You Only Live Twice

'''This page is dedicated to Sean Connery, who died on October 31st, 2020. May he Rest In Peace.'''

You Only Live Twice is a 1967 British spy film based on the 1964 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. The film was directed by Terence Young and distributed by United Artists.

Plot
After a mysterious rocket ship seizes manned space missions from Earth's orbit, suspicions mount and the world superpowers are hurled to the brink of war. Their only hope rests with James Bond, who races to stop the spacejackings' true mastermind, Ernst Blofeld. Chief of the evil S.P.E.C.T.R.E. organization, Blofeld is bent on instigating global warfare from his massive headquarters nestled in an inactive volcano. As the countdown begins, Bond joins forces with luscious Japanese Agent Kissy Suzuki and scores of Ninja warriors to mount a daring raid on Blofeld's lair and prevent a calamitous world war.

Why You Should Only Live Twice

 * 1) Good direction by Lewis Gilbert.
 * 2) Great production design especially the volcanic lair set which has become one of the most iconic lairs in the Bond franchise.
 * 3) A great title theme by Nancy Sinatra.
 * 4) Great action scenes. The gyrocopter scenes were especially impressive.
 * 5) The film finally has Bond meet Blofeld, with his face revealed for the first time ever.
 * 6) Great acting especially from Donald Pleasence who manages to sell the creepiness of Ernst Blofeld.
 * 7) The culture of Japan is marvelous to look at.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Some aspects of the film haven't aged well.
 * 2) * "In Japan, men come first, women come second." Which can come across as either sexist or Orientalist to some today, depending on whether the original viewers were supposed to agree with it or not.
 * 3) * Sean Connery passing for Japanese in Yellowface.
 * 4) While he still puts on a good performance, it's pretty obvious that Sean Connery was getting pretty bored of the role as James Bond by this point. This can be seen in some scenes where Sean has a noticeably bored expression and he isn't even trying to hide it.
 * 5) Plot hole: It's never shown what happened to the Soviet or American astronauts.

Reception
On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 73% based on 49 reviews with an average rating of 6.53/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "With exotic locales, impressive special effects, and a worthy central villain, You Only Live Twice overcomes a messy and implausible story to deliver another memorable early Bond flick." James Berardinelli of ReelViews said that the first half was good, but "It's only during the second half, as the plot escalates beyond the bounds of preposterousness, that the film starts to fragment", criticising Blofeld's appearance and stating "rockets that swallow up spacecraft are a bit too extravagant." Ali Barclay of BBC Films lightly criticized Dahl's script, writing that Dahl had "clearly helped thrust Bond into a whole new world of villainy and technology, maybe his concepts were slightly ahead of themselves, or maybe he just tried too hard." Leo Goldsmith lauded the volcano base as "the most impressive of Ken Adam's sets for the franchise." Danny Peary wrote that You Only Live Twice "should have been about twenty minutes shorter" and described it as "not a bad Bond film, but it doesn't compare to its predecessors – the formula had become a little stale."

Videos
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