor in comparison. But at least they included them this time round.

All of the Bond remixes are quite bad and as a complete purist I can't stand them. Every single second of the original films is etched into my brain and any deviation drive me bananas. (I remember being thrown for a loop when first hearing the alternate Thunderball track with the different dialog.) In many instances the scene intent is wrecked and Normal Wanstall himself decried what they did to his Oscar winning work on Goldfinger. The only thing of interest is that the remixers apparently located a quad source for LALD's title song and tried to mix that in 5.1 to present the long lost 4 channel version. (There was a Quad release of the soundtrack on Quad 8 track, but it is very rare and apparently not fully quadrophonic or so I've heard.)

Some mixes admittedly are not mussed with but do not have the detail or warmth or the original mixes. FYEO and Octopussy sound the same but with less dynamics on the 5.1. AVTAK loses all of its bass in the 5.1, and TLD loses much impact. LTK is the same 5.1 mix MGM did for DVD and that even loses an effect or two when compared to the original 2.0. Thankfully all the Brosnan films sound fine, but the DTS Laserdiscs for GE and TND are arguably better than the Blu-rays.

As for YOLT it is a huge spectacle in Technicolor and with Young's photography the most awe inspiring version of Japan in fantasy. But in logic and story terms it's a big letdown. So you have to balance the two in your head and it still remains a masterwork of spectacle and the few little Bond moments here and there. And then Barry seals the deal with some of the most hauntingly beautiful melodies in music. So what if Sean looks bored or lost at times?

Nice to see folks recognizing TSWLM as YOLT underwater 10 years later. It gets even weirder when you realize Moonraker is essentially TSWLM in space.

[captainsolo]

Originally Posted by Markgway

I keep hoping that someone will rip the mono audio tracks from the NTSC laserdiscs so they can be synced to the Blu-rays. The 5.1 mixes are crap.

I hope to do that someday.

[Lyle_JP]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

Nice to see folks recognizing TSWLM as YOLT underwater 10 years later. It gets even weirder when you realize Moonraker is essentially TSWLM in space.

And those three are the only Bond films directed by Lewis Gilbert. Talk about repeating yourself! (Yes, I know he didn't write them. Still...)

[Rocklandsboy]

Originally Posted by Lyle_JP

And those three are the only Bond films directed by Lewis Gilbert. Talk about repeating yourself! (Yes, I know he didn't write them. Still...)

Tomorrow Never Dies isn't far off that plot either. Dastardly no-gooder creating a war between two superpowers for his own nefarious ends.

[MJD64]

All this Bond-on-Bond ripping-off and stealing (does it constitute hommage if it's within the same series?)...shameful! Max Zorin's plot to destroy Silicon Valley and gain a monopoly on the microchip market had me convinced he'd seen Goldfinger on Laserdisc or VHS back in the 80's a time or two.

[Verisimilitude1984]

I'm interested to know what everyone feels are the best Bond main theme songs (lyrical).

I like K.D. Lang's 'Surrender' but it didn't make the cut as the main theme sadly and I like Eric Serra's 'The Experience of Love' but that's the end credits of Goldeneye. I also like Joss Stone's 'Bloodstone' song a lot from the videogame, but it's not from a film!

So many great songs, but here's mine as of today:

1.You Only Live Twice - Nancy Sinatra
2.Goldfinger - Shirley Bassey
3.We Have All The Time In The World - Louis Armstrong
4.Diamonds Are Forever - Shirley Bassey
5.Adele - Skyfall
6.Sam Smith - Writing's On The Wall
7. Thunderball - Tom Jones
8. Nobody Does It Better - Carly Simon
9. For Your Eyes Only - Sheena Easton
10. A View To A Kill - Duran Duran

(Side Note: So far, the best John Barry soundtrack surely has to be OHMSS - amazing work. I do love 'Wine With Stacey' from A View To A Kill as well).

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

I hope to do that someday.

PM me when you do...

[Man From Hammer]

Originally Posted by captainsolo

Nice to see folks recognizing TSWLM as YOLT underwater 10 years later. It gets even weirder when you realize Moonraker is essentially TSWLM in space.

I don't see the connection with Moonraker.
In effect YOLT and TSWLM are identical with a super vehicle swallowing up smaller vehicles to create a war between the US and USSR. One in space, one underwater.
I don't see similarities in Moonraker at all

Originally Posted by Lyle_JP

And those three are the only Bond films directed by Lewis Gilbert. Talk about repeating yourself! (Yes, I know he didn't write them. Still...)

To be fair, Guy Hamilton was assigned to direct Spy but by the time the legal wrangles created by the financial woes of Saltzman and yet another lawsuit from Kevin McClory (who seemed to believe the delusion that he owned any underwater Bond adventure) had been sorted the picture had been delayed by over a year and Hamilton dropped out. The story and scope of Spy was already a done deal so Lewis Gilbert was brought in as he had shown his ability to cope with a movie on that scale - although in the interviews he is the first one to admit the stories were very similar

[Man From Hammer]

Originally Posted by Verisimilitude1984

(Side Note: So far, the best John Barry soundtrack surely has to be OHMSS - amazing work. I do love 'Wine With Stacey' from A View To A Kill as well).

OHMSS gets my vote too but watching it again today I was reminded of the many moments of fabulous music in Moonraker. I have all the Barry scores on cd and I think I place Moonraker second.

Non Barry scores I rate are Goldeneye and some of The Spy Who Loved Me

[Ruemorgue10]

Originally Posted by Man From Hammer

I don't see the connection with Moonraker.
In effect YOLT and TSWLM are identical with a super vehicle swallowing up smaller vehicles to create a war between the US and USSR. One in space, one underwater.
I don't see similarities in Moonraker at alI.

Moonraker: A madman steals space shuttles to transport a master race of humans to his space ark then plans to exterminate the human race back on Earth with plans to create his own utopian empire

The Spy Who Loved Me: A madman steals nuclear subs with plans to irradiate the world and create his own utopian empire underwater.

You Only Live Twice: A madman steals space capsules to provoke war that would lead to world annihilation.

You don't see any similarities?

[imsounoriginal]

Originally Posted by Rocklandsboy

Tomorrow Never Dies isn't far off that plot either. Dastardly no-gooder creating a war between two superpowers for his own nefarious ends.

You can practically feel the producers ticking things off their Bond Formula Checklist as you're watching Tomorrow Never Dies.