You Only Live Twice (1967)

The fifth in the Bond series sees James Bond and the Japanese secret service ninja force taking on arch-nemesis Blofeld, who has been capturing US and Soviet spacecraft in an attempt to start World War III leaving SPECTRE as the only superpower left to dominate the world.

While in Japan, Bond joins forces with the beautiful Japanese agent, Aki (Akiko Wakbayashi) who promptly leads him into a trap, setting him up for a meeting with Tiger Tanaka (Testuro Tamba), head of the Japanese Secret Service.

Bond then wastes no time in giving Aki one in his hotel room. Sadly, in her post-orgasmic slumber, she is poisoned by a SPECTRE assassin.

Although we eventually discover frequent Bond baddie Blofeld (here played by Donald Pleasence) is at work,  though he’s almost a non-entity for most of the film.

The threats to 007 come from anaemic and unthreatening Mr Osato (Teru Shimada) and sexy but also lacklustre Helga Brandt (Karin Dor) who comes across like a rip-off of Fiona Volpe from Thunderball (1965) but without any of that character’s menace and fire.

For Bond to fully blend in with Japanese society, he “marries” Kissy Suzuki (Mie Hama, pictured above), another agent of the Japanese Secret Service. Kissy basically just follows Bond around and does little more than look hot in a bathing suit as the pair hike up Blofeld’s extinct volcanic mount only to discover that it’s hollow and houses a secret rocket base (pictured below left) – isn’t it always the way?

To cut a long story very short, Kissy helps Bond destroy SPECTRE’s secret base and safeguard world peace. There is lots of sex (as you would expect from a Bond film) and very beautiful locations.

You Only Live Twice officially marked the end of Sean Connery’s run as 007. Tired of the intrusive attention he received, Connery decided to hang up the Walther and move on with his career, although despite his complaints, Connery did get back in the saddle a mere four years later for 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever.

Twelve years after that, Connery renewed his license to kill with the “unofficial” release of Never Say Never Again (1983). Connery died peacefully in his sleep at his home in the Bahamas on 31 October 2020 having been unwell for some time. He was 90.

The script to You Only Live Twice was written by Roald Dahl.

James Bond
Sean Connery
Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Donald Pleasence
Tiger Tanaka
Testuro Tamba
Aki
Akiko Wakabayashi
Kissy Suzuki
Mie Hama
Mr. Osato
Teru Shimada
Helga Brandt
Karin Dor
M
Bernard Lee
Q
Desmond Llewelyn
Moneypenny
Lois Maxwell

Director
Lewis Gilbert

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