View source for You Only Live Twice

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| colspan=2 style="padding:0; background:#333333; color:#fff; border-bottom:1px solid #999;" |[[Image:007YOLTposter.jpg|250px]]
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! colspan=2 |'''You Only Live Twice'''
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|Caption:||''You Only Live Twice'' movie poster
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|Bond:||[[Sean Connery]]
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|Writer:||[[Ian Fleming]]
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|Screenplay:||[[Roald Dahl]]
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|Director:||[[Lewis Gilbert]]
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|Music:||[[John Barry (composer)|John Barry]]
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|Video:|| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdKU3cBmu-c See the Music Video]
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|Composer:||John Barry <br> [[Leslie Bricusse]]
|-
|Performer:||[[Nancy Sinatra]]
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|Distributor:||[[United Artists]]
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|Released:||[[June 13]], [[1967]]
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|Runtime:||117 min.
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|Preceded by:||''[[Thunderball]]''
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|Followed by:||''[[On Her Majesty's Secret Service]]''
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|Budget:||$9,500,000
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|Worldgross:||$111,600,000
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|Admissions:||81.7 million
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|Imdb id:||0062512
|}


'''''You Only Live Twice''''' is the fifth film in the [[EON Productions]] [[James Bond]] series and the fifth to star [[Sean Connery]] as British Secret Service agent Commander James Bond 007. After its release in [[1967 in film|1967]], Connery stepped down from the role, leading to the hiring of [[George Lazenby]] for [[1969 in film|1969's]] ''[[On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)|On Her Majesty's Secret Service]]''; Connery later returned officially, one last time, in ''[[Diamonds Are Forever (film)|Diamonds Are Forever]]'' ([[1971 in film|1971]]). This is the first Bond film to be directed by [[Lewis Gilbert]], whol later directed [[1977 in film|1977's]] ''[[The Spy Who Loved Me (film)|The Spy Who Loved Me]]'' and [[1979 in film|1979's]] ''[[Moonraker (film)|Moonraker]]'', both starring [[Roger Moore]].

The film's [[screenplay]] was written by [[Roald Dahl]], and lightly based on [[Ian Fleming]]'s [[1964]] [[You Only Live Twice|novel]]. This is the first Bond movie to greatly deviate from the source material. Other than the [[Japan|Japanese]] setting and several characters, the two stories are very different.

Unlike most Bond epics featuring England, Russia, or America as prime locations, almost the entire film is set in Japan, and several minutes are devoted towards an elaborate Japanese wedding in the middle of the movie. This is in keeping with Fleming's original novel, which also focused a number of pages (more than the usual for a Bond book) to the discussion of Japanese culture. The film is unusual in the degree that it illustrates a comraderie between James Bond and his opposite number in Japan. Felix Leiter is frequently used as Bond's 'man in America' in other films, but their relationship is on a professional level only. In Japan, Bond meets 'Tiger' Tanaka. The two are seen cavorting about in several scenes during the movie, and seem to form a genuine friendship, and not simply a business association through the course of the movie. This is also in keeping with Fleming's novel.

==Plot summary==

[[Image:007OsatoChemicals.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Osato Chemicals]]

In outer space, a mysterious spacecraft captures and steals manned space capsules, of both the United States and the Soviet Union, in mid-orbit. Thinking that the other government is the cause of their loss, the [[Cold War]] world is thrown to the brink of [[World War III]]. The [[United Kingdom]]'s government, however, believes the mystery spacecraft landed in the [[Sea of Japan]]. This indicates that a [[Japan]]ese element may be involved.
[[Image:ErnstStavroBlofeld.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Ernst Stavro Blofeld]]]]
James Bond had participated in a charade faking his murder in Hong Kong. According to his superior, [[M (James Bond)|M]], this is to give James Bond "more elbow room". He is then sent to Japan to investigate the [[United Kingdom|British]] suspicion, in conjunction with the Japanese secret service leader "Tiger" Tanaka, to stave off a possible nuclear war. After Bond infiltrates Osato Chemicals, he discovers that the company has been delivering quantities of [[liquid oxygen]], a component of rocket fuel. Together, they learn that the true mastermind behind this is [[Ernst Stavro Blofeld]] and his organization [[SPECTRE]], with [[People's Republic of China|China]] financing him in their effort to have the [[superpower]]s destroy each other so they may rule supreme over what survives. SPECTRE was discovered to be Osato's client as well.

