You Only Live Twice - classic movie review
You Only Live Twice
Plot: Agent 007 and the Japanese secret service ninja force must find and stop the true culprit of a series of space-jackings before nuclear war is provoked.
Cast: Sean Connery, Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Rating: PG (mild violence and threat)
Runtime: 1hr 57 mins
Release Date: Tuesday 13th June 1967
He's dabbled with mysterious surgeons, treacherous trains, a madman with a fetish for gold and an underwater army. Now, in You Only Live Twice, James Bond's newest threat is a volcano and he requires ninjas to help him. We've started to reach that point of the rundown. The focus is shifted to Japan in the fifth 007 entry and even though it is wildly preposterous, borderline silly and possibly racist in places, You Only Live Twice sits just on the edge of being an exciting Bond teetering over to an inherently laughable one.
Before taking a film off, Connery doesn't put a foot wrong in this. He adapts to the alteration in tone and Connery seems to embrace the ludicrous aspect of the film. Apart from Goldfinger, at the point of release, Connery, for three films now, has been acting exactly the same with little deviation from the course. It's not a problem because he's fantastic in all of them but in this, it's glad to see Connery let his hair down a bit (figuratively speaking). He is very blasé and lets the cheesiness and over-the-top moments waft over him like a loud fart that doesn't smell. It may be noisy and in your face, but the damage is minimal. As mentioned, a large difference in You Only Live Twice that the action and significant events within the film occur in Japan. With the oriental scenery now taking precedence, Bond has a couple of Japanese girls to keep him company. The first of those is Aki, played by Akiko Wakabayashi, who aids Bond in his mission. She's functional and Wakabayashi does an acceptable job, considering the language barrier, but Aki as a character is only just about functional. It's cool to see her get down and dirty (in both senses of the term) and actually save Bond for a change, but her story arc is signposted and when Aki meets her end, it never came across as shocking as the director and writers had clearly intended it to be. The second Bond girl gets to do a little more. Played by Mie Hama, Kissy (that really is her name) fulfills what a classic Bond girl was intended to do. She is very beautiful but also fittingly accompanies Bond on the climax of his mission. Hama is by no means the most incredible actress but as far as Bond girl performances go, there have been considerably worse. The only issue that arises about Kissy is that she is incredibly convenient in regards to the information she knows. It's only by chance that she joins a faux marriage with Bond so when she rattles off information about a mysterious volcano that just so happens to be the base for Blofeld and SPECTRE, as an audience member, you wonder what would happen if he hadn't married her. The common recurrences come back. M is as authoritative and cock-blocky as ever. Moneypenny returns as the only woman to truly melt Bond's heart. But it's Desmond Llewelyn who actually steals the show as Q. For someone who started quietly in the background, this was the film where Q became the sarcastic and wisecracking quartermaster that we all know and love today. His one and only scene is simply brilliant and a joy to see the Bond films embrace the wild and crazy gadgets. Finally, the wait has drawn to a close as You Only Live Twice gives us a full reveal of Ernst Stavro Blofeld played by Donald Pleasence. Blofeld has been teased from the very first Bond film in Dr. No so when his reveal came, to be truthful, it was sorely disappointing. Pleasence never put any emphasis on the lines. For what was promised to be a very menacing villain and the archenemy for Bond, Blofeld underwhelmed me tremendously to the point where the mystery would have served it all much better.
FACT: The volcano set cost almost as much as Dr. No's entire budget. It was in fact so large it could be seen from three miles away.
Starting with a downside to You Only Live Twice's story, apart from the overall setting, the plot is identical to Thunderball. It opens with SPECTRE stealing nuclear warheads but instead of under the sea, the setting is in outer space. The warheads are still stolen, SPECTRE makes a global threat and Bond still has to go undercover to stop war from breaking out. However, Thunderball did the equivalent of dragging it's feet a lot of the time but You Only Live Twice moves a brisk pace and the inventiveness marks an improvement upon its direct predecessor. For it to be mostly set in Japan, the film does have a fascinating beauty to it. The landscape and environment signify a large contrast in the approach to a Bond film. This is showcased when Bond tests Little Nellie (a gadget from Q) as he flies over the Japanese countryside. Little Nellie is awesome though. Complete with helicopter blades and machine guns, it's surprising that it's not as recognisable as other Bond gadgets. The ridiculousness comes in when Bond, to fully combat SPECTRE, has to train with ninjas. Why? It's not fully clear. Maybe it was because it could make for a cool inclusion or maybe it was because the 1960's were not a politically correct time so the screenwriters automatically assumed that by moving the action to Japan, Ninjas have to be included. Speaking of indirect racism, whoever thought Asianifying Sean Connery would be a good idea was sorely mistaken. Imagine a character ripped straight out of Little Britain. Finally, the culmination of You Only Live Twice takes place within SPECTRE's base; a volcano. I hate to sound like someone who constantly complains how they don't make films like they used to but if this was remade, I can guarantee that the gigantic volcano set would be entirely CGI. It is astonishing to see the base they've built here and I can only imagine how phenomenal it actually was in real life.
A change in scenery makes for an exciting and adventurous Bond movie that revels in being over-the-top. Despite Blofeld not living up to the hype that previous installments had promised, You Only Live Twice succeeds in delivering Bond girls with significance and a dose of adrenaline that the series deeply needed.
My Verdict: 8/10
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