You Only Live Twice (1967) User Reviews (396)

Bond goes East.

[lost-in-limbo · 8/10 · 19 September 2009]

This particular 007 entry (which was intended to be Sean Connery's last before he would agreed to return one more time for his sixth shot as 006 in 'Diamonds are Forever (1971)' and lets not the forget the unofficial 'Never Say Never Again' in 1983) was the first Bond film I encountered and from that it has always remained a total favourite. "You Live Only Twice" we see Bond travel to the land of the rising sun (Japan) in what is quite an expansive concept (dazzling set-designs with spectacular non-stop action) and very well-budgeted effort that lingers on a extremely comic-book-like tone (thanks largely to Roald Dahl's industriously well-guided screenplay that plays its cards close to the chest) with its characters, atmospherics and set-pieces that for me would make it one of the most creative and exciting inclusions to the series.

Bond heads to Japan racing to uncover the true mastermind behind the space-jacking that could see another world war, as British sources believe that the mysterious rocket ship which has seized American and Russian space shuttles originates from there, but those countries believe otherwise than each other for the acts.

Couple of things which made it more the memorable would be that it's the first chance we get to see arch villain SPECTRE Agent #1 Ernst Blofeld's face, than just the hand stroking the cat… although the first hour we get enough of that. It's a devilishly meaty Donald Pleasence who just seemed the part of Blofeld. Now who didn't love the hidden lair that was in an inactive volcano, and of course Blofeld's pool of pet piranhas. The inventive gadget novelty was really making a mark, just look the deadly mini-copter named 'Nelly' and the dangerous effects of smoking around others. Strangely enough the (witty) script seemed to spit out a few self-knowing quips involving cigarettes, which became rather odd. Director Lewis Gilbert (who would go on to control the very similar in story-structure "The Spy Who Loved Me" and then following that the plain goofy "Moonraker") does a tersely capable job with a fast moving pace that shifted from one well organized set-piece to another (like the chase on-top of a rooftop in a fishing docks that's masterfully captured by cinematographer Freddie Young) to finally finish on a barnstorming climax (with none other than ninjas) and then a familiarly fitting final frame. Sean Connery might look a little tired (a bit funny trying to make himself look like Japanese under make-up), but remains just as charismatic and fittingly lean when it came to getting down and dirty (Bond and his tussle with Blofeld's massive henchman Hans comes to mind). The bond girls shape up nicely in the form of Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama and the stunning German redhead Karin Dor. Tetsurô Tanba was good as Bond's Japanese counterpart. Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell and Desmond Llewelyn treat us to their iconic roles. John Barry's classy music score has a smoothly oriental touch, which can get actively copious when called for and theme song "You Only Live Twice" is enticingly sung by Nancy Sinatra.

Bond-san, Blofeld, Asian Delights and Production Value Supreme.

[hitchcockthelegend · 8/10 · 1 May 2012]

You Only Live Twice is directed by Lewis Gilbert and written by Roald Dahl. It stars Sean Connery, Tetsuro Tamba, Teru Shimada, Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama, Karin Dor and Donald Pleasence. Music is scored by John Barry and cinematography by Freddie Young.

Bond 5 and Connery once again tackles the role of 007. With American and Soviet space craft mysteriously vanishing from space, both nations are laying the blame at the other's door. Sensing a nuclear war could break out, M assigns Bond to Japan to investigate if there might be a third party stirring the hornets nest. Teaming up with the Japanese secret service, Bond uncovers evidence that SPECTRE is behind the plot to pitch the East and the West against each other.

This organisation does not tolerate failure.

Thunderball had broke box office records for Bond, gadgetry, outlandish stunts and a quip on the tongue had proved most profitable. It was planned originally that On Her Majesty's Secret Service would be number 5 in the series, but a change of tack to go for You Only Live Twice as the story gave producers Broccoli & Saltzman the scope for a giganticus enormous production. However, it may be set in Japan and feature a Bond/Blofeld conflict, but Roald Dahl's script bares little resemblance to Ian Fleming's source novel. Although a massive financial success with a Worldwide gross of over $111 million, Bond 5 took $30 million less than Thunderball. Strange since this is a better film. Can we attribute the drop to it being a space age saga? Maybe, the rebirth of sci-fi was a few years away, and of course Bond had lost some fans who had grown tired, like Connery, of 007 relying on gadgets instead of brains and brawn to complete his missions. There was also the rival Casino Royale production, as bad as it was, to contend with, while the spy boom created by Bond had been overkilled elsewhere and was on the wane.

Extortion is my business. Go away and think it over, gentlemen. I'm busy.

True enough that You Only Live Twice has flaws, though they are far from being film killers if you like the gadgets and hi-techery side of the franchise? Connery announced once production was over that he was leaving the role of Bond behind. He had been close to breaking point after Thunderball, but finally the media circus, typecasting, the fanaticism and the character merely being a cypher for outrageous sequences, led Connery to finally call it a day. His displeasure shows in performance, oh it's professional, very much so, but the swagger and machismo from the earlier films has gone. Although Dahl's script tones down the "cheese" dialogue and unfolds as a plot of considerable World peril worth, characterisations are thinly drawn, making this reliant on production value and action sequences. Thankfully both are top dollar. And the ace up its sleeve is the long awaited face to face meeting of Bond and Blofeld.

The firing power inside my crater is enough to annihilate a small army. You can watch it all on TV. It's the last program you're likely to see.

Ken Adam's set design is fit to grace any epic in film history, as is Freddie Young's photography around the Japanese locales, Barry lays a beautiful Bond/Oriental score all over proceedings and Nancy Sinatra's title song is appealingly catchy. The action is excellently constructed by Gilbert (helming the first of three Bond movies on his CV), with the final battle at Blofeld's volcano crater base full of explosions, flying stunt men, expert choreography and meaty fights. Along the way we have been treated to Ninjas, Piranhas, poison, aeroplane peril and the awesome Little Nellie versus the big boy copter smack down! Then there's that Bond/Blofeld confrontation. Well worth the wait, with Pleasence visually scary with bald head (setting the marker for bald villainy to follow in TV and cinema it seems) and scar across his eye. Pleasence is also very low key with his menace, which is perfect, we don't want pantomime and the scenes with Bond work wonderfully well.

It made less than the film before it and it has fierce critics in Bond and Fleming circles. But it's a Bond film that pays rich rewards on revisits, where the artistry on show really shines through in this HD/Upscale age. 8/10

Old school Bond, but still one of the most fun Bond movies.

[vip_ebriega · 8/10 · 8 June 2007]

My Take: Another fun Bond entry. Great Bond, fun villains, neat gadgets, and enjoyable action.

