You Only Live Twice
Top: R1 SE
Bottom: R1 UE
R2 UE
R2 UE
Notes: This capture shows a big improvement. It might not stick out but if you look in the background behind Bond you
can see the trees better and even powerlines. This is because the original has contrast boosting making white-out areas.
Transfer Problems:
Harbour Scene
In order to fix the colour screw-up on the R2, the colours were changed and balanced to match the original. Unfortunately, I still
believe it is not 100% believeable.
Even worse, the sunrise that lasts for about 2 seconds has gone horribly wrong. By adding all the colour changes to the final shot,
they incorrectly timed to sunrise resulting in a terrible effect. Believe me, I really noticed this when I was watching it!
R1 SE
R1 UE
Unfortunately I do not have a matching cap from the R2 UE.
The Little Nellie Sequence and Beyond
While the Lowry restorations have removed 99.9% of all the dirt in all 20 films, You Only Lives Twice has not been fully cleaned.
While not a major complaint it is still worth noting that from the Little Nellie Sequence and Beyond lines can sometimes be
seen running down the frame that weren't even in the SE.
SE
UE
Despite these two problems the new transfer for this Ultimate Edition is very clean, crisp and strong. Framing is pretty much
the same with a little less on the new UE. Some have noted that the UE seems de-saturated and missing the bright colours
of the original, especially skin tones. The idea is good but I think they went too far and took too much colour out. Nevertheless
I prefer this look over the original which made it look like Bond had been cooking in an oven for the last hour. Dirt isn't a problem
except for the unfortunate scan line running down the picture for most of the third act.
Recommended:
UE
