Reviewing Bond: You Only Live Twice

It’s Christmas time, which gives me fond memories of Bond marathons on television beginning Thanksgiving weekend. So I’ve decided to take a deep, deep dive by rewatching each and every film with a final ranking post to follow. Spoilers will be included because this is an analysis piece. I initially considered publishing all five films I plan to watch this weekend, but the piece would be too long so this one will only feature You Only Live Twice.

My reviews will consider the following:

Story & settings

Action sequences

Gadgets and vehicles

Villains and Bond girls

And a wildcard for each!

I used a wheel spin app to kick off my viewing of the franchise to reduce bias of picking or watching in order (which can also introduce bias because you adjust to time period), and so this and the next four posts will review the following:

1. You Only Live Twice (1967)
2. From Russia with Love (1963)
3. The World is not Enough (1999)
4. Quantum of Solace (2008)
5. Goldeneye (1995)

You Only Live Twice

Beginning with its iconic and legendary theme, this Bond has everything that makes a Bond film James Bond. While the film has not appreciated well given modern sensitivities around race and cultural stereotypes, I will be mindful that this film was made 58 years ago in 1967. So looking past that obvious reason to discount it, I will instead refer to the criteria I set forth for my reviews and dive in to this absolute classic Connery outing!

Story and Settings

Starting with setting, while it may not appear a very exotic locale to modern audiences, Japan at the time was a relatively untouched gem of emerging technology and culture. Midcentury Tokyo was a treat to envision, with all of its electronic billboards and dense cityscapes. Beyond that, you get some prototypical Asian country homes and mountainous settings equipped with dojos and steamy spas.

The standout here has to be the volcano lair, fully equipped with rocket launch pad and monorail. It is so iconic a Bond setting that films like Austin Powers have taken to emulate it in parody. Even casual viewers can associate this lair with Bond iconography, even if they cannot name the film it is in.

Despite being filmed only in one location in Japan, the villain set makes up for the lack of globe trotting, earning this part of the category a very respectable 8/10.

The story is straight from Fleming’s novel and is a classic setup of western powers vs. the USSR albeit with a twist. After faking his own death to throw off his adversaries, Bond is sent to Japan to investigate the origins of a rocket behind the missing American and Soviet space crafts. What appears like a straightforward business tycoon (Osato) working for a resurgent Japanese power is actually a front for SPECTRE itself. Yes, the familiar Bond nemesis, SPECTRE is run by none other than Ernst Stavro Blofeld, using the space showdown as a precursor to nuclear war in order to reimagine the global power structure with the US and USSR out of the way. It’s a big Bond-villain style plan but one just grounded enough in spy games that it works on all levels.

As far as story goes, this one is a slow burn with a classic villain reveal. The first half of the movie’s story keeps you guessing, like any good spy thriller. The script, provided by legendary British children’s author Roald Dahl is well crafted and engaging (even if some of the dialog would be considered crude by modern standards). While Dahl might seem an unusual choice, he makes sense given his background in naval intelligence, like Bond creator Ian Fleming. He has also written across genres to high success.

The main issues with the story arise from the misuse of its women, notably killing off Ake too soon and relying on a relatively useless one-for-one but not like-for-like replacement. Another problem is having Bond go undercover “as a Japanese.” Obviously having Connery in yellow-face has not aged well, but for a film made in 1966-67, it’s hard to really judge it by modern standards, however it does take you out of the film a bit because it is indeed jarring.

While not an issue with the story or writing, Connery himself seemed tired of the role at this point. This is a common criticism of the film; he looks paunchy, sweaty and over it. Of course he was relentlessly bothered on location in Japan, and having been through four films in rapid succession, it’s understandable why the guy would need a break. It doesn’t really ruin the movie for me the way it does for others, because it is still an engaging classic, even if not on the level of some of its predecessors.

The story and setting gets a solid 7/10.

Action Sequences

Who can forget the incredible midpoint helicopter chase? It’s pretty thrilling stuff, set to John Barry’s Bond needle drop when he does something thrilling.

What really made this film stand out was its incredible hand to hand combat scenes, from the rooftop showdown, to Bond’s physical fight against Osata’s imposing henchman. Making use of its on-location setting in midcentury Japan, the film employs some incredible fight choreography. From Bond taking on various henchmen, to an entire ninja army amid the volcano lair showdown in the finale, there’s some great action sequences featuring very physical combat alongside more traditional guns, explosions. We even get ninja stars and swords! Seven years later and The Man With the Golden Gun would try and incorporate kung-fu madness, but nowhere near as successfully as this film.

