ReBONDing: You Only Live Twice
Reevaluating the Sean Connery Era (1962 - 1971, 1983)
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967)
Directed by Lewis Gilbert
Written by Roald Dahl
Additional Story Material by Harold Jack Bloom
Ian Fleming (novel)
Running Time: 117
Original Verdict:
This Bond film really wasn't my cup of tea. Besides, are we actually suppose to believe that Connery can pull off being Japanese (even for a brief period of time)? I also have a hard time believing Donald Pleasence as a serious villain. The set designs are great but when space is involved in Bond films, I have a hard time suspending my disbelief.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
THE REEVALUATION
The Cold Open: All elements of this cold open are great, but it feels kind of clunky. They don't really mesh well together and I feel it would have worked better if they had recut it in this sequence: a) Gun barrel sequence, b) Bond's assassination, c) opening credit sequence, d) spacecraft hijack. But that's just my personal opinion. This cold open leaves me feeling... meh.
The Story: The Space Race and Cold War take front and center stage in this fifth James Bond adventure. SPECTRE is at it once again, this time working with an unnamed Asian power capturing American and Soviet manned space capsules at the same time trying to provoke nuclear warfare between the two nations. MI6 fabricates Bond's death and then dispatches him to Tokyo to work with their Secret (Ninja) Service and further investigate as the hijacking spacecraft was reported landing in the Sea of Japan.
The Villain: The One and Only Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Brought to life by Donald Pleasance, the capable actor embodies Blofeld with the perfect level of disturbingly creepy malevolent charm and mystery. While I was unimpressed with him as a teenager, his performance has grown on me over time. The character of Blofeld has always been iconic, but Pleasance provided us with a second equally iconic image. The first was the faceless Number 1, sitting at a table full of instruments and stroking the white cat in his lap. Here we finally see him as a whole human being: the bald-headed man, wearing the gray Mao suit, the horrible scar on his face, and the demeanor that only Pleasance could provide.
The Heavy: YOLT falls short on decent henchmen. The duties are split between Mr. Osato and Helga Brandt (femme fatale v2.0 - she's clearly a carbon-copy of Fiona from Thunderball, only not as good). Neither provides much of a threat to Bond, and both are conveniently disposed of by Blofeld. It's a bit disappointing but you can't hit the nail on the head every time.
The Girls: Aki, portrayed by Akiko Wakabayashi, is a breath of fresh air for the franchise. She's sweet and charming and then they kill her off two-thirds into the movie. It's rather discouraging. What's also discouraging is Bond's reaction -- or rather lack thereof -- upon discovering her death. Aki is then conveniently and quickly replaced by Kissy (whose name is never mentioned but is horribly referred to as a "pigface" as a running joke between Tanaka and Bond). Bond then promptly marries Kissy as a part of his Japanese transformation while training at Tanaka's Ninja Academy.
The Gadgets: Little Nellie, the fantastic gyrocopter, and a rocket-firing cigarette. Revisiting this film has made me appreciate the aerial photography and well-choreographed action sequence. It's fun watching Bond zip around battling four SPECTRE helicopters. I may have dismissed Little Nellie in the past but here she provides what all Bond films need: great escapism.
What Doesn't Work? Connery's complete lack of charisma in YOLT takes some of the fun out of this film. (It was well documented at that time that Connery was unhappy with his treatment by the producers and made the announcement that this would be his last film just before they started filming.) Other things in this film that rub me the wrong way are the blatant sexist overtones (not all that uncommon for a Connery Bond film, but still), the racist undertones, and the poor pacing that really bogs down the middle of the film. Lastly, the need to transform one of the hairiest Caucasians of the 20th century into appearing Japanese -- where the end result is wearing a terrible wig and weird eye makeup -- is ridiculous and serves absolutely no purpose.
Final Thoughts: You Only Live Twice successfully creates the second Bond film blueprint (the first being Goldfinger). It's outrageous, over-the-top, and cartoonish yet is still firing on almost all cylinders. I could have easily nitpicked this film some more, but to be completely honest, I really enjoyed the revisit; much more than I had originally anticipated. The Space Race was in full swing in 1967, so for the filmmakers to use it to their advantage was completely understandable, somewhat believable, and almost logical (at least in comparison to Moonraker).
Thankfully this film has more high moments than low ones. Bond's ally, Tiger Tanaka (played by Tetsurō Tamba) brings a wonderful on-screen presence that hasn't been this fun since Karim Bey in From Russia, with Love. The comradery he has with Bond here is truly a pleasure to watch. We are also provided with another magnificent score by John Barry. Lastly, we cannot ignore the brilliance of production designer Ken Adam, responsible for the volcano lair. In the end, You Only Live Twice is one of Bond's better films, even if isn't one of Connery's.
Reevaluation Score: 4 out of 5.
James Bond will return...
