Here's
another movie far better than it's reputation would have you believe,
1972's giant killer rabbit opus NIGHT OF THE LEPUS. Biologists are
trying to find a way to hormonally destroy the overpopulation of mongrel
rabbits plaguing western ranches. Unfortunately, the scientists'
daughter inadvertently releases one of
the test animals and the results are cattle-sized hausenpfeffer with
ravenous appetites. It's actually one of the best of the 70's monster
movies, but apparently most critics have never seen any rabbits beyond
those fluffy domesticated pet store types. The film has been continually
run down not for any technical flaws, but singularly for it's basic
premise of featuring killer rabbits. Based on the book "Year of the
Angry Rabbit" and featuring some stunning miniature effects, the film
also boasts one of the best casts you could assemble for such a thing.
Stuart Whitman and Janet Leigh are the biologists, Rory Calhoun the
rancher they're trying to help, DeForest Kelley the university
connection, and Paul Fix is the Sheriff, continuing a standing tradition
of older cowboy stars playing lawmen in science fiction movies. Worth
checking out, provided you can watch a movie on it's own merits.
Coming
in the wake of the massively successful THUNDERBALL, the lackluster
spoof CASINO ROYALE, and the better-than-you'd-think OPERATION KID
BROTHER, right at the very height of the spy craze, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
was a pull-out-all-the-stops, give-the-audience-everything-it-wants-and-more
grand scale adventure. An adventure Connery decided would also be his
last as the world's most popular spy (such
was his desire at the time, anyway). YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE follows Bond
as he goes up against SPECTRE's scheme to trigger atomic war by stealing
American and Russian space rockets from orbit and concealing them in
their secret headquarters housed inside a Japanese volcano! Behind the
whole plot is SPECTRE no.1 Ernst Stavro Blofeld, memorably brought to
life by Donald Pleasance. The image of Pleasance, clad in his grey
uniform, bald head, and ragged scar across his eye, became one of the
most iconic of screen villainy. It was this enemy that Mike Meyers
famously parodied as Dr. Evil some 30 years later. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
contains some of the biggest action the series ever produced, not the
least of which includes a commando raid against SPECTRE's most
impressive secret lair. "Sean Connery IS James Bond!" the ads read in
response to the same year's spy spoof. Nancy Sinatra provides the title
tune, which, while sweet, seems a bit lounge for the series after the
surging hits of the previous films (it foreshadowed perfectly the
breathy ballads that defined the Moore era, however). Though the script
isn't the strongest of the series, this one, like THUNDERBALL, makes up
for it by being an out-and-out experience. Plus, this one has Ed Bishop
and Shane Rimmer in the same shot, so it's automatically the coolest
Bond film of all.