Bond infiltrates SPECTRE's secret rocket base, hidden in a hollow [[volcano]], while his female partner, Kissy, returns to alert Tanaka. Bond, however, is caught before stopping the final phase of the plan, and is taken before Blofeld. Meanwhile, Tanaka and his elite [[ninja]] force attempt to enter the volcano's crater hatch. Unfortunately, they are spotted before entering, and Blofeld shoots at them with the crater's sentry guns. All is hopeless until Bond manages to open the crater hatch, allowing Tanaka's troops' entry in force to the rocket base. In the ensuing battle, Bond enters the rocket launch control room and destroys the SPECTRE spacecraft before it could capture a second U.S. space capsule and spark a war with the U.S.S.R. Bond, Kissy, Tanaka, and the surviving ninjas evacuate the base for Blofeld had rigged it to self-destruct. They board lifeboats and watch the volcano erupt in a fiery inferno, taking the base with it. Blofeld had escaped separately.

Although this film is not the series' first wholly original James Bond film adventure (Bond's infiltration of the Japanese fishing village, and the characters of Blofeld, Tanaka, and Kissy are from the novel), the screenplay by [[Roald Dahl]] is the first James Bond screen story to substantially diverge from the original novel's story and plot, due, in part, to having been produced before ''[[On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)|On Her Majesty's Secret Service]]''.

==Cast & characters==
[[Image:Tamba.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Tiger Tanaka, played by Tetsuro Tamba]]
*[[James Bond]] &mdash; [[Sean Connery]]
*[[Aki (James Bond)|Aki]] &mdash; [[Akiko Wakabayashi]]
*[[Kissy Suzuki]] &mdash; [[Mie Hama]]
*[[Ernst Stavro Blofeld]] &mdash; [[Donald Pleasence]]
*[[Helga Brandt]] &mdash; [[Karin Dor]]
*[[Tiger Tanaka]] &mdash; [[Tetsuro Tamba]]
*[[Mr. Osato]] &mdash; [[Teru Shimada]]
*[[M (James Bond)|M]] &mdash; [[Bernard Lee]]
*[[Miss Moneypenny]] &mdash; [[Lois Maxwell]]
*[[Q (James Bond)|Q]] &mdash; [[Desmond Llewelyn]]
*Henderson &mdash; [[Charles Gray (actor)|Charles Gray]]
*[[Ling (James Bond)|Ling]] &mdash; [[Tsai Chin (actress)|Tsai Chin]]
*[[Hans (James Bond)|Hans (Blofeld's bodyguard)]] &mdash; [[Ronald Rich]]

The cast included [[Charles Gray]], as Dikko Henderson, MI6 liaison with Japanese SIS; Gray later portrayed [[Ernst Stavro Blofeld]] in ''[[Diamonds Are Forever (film)|Diamonds Are Forever]]''.

The cast also included [[Alexander Knox]] in a small role as the unnamed [[President of the United States]]. Knox had been nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Actor]] in [[1944]] for his performance as another President, [[Woodrow Wilson]], in ''[[Wilson (film)|Wilson]]''.

