YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967) should be my favorite Bond film because it’s got it all— sixties style, classic Tokyo, secret volcano lair, Donald Pleasance as the villain and Sean Connery, but it’s weaker than everything except Doctor No mainly because Connery was tired of playing James Bond and it shows.
The plot is also overly ridiculous— Bond is “killed” in the opening scene, which lasts for about the length of the credits and for not much reason that I can think of other than some kind of PR stunt. The most ridiculous part comes later— when they decide the best way to tackle SPECTRE’s secret volcano base is to disguise 6’3” Sean Connery as a Japanese guy. Didn’t even come close to working.
All right— here’s the plot, Donald Pleasance is Blofeld, Bond’s archest of all arch nemesis and his evil cat have decided to work for a rogue nation and start a war between Russia and the United States by making it seem like each is attacking the other’s space program— remember this was the space age.
James Bond is on the case and he’s sent to Tokyo to sort things out. Bond shows genuine affection for one of the Bond girls this time around, but that lasts about the same as his opening death scene after she’s killed he’s already moved on to another conquest.
It’s also worth noting that there are some cringe-worthy moments regarding the mid-sixties attitude toward women, especially in Japan. I can tell you from experience that those attitudes still remain in the land of the rising sun, and I am the last person on the planet to be offended by anything because I tend to keep things in perspective, but some of the lines in this had me wincing*.
BOND: Connery is ready to leave and he’s looking paunchy, but he’s still the best Bond **1/2
VILLAIN: Donald Pleasance is the best Blofeld ever. Try to forget Dr Evil *****
THEME SONG: Nancy Sinatra’s perfect 60s Bond theme. The whole soundtrack rocks *****
HENCHMAN: Not much to see here.
OVERALL BOND RATING: 7.5 Any Connery is better than No Connery.
*People who know me quite well are often surprised I’m okay with the rampant womanizing in these Bond films— I see those scenes the same way I saw them as a kid— essentially I don’t. I never noticed the love scenes when I first saw these because I ignored boring icky stuff— and the same holds true now. Bond is often a pig, and he’s not someone I would want to hang out with. It won’t be until 1987’s LIVING DAYLIGHTS that Timothy Dalton (if I remember correctly) shows some respect for the women he runs into. I’ve been saying it since I started Bond Tuesdays— I like the Bond films for the exotic locales, the style, the gadgets, the villains and then lastly for Sean Connery who when he’s really on his game like in GOLDFINGER he’s great.