1967 | Dir. Lewis Gilbert | 117 Minutes
"For a European, you are exceptionally cultivated."
An unidentified spacecraft abducts a pair of NASA astronauts from Earth's orbit. As the Americans accuse Soviet Russia for the incursion, Bond travels to Japan where the mysterious vehicle reportedly landed. With aid and training from spymaster Tiger Tanaka, 007 unravels SPECTRE's latest plot to sow global discord.
Adapted for the screen by acclaimed novelist Roald Dahl and directed by Lewis Gilbert with genuine visual flair, You Only Live Twice veers away from the Bond series' relatively grounded espionage roots and into the world of implausible gadgetry and over-the-top secret bases. The set pieces are imaginative, most memorably the picture's space capsule sequences accompanied by an excellent foreboding musical theme by John Barry, and Blofeld's iconic volcano lair where the film's epic climax is set. The action sequences are fun if cartoonish, perfectly encapsulated in Bond's totally campy helicopter dog fight in Little Nellie halfway through the picture. However, the characters and plot are sorely lacking in depth and nuance.
To make matters worse, the film is entrenched in thoughtlessly insensitive depictions of Asian people and women. Tiger Tanaka's ninja training camp is laughably inauthentic, Bond's yellow face disguise to pass as Japanese is not only grotesque but serves no functional story purpose, and the treatment of women is atrocious even by Bond film standards. It's more than a little irksome that the film presents a remarkably competent female character who saves Bond's life on multiple occasions just to kill her off and replace her with a rather generic love interest just before the final section of the story as if they were interchangeable.
Aside from participating in action sequences, pretending to operate a ridiculous flying contraption, delivering a series of obvious cheeky one-liners, and being serviced by a slew of scantily clad Japanese women, Sean Connery isn't required to do much acting as Bond this time around, a disappointingly uninspiring performance. Akiko Wakabayashi is fantastic as Aki, a great supporting player with charisma to spare who could have easily been more than just a love interest for Bond. Mie Hama doesn't leave much of an impression as Kissy, with significantly less screen time than Wakabayashi's Aki. Tetsuro Tamba does a fine job as Tiger Tanaka but comes off more as a tour guide than a spy due to how the character was written. The first actor to give Ernst Stavro Blofeld a face, Donald Pleasence brings proper gravitas to the role, setting a high bar for the various actors who would eventually take on the part. Teru Shimada gives a convincing performance as the conniving Mr. Osato, and Karin Dor is a good fit for the role of the alluring but inevitably doomed SPECTRE assassin Helga Brandt. Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell return as M and Moneypenny, this time appearing in naval uniforms in a silly submarine version of M's standard office and reception area while Desmond Llewelyn returns as Q to introduce Little Nellie and all of her weapons while amusingly keeping a straight face.
While entertaining as a campy throwback with plenty of action and imagination, You Only Live Twice is the first Bond film to truly go off the rails, abandoning plausibility in favor of whimsy. Unfortunately, much of the picture has aged rather poorly, rife with outdated Asian stereotypes and general misogyny.
THE COLD OPEN
The capsule abduction sequence is atmospheric and still looks stunning by today's special effects standards. Conversely, Bond's Hong Kong excursion in which MI6 stages his death is simply dull.
THE THEME SONG AND OPENING TITLES
The opening riff of Nancy Sinatra's "You Only Live Twice" is quite catchy (and sampled to the point of irritation in Robbie Williams' "Millennium"). The song remains one of the most memorable James Bond theme tunes while the title sequence designed by Marice Binder featuring geishas, molten lava, and a simple Japanese umbrella graphic is actually relatively tasteful all things considered.
THE BOND GIRL
Kissy is often cited as the primary love interest of You Only Live Twice, despite her limited screen time and her virtually nonexistent chemistry with Bond. This is due to the ill-conceived choice to have Aki succumb to a nonsensical demise roughly two thirds into film. Aki is a capable spy, a clever and reliable companion to Bond even in the face of danger, and a unique personality within the Bond Girl pantheon, far more memorable than Kissy who is most remembered for running around in a bikini and swimming for reinforcements. In different ways, both Kissy and Aki get the short end of the stick.
THE BOND VILLAIN
Blofeld finally shows his face and immediately establishes himself as Bond's ultimate villain - cold, calculated, and hyper-intelligent. His bald head and facial scar are striking features that are often spoofed to great effect, most famously by comedian Mike Myers' Dr. Evil character in his Austin Powers spy parody film series. Blofeld's volcano lair featured in this film and its incredible set design have inspired countless imitators as well including Syndrome's secret island base from Brad Bird's The Incredibles. His plan to instigate war between America and the Soviet Union by sabotaging their respective space programs while promoting suspicion is clever but needlessly convoluted considering Cold War tensions of the time.
FEATURED HENCHMEN
Though not the most memorable henchmen, Osato and Helga Brandt fill their roles well as the standard SPECTRE middle manager and killer underling. Both turn out to be pretty incompetent. Brandt makes the classic mistake of leaving Bond to die in a plane going down instead of just killing him at his most vulnerable.
FEATURED GADGET
Little Nellie is a fun and totally impractical, serving well its sole purpose to liven up the middle of the film with a memorably ridiculous action sequence.
FLEMING FIDELITY
Adapted Ian Fleming's 1963 novel of the same name, the eleventh book in the series, the film is the first of Eon's productions to retain the setting of the source material but eject almost everything else. Fleming's book is a grim affair as M re-numbers James Bond 7777 and sends the depressed and broken agent on a diplomatic mission to Japan in response to his steadily declining quality of work following On Her Majesty's Secret Service's tragic cliffhanger ending. At the behest of Tiger Tanaka, Bond assumes the identity of a Japanese coal miner and infiltrates a so-called "Garden of Death" to assassinate its proprietor Dr. Guntram Shatterhand, who turns out to be a thinly disguised Blofeld in samurai armor. After strangling Blofeld with his bare hands, Bond in struck with amnesia after suffering a blow to the head. For a short time, Bond lives a quiet life with Kissy in a fishing village before he abruptly leaves for Russia in hopes of recovering his true identity.
FRAGMENTS
- It was announced during filming that Sean Connery had no interest in returning to the role after this one for fear of being typecast though he would return for the seventh Eon Bond film Diamonds Are Forever in 1971, and Kevin McClory's Thunderball remake Never Say Never Again in 1983
- In 1962, the year Dr. No was released, Akiko Wakabayashi and Mie Hama appeared together in King Kong vs. Godzilla
- Akiko Wakabayashi was initially cast as Kissy and Mie Hama as Aki but their roles were switched when Wakabayashi proved to have a firmer grasp on speaking English than Hama as Aki's role is more dialogue heavy; ultimately, series regular voice over artist Nikki Van der Zyl dubbed the dialogue for Kissy anyway, the filmmakers should have just merged to two parts and kept Aki as the love interest for the entire film as Aki's death serves no real purpose and Kissy isn't left with much to do
- John Barry's "007" theme plays when "Little Nellie" takes flight
- At the top of the end credits, the film advertises that "James Bond will be back in On Her Majesty's Secret Service"
SUPPLEMENTAL STUFF
- Video: Space March (Auralnauts Remix)
