You Only Live Twice (1967)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Lewis Gilbert

Writers:

Roald Dahl (screenplay)
Harold Jack Bloom (additional story material)

Release Date:

13 June 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond

Plot:

Agent 007 and the Japanese secret service ninja force must find and stop the true culprit of a series of spacejackings before nuclear war is provoked.

Plot Keywords:

Space | Rocket | James Bond | Japan | Ship

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Sean Connery	...	James Bond
Akiko Wakabayashi	...	Aki
Mie Hama	...	Kissy Suzuki
Tetsuro Tamba	...	Tiger Tanaka
Teru Shimada	...	Mr. Osato
Karin Dor	...	Helga Brandt
Donald Pleasence	...	Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Bernard Lee	...	M
Lois Maxwell	...	Miss Moneypenny
Desmond Llewelyn	...	Q
Charles Gray	...	Dikko Henderson
Tsai Chin	...	Ling, Chinese Girl in Hong Kong
Peter Fanene Maivia	...	Car Driver
Burt Kwouk	...	SPECTRE #3
Michael Chow	...	SPECTRE #4

Also Known As:

Ian Fleming's You Only Live Twice (UK) (copyright title) (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Japanese | Russian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Ireland:PG | Iceland:12 | West Germany:12 (re-rating) | West Germany:16 | South Korea:15 | Brazil:14 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | USA:Approved (original rating) | USA:GP (re-rating) (1970) | USA:PG (re-rating) (1994)

Filming Locations:

Akime Village Environs, Akime, Kagoshima, Japan

Company:

Danjaq

Trivia:

Footage of the US Jupiter spacecraft in the film is actually film of the real Gemini spacecraft which flew between 1965 and 1966. The Gemini spacecraft were used for testing of such activities as EVA and docking for the Apollo space project which was to follow. Ironically, the Soviet spacecraft in the film were called Gemini (the name of the real life US spacecraft) and their designs were based on inaccurate UK perceptions of what the Russian Voskhod and Vostok spacecraft looked like, something which was not known until 1967 after the film had wrapped shooting.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Aki and Bond leave the Sumo match, she drives him in her 2000GT convertible. Like all cars in Japan, the driver (Aki) is on the right side of the car. However, when they pull up to the hotel, their positions have switched. She (and her powder blue head scarf) are now on the left. The film strip appears to be reversed, as they park with the right side of the car facing the hotel door, but in the next shot, the left side of the car is facing the door.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Astronaut - 1st American Spacecraft: Calling CapCom. CapCom, this is Jupiter 16. Do you give a go for fourth orbit.
Hawaii CapCom: CapCom to Jupiter 16. Can you confirm O2 pressure is within limit.
Astronaut - 1st American Spacecraft: Roger. Everything looks good in the environmental control system.
Hawaii CapCom: Okay. Everything looks good from here. You have a go for fourth orbit.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "I'm Alan Partridge: Never Say Alan Again (#2.4)" (2002)

Soundtrack:

You Only Live Twice

Bond #5: Made in Japan

Easy to say which two things I remember best about "You Only Live Twice": the volcano base Ken Adam designed and the little helicopter Bond uses for his exploration of the volcano area. Roald Dahl's script brought better story development and less cheesy dialogs than in "Thunderball". Donald Pleasance played Blofeld extremely eccentric, almost sickening. Between Claudine Auger in the previous Bond and Diana Rigg in the next, "You Only Live Twice" does not really have just one leading lady, there are a few sweet Japanese girls around including Mie Hama and Akiko Wakabayashi, and among the baddies, Karin Dor appears as a redhead threatening to torture Bond when he is captured. The location of Japan had a lot to offer, from the modern skyscrapers to the traditional island villages, and let's not forget those sumo wrestlers ;-). With the 5th Bond, the hype had meanwhile become so huge that Connery was annoyed and said "never again" - for the first time...