"You Only Live Twice" is business as usual for Bond. Not much new, and Connery seemed bored playing his role (explaining his disappearance in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"). There is a lot to like in this film. Connery in "You Only Live Twice" is easily comparable to FROM Russia WITH LOVE and GOLDFINGER, but as Bond, he already has established that he is the best in the business and YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE does give him much to do.

This film does carry the original tradition of Bond. This time around, Bond is sent to Japan to investigate the disappearances of American space shuttles. While the United States suspect it's Russian interference and threaten to retaliate, the Brits faked 007's assassination, in order to clear the way for Bond to investigate what really is going on.

Some areas of YOLT are pretty campy (some of the patterns for the AUSTIN POWERS parodies are pretty evident), but the camp is part of the fun. It's a throwback to the good ol' not-to-be-taken-seriously adventure espionage fun. This is formula Bond, but loaded with great action, neat gadgetry ("Little Nellie" is one of the most beloved Q gadgets) and the glorious sets by the one-and-only Bond veteran Ken Adam make it another high-flying, if not exactly groundbreaking, Bond adventure and one of he series' more fun entries.

Rating: **** out of 5.

This one belongs to Ken Adam

[grendelkhan · 20 November 2004]

This one is a triumph for Ken Adam's sets. The volcano base is the most memorable feature of the film. Oh, the story is fun and the gadgets are cool, but those sets really sell the film. They would inspire countless imitations and variations throughout the years.

Finally, we get to see Bloefeld, and it's a bit of a letdown. Donald Pleasance is a fine actor, but he's not quite supervillain material; more of the serial killer variety, in the mold of Peter Lorre. Still, he is by far the superior on-screen version.

The Japanese cast are all outstanding. Special mention should be made of Peter Maivia, grandfather of Dwayne Johson, aka The Rock. He and the stuntmen create a brutal fight scene, second only to the train fight in FRWL, although this is perhaps more inventive.

As for gadgets, outside of the jetpack from Thundrball and Goldfinger's Aston Martin, Little Nellie is the coolest ride. The aerial scenes are spectacular and are one of the highpoints of the whole series.

This film really marks the end of the ultra-cool Bond films. After this, they tend to go down in quality, taken as a whole. Some have better stories and villains, some have better stunts, but they are never the complete package that the earlier films were. Still, this one (along with Goldfinger and Thunderball) would inspire every spy work that would follow; from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. to Our Man Flint, Marvel Comics' Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.e.L.D., to the X-Men. Everyone stole an idea from here.

YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (Lewis Gilbert, 1967) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 24 November 2008]

Solid entry in the James Bond saga – Sean Connery's fifth appearance as the secret agent in a row (his last, in fact, until DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER [1971] and, eventually, the non-series entry NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN [1983]) – featuring a lovely title tune by John Barry and Leslie Bricusse sung by Nancy Sinatra.

The relocation to Japan for the main action (resulting in impeccable photography courtesy of the renowned Freddie Young, who also contributes an inspired aerial shot of our hero at the center of a rooftop chase/struggle) adds much-needed novelty in the exotic department – though characters tend to be less well developed as a consequence. Tetsuro Tamba is imposing enough as his 'sidekick', but the all-important Bond girls have no distinguishing features – save for Karin Dor, a typical femme-fatale-ish villainess who manages to trap Bond in an unpiloted plane. Similar expansiveness was shown in Ken Adam's elaborate design of Ernst Stavro Blofeld's headquarters, hidden within the crater of a Japanese volcano; other attention-grabbing devices include Bond being 'killed' in the prologue (thus explaining the title), while he's later given an Oriental 'countenance' and even made to 'marry' a Japanese girl (an irrelevant undercover attempt, as it happens – since there is very little interaction between Bond, his local allies and the enemy before the final confrontation in the volcano interior)!

Its plot involving the abduction of space shuttles belonging to the U.S. and Russia, in the hope of provoking a war between the major powers, again plays on the fears of nuclear annihilation palpable during the Cold War era. Incidentally, this is the first time Blofeld himself steps in as chief villain (played with appropriate menace by Donald Pleasence – with a handy piranha-filled stream underneath a sliding bridge to replace the pool-sharks from the previous installment, THUNDERBALL [1965]). By the way, Charles Gray (Blofeld in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER) appears in a bit here as Bond's ill-fated contact in Japan! The most prominent gadget invented by Q (the ubiquitous Desmond Llewellyn) in this case is an artillery-equipped mini-chopper – employed in a sequence whose filming unfortunately cost an aerial photographer his leg!; there's also a memorably violent brawl which has Bond and his opponent lashing at each other with heavy living-room couches!

The show, then, is climaxed by one of the most spectacular action bouts in the entire saga – for which Bond recruits Tamba's ninjas to fight the minions of SPECTRE; Blofeld, of course, is allowed to go free this time around…since he'd be involved in at least three subsequent direct matches with 007. Given that director Gilbert lived up to the challenge of ably following in the footsteps of Terence Young and Guy Hamilton, it was only natural he'd be asked to helm further Bond adventures – though, by the time THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1977) and MOONRAKER (1979) came along, Roger Moore had firmly established himself in the role.

Godzilla Goes East...

[Xstal · 6/10 · 12 January 2022]

Ground control to Commander Bond, our spacecraft are failing to come back and respond, please go to Japan, find out what you can, when it's all sorted feel free to abscond.

Behold,,,the "comic book" Bond!!!

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 23 March 2008]

By YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, James Bond no longer resembled the Ian Fleming character at all and of all the movies based on the Fleming novels, this one is the least like the book. In fact, other than being set in Japan and the title, the stories are nothing alike. The film is not at all realistic like the books and is a loud proclamation that that Bond is dead as it ushers in a "comic book" Bond who is all gadgets and plot holes. While I grudgingly will admit that the Roald Dahl (yes, THAT Dahl--the "Willie Wonka" guy) script is very exciting and high on the "cool factor", it is also silly and ridiculous throughout.

Some of the cool gadgets are the helicopter with an electro-magnet to pick up the baddies in their car as well Bond's own mini-copter. Really exciting stuff--but also the stuff of serials and comics--as was the volcano lair of Blofeld. In fact, for the first time, a Bond villain more resembles Dr. Evil from AUSTIN POWERS than anything else!! While there were too many dumb gadgets and silliness to talk about them all, I'll mention a few that DIDN'T work and were just dumb. First, the death scene and Bond's subsequent launching out of a submarine was so dumb--way too dumb. But worst was towards the middle when the Japanese secret service had the "brilliant" idea of disguising Bond as a Japanese man!!! With Connery's nose, height and Scottish accent, this was about as believable as trying to convince everyone that Bill Cosby was Japanese!!! This idiocy sinks to a new low in YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE--unfortunately, it only got worse in later films.

