From the Video Vault: "Master of the World" (1961)

Lowly studio American International Pictures produced this campy steampunk delight. Seven years after Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea", this is Captain Nemo in the air. The film adapts two novels by Jules Verne, "Robur the Conqueror" and "Master of the World". Vincent Price is perfect as Robur, captain, world idealist and creator of the "Albatross", part zeppelin - part helicopter, zipping around the world at 150 mph with his message of peace, well sort of. Robur's airship is decorated a la Nemo (albeit on a smaller budget). I love the coffin-shaped cabin doors, though.

Hayao Mijazaki must have been influenced by Verne's vision (the airship in "Laputa Castle in the Sky").

"Master of the World" Courtesy YouTube

Courtesy Studio Ghibli

Charles Bronson is the unlikely hero of the piece. Vito Scotti, the unnecessary comic-relief as the chef on the "Albatross". Veteran actor, Henry Hull ("Werewolves of London", "Lifeboat"), plays Prudent, an annoying old fart. Screenplay is by horror/sci fi supremo, Richard Matheson.

You can see the film's limited budget by the use of stock footage. This was AIP's most expensive production to date, though. Considering it was around one-tenth of the budget of Disney's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea", Critic Leonard Maltin described the film as "very well done".

Vincent Price was to continue with AIP in Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe-inspired horror flicks in the 1960's. He'd already hit pay dirt with "The House of Usher".

Random observations:

• Early scene with doings in the volcano reminded me of vintage Bond "You Only Live Twice"(1967).
• Daniel Haller's art direction - vivid colours used with ship interiors - see later Roger Corman 60's horror.
• Sumptuous Les Baxter musical score, punching above his weight. Another AIP regular.
• What's the go with the bare-chested bosuns while everybody else is dressed like a gondolier or in a three-piece suit?
• The ending is surprisingly poignant.

Catch "Master of the World" on YouTube, although it is missing at least 5 mins of original theatrical running time.

Vintage James Bond - 007 novel car scenes

1. "Dr No" 1962 - the hearse plummeting over a Jamaican cliff. Bond makes some sardonic comment (the first of many in the series) like "They were on their way to a funeral."
2. Bond pulls up outside Government House, Kingston in a Pontiac convertible, a slumped (body in front seat). He turns to the sergeant with the throwaway line: "Make sure he doesn't get away."
3. "Goldfinger" 1964 - Bond tailing Goldfinger (in the 30's Rolls Royce) through the Swiss alps (the 60's version of sat nav.).
4. The DB-5 making short work of Goldfinger's Korean henchmen. I never tire of the ejector seat.
5. In a Kentucky scrapyard, Oddjob's Lincoln Continental being compacted into a nifty cuboid.
6. "You Only Live Twice" 1967 - A baddie-packed Toyota Crown being picked up by a helicopter with an electro-magnet, then dropped into Tokyo Bay.
7.  "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969) Tracy (GoT's gran Diana Rigg) gatecrashes (literally) an alpine stock car race to escape Blofeld's henchmen. Bond, gobsmacked, is in the passenger seat (for once).

The best 5 minutes of any James Bond film: "You Only Live Twice"

Start at the 42 minute mark of "You Only Live Twice". In those glorious five minutes you get a lot of bang for your buck:

• Bond and Aki zipping around Japan's newly completed motorways in a nifty white sportscar (Toyota 2000GT) with rear seat Sony TV.
• The helicopter picking up the baddies' Toyota Crown with a giant magnet, dropping it in Toyko Bay (to the strains of John Barry's soaring "A Drop in the Ocean"). Tanaka (head of Japanese Secret Service) asking: "What do you think of Japanese efficiency now?"
• Cut to a cheesy front projection on a country road (Tokyo to Kobe is over 500 km!) with Aki not moving the steering wheel as they turn tight corners. 
• Next, the nifty chase/fight scene in Kobe docks with a splendid helicopter shot of Bond being pursued by dozens of surly stevedores, complemented by more sublime John Barry.

At 47 minutes (on board the Ning Po) it just gets silly. 

