Bondathon: You Only Live Twice

After the detour with the parody version of Casino Royale, Bondathon returns to the main series with the iconic if excessive Japanese-set adventure You Only Live Twice.

The USA and USSR are on the brink of war after an American spacecraft disappears. The Americans blame the Soviets but MI6 believes the real culprit is in Japan and sent James Bond to investigate with Japanese intelligence. Bond has to race against time before there are more spacecraft are launched and stop World War III from breaking out.

You Only Live Twice is most famous for its final act. This was the film where the villain’s lair was inside an extinct volcano and used as a rocket launch site. The film had a massive battle with soldiers zip lining down the volcano. It was the film that set up the template for villain lairs to come. This sequence was so well-loved that The Simpsons parodied it twice with the episodes “You Only Move Twice” and “Mona Leaves-a.” As an excellent action sequence that had the scale of a war film and it was a great showcase for Ken Adam’s production design.

You Only Live Twice’s iconic status expends beyond the volcano sequence. One of the most memorable characters was Blofeld. This was the first film where his face and name were revealed and Donald Pleasance’s version of the character properly the first that comes to mind of many people. Pleasance’s version of Blofeld has been parodied by the likes of Austin Powers and Evil Genius games.

The influence of You Only Live Twice extends to the use of the Japanese setting. Both Austin Powers in Goldmember and the Bond game Nightfire used that nation as a location. The main characters in those properties had to investigate a dubious industrial concern like Bond did in You Only Live Twice.

Whilst You Only Live Twice has a legacy, there was one part of the film that wouldn’t be allowed today: Bond turning Japanese. Blofeld’s lair was on a small island that only has a small fishing village on it. For Bond to get on the island he had to marry a local woman and learn how to be and made to look Japanese. So, Bond donning yellowface was a part of the plot. It wasn’t even convincing yellowface because Bond looked like he was cosplaying as Mr. Spock.

At this point in the franchise the Bond films had been getting bigger and more outlandish. It started with Goldfinger and continued with Thunderball. You Only Live Twice was in the same level as Thunderball when it comes to its basic plot but the 1967 film has two advantages over the Bahamas set adventure. The first was You Only Live Twice kept a certain level of mystery and the audience knew as much as Bond. The second was You Only Live Twice had more exciting action sequences than Thunderball. Like Goldfinger, You Only Live Twice was able to mix a far-fetched plot that had real geopolitical implications.

You Only Live Twice did have impressive action sequences and set pieces. The film had one of my favourite gadgets, Little Nellie, a mini helicopter armed with guns, rockets, and missiles. Another major sequence involved a helicopter with a powerful magnet. It was a wonderfully Bond-esque scene.

A good Bond film does need great supporting characters and You Only Live Twice has that. This film had Tiger Tanaka (Tetsurō Tamba) and Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi). Tanaka was the head of the Japanese intelligence service and he was a useful ally for Bond, having both brains and resources. He was similar to Ali Kerim Bey in From Russia With Love. Whilst Kitty Suzuki (Mie Hama) was billed as the main Bond girl, Aki had more screen time, helped the spy out of a couple of jams, and had more chemistry with Bond than Kitty.

The early Bond film were travel logs. From Russia With Love highlighted Istanbul and Thunderball was mostly set in the Bahamas. Almost all of You Only Live Twice was set in Japan and back in the ‘60s Japan would have been seen as an exotic place to Western audiences. The film did highlight the unique culture of the nation with the wedding sequence and the sumo wrestling scene. The film also highlighted some more stereotypical things about Japan i.e. karate and ninjas. It was fun to see a Western film being shot in Japan. The film highlighted the landscape and landmarks of the nation like Himeji Castle. You Only Live Twice was a source of pride for the village of Akime.

You Only Live Twice did have story issues. One of the biggest involved the title because Bond faked his death to reduce the heat he was receiving from SPECTRE. But Bond’s fake death didn’t have any bearing on the plot. It was just a cool title.

You Only Live Twice was an entertaining entry in the Bond franchise due to its set-pieces and sense of scale. There were some problematic elements the film was able to overcome them for the most part. Its influence cannot be overstated.