Agente 007 - Si vive solo due volte

An American spacecraft in outer space has been swallowed up by an unidentified flying object. The Americans blame the Soviets. The Soviets deny the allegation. In the meantime, "James Bond" (Sean Connery) is set up by an attractive Chinese woman named "Ling" (Tsai Chin) and is murdered. Or at least that's what MI5 wants the world to think. From the information they have been able to gather the unidentified flying object has touched down somewhere near Japan and that is where James Bond is sent to investigate. But he only has a short time because the Americans are planning on launching another rocket and have warned the Soviets that they will declare war if anything happens to this one. At any rate, rather than go into great detail on what happens next and risk spoiling the film for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that this film probably doesn't receive as much attention as some of the others in the James Bond series. Personally, I enjoyed the location, the music and the way Mie Hama ("Kissy") looked in her white swimsuit. Be that as it may, while it may not be the best James Bond film ever produced, it manages to entertain fairly well and I have rated it accordingly.

This particular 007 entry (which was intended to be Sean Connery's last before he would agreed to return one more time for his sixth shot as 006 in 'Diamonds are Forever (1971)' and lets not the forget the unofficial 'Never Say Never Again' in 1983) was the first Bond film I encountered and from that it has always remained a total favourite. "You Live Only Twice" we see Bond travel to the land of the rising sun (Japan) in what is quite an expansive concept (dazzling set-designs with spectacular non-stop action) and very well-budgeted effort that lingers on a extremely comic-book-like tone (thanks largely to Roald Dahl's industriously well-guided screenplay that plays its cards close to the chest) with its characters, atmospherics and set-pieces that for me would make it one of the most creative and exciting inclusions to the series.

Bond heads to Japan racing to uncover the true mastermind behind the space-jacking that could see another world war, as British sources believe that the mysterious rocket ship which has seized American and Russian space shuttles originates from there, but those countries believe otherwise than each other for the acts.

Couple of things which made it more the memorable would be that it's the first chance we get to see arch villain SPECTRE Agent #1 Ernst Blofeld's face, than just the hand stroking the cat… although the first hour we get enough of that. It's a devilishly meaty Donald Pleasence who just seemed the part of Blofeld. Now who didn't love the hidden lair that was in an inactive volcano, and of course Blofeld's pool of pet piranhas. The inventive gadget novelty was really making a mark, just look the deadly mini-copter named 'Nelly' and the dangerous effects of smoking around others. Strangely enough the (witty) script seemed to spit out a few self-knowing quips involving cigarettes, which became rather odd. Director Lewis Gilbert (who would go on to control the very similar in story-structure "The Spy Who Loved Me" and then following that the plain goofy "Moonraker") does a tersely capable job with a fast moving pace that shifted from one well organized set-piece to another (like the chase on-top of a rooftop in a fishing docks that's masterfully captured by cinematographer Freddie Young) to finally finish on a barnstorming climax (with none other than ninjas) and then a familiarly fitting final frame. Sean Connery might look a little tired (a bit funny trying to make himself look like Japanese under make-up), but remains just as charismatic and fittingly lean when it came to getting down and dirty (Bond and his tussle with Blofeld's massive henchman Hans comes to mind). The bond girls shape up nicely in the form of Akiko Wakabayashi, Mie Hama and the stunning German redhead Karin Dor. Tetsurô Tanba was good as Bond's Japanese counterpart. Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell and Desmond Llewelyn treat us to their iconic roles. John Barry's classy music score has a smoothly oriental touch, which can get actively copious when called for and theme song "You Only Live Twice" is enticingly sung by Nancy Sinatra.

This was the fifth in the Bond series, released in 1967. Producer Albert `Cubby' Broccoli had quite a challenge on his hands outdoing the runaway success of `Thunderball'. He undertook to surpass it by increasing the budget, trying more elaborate gadgets and stunts (an ultralight heavily armed one man helicopter being chased by 4 other helicopters), gargantuan sets (a launch pad inside a volcano) and exotic locations (Japan). At almost $10 million (that's about $50 million in today's dollars), this was one of the highest budgeted films at that time. The launch pad set alone cost over $1 million to build. Despite great box office results, ($110 Million worldwide in 1967 dollars) it fell short of Cubby's ambitions to exceed `Thunderball' financially ($140 Million worldwide) and it proved to be lackluster among the early Bond films.

Although having established himself as a pop icon in his 007 roles, Sean Connery was tired of being James Bond. Before the release of this film, he announced his intention to retire from the role. His lack of enthusiasm was evident throughout the film and his onscreen demeanor lacked verve. He didn't even show much interest in the love scenes, looking more bored than passionate. The critics declared that this would be the end of his career and the end of James Bond films, probably the worst twin predictions in the history of film. As it turns out, Connery returned to the role twice more in 1971 (Diamonds Are Forever) and 1983 (Never Say Never Again).