Overall the action is outstanding but much of what makes this film so well-directed are the quiet thriller and suspense moments making great use of omniscient camera angles to remind us we are still watching an espionage film after all.

Action: 8/10 since it is balanced between big-budget spectacle and more grounded quiet espionage moments and hand to hand combat in between. Overall very satisfying.

Gadgets and Vehicles

I really love the use of the classic 1967 Toyota 2000GT, a super rare and very collectible automobile which today would set back ultra wealthy enthusiasts $800,000 for the privilege of owning 1 of 351 ever made! It steals the show in some great car chases, including the very convenient, but very Bond film deus ex machina, car-magnet employed to recycle a few henchmen into a nearby river.

Also having a stand-out moment in this film is the little Nellie combat chopper. It has a dedicated action sequence above the volcano lair that makes perfect use of the Bond action formula.

Beyond the vehicles, the gadgets are not exactly steal the show stuff, with the exploding cigarette and a safe cracker. Desmond Llewelyn’s Q shows up on screen to make a few quippy remarks while sweating through his shirt in the South Asian humidity and that’s about it. A rather underwhelming outing for him and for his arsenal of inventions. Because of that, I’d give the category a decent 7/10, helped only by the memorable vehicles of this outing.

Villains and Bond Girls

Who can forget the first ever on camera reveal of legendary Bond nemesis and SPECTRE big-bad, Blofeld? Played to absolute menacing perfection by Donald Pleasance, this is one of the greatest villains to occupy the franchise and he is put to excellent use here. The slow build to reveal SPECTRE’s involvement is also delicious, as we get our first glimpse of him behind a chair petting his beloved Persian cat. His setting as well is perfection, a hidden volcano lair intended as a rocket-launch pad is peak Bond villainy– it even has a monorail in all its retro-futuristic glory and is fully stocked with a piranha pit. This is the quintessential representation of Blofeld in the Bond franchise. If this category were just villains, it’d get a perfect 10/10.

However this category also includes Bond girls and well let’s just say this is the weakest point in the film. Every female character on screen is basically one dimensional and disposable (literally). The primary Bond girl role is occupied by Japanese spy Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi). Despite only two brief run-ins with Bond, she falls in love with him and thus into his arms? It’s not very convincing. While she does have some skills up her sleeve, even rescuing Bond, she is quickly dispatched with far too early in the film’s runtime. She could have been a real standout if they gave her more time and therefore agency as an equal to Bond, alas with dialog like “Japan is a country where men come first,” it’s not surprising why they didn’t. Helga/Number 11 (Karin Dor), the female baddy who kidnaps Bond and seduces him into a plane ride from hell, is likewise very one-note and forgettable. Kissy Suzuki (Mie Hama) just swims around in a white bikini in between hiding from crossfire– utterly useless. And almost as soon as their use to the story is up, they are quickly killed off (with the exception to the plot armor afforded Kissy). It’s insulting honestly. I rate these Bond girls so poorly that I cannot in good faith give it anything higher than a 2/10.

The female characters are so poorly developed and implemented in this outing that it drags the perfect villain score down to a good, not bad, 6/10 for the category.

Wildcard!

I added the category of a wildcard to allow me to really praise what I like (or criticize what I didn’t for lower ranking films). The standout for me in this film was both the hand to hand combat and fight choreography and incredible direction overall.

I especially love the omniscient camera angles that give us the sense of being watched, surveilled. Long shots matched with close ups and non-dialog acting provide great tension. This shot above is one of the standouts, meant to capture Bond being surveilled but almost framed like the iconic gun-barrel opener of the film’s franchise. Director Lewis Gilbert (who also later went on to direct Moonraker and The Spy Who Loved Me) is at the absolute top of his game here and I think his efforts at crafting a terrific spy thriller not too overdone on set-piece action earns this wildcard rating a solid 8/10.

Conclusion

Overall I give You Only Live Twice a very solid 7/10. It has some problems, including big ones which haven’t aged well (Bond in yellow-face) alongside some poor use of its Bond girls. But moving past the cultural insensitivities and rather unremarkable female characters, what you get is Bond at its very, very best.

Let me know your thoughts if you so feel inclined and thanks for reading!