You Only Live Twice (1967)

Director:

Lewis Gilbert

Writers:

Harold Jack Bloom (additional story material)
Roald Dahl (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 June 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond

Plot:

Agent 007 and the Japanese secret service ninja force must find and stop the true culprit of a series of spacejackings before nuclear war is provoked.

Plot Keywords:

Space | Rocket | James Bond | Japan | Japanese

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Fri. Nov. 27

1:00 PM

SYFY

Cast

Sean Connery	...	James Bond
Akiko Wakabayashi	...	Aki
Mie Hama	...	Kissy
Tetsurô Tanba	...	Tiger Tanaka (as Tetsuro Tanba)
Teru Shimada	...	Mr. Osato
Karin Dor	...	Helga Brandt
Donald Pleasence	...	Blofeld
Bernard Lee	...	'M'
Lois Maxwell	...	Miss Moneypenny
Desmond Llewelyn	...	'Q'
Charles Gray	...	Henderson
Tsai Chin	...	Ling, Chinese Girl in Hong Kong
Peter Fanene Maivia	...	Car Driver
Burt Kwouk	...	Spectre 3
Michael Chow	...	Spectre 4

Also Known As:

Ian Fleming's You Only Live Twice (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Japanese | Russian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Ireland:PG | Iceland:12 | West Germany:12 (re-rating) | West Germany:16 | South Korea:15 | Brazil:14 | UK:PG (tv rating) | Australia:M (TV rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1987) | USA:Approved (original rating) | USA:GP (re-rating) (1970) | USA:PG (re-rating) (1994)

Filming Locations:

Akime Village Environs, Akime, Kagoshima, Japan

Company:

Eon Productions

Trivia:

In order to gain some measure of authenticity for the team of stuntmen who would double as Ninja in the climactic battle in the volcano, the producers enlisted the help of Japan's only practicing Ninja master, 34-year-old Masaaki Hatsumi who had inherited the tradition from his then retired teacher Toshitsugu Takamatsu. Both Takamatsu and Hatsumi had advised during the production of the first two of the Japanese "Shinobi No Mono" Ninja Assassins series of films produced in Japan between 1962 and 1966, and not only did the film provide an opportunity for Hatsumi to give more credibility to the Ninja characters, but also allowed him a few brief moments of screen time aboard Tiger Tanaka's private train, as he interrupts Bond and Tanakas Sake discussion to announce that the photographs are ready for viewing.

Goofs:

Continuity: Kissy is wearing a striped cover-up over her bikini when she returns to the crater with Tiger, and keeps it on throughout the battle in the crater. After Blofeld triggers the self-destruct and Bond yells "Down the tunnel", she's seen running from the crater and down the tunnel in only the bikini.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Astronaut - 1st American Spacecraft: Calling CapCom. CapCom, this is Jupiter 16. Do you give a go for fourth orbit.
Houston CapCom: CapCom to Jupiter 16. Can you confirm O2 pressure is within limit.
Astronaut - 1st American Spacecraft: Roger. Everything looks good in the environmental control system.
Houston CapCom: Okay. Everything looks good from here. You have a go for fourth orbit.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Breed (2001)

Soundtrack:

You Only Live Twice

Bond #5: Made in Japan

Easy to say which two things I remember best about "You Only Live Twice": the volcano base Ken Adam designed and the little helicopter Bond uses for his exploration of the volcano area. Roald Dahl's script brought better story development and less cheesy dialogs than in "Thunderball". Donald Pleasance played Blofeld extremely eccentric, almost sickening. Between Claudine Auger in the previous Bond and Diana Rigg in the next, "You Only Live Twice" does not really have just one leading lady, there are a few sweet Japanese girls around including Mie Hama and Akiko Wakabayashi, and among the baddies, Karin Dor appears as a redhead threatening to torture Bond when he is captured. The location of Japan had a lot to offer, from the modern skyscrapers to the traditional island villages, and let's not forget those sumo wrestlers ;-). With the 5th Bond, the hype had meanwhile become so huge that Connery was annoyed and said "never again" - for the first time...