Despite these many complaints, I still give the film a 7 because it's super-entertaining--more so than the previous film (THUNDERBALL). There are more thrills in this film than two Bond films--too bad the silly plot points weren't worked out--making the film seem like it could have used a good edit.

BOND#5: Kill Bond! Now! says Blofeld Revealed

[Bogmeister · 7/10 · 29 May 2007]

MASTER PLAN: foment World War III between the U.S. and Soviet Union by stealing some orbiting space capsules. Bond almost gets into outer space in this one, literally a step away (he'd finally make it in the much later "Moonraker"). And that's where the teaser begins, a reflection of the anxious space race between the super powers during the sixties. This film also reflected how 'hot' the Cold War was at this time, when seemingly the slightest provocation could cause a devastating escalation - precisely what SPECTRE, notably Blofeld, wants. We thought SPECTRE played its ultimate hand in the previous "Thunderball." Here, instead of just stealing nuclear warheads, the sinister organization gobbles up entire space ships, a blatant attempt to establish itself as a new super power - a 3rd one - following up on the hints in the previous Bonders. Expectedly, there are fantastic special FX for the time to convey all this ambitious power playing. This marked a shift to all-out science fiction, although traces of traditional espionage remain. The teaser is actually divided into two parts, with the 2nd half devoted to another 'false death' for Bond (see From Russia With Love's teaser). Nancy Sinatra sings over the credits and at the end, a more languorous and lyrical effort than the bombastic tempos in previous films.

Bond spends his mission in Japan in this one, since this is where it appears the criminal space craft originates from. In a slight deviation of protocol, M and Moneypenny have also set up quarters in this area, in a least likely spot. Many of the early scenes convey this sleight of hand, where nothing is as it appears to be, but then the plot starts to meander a bit. Despite some fine action bits, notably against a burly Japanese thug and a unique long shot of Bond's rooftop struggle, the middle act comes across as almost a travelogue of the Orient's better scenery. It's nice to look at, yes, perhaps the most exotic of the Bonders, but on the slow side, a conceit which would plague many of the future Bonders. Q shows up with his contribution, a miniature helicopter, which almost seems like an advertisement for the company who made this weird prop, though there is an impressive aerial battle against some standard helicopters when Bond attempts some scouting. Similar to the use of sharks in the previous film, this has a pond of piranha, always a guaranteed crowd pleaser, accentuating the outrageous aspects of Bond villains. To the film's credit, several fine Japanese actors were cast, including a couple of Bond girls (another film company might have cast white actors in all the main roles, despite the Japanese setting). I especially liked the poignant oriental-flavored musical score during Bond's wedding, though this entire subplot makes little sense. There's even a tragic tone to one of the character arcs, though Bond accepts this like a good soldier, a sign of Connery's less energetic approach by this time.

The casting of uber-villain Blofeld, however, was not very inspired. The actor Pleasence is always excellent and actually lends himself very well to eccentric villainy, but it didn't quite work here. After sensing the power emanating from this mysterious figure with the reverberating voice in "From Russia With Love" and "Thunderball," one can't help but be unimpressed by Pleasence's limited stature, both physically and vocally. He actually reminded me of a stunted version of another comic book villain, Baron Strucker, introduced a couple of years earlier in the 'Sgt.Fury' Marvel Comics. The fact he shows up so late, a la Dr. No style, was probably just as well. His bodyguard, the brute henchman, doesn't speak and functions merely as a tall combatant for the now standard mano-a-mano with Bond towards the end (tho their walking towards each other was a stylistic triumph). Connery himself appeared noticeably older than in the previous Bonders; though still physically fit, you sense he was past his prime - not desk-bound just yet, but slowing up, and his lack of jovial sarcasm during Q's lecture denoted a little too much seasoning by this point. This does have a spectacular finish, with literally a hundred attacking ninjas on the greatest Bond set so far, underneath a fake lake in a volcano. Bond would return, but Connery would not, in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." Bond:8 Villain:7 Femme Fatales:7 Henchmen:5 Fights:8 Stunts/Chases:8 Gadgets:8 Auto:6 Locations:9 Pace:7 overall:7

Manages to Entertain Fairly Well

[Uriah43 · 7/10 · 21 May 2013]

An American spacecraft in outer space has been swallowed up by an unidentified flying object. The Americans blame the Soviets. The Soviets deny the allegation. In the meantime, "James Bond" (Sean Connery) is set up by an attractive Chinese woman named "Ling" (Tsai Chin) and is murdered. Or at least that's what MI5 wants the world to think. From the information they have been able to gather the unidentified flying object has touched down somewhere near Japan and that is where James Bond is sent to investigate. But he only has a short time because the Americans are planning on launching another rocket and have warned the Soviets that they will declare war if anything happens to this one. At any rate, rather than go into great detail on what happens next and risk spoiling the film for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that this film probably doesn't receive as much attention as some of the others in the James Bond series. Personally, I enjoyed the location, the music and the way Mie Hama ("Kissy") looked in her white swimsuit. Be that as it may, while it may not be the best James Bond film ever produced, it manages to entertain fairly well and I have rated it accordingly.

The Most Fun of All Connery's 007 Films

[brando647 · 9/10 · 13 September 2013]

YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE is, without a doubt, my favorite 007 film with Sean Connery in the lead role. I know that alone is enough for some to immediately disregard my views on the franchise, but I can't help it. Maybe it's because I was younger when I first saw it and the goofier elements appealed to me, but this movie is a guilty pleasure that I proudly embrace. The movie was produced at a time when Sean Connery was growing tired of the role and the world was still in the midst of a massive 007 frenzy. The four previous movies had become box office gold, and this gave the filmmakers and studio the confidence to throw even more insanity into the mix. There's a good deal of WTF in the fifth Bond movie but it's still a fun adventure with my favorite secret agent. In YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, the entire world is on edge when an American space capsule goes missing while in orbit. The Americans immediately assume the Russians were responsible. Soon, a Russian space capsule disappears and the Americans are blamed. The British, the only rational minded nation in the movie, decide to actually investigate the events and place their most effective man on the mission: James Bond. The search for answers begins in Japan where Bond finds a connection between the missing space capsules and a Japanese chemical corporation. After faking his death to get his enemies off his trail, Bond explodes onto a mission that will bring him face- to-face with the man behind the space capsule thefts and, in fact, the mastermind behind most of his previous missions.

