You Only Live Twice
You Only Live Twice
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Producers: Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman
Writers: Ian Fleming (novel); Roald Dahl; Harold Jack Bloom (additional story material)
Title Song: Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Sung by Nancy Sinatra
Opening Action Sequence: A bizarre spacecraft is seen engulfing a smaller one belonging to the United States. America immediately suspects the Russians of this act, but Britain believes Japan to be the source of the problem. 007 is sent to investigate, and his murder is staged while he beds yet another woman.
Bond Visits: Hong Kong; Various Cities of Japan
Film Gross: $43,084,787--United States; $111,600,000--Worldwide
Plot Summary: S.P.E.C.T.R.E. devises another sinister plan for
world domination, this time involving mysterious hijackings of American and
Russian spaceships. While each country accuses the other of the crimes,
the world slips closer to World War III. Neither country realizes that
the true culprit is S.P.E.C.T.R.E., which is operating from its own secret
base somewhere in Japan.
James Bond (Sean Connery) and his government soon realize that the heart of the matter lies in Japan, and 007 is sent to discover the cause of this mayhem. For assistance and information, he meets with "Tiger" Tanaka (Tetsuro Tamba), head of the Japanese Secret Service. With Tiger's help, James poses as a humble Japanese worker, and also learns a bit of ninjitsu that helps him in his quest.
Racing the clock, Bond discovers the location of S.P.E.C.T.R.E.'s hidden
base and infiltrates the fortress with the help of some ninja friends.
Before long, he finally learns the true identity of S.P.E.C.T.R.E.'s
Number One Agent, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasance). 007 is then
forced to use all of his deadly skills in order to outwit Blofeld and destroy
his spaceship before it causes a devastating war.
Review: It was wise of Sean Connery to step away from Bond after
You Only Live Twice. In contrast to his previous performances,
Sean seems tired and bored in this picture, and is given an uninteresting
story to experiment with. The mission drags along with only a few exciting
scenes (the helicopter chase, ninjitsu training, and the escape from Osato's
building come to mind) until it hands us a stupidly chaotic shoot-em-up as
an "exciting" finale that only serves to make the lack of a worthwhile plot
that much more obvious.
Granted,
this film has its strong points. Bond's portable helicopter (nicknamed
"Little Nellie") provides for one of the most innovative chase scenes in
the James Bond series, and its plethora of refinements are vintage Bond.
This chase is the best attribute of the film.
The second plus (albeit, a smaller one) is Karin Dor as the devious Helga Brandt, who oozes seduction and successfully tricks 007 with her feminine wiles. Her performance is villainous, without being overdone. That's how all Bond villains should be.
After four James Bond adventures, You Only Live Twice finally gives us the chance to see who the S.P.E.C.T.R.E. mastermind truly is, and how evil he can actually be. Unfortunately, I was strangely apathetic about Donald Pleasance's performance as Blofeld, but the fanfare surrounding his unveiling was exciting enough.
Bond's girls in this film are incredibly boring. Every word they speak is nearly devoid of meaning, and there is no chemistry between either of them and Connery (who was once quoted as saying "Japanese girls just aren't sexy..."). It's somewhat interesting to see Bond have a false wedding to Kissy Suzuki (Mie Hama), although the concept of matrimony is much more intriguing and touching in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
The fascinating thing about You Only Live Twice is its introduction of Bond as a naval commander. This seems to add another niche to an already "larger than life" hero. Also, the staged homicide is well done (although, none of us ever think for a second that Bond is really dead). But, aside from those small, inspired touches, the script could have used a lot of work. Even for a Bond film, You Only Live Twice is childishly preposterous and amateur.
My final complaint (I promise!) is the film's direction by Lewis Gilbert. There are too many awkward close-ups and enclosed shots in this film, all serving to abandon the broad, sweeping and intriguing nature of most Bond flicks. Maybe it's just me; see if you notice them for yourself. On second thought, you may want to skip this film altogether.
Review: C-