You Only Live Twice

You Only Live Twice was released in 1967 and it was the fifth Bond film to hit cinema screens. Once again Sean Connery played Bond, although he took some persuading this time. Rather bizarrely the screenplay was penned by Roald Dahl. The film saw Bond tangling with his ultimate villainous opponent, Blofeld, played by Donald Pleasance and the action took place with a Japanese backdrop.

The film actually started in space with a US space craft being eaten by a UFO which turns out to be a SPECTRE rocket. MI6 trace the space craft to Japan and send Bond to investigate. A Soviet space craft is also eaten and a world war looms as Bond races to uncover the evil mastermind Blofeld and foil his scheme. There are some great moments in this outing and some deeply cheesy scenes as well.

This is the first Bond film that reveals Blofeld fully; his face was never revealed in previous films. He is played by Donald Pleasance who does a great job of bringing the cat stroking villain to life without much screen time and his portrayal created a memorable icon of villainy that was parodied in Austin Powers. His secret evil base is inside an extinct volcano and the fake lake at the top opens to reveal a shuttle launch bay. The set for the baddie lair in this film was superb and the various colour coded henchmen running around were also destined to become something of a cliché.

Bond teams up with a gang of ninjas for the final assault on the base after he carries out the recon in Little Nellie the autogyro. He manages to see off four SPECTRE helicopters in a rather daft scene. Later the worst moment of the film comes when Bond dons a Japanese fisherman disguise. The sumo fight and the Japanese wedding are also somewhat dodgy scenes.

The script is certainly imaginative and Dahl didn’t keep much of the original Fleming story. This was his first attempt at a screenplay and it was not brilliantly received with many critics complaining about the convoluted plot. Dahl later said he never took it seriously partly because a strict formula was enforced upon him by the producers.

For me Donald Pleasance is the best Blofeld but funnily enough they originally cast Jan Werich in the role. When he turned up on set they decided he looked far too kindly to play an evil villain, describing him as a Father Christmas character. Pleasance was drafted in at the last moment and went on to give the quintessential Bond villain performance.

Connery took some persuading to do this film and during the production he was hounded mercilessly by the Japanese press. He decided before it was over that this would be his last appearance as Bond and the next film featured Lazenby. As it turned out Connery would play Bond again in Diamonds are Forever and Never Say Never Again.

The film got mixed reviews although coverage was generally favourable. The franchise was fast becoming an event in itself with a legion of fans who would see every outing no matter what and on a budget of $9.5 million it took $111 million at the worldwide box office. Even the Queen came to the premiere of You Only Live Twice but whether she liked it is anyone’s guess.