The fifth 007 movie is where the series started to go off the rails. With each adventure, the James Bond franchise was put in a position of out-doing themselves with each successive film. Or, at least, that's what they appear to have believed. In YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, the action is amped up to all new levels when Bond joins forces with the Japanese secret service and, since this is a 007 adventure in Japan at a time when cultural stereotypes were still a fad, ninjas! YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE has Bond immersing himself in Japanese culture to fade into the background as he quietly moves from one clue to the next in locating the missing space capsules and their astronauts. This involves a bit of ninja training in a ninja school and an operation to help Bond appear more Japanese which involves shaving his chest hair, pinning his eyes back, and giving him a wig. In retrospect, I'm pretty sure the whole thing comes across as a tad racist but it's absurd in its execution. The ninjas join 007 in a massive final battle in the most iconic of super-villain lairs: a hollowed-out volcano. The production design on the villain lair here is some of the best. You can tell the Bond movies where raking in some nice box office totals because the producers went all out for the finale. The volcano lair looks great and serves as a perfect setting for dozens ninjas to repel down from the ceiling for battle while the villain's color-coded henchmen rain gunfire down on them. There's one thing you definitely can't deny about this movie: it's ambitious.

But THUNDERBALL had a jetpack! How do you beat a jetpack? With a militarized gyrocopter, of course. Little Nellie is probably the most memorable aspect of the movie for me. Looking back on YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, it's the first thing that comes to mind. The 007 theme kicking in as Bond engages in battle over a volcano with four full-sized helicopters from the tiny cockpit of Little Nellie, and schooling them with his over-zealous array of weapons, ranging from flamethrowers to heat-seeking missiles. Did I mention this movie was sort of over-the-top? It's just so much fun though, and that's what I love about it. Sure, the first two movies were bona fide spy films and GOLDFINGER was iconic…but this remains my favorite Connery/Bond film for just how out-there it gets. As an added bonus, this movie features what I believe to be the greatest on-screen depiction of 007's original nemesis: Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Blofeld, seen for the first time without obstruction, is portrayed by Donald Pleasence and it's the most recognizable version of the character in the series. Blofeld would go on to be played by other actors in later films (including Charles Gray, who plays MI6 operative/007 contact Henderson in this film) but it's Pleasence's calm demeanor, scarred visage, and pet cat that would be forever remembered and eventually parodied in the form of Mike Myers' Dr. Evil.

My love for YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE probably isn't the popular opinion, but for anyone who dares claim it was the worst of the Connery films, I have three words for you: DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER. Regardless, I love it. The Japanese culture (and the ninjas), the epic volcano battle, the humor, and Sean Connery pretending to fly a tiny gyrocopter against a projected screen… it all comes together for the most fun of all Connery's adventures as secret agent 007.

Q introduces 'Little Nellie,' a flying version of the Aston Martin

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 7/10 · 16 October 2001]

Throughout Bond's career, the SPECTRE chief had lurked behind the scenes, masterminding horrific crimes and dispensing ruthless punishments to those who disappointed him… The "You Only Live Twice" mission revealed that evil had a human face… Blofeld's love of animals extended beyond his white Persian cat: he also kept piranhas… His fishy friends, capable of stripping a person to a skeleton in minutes, were not just for show…

'You Only Live Twice' takes place entirely in Japan... The script is a return to a 'From Russia with Love' type plot in which SPECTRE, backed by Red China, enters the space race by playing off the Russians and Americans... The agent of his plans is a specially designed Intruder rocket which captures spacecraft and returns them to SPECTRE chief Blofeld's secret Japanese volcano hideout...

To trick SPECTRE into lowering his guard on British Secret Service activities in Japan, Bond manages to fake his own death... Under the eye of SPECTRE agents, he is given a proper Naval burial at sea aboard a destroyer in Hong Kong, and his body is sent to the bottom of the harbor where a team of frogmen recover it and bring it to a waiting submarine...

Bond, wearing his full Commander's uniform, is alive, thanks to a special aqualung, and he reports to M aboard the submarine...To avoid further detection, he is placed in one of the submarine's torpedo tubes and fired towards the Hong Kong shore to investigate the missing satellites...

His contact is Henderson (Charles Gray—who later played Blofeld in 'Diamond Are Forever'), who informs Bond of Tiger Tanaka (Tetsuro Tamba), the youthful head of the Japanese Secret Service... Tanaka forged a strong working relationship with Bond… The centers of his operation were an underground Tokyo HQ with its own subway train, an ancient castle, and a training school for his Ninja force…

Although the film does develop a flavor for the Far East—with its beautiful women, emerging technology, and ancient customs—the movie's story is a less than compelling one… Impressive set pieces take over center stage at the expense of a sustained dramatic structure… And "You Only Live Twice" jumps up from villain to villain, escapade to escapade, until the final assault on the volcano rocket base puts 007 up against Blofeld for the first time…

In spite of pushing aside a bowl of oysters, and drinking his favorite martini 'stirred, not shaken,' plus Russian vodka and Japanese sake, Bond—lacking his usual charm— is given little to do in the story… The women in the film are actually much more interesting than him… Aki and Kissy are the advance guard of the new Bond girl—less breathless females who have more equality on the firing line… In other words, they hold their own with Bond and help him out of more than a few scrapes with death…

Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi) is 007's guardian angel in Tokyo… She drives an exotic Toyota 2000 sports car, and wears fancy Western outfits… Kissy (Mie Hama) managed to resist Bond's advances—at least until the mission was accomplished…

Helga Brandt (Karin Dor) turns out to be totally unaffected by Bond's charm... Schooled in the Fiona Volpe-style of assassination, she decides to give Bond a taste of what she has to offer before leaving him to figure a way to escape the falling plane...

Nevertheless 'You Only Live Twice' isn't a bad film, and it does star the best Bond... It also holds off high points: John Barry's most romantic musical sequences, Freddie Young's cinematography, and Moneypenny—very smart in naval uniform—connives to have Bond say 'I love you,' a password chosen for this mission...

Welcome to Japan Mr Bond

[Dock-Ock · 9/10 · 26 September 2001]

You Only Live Twice is pure Comic Book entertaiment. James Bond is very much the superhero character he was in Goldfinger, and every scene is like a panel in a Comic Book and filled with entertaining excitement. In truth, it is though the feel and style that was vibrant throughout Goldfinger [1964] leapfrogged the dull Thunderball [1965] and found it's way to Japan. Twice is a beautiful looking and sounding addition to the Bond movies, and one is glad Sean Connery didn't really resign from the role of Bond and did indeed Live Twice.