10 cool things from 60's movies

• Ken Adam's war room set in "Dr Strangelove"
• Derek Flint's ring tone/ Z.O.W.I.E. chief Cramden (Lee J Cobb) hotline to the President.
• The black armchairs in the Pentagon in "You Only Live Twice" (Ken Adam again)
• Use of split screens (circa 1968, e.g. "The Thomas Crown Affair", "The Boston Strangler")
• Saul Bass credits e.g. "Spartacus", "Walk on the Wildside"
• The interior of Robert Mitchum's private jet in "What A Way To Go!"(1964)
• Michael Caine's glasses in the Harry Palmer films
• The multi-level set in Jerry Lewis's "The Ladies Man" (1961)
• The first 10 minutes of "Goldfinger" (1964)
• Dr No's underwater living quarters (complete with recently stolen Goya painting)

Five classic chairs from 60's spy movies

• The sheik's (Eames) executive lounge chair atop his hydrofoil in "Modesty Blaise" (1966)
• The swivel (Eames again?) chair Derek Flint straddles in the poster for "Our Man Flint" (1965)
• The chaise longue James Bond is dropped into, falling from a chute in the Tokyo underground (Tanaka's HQ) "You Only Live Twice" (1967)
• Blofeld's super wide supervillain wing chair in his volcano lair (accurately lampooned in the Austin Powers trilogy).
• The tan leather armchairs in the Pentagon in "You Only Live Twice" (Ken Adam again). 1967 was the high water mark for cool movie chairs.

Films I am ashamed of liking - guilty pleasures

Howard Hughes (reportedly) watched "Ice Station Zebra" over 100 times. I have never seen it... but here are my guilty pleasures, meaning I have watched them at least twice and wouldn't mind if they popped up on TV in the near future.
In no special order:
"Airport" (1970)
"Bring It On" (2000)
"The Wrecking Crew" (1968)
"The Maltese Bippy" (1969)
"10 Things I Hate About You" (1999)
"You Only Live Twice" (1967)
"Where Eagles Dare" (1968)
"16 Candles" (1984)
"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (1966)
"Gypsy" (1962)
"What a Way to Go!" (1964)
"Goldmember" (2002) the first five minutes are priceless (Cruise, Britney, Spielberg, Spacey and Quincy Jones!)
"Carry On Screaming" (1968)
"Clueless" (1995)
"The Holiday" (2006) great cast plus Eli Wallach as Hollywood yoda

any Universal Frankenstein/Dracula/Wolfman/Mummy movie before 1940

(this is a work in progress)

Travelling around Japan with Japan Rail

Buy your Japan Rail Pass in your home country. This is crucial. Decide on 7, 14 or 21 days. One 7 day pass is about the cost of return Tokyo - Kyoto, so it's great value. Green Car is First Class (a LOT more) and not worth the money. Shinkansen ('bullet trains') are very comfortable, lots of leg room, reclining seats, pull down tray tables. Don't travel in busy periods like Summer/Festival times and you won't need reserved seats. Most of the carriages have unreserved seating. Ample luggage storage in carriages. Because it is Japan, everyone is beautifully mannered. The ticket inspectors and attendants bow to the whole carriage before exiting.  Some carriages even have "quiet cars" no cell phones. Yay!

If you land in Osaka (Kanzai Airport), you can use your Japan Rail Pass as soon as you have activated it (Japan Rail Office in the terminal). We had a night at the airport hotel (an easy walk across the walkway). Train Stations are under the terminal. Be sure use JR lines and stations not Private owned lines. High speed trains are ALWAYS on time. They leave on time, TO THE SECOND.

If you land in Tokyo (Narita Airport) you can use your JR Pass to board the fast Narita Express to Tokyo. The JR pass lets you use some subway lines (the huge JR circle lines which surround both Tokyo and Osaka metropolises get you anywhere) and even some ferries on the Inland Sea. 

Download Hyperdia. Indispensable journey planner and timetable. Put in the time you want to depart and the method of transportation and it shows you times, platform numbers, length of journey. Print out for the days ahead or save offline pages.

Buy delicious, freshly made Obento (segmented boxes of Japanese goodies) in the vast underground shopping arcades under major train stations, or buy boxes (still made fresh) on the platform in kiosks or food and drink (including reasonable priced beer) is sold on board by efficient roaming trolley dollies (I'm sure there is a more polite Japanese term). 

Using a base city/cities

Tokyo is an excellent base to explore Nikko, Kamakura, Hakone, Fuji area.

Kyoto or Nagoya are excellent base cities for day trips. Osaka great for day trips to Nara, Kobe, Kyoto.

Stay in ryokan (traditional inns) in smaller towns (Takamatsu has some excellent one).

Booking is through Japan Tourist Bureau website or many have own websites.

Because of the high speed trains you can travel hundreds of kilometres easily in a day. Average speeds of 300  km/hr. Every town on the main line between Hiroshima and Shin Osaka seems to have its own stunning castle, Himeji (featured in 007's You Only Live Twice) and Okayama are notable.

