You Only Live Twice

Well, if I thought Guy Hamilton's take on James Bond was very different to Terence Young's, I had no idea what Lewis Gilbert would do to the series.

What this film has done is to take the title of Ian Fleming's novel, a couple of the characters that were present and then to toss away the entire script and do something different. Admittedly it was always going to be difficult to do a movie based on You Only Live Twice as it is, essentially, a sequel to On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Bond attempting, badly, to recover from the death of his wife and being sent on a mission to try to snap him out of his misery (can't quite see the film producers marrying Bond off, let alone killing the poor dear, but we have to wait to the next movie - which is OHMSS - before we will find out).

So having thrown away the plot of suicide castles in Japan, we now have a plot about SPECTRE capturing different countries' spaceshuttles in order to start the next world war. Quite why they are stealing the shuttles is a little curious - after all, destroying them would presumably have the same effect, and be a whole lot easier. Perhaps Blofeld had a greater plan that we never found out about because Bond ended the first part before the next could get underway.
Oh, and interestingly, the screenplay is by Roald Dahl. Which would explain why the film is easily the most outlandish the series has had to date. Dahl claimed that writing a Bond script was easy - you have three girls who fall in love with Bond, one who is good and dies, one who is bad and then changes sides...and dies, and one who ends up with Bond. We'll get back to this point later.

The film actually has a great pretitle sequence which is surprisingly tense and revolves around an American shuttle being captured. It's directed beautifully and when the moment when the astronaut's communication line is cut and all sound is just stopped is very, very effective. I'll get back on to sound, direction and photography later. What's quite funny about the pretitle sequence is the suggestion that the British think that the Russians and the Americans are both idiots. We have "our best man on it", says the British representative in the strange geodesic dome, before we cut to Bond making out with a woman in Hong Kong. Funny, yes, but is Bond actually there investigating? His apparent death is quite shocking (there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance by Doctor Who's 1980's Master, Anthony Ainley) and goes into a rather stunning title sequence (no nudity this time round), with Donald Pleasance getting the first "And" credit of a Bond movie (outside of Bernard Lee as "M" of course).

Roald Dahl's script has a huge amount of plotholes and a lot of things happen just for the sake of them happening. For instance, when "M" informs Bond he has to contact Henderson, he gets up and goes to a side table, and in a drawer takes out a small slip of paper with Henderson's address on it. So, does "M" write all the contacts down on post-it notes and then stick them in a nearby draw on the off chance he needs them, then? Later, when Bond gets to Japan (and he's back to being a know-it-all again in this movie) he goes to a sumo match to meet with his Japanese contact. However, rather than having tickets supplied, or going to buy tickets, Bond goes into the area where the wrestlers are, and a wrestler gives him tickets. Why? After meeting with Osato and Helga at their office (SPECTRE appears to only prefer having redheads on their staff), Osato orders Helga to kill Bond. Bond then walks out of the building only for a guy in a parked car to start shooting a machine gun at him. Wouldn't it make more sense to kill Bond in the privacy of the building, rather than letting it get to a car chase outside? And more, Aki contacts Tiger Tanaka and requests "the usual reception", which turns out to be a helicopter with a giant magnet. How often does this sort of thing happen for them to have an "usual reception"? Clearly a fair bit if they can have a helicopter with a giant magnet on standby.

And that's the things that just "happen". Indeed it seems that the majority of the Japanese part of the movie is just fights and chase scenes. But Dahl's logic also leaves a fair bit to be desired.

Who is SPECTRE working with? They are Asian, but not the Japanese, and they certainly don't sound Chinese.

According to Blofeld Bond is the only person they know that uses a Walther PPK - yet in Dr No the Americans swore by it.

Bond claims he's never been to Japan, but in From Russia, With Love he tells a story about him and "M" in Tokyo.

SPECTRE might be a lot better off if they stopped killing random nobodies. They shoot at Kissy swimming in the ocean...for what reason exactly?

The secret ninja training camp is not so secret, clearly, as no less than two people infiltrate it without anyone else noticing.

Most impressively of all though, Bond is lead out of Blofeld's control room via a back entry and is then rescued. He says to Tanaka they need to get into the control room, but Tanaka says that it is impregnable. Bond is puzzled, but notices technicians escaping. "There must be a back way in," he declares. Ya think? It didn't occur to you to just go in the way Blofeld took you out?

OK, so you're thinking, he hated this movie. Actually, I didn't. I loved it. Because, of all the faults above, there is so much more to recommend this movie it's not funny. In fact, I only have one more little gripe, and I'll say it now to get it out of the way. I didn't mention in my review of Thunderball that one problem I had was the actress who dubbed Domino was the same actress who dubbed Honey in Doctor No, and it was very obvious. The same problem happens here as Robert Rietty, who dubbed Largo in Thunderball, dubs Tiger Tanaka here, and you can tell. Worse, though, at one point Tiger speaks a Japanese sentence, and it is obviously Tetsuro Tamba rather than Reitty who says the line. The difference is pretty obvious.

But, let's talk about all the great stuff in this film. I want to start with Gilbert's direction, which is fantastic. The movie really moves along at a great pace, and the entire film is shot with a great deal of care. There is a fabulous shot, just before Bond's massage, where Bond can be seen through the legs of the girl about to massage him. It is very unusual and works really well. This is all helped by the photography of the movie which is nothing short of glorious. Although it's always been good, for the first time I was struck by how beautiful and important Japan was to the storyline. Tokyo, particularly at night, really comes to life, and the restoration of the film really shows us the quality of Freddie Young's work.