By jettisoning most of Ian Flemmings original story You Only Live Twice, in wich an amnesiac Bond Hunts down Blofeld in Japanese castles, Broccoli and Saltzman have ridden themselves of the same problem evident in Thunderball : Slow Movement, Uninterested Audiences. Thunderball may have been a success, but this was probably due to the Bondmania wich raged through the mid sixties like a giant inferno. Luckily for the fans of the eye popping spectacles the Bond series is famous for, You Only Live Twice contains no such problems of dreary moments of boardom. In its place we have a Space Age actioneer written by childrens author Roald Dahl, and an entertaining and swift director in Lewis Gilbert, who seems more suited to Bond than any director yet.

It has been said before, but the real star of the show is Ken Adams sets. His wondefull Volcano set wich Blofeld uses is one of the most memorable in Cinema history. Add to this the Japanese sets, the Submarines [M's Offices], Tanaka's Lair, and the real sense of Japanese authenticy. Adam deserves an Oscar for this movie alone. For his total contributions to Bond and other movies, there is no Award yet created.

Donald Pleasence makes a very creepy Blofeld. He is perhaps the ultimate Blofeld. His scenes with the other cast members show the complete acting skills of a fine actor. Twice also contains one of Desmonde Lywellyn's funniest performances as Q,and one of Q's finest creations, the Little Nellie Helicopter. Little Nellie is every Bond fans dreams, personally i think it would be lovely to soar above rural England in Nellie, let alone Japan! Some guys have all the luck! Twice also has one of John Barry's most beautiful themes,and songs sung by Nancie Sinatra.

The only real let down this time is Sean Connery. He makes any Bond film look good, but this time doesn't look as though he is enjoying himself all that much. This is a petty bacause Twice itself is a very impressive and enjoyable Bond movie, with some of the best sets, Action sequences and Acting in the entire series.

The only thing good in this movie is Blofeld's hideout.

[Fella_shibby · 6/10 · 2 December 2020]

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs. Revisited it recently. This is the fifth in the Bond series n Connery reprises his role of James Bond for the fifth time.

This time Bond is dispatched to Japan after American and Soviet astronauts disappear mysteriously in orbit, each nation blaming the other. In this movie, Bond faces his arch enemy, Blofeld (Donald Pleasence), his bodyguard Hans n some offscreen piranhas. Bond gets to cool off with Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama, Tsai Chin n Karin Dor.

Things about Blofeld from the book - Blofeld is a man of honor. In the book, Blofeld promises that a girl he's holding hostage will be returned unharmed if her father pays the ransom. SPECTRE Number 9 is in charge of the hostage and, after the money is paid, he rapes the girl before returning her home. After learning this, Blofeld kills Number 9 for disobeying orders and returns half the ransom money.

In the book, Blofeld is 6.3 in height n a massive man, weighing 140 kg. He had been a champion weightlifter in his youth.

One of the worst Bond movies

[karimnash · 4/10 · 14 December 2008]

I probably would have ranked this movie much higher if it wasn't for the 30 mins of the movie devoted to turning Bond "japanese" and training him to be a Ninja. They arrange a marriage for him as well to a local Japanese girl who is also actually an agent. It all is completely unnecessary and has no relation to the overall plot at all. I mean the guy is a highly trained British agent. Why does he need to be trained as a ninja to go investigate a suspicious volcano crater.

Aside from that ridiculous plot sequence, the whole SPECTRE organization starts to look real stupid at this point and you really see where Austin Powers gets most of it's material. At one point while number one is holding his cat, it looks like its ready to freak out and is desperately trying to jump out of his arms. The whole thing is rather comical.

I know Bond movies are supposed to be a little silly, but this one is mostly just dumb and annoying.

All the ingredients, but Connery's heart wasn't in it

[FlickJunkie-2 · 7/10 · 4 February 2001]

This was the fifth in the Bond series, released in 1967. Producer Albert `Cubby' Broccoli had quite a challenge on his hands outdoing the runaway success of `Thunderball'. He undertook to surpass it by increasing the budget, trying more elaborate gadgets and stunts (an ultralight heavily armed one man helicopter being chased by 4 other helicopters), gargantuan sets (a launch pad inside a volcano) and exotic locations (Japan). At almost $10 million (that's about $50 million in today's dollars), this was one of the highest budgeted films at that time. The launch pad set alone cost over $1 million to build. Despite great box office results, ($110 Million worldwide in 1967 dollars) it fell short of Cubby's ambitions to exceed `Thunderball' financially ($140 Million worldwide) and it proved to be lackluster among the early Bond films.

Although having established himself as a pop icon in his 007 roles, Sean Connery was tired of being James Bond. Before the release of this film, he announced his intention to retire from the role. His lack of enthusiasm was evident throughout the film and his onscreen demeanor lacked verve. He didn't even show much interest in the love scenes, looking more bored than passionate. The critics declared that this would be the end of his career and the end of James Bond films, probably the worst twin predictions in the history of film. As it turns out, Connery returned to the role twice more in 1971 (Diamonds Are Forever) and 1983 (Never Say Never Again).

I have a great deal of respect for Sean Connery, indeed he is one of my favorite actors. His Bond films set a standard that was never equaled by any of the actors that followed. However, his performance in this film displayed so much ennui that it bordered on unprofessional.

This film had all the elements necessary to make it one of the better Bond films. It finally gave a face to Blofeld, and though the choice of Donald Pleasence was roundly criticized, I liked him in the role. The story was intriguing. Astronauts and their spacecraft were being abducted by a rogue predator ship that was gobbling them up whole. Bond was dispatched to find out who was behind the plot. The screenplay written by Roald Dahl was full of clever double entendres like Aki's (Akiko Wakabayashi) great line just as Bond swept her into his arms, `I think I will enjoy very much serving under you.' It had majestic locations and great photography. However, the elements didn't gel, mostly because of Connery's Bond fatigue.

Overall, this was a good Bond film, although it could have been much better but for Connery's malaise. Still, the story was stronger than contemporary Bond films, which have resorted to nonstop action and visual effects with flimsy scripts. I rated it a 7/10. If you want to see Connery at his best, see `Goldfinger' or `From Russia With Love'.

The dumbest Bond plot of all.

[CuriosityKilledShawn · 6/10 · 9 April 2006]

Bond fakes his death to become a ninja and stop SPECTRE from profiting from WWIII after a series of space-jackings. What the hell? There's not many actions scenes. Sure there's the helicopter dogfight and a couple of chases. But not much else. Women are objects, fisticuffs are plentiful and plot developments hokey.

YOLT has not a chance in hell of being taken seriously. I mean what's the deal with that big metal space shark that gobbles up US and Soviet rockets? The physics of it coming back down to earth standing straight up are laughable. And of course, the bad guy lair just HAS to be in an active/inactive volcano. And nobody knows it's there even though it must have taken a million men and 86 gillion parts to build. But never mind about that.

