Main Cast: Sean Connery, Akiko Wakabayashi, Tetsuro Tamba, Mie Hama, Karin Dor, Teru Shimada
Release Year: 1967
Country: UK
Run Time: 125 minutes
Plot
James Bond heads East to save the world (and to learn how to serve saki properly) in this action-packed espionage adventure. When an American spacecraft disappears during a mission, it's widely believed to have been intercepted by the Soviet Union, and after a Russian space capsule similarly goes missing, most consider it to be an act of American retaliation. Soon the two nations are at the brink of war, but British intelligence discovers that some sort of UFO has crashed into the Sea of Japan. Agent 007, James Bond (Sean Connery) is sent in to investigate. After staging his own death to avoid being followed, Bond, disguised as a Japanese civilian, teams up with agent Tiger Tanaka (Tetsuro Tamba) and his beautiful associate Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi). With their help, Bond learns that both the American and Russian space missions were actually scuttled by supercriminal Ernst Blofeld (Donald Pleasance) in yet another bid by his evil empire SPECTRE to take over the world. As he battles the bad guys, Bond finds time to romance both Kissy Suziki (Mie Hama) and Helga Brandt (Karin Dor). You Only Live Twice was one of Sean Connery's last outings as James Bond. The next Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, would star George Lazenby as 007, and while Connery would return for Diamonds Are Forever, in 1973, Roger Moore took over the role. (Connery would play Bond one last time, in 1983's Never Say Never Again, which was produced outside the official series.) ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
The fifth of Sean Connery's James Bond films, You Only Live Twice is another entertaining winner that rides the coattails of the Scot's charming screen presence. On this outing, Connery plays the super-spy with more poise and humor than menace, perhaps a symptom of Connery's growing dissatisfaction with the role. The film itself is different in tone from the earlier entries: as directed by Lewis Gilbert, it's grander and more elaborate than any Bond film before it, as evidenced by the climactic fight scene in a dormant volcano, of all places. In this respect, You Only Live Twice marks a shift away from the earnest espionage thrills of the earlier Bond films toward the over-the-top camp phenomenon quality of the later efforts. As with any high-quality Bond movie, You Only Live Twice features a memorably sinister villain: in this case, Donald Pleasance's Blofeld, inaugurating the trademark white cat-petting bad guy. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide
Donald Pleasence - Ernst Stavros Blofeld; Lois Maxwell - Miss Moneypenny; Desmond Llewelyn - Q; Charles Gray - Henderson; Tsai Chin - Chinese Girl; Bernard Lee - "M"; Michael Chow - SPECTRE No. 4; Diane Cilento - Double; Norman Jones - Astronaut - 1st American Spacecraft; Alexander Knox - American President; Burt Kwouk - SPECTRE No. 3; Jeanne Roland - Bond's Masseuse; George Roubicek - Astronaut - 2nd American Spacecraft; Richard Graydon - Astronaut - Russian Spacecraft; Robert Hutton - President's Aide; Daivd Toguri - Assassin (Bedroom); Bill Mitchell - Astronaut - 2nd American Spacecraft; Laurence Herder - Astronaut - Russian Spacecraft; John Stone - Submarine Captain
Credit
Harry Pottle - Art Director, William P. Cartlidge - First Assistant Director, Lewis Gilbert - Director, Peter Hunt - Editor, John Barry - Composer (Music Score), Basil Newall - Makeup, Paul Rabiger - Makeup, Ken Adam - Production Designer, Freddie Young - Cinematographer, Albert R. Broccoli - Producer, Harry Saltzman - Producer, David Ffolkes - Set Designer, John Stears - Special Effects, Harold Jack Bloom - Screenwriter, Roald Dahl - Screenwriter, Don Lusher - Musical Performer, Ian Fleming - Book Author