I have a great deal of respect for Sean Connery, indeed he is one of my favorite actors. His Bond films set a standard that was never equaled by any of the actors that followed. However, his performance in this film displayed so much ennui that it bordered on unprofessional.

This film had all the elements necessary to make it one of the better Bond films. It finally gave a face to Blofeld, and though the choice of Donald Pleasence was roundly criticized, I liked him in the role. The story was intriguing. Astronauts and their spacecraft were being abducted by a rogue predator ship that was gobbling them up whole. Bond was dispatched to find out who was behind the plot. The screenplay written by Roald Dahl was full of clever double entendres like Aki's (Akiko Wakabayashi) great line just as Bond swept her into his arms, `I think I will enjoy very much serving under you.' It had majestic locations and great photography. However, the elements didn't gel, mostly because of Connery's Bond fatigue.

Overall, this was a good Bond film, although it could have been much better but for Connery's malaise. Still, the story was stronger than contemporary Bond films, which have resorted to nonstop action and visual effects with flimsy scripts. I rated it a 7/10. If you want to see Connery at his best, see `Goldfinger' or `From Russia With Love'.

Solid entry in the James Bond saga – Sean Connery's fifth appearance as the secret agent in a row (his last, in fact, until DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER [1971] and, eventually, the non-series entry NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN [1983]) – featuring a lovely title tune by John Barry and Leslie Bricusse sung by Nancy Sinatra.

The relocation to Japan for the main action (resulting in impeccable photography courtesy of the renowned Freddie Young, who also contributes an inspired aerial shot of our hero at the center of a rooftop chase/struggle) adds much-needed novelty in the exotic department – though characters tend to be less well developed as a consequence. Tetsuro Tamba is imposing enough as his 'sidekick', but the all-important Bond girls have no distinguishing features – save for Karin Dor, a typical femme-fatale-ish villainess who manages to trap Bond in an unpiloted plane. Similar expansiveness was shown in Ken Adam's elaborate design of Ernst Stavro Blofeld's headquarters, hidden within the crater of a Japanese volcano; other attention-grabbing devices include Bond being 'killed' in the prologue (thus explaining the title), while he's later given an Oriental 'countenance' and even made to 'marry' a Japanese girl (an irrelevant undercover attempt, as it happens – since there is very little interaction between Bond, his local allies and the enemy before the final confrontation in the volcano interior)!

Its plot involving the abduction of space shuttles belonging to the U.S. and Russia, in the hope of provoking a war between the major powers, again plays on the fears of nuclear annihilation palpable during the Cold War era. Incidentally, this is the first time Blofeld himself steps in as chief villain (played with appropriate menace by Donald Pleasence – with a handy piranha-filled stream underneath a sliding bridge to replace the pool-sharks from the previous installment, THUNDERBALL [1965]). By the way, Charles Gray (Blofeld in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER) appears in a bit here as Bond's ill-fated contact in Japan! The most prominent gadget invented by Q (the ubiquitous Desmond Llewellyn) in this case is an artillery-equipped mini-chopper – employed in a sequence whose filming unfortunately cost an aerial photographer his leg!; there's also a memorably violent brawl which has Bond and his opponent lashing at each other with heavy living-room couches!

The show, then, is climaxed by one of the most spectacular action bouts in the entire saga – for which Bond recruits Tamba's ninjas to fight the minions of SPECTRE; Blofeld, of course, is allowed to go free this time around…since he'd be involved in at least three subsequent direct matches with 007. Given that director Gilbert lived up to the challenge of ably following in the footsteps of Terence Young and Guy Hamilton, it was only natural he'd be asked to helm further Bond adventures – though, by the time THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1977) and MOONRAKER (1979) came along, Roger Moore had firmly established himself in the role.

My Take: Another fun Bond entry. Great Bond, fun villains, neat gadgets, and enjoyable action.

"You Only Live Twice" is business as usual for Bond. Not much new, and Connery seemed bored playing his role (explaining his disappearance in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"). There is a lot to like in this film. Connery in "You Only Live Twice" is easily comparable to FROM Russia WITH LOVE and GOLDFINGER, but as Bond, he already has established that he is the best in the business and YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE does give him much to do.

This film does carry the original tradition of Bond. This time around, Bond is sent to Japan to investigate the disappearances of American space shuttles. While the United States suspect it's Russian interference and threaten to retaliate, the Brits faked 007's assassination, in order to clear the way for Bond to investigate what really is going on.

Some areas of YOLT are pretty campy (some of the patterns for the AUSTIN POWERS parodies are pretty evident), but the camp is part of the fun. It's a throwback to the good ol' not-to-be-taken-seriously adventure espionage fun. This is formula Bond, but loaded with great action, neat gadgetry ("Little Nellie" is one of the most beloved Q gadgets) and the glorious sets by the one-and-only Bond veteran Ken Adam make it another high-flying, if not exactly groundbreaking, Bond adventure and one of he series' more fun entries.

Rating: **** out of 5.