You Only Live Twice (1967)

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.

Director:

Lewis Gilbert

Writers:

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

Stars:

Sean Connery, Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Connery	...	James Bond
Akiko Wakabayashi	...	Aki
Mie Hama	...	Kissy Suzuki
Tetsurô Tanba	...	Tiger Tanaka (as Tetsuro Tamba)
Teru Shimada	...	Mr. Osato
Karin Dor	...	Helga Brandt
Donald Pleasence	...	Blofeld
Bernard Lee	...	'M'
Lois Maxwell	...	Miss Moneypenny
Desmond Llewelyn	...	'Q'
Charles Gray	...	Henderson
Tsai Chin	...	Ling, Chinese Girl in Hong Kong
Peter Fanene Maivia	...	Car Driver
Burt Kwouk	...	Spectre 3
Michael Chow	...	Spectre 4

Storyline

When an American space capsule is swallowed up by what they believe to be a Russian spaceship, World War III nearly breaks out. The British Government, however, suspect that other powers are at work as the space craft went down near Japan. S.P.E.C.T.R.E. is the force behind the theft, as James Bond discovers, but its motives are far from clear, and he must first find out where the captured space capsule is held before America and Russia initiate another world war.

---

Plot Keywords:

cleavage | faked death | sluttiness | chinawoman | premarital sex | 

---

Taglines:

Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

MGM [United States]

Country:

UK

Language:

English Japanese Russian

Release Date:

13 June 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ian Fleming's You Only Live Twice

Filming Locations:

Nakano Shimbashi station, Marunouchi Line, Nakano-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Box Office

Budget:

$9,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$43,084,787

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$43,084,787

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eon Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Toyota 2000GT was a sports car produced between 1967 and 1970 in very limited numbers, (approximately three hundred fifty-one) by Toyota in Japan. The only "convertibles" ever built were for this movie. Toyota entered the 2000GT in competition at home, coming third in the 1966 Japanese Grand Prix and winning the Fuji 24-Hour Race in 1967. In addition, the car set several world records for speed and endurance in a seventy-two-hour test. The few surviving examples are very expensive collectibles.

---

Goofs

When Bond kills the ninja who surprise attacks him, he clearly stabs him in the hip. In the next scene, the blood is on the ninja's torso, and not his hip. Also, there is no blood on the weapon, either.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Astronaut - 1st American Spacecraft: Calling CapCom. CapCom, this is Jupiter 16. Do you give a go for fourth orbit.
Houston 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.
Houston CapCom: Okay. Everything looks good from here. You have a go for fourth orbit.

---

Crazy Credits

THE END of YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE but James Bond will be back ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE

---

Alternate Versions

The 1995 MGM/UA video release includes English subtitles for Japanese dialogue heard during the scene where Bond is turned into a Japanese fisherman. Some TV prints do not have these subtitles.

---

Connections

Referenced in GoldenEye 007 (1997)

---

Soundtracks

You Only Live Twice
Music by John Barry
Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse
Performed by Nancy Sinatra

User Reviews

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

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.