Like before, the finale has all of Blofeld's men (that's the ORIGINAL Dr. Evil for all you kiddies) dressed in the same colored outfit fight the good guys, who are dressed in a different colored outfit. So it's really easy for brain-dead audiences to tell who's winning amid the incredibly fake fighting and blowing up.

Between the mind, short-lived and sporadic action scenes, Bond does loads of plodding around, investigating, making minor discoveries. Not much excites or interests.

It does have pretty photography and some nice scenery. But, in my opinion, it's a below average Bond adventure.

Understated Bond Film

[DKosty123 · 7/10 · 6 October 2006]

When I first saw this in a drive-in in 1967, the opening sequence of this with Bond being shot did not make a big impression as this is the first Bond film I had ever seen. After the credits, the snatching of a space craft made an impression as it looked very much like the simulations CBS used to broadcast of the real flights. While this plot & some of the special effects seem a little dated & far fetched now with the passage of time, Sean Connery is great as his usual Bond self in this one. Donald Pleasance is very effective as the heavy Blofeldt, one of several actors who took a turn at it.

This Bond film gave me an appreciation for the scenery in Japan used and in the beauty of a Japanese actress who takes a back seat to no one. The save the World from Word War 3 between the US and USSR being plotted for by Spectre is the plot. Using a supposed volcano on an island as a space rocket base was quite a feat at the time of it's release.

The scenery of 1960's Toyoko, Japan are very nostalgic now. The thing which makes this Bond a little special is the understated way the humor is handled. Using "I Love You" as a password for one thing. Of course, the irony of the line "This can save your live - this cigarette," is still pretty effective. All the regulars in the series are here with Q much in evidence. This one is still a very pleasant diversion for a rainy afternoon.

One life is enough for Bond

[C22Man · 7/10 · 7 July 2015]

Bond Review.

Title: Sounds nicely mysterious and fits the context of the film.

Pre-Titles: A US spacecraft gets swallowed by a larger unidentified craft and we then cut to Bond in bed with a girl in Hong Kong as he is seemingly killed. This is a pretty causal opening, you'd think Bond's apparent death would be shocking but it isn't exciting or shot with any particular suspense. The space scenes haven't date well and there's also a lack of tension with them.

Theme Song: Nancy Sinatra does a good job with the title song, but once again it is John Barry's work that stands out. The string section adds elegance to the song and that main hook just gets stuck in your head making this a memorable theme.

Plot: After the US spacecraft is taken, the Americans blame the Soviets and a third World War becomes a possibility. It is believed that Japan is where the spacecraft came from and, after faking his death, Bond is sent there to find out who it was. This is a relatively simplistic plot in all honesty, but it works due to it being easy to follow and because it feels like there is a real global threat if Bond is unsuccessful. The problem is that the film slows down in a number of areas to the point where you almost lose interest in what is taking place.

James Bond: Sean Connery is on auto-pilot here and looks completely uninterested with the material he is given. He's visibility aged since Thunderball and had clearly got bored with the role. Bond looks exhausted throughout the film, doesn't deliver the lines with any real wit and takes an even more slapdash approach to his work than usual.

Bond Girls: Akiko Wakabayashi is decent enough as Aki. Though the character is underwritten, but she has chemistry with Connery and has a natural charm that makes her likable. Mie Hama is very dull as Kissy. She gets involved in the action, but has even less development, the relationship with Bond comes off as only being there for the ending and they don't even mention her name.

Villains: Donald Pleasence shows up as SPECTRE leader Blofeld and despite limited screen time he does a good job. His interpretation of Blofeld is of a sinister mastermind with a ruthless approach and a cold monotone voice to go with it. He isn't much of a physical match next to Bond and he might be a little too eccentric, but he certainly has a creepy quality to him and is memorable. Karin Dor is excellent as femme-fatale Helga Brandt, she is believable as someone who could seduce Bond and she has an attractive presence on screen.

Support: Tetsuro Tamba is good fun as Bond's Japanese associate Tanaka. He brings a lot of charm to the role and gets in the thick of the action, convincing as both a friend and a top-notch agent. Bernard Lee is as good as always, whilst Moneypenny and Q also get some decent scenes here and there.

Action: The action is decent but nothing truly special. We get some car chases, many fist fights and suitable bits of espionage which are all serviceable, yet none of them contain much excitement or are shot all that well. The scene with the Little Nelly aircraft is fun, but it has no sense of danger to it. The climax is enjoyable for the sheer amount of people involved and how overblown it is, but like Thunderball, it suffers from too much going on.

Score: John Barry is as good as ever when it comes to delivering a score filled that evokes exoticism and danger. Many tracks have an oriental sound to them which is perfect for the Japanese setting and creates a lot of atmosphere for certain scenes.

Production Values: Ken Adam deserves the applause for his superb set work here. Blofeld's volcano lair is an absolutely fantastic design and looks as grand as anything ever put in the series, perfect for such a big antagonist. The editing isn't great here and as said many parts of the film are really slow. There is a general lack of energy about the film, the excitement that the previous films managed to craft is clearly waning at this point. The whole section were Bond gets married and becomes 'Japanese', and it's as dumb as it sounds, is incredibly boring and adds nothing at all to the plot. Author Roald Dahl wrote the screenplay and despite a few good lines there a no bits of dialogue that stick with you. It's nice to see some Japanese culture, but not if it gets in the way of the story. With that said, setting it in Japan was a very good idea as it allows us to see Bond within yet another new environment.

Conclusion: You Only Live Twice is pretty much the ultimate just okay Bond film. There are a number of impressive moments, but there are a lot of very dull moments too. At this point the films were running out of steam and it frequently shows. As said Connery is completely uninterested here and most of the action is uninspired which harms the overall quality. For all the good aspects like the location, sets and Pleasence's sinister Blofeld we have bad aspects like the weak Bond girls and the tediously slow pace. It has its memorable moments, but it just isn't that enjoyable or engaging compared to what had come previously.

An OK more subdued Bond

[willcundallreview · 6/10 · 11 May 2014]

Rating-6/10

You Only Live Twice is a maybe slightly more subdued Bond, however this film contains near all the trademarks we have to come to expect from James and a villain who is just insanely rich. Set around the one location for the majority of the film, you may also be mistaken this drags a lot, it doesn't though and becomes a solid plot which moves and throws you off the scent of predicting what is next to happen, I felt this was firmly an OK film, and here is why.

The story is pretty absurd and as said, for this to work, the villain would literally have to be the richest man ever, but in general, this is good fun. It has a good mix of fighting and charm to be a Bond that portrays all the hallmarks of the series yet also introduces a new side to Bond where he actually does some good spy work. I loved the gadgets and sets in this which in the story make it great to look at also.