==The Women of You Only Live Twice==
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| '''Picture''' || '''Name''' || '''Actress''' || 
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|[[Image:YOLT-Aki.jpg|100px]] || [[Aki (James Bond)|Aki]] || [[Akiko Wakabayashi]] || Aki is Tiger Tananka's assistant and James Bond's guardian angel in Japan, saving him on several occasions. In a manner that is unusual for a Bond film, Aki, which the audience had been led to think was the main Bond girl, was killed off at the end of the second third of the film, leaving her successor Kissy to carry on as the female lead in the film's final third.
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|[[Image:YOLT-Kissy-Suzuki.jpg|100px]] || [[Kissy Suzuki]] || [[Mie Hama]] || One of Tiger Tananka's top agents, Kissy is an Ama diver instructed to "marry" Bond through a sham marriage ("Remember, you gave false name to priest!"). Although she is considered the main Bond girl of the film, she didn't make her appearance until the final third of the film. Kissy held the distinction of which the main Bond girl's name, first or last, was never mentioned. In the beginning, Kissy held off Bond's advances ("This is business!"), which, as usual, did not last long.
|- 
|[[Image:YOLT-Helga-Brandt.jpg|100px]]|| [[Helga Brandt]] || [[Karin Dor]] || SPECTRE agent Number 11 is Helga Brandt, who poses as a personal secretary to Osato, a Japanese businessman who also is a [[SPECTRE]] operative. A villainess in the tradition of [[Fiona Volpe]], Helga wants to kill Bond off in a most spectacular manner (after bedding him, of course, thus ensuring she will be his last encounter). Spectacular usually does not mean effective, and her failure to execute Bond led to her being fed to a pool of [[piranha|piranhas]].
|- 
|[[Image:YOLT-Ling.jpg|100px]]|| [[Ling (James Bond)|Ling]] || [[Tsai Chin (actress)|Tsai Chin]] || Another of the pre-title sequence/pre-mission Bond girls, Ling helps Bond to fake his own death. To make it authentic, she gave him "very best duck" before having him "killed".
|- 
|}

==Crew==
[[Image:Dahlneal.jpg|thumb|right|140px|The screenplay was written by [[Roald Dahl]]]]
*Directed by: [[Lewis Gilbert]]
*Produced by: [[Albert R. Broccoli]], [[Harry Saltzman]]
*Based on the Novel by: [[Ian Fleming]]
*Screenplay by: [[Roald Dahl]]
*Cinematography by: [[Freddie Young]]
*Music composed by: [[John Barry (composer)|John Barry]]
*Production design by [[Ken Adam]]
*Second unit director: [[Peter R. Hunt]]

==Soundtrack==

The soundtrack was composed by Bond veteran, [[John Barry (composer)|John Barry]]. At the time, this was his fourth credited Bond film. The theme song, ''You Only Live Twice'', was sung by [[Nancy Sinatra]].

==Vehicles & gadgets==
''Main article [[List of James Bond vehicles]] and [[List of James Bond gadgets]]''

*[[Toyota 2000GT]] convertible &mdash; Owned by Aki. Two 2000GT coupes were turned into convertibles for the film. One is displayed at Toyota's headquarters today, while the whereabouts of the other are unknown. 
*Little Nellie &mdash; A heavily armed [[autogyro]] that could be transported in several suitcases for quick field assembly. Based on the real-life Wallis Autogyro, Little Nellie was actually flown by [[Ken Wallis|Wing Commander Wallis]] in the film.
*Shooting Cigarette &mdash; Tiger gives Bond a rocket-shooting cigarette with an accurate range of 30 yards; he uses it against a guard in Blofeld's volcano to reach the control to open the crater hatch, allowing Tanaka's forces to storm the base.
*Safecracker &mdash; A small, pocket-sized device that attaches to a safe lock the secret agent wants opened. When properly positioned, the user needs only to turn the combination lock's dial, and the device lights as each correct combination digit is found until the safe is opened. However, Bond learns the hard way that the gadget does not defeat a safe's other security measures, such as alarms.
*[[Gyrojet]] rocket guns &mdash; prototype guns using a small rocket-propelled projectile rather than conventional ammunition. A limited number were made in real life for trials by the US and British militaries, but the design never caught on and the guns and ammunition are now highly collectible.

==Locations==
===Film locations===
*[[Outer Space]]
*[[Hawaii]], [[USA]]
*[[Cape Cod|Cape Cod, USA]]
*[[Hong Kong]]
*[[Tokyo|Tokyo, Japan]]
*[[Kobe|Kobe, Japan]]
*[[Himeji Castle|Himeji Castle, Japan]]
*[[Kirishima, Japan]]
*Akime, Japan

===Shooting locations===
*[[Pinewood Studios]], [[Buckinghamshire|Buckinghamshire, UK]]
*[[Tokyo]], [[Japan]]
*[[Himeji Castle|Himeji Castle, Japan]]
*[[Kobe|Kobe, Japan]]
*[[Kirishima-Yaku National Park|Kirishima-Yaku National Park, Japan]]
*HMS Tenby, near [[Gibraltar]]
*[[Hong Kong|Hong Kong, China]]

