"YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE" (1967) Review
"YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE" (1967) Review
In recent years, EON Production’s 1967 movie, "YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE" has not been highly regarded by many Bond fans. In a way, I can understand why, judging by Sean Connery’s performance in his fifth consecutive turn as James Bond and the movie’s plot.
Loosely based on Ian Fleming's 1964 novel of the same title, "YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE" begins with the abduction of an American space capsule in space by a mysterious craft. The United States blames the Soviet Union. But the British government has tracked the mysterious craft to Japan where James Bond is sent to investigate. With the help of Tiger Tanaka and Japan’s SIS agency, Bond eventually links the mysterious craft to the terrorist group SPECTRE, who is being paid by the People’s Republic of China to start a war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. As one can see, the movie’s plot, written by Roald Dahl, bears very little resemblance to the novel under the same name. Characters like Kissy Suzuki, Tiger Tanaka, Ernst Blofeld and Dikko Henderson are in both the movie and the novel. But the novel focused on Bond, depressed over the death of his wife, being given one last chance by MI-6 to get direct access from the Japanese to Magic 44, the project revealing all Soviet radio transmissions. The mission, which eventually involves Blofeld and a place called "Castle of Death", seems like a far cry from the 1967 movie’s plot.
Not only is the movie’s plot bears very little or no resemblance to Fleming's novel (a first in the Bond franchise), there were some moments in the story that seem to defy logic. I never understood why Aki had failed to mention that she worked for Tiger Tanaka and the Japanese SIS when she first met Bond. Why would SPECTRE operative Helga Brandt go through all of that trouble in allowing Bond to "convince her" to betray fellow SPECTRE operative Osato before finally attempting to kill him? If she had delayed her attempt to kill Bond in order to first have sex with him, then she had deserved her fate. I never could figure out on which side was the wheel placed on Aki’s white Toyota sports car - the left or the right. What exactly did Bond plan to do once he joined the escaped American astronauts impersonating SPECTRE astronauts? Especially since he had sent another SIS agent, Kissy Suzuki, to summon Tiger and his Ninja warriors? And why in the hell did Blofeld shoot Osato and then force Bond to another spot before attempting to kill him? Why was it necessary for him to force Bond to move to a different spot, in the first place?
Most of the performances in the movie were satisfying. especially Akiko Wakabayashi, who memorably played the charming and very competent Aki. In fact, I would say that she practically gave one of two best performances in the movie. It seemed a shame that she had failed to survive the movie. The other best performance came from Tetsuro Tambo, who portrayed the charismatic head of Japan’s SIS, Tiger Tanaka. Teru Shimada was properly menacing as SPECTRE middleman, Mr. Osato. Charles Gray made a nice appearance as MI-6 agent, Dikko Henderson, four years before his stint as Ernst Blofeld.
Speaking of Blofeld, Pleasance was not bad, but his Middle European accent seemed a little unconvincing and the scar on his cheek seemed a little over-the-top. Karin Dor seemed like an obvious attempt on EON Production’s part to repeat Luciana Paluzzi’s popular performance in "THUNDERBALL" . . . and it failed. Dor tried her best, but was defeated by mediocre writing and uninspiring direction from Lewis Gilbert. Mie Hama, although charming and beautiful, turned out to be one of the most boring Bond leading ladies of all time. I could not detect anything interesting about her character, Japanese SIS agent and diving girl Kissy Suzuki.
Many have commented on Sean Connery’s less than spectacular performance in this movie. And I must agree with their opinion. Granted, he had some good moments with Wakabayashi and Tambo. But overall, he seemed to be walking through the performance. And this is not surprising, since it had been reported that Connery was pretty much weary of the Bond role by this time. But at least he did not seemed to be spoofing his character, as he did in 1971's "DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER".
"YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE" did have high water marks, other than Wakabayashi and Tambo’s performances. The movie can boast beautiful shots of Japan, thanks to cinematographer Freddie Young. I thought John Barry's score was lovely. He topped his work with a beautiful and lilting theme song, performed by Nancy Sinatra.
Minor Notes -
Connery’s first wife, Diane Cliento, had doubled for Mie Hama during the scene in which Kissy Suzuki swims back to summon Tiger Tanaka. It seemed that Ms. Hama had been ill at the time with stomach cramps and production could not wait for her to recover.
Tsai Chin, who played Ling, the Chinese agent hired by to set up Bond's "murder" in the film's pre-titled sequence in YOLT, also portrayed Madame Wu, one of the high rollers at Le Chiffre’s poker tournament in 2006's "CASINO ROYALE".
I have to agree with the prevailing view that "YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE" was not one of the best films of the James Bond movie franchise. I would not even consider it one of the best that starred Sean Connery. The narrative struck me as solid, but marred by a few plot holes. Aside from Akiko Wakabayashi, Tetsuro Tambo and Teru Shimada; I found the film's other performances either serviceable or a bit flawed. And I include Connery's performance. But despite its flaws, "YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE" still managed to be very entertaining.
R.I.P. Sir Sean Connery (1930-2020)