Sean Connery maybe falls slightly from his first four roles and this is far from his or the series best, but Connery still manages to churn out an entertaining Bond and with all the kind of crazy things in the plot he deals with it well. Donald Pleasance does a fine job as the villain and his strange grace coupled with his evil side make him a very diverse villain who you just can't predict what he'll do next.

This Bond to me seemed more talky than the previous instalments, and with the author Roald Dahl writing the screenplay it is no surprise the dialogue is strong. I said before about the sets because in this film you see them more than any other film and Ken Adam does a fine job especially with the Volcano scene(you will see what I mean), he just masterfully makes these little sets without having to use special effects used in modern cinema.

The main problem with this film is that it is very dull and very little happens in the middle and towards the end, with Bond doing his spy stuff right it is fair to say, although he also never engages the audience and watching him mull around with his Japanese friends affects the plot intensely. It could also be said this was one of the first of Bond to contain the over use of humour, but I think it depends on the viewer if they like the Bond humour used.

Bond fans should be pleased by this and those who's favourite is Connery shouldn't be put off him with this piece, although nowhere near the quality of the first four. People in general may find it like I did, dull, but you may also have a lot of respect for Bond here as he doesn't fly around the world constantly and stays on one plot in one place, like a real life spy.

Overall I give this a 6/10, a solidly OK film that is not near to being Good, but escapes being just OK. With this you have to enjoy the subdued story to enjoy it because if you go in expecting what he did in Thunderball, Goldfinger etc then you will be bitterly disappointed. One more thing to say is that this is Connery's last role as Bond where the comedy isn't overused so savour it if you dislike the more humorous route that Bond went down In the 70's/80's.

Outrageous James Bond escapade, enormously enjoyable despite being nothing like the source novel.

[barnabyrudge · 8/10 · 28 September 2005]

An entertaining and fast-paced fifth entry for Sean Connery as James Bond, You Only Live Twice audaciously (and cheekily) chooses to ignore the plot of the original novel and instead hurtles along its own merry route. Working from a screenplay by children's' author Roald Dahl, director Lewis Gilbert fashions a thoroughly enjoyable slice of escapism, brimming over with witty dialogue and outrageous action sequences.

Following the "swallowing up" of an American space shuttle in orbit by an unmarked enemy shuttle, the U.S angrily accuses Russia of stealing their spacecraft and threatens to declare war if any similar incidents take place during their forthcoming launch. The British remain unconvinced that the Russians had anything to do with the crime, as they suspect the enemy shuttle (the one which swallowed up the American craft) actually came down somewhere in Japan. James Bond (Sean Connery) is sent to Japan to figure out what is going on before it's too late. He quickly establishes that his old adversaries SPECTRE are the masterminds behind the scheme, but try as he might he cannot trace their operations base, which seems to be concealed in a remote volcanic region. Aided by the head of the Japanese Secret Service, Tiger Tanaka (Tesuro Tamba), Bond races against the clock as Armageddon beckons in an effort to find the criminal lair and put an end to SPECTRE's sinister plot.

You Only Live Twice is totally different to the first two movies in the series (Dr. No and From Russia With Love) because it is intentionally extravagant and far-fetched. This is more a continuation of the style of Bondage we came to know and love in number 3 (Goldfinger) and number 4 (Thunderball). If anything, this one reaches an apotheosis of sorts in terms of ludicrous set pieces. Connery is brilliant as Bond (he had really had his fill of the character by this point, but was professional enough to hide his boredom while the cameras were rolling). Also, Nancy Sinatra belts out one of the greatest theme tunes ever to grace the series. And Ken Adam deserves to be showered with accolades for his amazing set designs, the pinnacle of which is the volcanic base used by SPECTRE (to this day, it remains the best baddie's lair ever seen in a movie). You Only Live Twice might not be one for the purists, but for anyone wanting to be exhilarated and entertained it really hits the mark.

you can see why Sean Connery was getting disenchanted with the series

[lee_eisenberg · 6/10 · 30 April 2006]

After "Dr. No", "From Russia with Love" and "Goldfinger" were all so cool, "Thunderball" seemed to be getting tacky, and "You Only Live Twice" seems even more so (granted, it's still worth seeing). This one has James Bond (Sean Connery) going to Japan to investigate the disappearances of American and Soviet spaceships. Since the superpowers are blaming each other, there could be a nuclear holocaust if Bond doesn't find out the truth. Sure enough, the culprit turns out to be SPECTRE. And SPECTRE's leader Blofeld (Donald Pleasance) looks like he could be Dr. Evil's father, natch.

Oh well. The point of these movies is to have fun, and you sure will with this one. If nothing else, there's always a plethora of hot women, and this one even has the two women from "King Kong vs. Godzilla". Passable.

Bond favorite Bond!

[Coventry · 9/10 · 10 March 2016]

When I was around 11 or 12 years old, my dad and I watched all the James Bond movies that were released then (which was up until "License to Kill") in a period of just a couple of days. Although I liked almost every single one of them, the one and only that instantly became my favorite one in the series! I mean, what wasn't to be loved about this awesome movie?!? The utterly cool sequences of space capsules being swallowed – literally – by bigger and monstrous rockets, the fantastic villainous headquarters hidden inside an inactive volcano, the exciting scenes at the ninja training camp, the cool aerial battle between 007 in his silly little yellow toy-airplane versus various heavily armed black helicopters, the pet piranhas, and – most of all – the portrayal of the ultimate evil mastermind Ernst Stavro Blofeld by the inimitable Donald Pleasance. Now, 25 years and yet another 8 new Bond installments later, I can still shamelessly admit that "You Only Live Twice" still stands as my personal favorite Bond movie and – even though Sir Sean Connery will probably disagree with me – it's undeniably the most entertaining one of the entire series. Through the eyes and ears of an adult viewer I can add more good reasons to love this movie, actually, like for example it features on of the top three greatest theme songs (courtesy of Nancy Sinatra) and an action-packed screenplay penned down by another one of my childhood heroes, namely Roald Dahl. The plot of "You Only Live Twice" is easily summarized… Criminal organization S.P.E.C.T.R.E, led by the scar-faced and cat-loving psychopath Blofeld, is well on track to evoke a third World War by alternately abducting a US and then a Soviet space capsule from within a secret base camp on a Japanese volcanic island, and then counting on the fact that these two stubborn world powers will blame each other. Luckily the intelligent British government suspects there's more going on, and so they send their best agent to the Far East. In order to fulfill his delicate mission, 007 first has to fake his own death and then literally must become a Japanese warrior. "You only live Twice" is another fast- paced and spectacular Bond-adventure with beautiful exotic filming locations, lots of pleasant hi-tech gadgetry (cigarette gunfire, anyone?) and plenty of action. The Bond girls in this one are all Oriental, evidently, so whether Akiko Wakabayashi and Mie Hama rank amongst the most beautiful 007 bed partners or not entirely depends on your own personal taste. My major complaint now is that I remember Pleasance's role in the film to be bigger… When I was 12- years-old Donald Pleasance must have made such an everlasting impression on me that he forever remains the embodiment of James Bond villains

The Last Original Bond

[dmbjam29 · 6/10 · 25 April 2007]

I don't blame Sean Connery with growing weary of the James Bond series, by the time "You Only Live Twice" was released they had done five movies in five years! That being said this is the last original Bond with Connery (not counting his return in "Diamond are Forever" and "Never Say Never Again). These five movies will always be the iconic Bond movies, but by the end of this film one could predict the franchise was on its way down.