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967)
Directed by Lewis Gilbert
Written by Roald Dahl
Additional Story Material by Harold Jack Bloom
Ian Fleming (novel)
Running Time: 117
Original Verdict:
This Bond film really wasn't my cup of tea. Besides, are we actually suppose to believe that Connery can pull off being Japanese (even for a brief period of time)? I also have a hard time believing Donald Pleasence as a serious villain. The set designs are great but when space is involved in Bond films, I have a hard time suspending my disbelief.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
THE REEVALUATION
The Cold Open: All elements of this cold open are great, but it feels kind of clunky. They don't really mesh well together and I feel it would have worked better if they had recut it in this sequence: a) Gun barrel sequence, b) Bond's assassination, c) opening credit sequence, d) spacecraft hijack. But that's just my personal opinion. This cold open leaves me feeling... meh.
 |
| "...in Japan, men come first, women come second." |
The Story: The Space Race and Cold War take front and center stage in this fifth James Bond adventure. SPECTRE is at it once again, this time working with an unnamed Asian power capturing American and Soviet manned space capsules at the same time trying to provoke nuclear warfare between the two nations. MI6 fabricates Bond's death and then dispatches him to Tokyo to work with their Secret (Ninja) Service and further investigate as the hijacking spacecraft was reported landing in the Sea of Japan.
- Screenwriting Side Note: Does anyone else find it strange that this film was written by Roald Dahl, or was it just me? You know, the guy who wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory among several other well-known works? No? Okay.
The Villain: The One and Only Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Brought to life by Donald Pleasance, the capable actor embodies Blofeld with the perfect level of disturbingly creepy malevolent charm and mystery. While I was unimpressed with him as a teenager, his performance has grown on me over time. The character of Blofeld has always been iconic, but Pleasance provided us with a second equally iconic image. The first was the faceless Number 1, sitting at a table full of instruments and stroking the white cat in his lap. Here we finally see him as a whole human being: the bald-headed man, wearing the gray Mao suit, the horrible scar on his face, and the demeanor that only Pleasance could provide.
The Heavy: YOLT falls short on decent henchmen. The duties are split between Mr. Osato and Helga Brandt (femme fatale v2.0 - she's clearly a carbon-copy of Fiona from Thunderball, only not as good). Neither provides much of a threat to Bond, and both are conveniently disposed of by Blofeld. It's a bit disappointing but you can't hit the nail on the head every time.
The Girls: Aki, portrayed by Akiko Wakabayashi, is a breath of fresh air for the franchise. She's sweet and charming and then they kill her off two-thirds into the movie. It's rather discouraging. What's also discouraging is Bond's reaction -- or rather lack thereof -- upon discovering her death. Aki is then conveniently and quickly replaced by Kissy (whose name is never mentioned but is horribly referred to as a "pigface" as a running joke between Tanaka and Bond). Bond then promptly marries Kissy as a part of his Japanese transformation while training at Tanaka's Ninja Academy.
The Gadgets: Little Nellie, the fantastic gyrocopter, and a rocket-firing cigarette. Revisiting this film has made me appreciate the aerial photography and well-choreographed action sequence. It's fun watching Bond zip around battling four SPECTRE helicopters. I may have dismissed Little Nellie in the past but here she provides what all Bond films need: great escapism.
What Doesn't Work? Connery's complete lack of charisma in YOLT takes some of the fun out of this film. (It was well documented at that time that Connery was unhappy with his treatment by the producers and made the announcement that this would be his last film just before they started filming.) Other things in this film that rub me the wrong way are the blatant sexist overtones (not all that uncommon for a Connery Bond film, but still), the racist undertones, and the poor pacing that really bogs down the middle of the film. Lastly, the need to transform one of the hairiest Caucasians of the 20th century into appearing Japanese -- where the end result is wearing a terrible wig and weird eye makeup -- is ridiculous and serves absolutely no purpose.
 |
| He may have lived twice, but thankfully Connery only looked like this once. |
Final Thoughts: You Only Live Twice successfully creates the second Bond film blueprint (the first being Goldfinger). It's outrageous, over-the-top, and cartoonish yet is still firing on almost all cylinders. I could have easily nitpicked this film some more, but to be completely honest, I really enjoyed the revisit; much more than I had originally anticipated. The Space Race was in full swing in 1967, so for the filmmakers to use it to their advantage was completely understandable, somewhat believable, and almost logical (at least in comparison to Moonraker).
 |
| The cost to build this set was one million dollars, which was the total budget of Dr. No. |
Thankfully this film has more high moments than low ones. Bond's ally, Tiger Tanaka (played by Tetsurō Tamba) brings a wonderful on-screen presence that hasn't been this fun since Karim Bey in From Russia, with Love. The comradery he has with Bond here is truly a pleasure to watch. We are also provided with another magnificent score by John Barry. Lastly, we cannot ignore the brilliance of production designer Ken Adam, responsible for the volcano lair. In the end, You Only Live Twice is one of Bond's better films, even if isn't one of Connery's.
Reevaluation Score: 4 out of 5.
James Bond will return...
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