The two other 'shout outs to the production team' I'd like to give are to John Barry and (and it would be criminal if I didn't mention it) Ken Adam. Barry's music is particularly notable in this movie, not least for the lush and beautiful title song (sung by Nancy Sinatra), the 007 theme (showing up regularly it seems) and, of course, the brilliant use of the James Bond theme, but also for two pieces of music which really set the tone of the movie for me - the Space Walk theme used whenever the SPECTRE rocket eats up a government one, and the gorgeous marriage theme that accompanies one of the most beautiful sequences in the whole movie - Bond marrying Kissy.

Meanwhile, Ken Adam's sets are just amazing. There is the "standard Adam" in the form of Tiger's office in Tokyo, that strange, sparse metal world that Adam likes to design, with futuristic chairs and stairs that have no rails, but that is nothing compared to Blofeld's hollowed-out volcano lair. It is simply massive. Helicopters take off and land - hell, rockets do the same!! - and monorails take people to and fro. Why Adam didn't recieve an Academy Award for production design on this movie is beyond me. And what's more, at the end we get the fight sequence in said hollowed-out volcano! It's the most amazing fight sequence in the Bond movies to date, and it shames the underwater battle in Thunderball completely. Lewis just seems to let havok take over and it falls into place spectacularly.

Onto the casting side of things, because there are a few mentions that need to be made (and I'm not even talking about Bert Kwok and the fat colonel from 'Allo 'Allo). Connery, Lee and Maxwell all return as Bond, Moneypenny and "M", but to be fair none of them are really putting an awful lot of effort into this one. Bond, as I said, has returned to being a know-all, but his sexism has really reached new lows. Here he seems to show an almost callous disregard for women - after Aki dies (and that is quite a shocking and unexpected death), the next day Bond seems more concerned about what is faux-wife is going to look like. Equally, once he meets Kissy Suzuki his first thought is how to get her into bed.

But, on the regular side of things, Desmond Llewellyn is going from strength to strength as "Q", and makes his cameo appearance the most memorable yet. Of course, it helps that he has a mini-helicopter to unveil, which makes for another great chase sequence in Japan.

But onto the guest cast, and let's start with the women. Akiko Wakayabashi and Mie Hama are the two Bond girls, and isn't it nice that we get two Eastern girls? It makes a refreshing change, although it is interesting that Hama's Kissy Suzuki is dressed almost identically to Honey from Dr No at the end of the film, in the white bikini, and then the white shirt over the top. I actually prefer Hama to Wakayabashi, and although I was saddened by her death, Wakayabashi doesn't have the same innocence that Hama does. Indeed, on her second meeting with Bond she is snogging him, having had a sum total of one conversation with him. Slut! That said, the Japanese as a race are handled very well in the movie and not really protrayed stereotypically (this was made in the 60's remember - their culture has changed a little). The only time the production falters is when one of the Japanese secreties inform Bond he is three and a half minutes late...

Although only on screen for about five minutes, Charles Gray is just fantastic as Henderson. It really is a shame he doesn't get more screen time, because he has an instant appeal that is helped a lot when, after Bond slams him in the leg with a cane, he replies that he's glad Bond got the right leg. Indeed, Connery seems to come alive opposite Gray, as there is some nice repartee between the pair, and Connery has a delighful moment when Henderson gives him a martini that is stirred not shaken. Despite being polite, the look Bond gives shows the truth.

But, of course, it is Donald Pleasance that creates the biggest impression in the movie. After four movies, Blofeld is finally revealed to us and what a sight the scarred, bald-headed man is. The reveal of Blofeld is executed perfectly, and it is one of the top moments in cinema history, let alone the Bond series. Again, Connery seems to be a little more than bored in his scenes with Pleasance (who has all the best lines in the movie) and Pleasance just oozes the right amount of camp evil that is required for the part. Watch his hand as he strokes the cat while Helga is devoured by piranhas. Mike Myers obviously did...

Yes, the final thing I might mention is that, though Thunderball inpsired much of Austin Powers, the rest clearly came from You Only Live Twice. Dr Evil is Ernst Stavro Blofeld, with his white cat and scarred face, but a lot of the other jokes are here to: a hollowed-out volcano lair; instructions being given, and then repeated by someone into the communications system; even a piece of dialogue is lifted!

You Only Live Twice is a massive departure for the Bond series, leaving the realms of the gritty spy Terence Young created, moving through Hamilton's 60's television spy idea and going to an outlandish world where only a superspy can save the day. It's different, but strangely...I like it.

"A-"

Favourite movie order:

1. Dr No

2. Thunderball

3. From Russia, With Love

4. Goldfinger

5. You Only Live Twice
Favourite Bond girl:

1. Claudine Auger/Dominio

2. Mie Hama/Kissy

3. Daniela Bianchi/Tanya

4. Ursula Andress/Honey

5. Honor Blackman/Pussy
Favourite Bond villain:

1. Donald Pleasance/Blofeld

2. Gert Frobe/Goldfinger

3. Adolfo Celi/Largo

4. Joseph Wiseman/Dr No

5. Lotte Lenya/Klebb