This film takes James Bond to the Far East to investigate the kidnapping of US and Soviet spacecrafts which could eventual lead to war between the two powers. Roald Dahl, yes the same Roald Dahl who wrote "James and the Giant Peach" did the screenplay for this film, and he does a commendable but not extraordinary job. Some of James Bond's best one-liners are in this film, like "Oh the things I do for England," and "you sound like a commercial," most likely in credit to Dahl's creative touch.

The strength of this movie is that the franchise moved away from Europe and sent Bond to Asia. The Japanese background is excellent as are the Japanese Bond Girls, Aki and Kissy and the Japanese agent Tanaka. The action sequences are just OK. There's one good fight scene at the Osaka Corporation, it's similar to the "From Russia With Love" train scene and the opening fight in 'Thunderball.'

However compared to its predecessors, this movie fails to deliver. The editing and pace seems to slow down significantly once Bond has to get married and become Japanese. The enemy's lair seems over-the-top and fantastical, even more so than Dr. No's lair. Even with Connery's flair and grace one can see how anything less than an 100% effort isn't going to make a movie great, even a James Bond film.

Despite its minor hiccups, I still think this is an enjoyable Bond. Not as great as the preceding four films, but still solid. Yet one can't ignore the ominous signs that the Bond franchise was on its way down. For the last 40 years, minus some good films thrown in that time, the Bond franchise has never duplicated the magic and bedazzlement that it had from 1962-1966.

A Good James Bond film but not great. 6 out of 10.

Bond Month #5: Mike Meyer's Austin Powers fodder

[Theflyace · 4/10 · 30 September 2013]

Oh boy I have been dreading this one. This is a Bond film that I truly despise and find really overly silly. I wish that the Colonel from Monty Python would come in and stop the film from getting too silly. But here we get a lava pit full of trash and gimmicks. Like my title suggests, this is the film where Mike Meyer's got his material to mock in Austin Powers (I might include these films if time permits over the course of the month)

The story (written shockingly by Roald Dahl, WHAT????!!!!) entails SPECTER stealing two spacecraft (one American, and one Soviet of course) to hold for ransom or create war between the two rivals (the delegates of whom are made out to be absurdly childish compared to the British) Bond must travel to Japan to find SPECTER's hidden base in a volcano (pretty good move, right? Fellas?) and destroy it before anything can happen. We are also treated (by that I mean letdown) to the reveal of Number 1, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

This one is bad. Sean Connery is so bored in this film it's not even forgivable. The Bond girls are immediately forgettable. The only thing I remember about them is one of them has a kick-ass Jaguar convertible. Blofeld, hidden in the shadows until now, is finally revealed. Esssentially, think of Dr. Evil if he was actually taken seriously. Donald Pleasance isn't good at all, making this built up monster into a sweet little man with a really funny voice. Even his cat hates him in this movie, I'm not kidding take a look and you'll see.

Let see, there are all of two things in this movie that are beyond exceptional. One is Tiger Tanaka. he is one of the better Bond male allies, and one of the few that survive the end of the movie. And then there is the giant volcano set by Ken Adam. AMAZING. GENIUS. HUGE. IMMENSE. This set is that impressive people and it looks so real.

Besides that, this movie is not very good. Some people love it, some people like it, I'm one of the people who really doesn't like this one. Its just one I find so bland its not even passable as tongue-in-cheek. Watch Austin Powers, its much better in terms of plot and character than this "stright-faced" film. But with this film, next, we're onto On Her Majesty's Secret Service!!!!

Solid addition to the series with a strong and unique setting

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 6 December 2016]

Typical but effective Bond adventure, this time set in Japan to distinguish it from all the others. The movie benefits from the bizarre imagination of Roald Dahl (!) who was commissioned to write the script and who injects some of his own wit, style, and an ounce of darkness into the story. Otherwise, it's business as usual, with a fun helicopter battle, some tense outer-space action (spoilt by some very cheesy model effects - the special effects in the Bond series don't seem to have progressed at all since DR. NO, except by becoming a little tighter) and a good finale, in which Bond infiltrates the enemy base (inside a volcano) and comes face-to-face with his arch enemy Blofeld for the first time.

At this point the series was less occupied with screen realism than with out-and-out in-your-face bravado and scenes bordering on the incredible - take that whole "volcano base" thing. Other highlights include Bond narrowly escaping from a plane taking a dive and the elaborate ploy at the beginning of the film to convince the world of his death. Would he really go to all that trouble? This is a fast-paced movie with lots of action and near-death scrapes for Bond - love that scene where he is nearly killed by a hidden assassin pouring poison down a thread to his mouth.

Sean Connery returns as Bond and is looking a little older this time - although nowhere near as aged as he appeared in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER and then NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN. The Japanese supporting cast is very good, especially the two love interests and Tetsuro Tamba as the secret agent "Tiger" Tanaka. Donald Pleasence appears briefly but memorably as the hideously scarred Blofeld, a role which was to be played by lots of people over the years. Series regulars Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell, and Desmond Llewellyn also put in welcome appearances, along with Charles Gray as an ally. Gray returned as Blofeld in the next Connery Bond! Euro-starlet Karin Dor turns up briefly as a femme fatale. THE BRIDES OF FU MANCHU fans may note cast members Tsai Chin and Burt Kwouk as minor villains - I guess they had the advantage of being in Britain when this film was made and so were cast easily.

Strangely enough my favourite scene in this movie is one of the least spectacular - namely, the dockyard scene where Connery and his girlfriend are stalked by a gang of thugs. There's a fantastic aerial shot of the bad guys closing in on Connery which I really liked, and the choreography is really good here. The one-liners are cheesier than ever, and among the many (unintentionally) funny scenes is one where Connery has to go "Japanese" in order to disguise his true identity - a less Japanese-looking person I can't imagine! In all, good clean fun and a solid addition to the series, unique in setting if nothing else.