We travelled from Nagoya and Nagasaki, over 900 km and arrived fresh and ready to explore a new city.

We took a day trip from Osaka to Miyajima Island, all trains, ferries covered on your JR Pass. The red tori gate is even better than in the photo.

Kyoto needs at least 4 days to explore, without leaving the city. If basing yourself in Osaka, Nara is the   must-do day trip. Osaka itself is a very cool city, smaller than Tokyo but with a definite personality. Osaka Castle was a big surprise.

Nagasaki is worth the visit, despite the distance. The most European of all Japanese cities. Japan is a great destination. Bone up on a bit of history before you go. It will enhance the experience.

This was our fourth trip and we are raring to go again.

Golden Pavilion, Kyoto

Ian Fleming's James Bond novels - my 'awards'

The novels that most resembles the Bond movie: Dr No (1958), From Russia with Love (1957), Goldfinger (1959)
Weirdest novel: You Only Live Twice (1964) A depressed Bond wandering around nutbag Blofeld's (Dr Shatterhand) Japanese Garden of Death.
Most consistent read: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1963)
Biggest return to form: The Man with the Golden Gun (published a year after Fleming's death, 1965)
Biggest disappointment: The Spy Who Loved Me (1962, told from heroine's viewpoint, mainly set in a upstate New York motel)
Biggest surprise: Live and Let Die (1954), Fleming's second Bond book is one of his best, shame about the film.
Culinary advice: melon wrapped with prosciutto featured in Thunderball (1961)
Most informative (gambling tips): Casino Royale (1953), Diamonds are Forever (1956)
Most outrageous scene in a Bond novel: Dr No - Bond ordeal in Crab Key, culminating in a fight with a giant squid.
Best book where Bond doesn't globe trot:  Moonraker (1955)- encounters Hugo Drax's rocket base in Kent!
Best short story: Octopussy (bears no resemblance to the embarrassing film).


Biggest regret: Giving my entire Fleming collection to the Salvos when we moved house decades ago. At least I have the e-books now.

The crappiest James Bond moments

In the interest of 'equal time', I am now going to slag off my favourite movie franchise.....

• the last few minutes of Goldfinger (Did they run out of money? The tropical island looks like they are in the local botanical gardens. You can see the wires on Goldfinger's plummetting Gulfstream jet.)
• Bond slapping his female colleague, Dink, on the bottom with the comment, "Run along, Dink... Man talk!"
• Roger Moore looking tired in A View to a Kill
• protracted underwater scenes in Thunderball
• in You Only Live Twice some of the space scenes look like an episode of Thunderbirds (thank God for John Barry's score)
• when Blofeld's white pussy goes apeshit (clawing desperately at Donald Pleasance) because of the explosions sounding off on the Pinewood set (volcano/rocket base), You Only Live Twice
• Bond and Tracey prancing around like some demented shampoo commercial to the strains of Louis Armstrong's "We Have All the Time in the World" in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
• all of Octopussy

I am sure you have others.

My favourite James Bond scenes

• "Ninja training camp" in Nimeji Castle, You Only Live Twice, as an 11 year old, this was very cool.
• Aerial shot of Bond fighting henchmen on Kobe docks rooftop in You Only Live Twice
• Bond entering Tokyo subway in You Only Live Twice, meeting Tanaka in his private train.
• Lincoln Continental and hoodlum getting crushed in Goldfinger.
• Bond playing golf with Auric Goldfinger.
• Jill St John with the brat in "Circus Circus" in Diamonds are Forever, "Blow up yer pants!"
• Bond looking absolutely rooted before Diana Rigg skates up to him in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
• In Dr No Bond leaves the dead would-be assassin sitting in the rear seat of his conertible. He turns to the Government House guard with the line, "See he doesn't get away".
• Entering Dr No's underwater lair (early Ken Adam Bond production design, refined and maxed up in You Only Live Twice.)
• Bond meeting Honey Rider on the beach in Dr No (this is a no brainer).
• Bond with jetpack in the start of Thunderball (the rest of the film is a bit of a bore, surprisingly - the remake Never Say Never Again was infinitely better)
• "Welcome back Mr Bond, I hope we can expect more gratuitous sex and violence" from Never Say Never Again.
• Bond on the Orient Express talking wine with Robert Shaw in From Russia With Love
• Aston Martin showing its stuff in the Swiss Alps (Goldfinger, of course)
• Bond in the old DB5 with M (finger poised on the red gear shift button) in Skyfall
• all the opening titles (even the new ones)
• the excitement generated in the end credits before: "The End of ..... but James Bond will return in ......"