Review 96: You Only Live Twice

You Only Live Twice is  possibly the most ambitious of all the James Bond film up to this point and a fitting swan song for Sean Connery.

Loosely based on the eleventh Bond novel You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming. The US and Soviet Russia reach a new crisis when Jupiter 16, a US space capsule, is captured in Earth orbit by a strange rocket ship. The US accuses the Soviets of the space hijacking, even though Great Britain believes the alien ship landed in the Sea Of Japan. Her Majesty's Secret Service now swings into action by "killing" James Bond in Hong Kong - a ruse so Bond can move about Japan unmolested by his enemies. Working with, and enjoying the exotic hospitality of, Japanese SIS and its commander "Tiger" Tanaka (Tetsurō Tamba), tow of his agents agent Kissy Suzuki (Mie Hama), Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi) and scores of Ninja warriors, James uncovers evidence that a major chemical company is smuggling liquid oxygen for rocket fuel, and his and Tanaka's investigation leads to an extinct volcano that is the source of the space hijacking - just as a Soviet spacecraft is grabbed by the alien rocket and a previously scheduled US launch is pushed upward with America's strategic forces on full battle alert, forcing James and Tanaka to confront the true source of the space hijackings - SPECTRE, and its ruthless leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasence) prevent a calamitous World War III.

The plot is ambitious, tense and just downright crazy, but it also does as Entertainment Weekly put it "pushes the series to the outer edge of coolness." But this particular Bond film is not concerned with plot but more with the sense of adventure and

Out of all the adaptations of the Ian Fleming Bond novels to date, You Only Live Twice is the first Bond film to deviate substantially from the original novel, although it retains many of the characters and the Japanese setting. This is understanable considering the original novel (according to screenwriter Roald Dahl) was "Fleming's worst book, with no plot in it which would even make a movie" and was more akin to a travelogue of Japan

You Only Live Twice is possibly the most cultured Bond movies as the whole film is set in Japan

 

I can't believe it written by the great children's author Roald Dahl.

Director Lewis Gilbert's direction is stylish, the production design is breathtaking and captures the flair of Japan, notably Blofeld's lair which is housed right inside a hollowed out Volcano and is a sight to behold. The cinematography is gorgeous, the score by John Barry is monumental, the action scenes and stunts are well choreographed, brutal and fun to watch, the gadgets are fun, the costumes are colourful, the make up is brilliant, the scenery is beautiful, the special effects are fantastic, the sound effects are great, the effect of the closing sequence is exhilarating and I love the title song by Nancy Sinatra.

The acting is great, Sean Connery gives a fabulous final performance as 007, Mie Hama and Akiko Wakabayashi are great Bond girls, Tetsurō Tamba is an exteaemly likeable ally, Teru Shimada and Karin Dor are trecherous henchmen and Donald Pleasence played an excellent Blofeld.

You Only Live Twice is an improvement over Thunderball, an epic edition to the Bond franchise and a fitting end The Sean Connery Era, 4/5.

The Anonymous Critic