==Continuity errors==

* James Bond is married in this film, although controversy exists over whether it is a legitimate marriage because he chose a fake name to go undercover when the marriage occurred. Since his wife, Kissy, survives it leaves open whether he was still married under Japanese law when he wed Tracy in ''[[On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)|On Her Majesty's Secret Service]]''.
* During the movie, James Bond tells expatriate Henderson he has never been in Japan. It contradicts the scene in the earlier ''[[From Russia with Love]]'' in which 007 tells Tatiana (Tania) Romanova that "once when I was with M in Tokyo, we had an interesting experience."
* The manned U.S. [[spacecraft]] named [[Jupiter]] in the film are actually [[Project Gemini|Gemini]] vessels, flown between [[1965]] and [[1966]] with two [[astronauts]] to test various systems and procedures vital to the successor manned space project, [[Project Apollo|Apollo]]. Meanwhile the [[Soviet]] manned spacecraft shown &mdash; ironically named Gemini &mdash; are based on early (incorrect) U.S. speculations about Soviet [[Vostok spacecraft|Vostok]] and [[Voskhod spacecraft|Voskhod]] spacecraft &mdash; the designs of which were not revealed officially by the Soviet Union until 1967.

==Cultural References and referrals==

* [[Dr. Evil]] (from Austin Powers), a spoof of [[Ernst Stavro Blofeld]], was inspired by, more than any other actor, [[Donald Pleasence]]'s portrayal in ''You Only Live Twice''. Both share the same grey suit, bald head, pet kitty, facial scar, and bulging eyes.
* The death of Helga occurs when Blofeld presses the footpedal and lets her fall into a piranha-infested tank. This death resembles the death of the archvillain's secretary in ''[[The Spy Who Loved Me (film)|The Spy Who Loved Me]]'' who fell down a trap elevator into a shark tank. Both films were directed by [[Lewis Gilbert]].
* This was the first film in which M's office is shown to be "portable", relocating to a [[submarine]]. This gimmick would be revived in ''[[The Man with the Golden Gun (film)|The Man with the Golden Gun]]'' (in which M's office is hidden aboard the wreck of the [[RMS Queen Elizabeth]] in [[Hong Kong]] Harbor), ''[[The Spy Who Loved Me (film)|The Spy Who Loved Me]]'' (hidden inside an [[Egypt]]ian tomb), ''[[Moonraker (film)|Moonraker]]'' (located in a monastery in [[Brazil]]), and ''[[The Living Daylights]]'' (on board a [[C-130]]).

==Miscellanea==
* [[Jan Werich]] was originally cast to play Blofeld. But he fell ill just before filming began and was replaced by Pleasence.
* Kissy Suzuki's last name is never mentioned on screen (even in the closing credits, she is identified only as "Kissy").
* While filming, Connery's then-wife, [[Diane Cilento]], had to replace Mie Hama (as Kissy Suzuki) for a swimming scene.
* Connery was involved in a minor scandal while filming when he stated that he didn't find Japanese women sexy, though he claimed that it was an accident because the question was not properly translated to him. This took place on a day when Connery had been exhausted and not really in the mood to do interviews. When the interview began, a slightly insensitive reporter was aghast at Connery's casual wardrobe (an unbuttoned T-shirt and baggy trousers with sandals) and asked "Is this how James Bond dresses?!" Connery is said to have replied "I'm not James Bond. I'm Sean Connery, a man who likes to dress comfortably."
* [[Albert R. Broccoli|Cubby Broccoli]], [[Harry Saltzman]], [[Ken Adam]], [[Lewis Gilbert]] and [[Freddie Young]] were due to return to the UK on a [[British Overseas Airways Corporation|BOAC]] [[Boeing 707]] flight on [[March 5]] [[1966]] after scouting locations across Japan. The group cancelled their tickets when they were told they had a chance to watch a ninja demonstration. That flight crashed 25 minutes after takeoff, killing all on board. 



==External links==

*[http://www.mgm.com/title_title.do?title_star=YOUONLYL MGM's site on the movie]


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[[Category:James Bond films]]