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You Only Live Twice

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You Only Live Twice 1967 poster 7

You Only Live Twice is a 1967 spy film and the fifth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is the first Bond film to be directed by Lewis Gilbert, who later directed the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me and the 1979 film Moonraker, both starring Roger Moore. The screenplay of You Only Live Twice was written by Roald Dahl, and loosely based on Ian Fleming's 1964 novel of the same name. It is the first James Bond film to discard most of Fleming's plot, using only a few characters and locations from the book as the background for an entirely new story.

During the filming in Japan, it was announced that Sean Connery would retire from the role of Bond, but after one film's absence, he returned in 1971's Diamonds Are Forever and later 1983's non-Eon Bond film Never Say Never Again. You Only Live Twice received positive reviews and grossed over $111 million in worldwide box office. However, it was the first Bond film to see a decline in box-office revenue, owing to the oversaturation of the spy film genre from Bond imitators, including a competing Bond film, Casino Royale, from Columbia Pictures (1967).

Storyline[]

Plot[]

During the Cold War, American and Russian spacecrafts go missing, leaving each superpower believing the other is to blame. As the world teeters on the brink of nuclear war, British intelligence learns that one of the crafts has landed in the Sea of Japan. After faking his own death, secret agent James Bond (Sean Connery) is sent to investigate. In Japan, he's aided by Tiger Tanaka (Tetsuro Tamba) and the beautiful Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi), who help him uncover a sinister global conspiracy.

Genres[]

  • Action
  • Adventure
  • Spy
  • Fantasy
  • Thriller
  • Mystery
  • Crime Fiction

Motion Picture Rating[]

  • A (Argentina) (original rating)
  • PG (Australia) (1984, re-rating)
  • 14 (Brazil)
  • PG (Canada) (Manitoba/Ontario)
  • A (Canada) (Nova Scotia)
  • G (Canada) (Quebec)
  • 12 (Czechia) (original rating)
  • 15 (Denmark) (DVD and Blu-ray rating)
  • K-16/13 (Finland)
  • K-16 (Finland) (DVD and Blu-ray rating)
  • K-16 (Finland) (original rating)
  • Tous publics (France)
  • 12 (Iceland)
  • UA (India) (re-rating)
  • A (India) (1969, original rating)
  • PG (Ireland)
  • G (Ireland) (1967)
  • BA (Italy)
  • G (Japan) (2015)
  • A (Mexico)
  • 12 (Netherlands)
  • AL (Netherlands) (2000, DVD rating)
  • 15 (Norway) (DVD and Blu-ray rating)
  • 9 (Norway) (recommended rating)
  • 16 (Norway) (1967, cinema rating)
  • 12 (Poland) (self-applied)
  • M/12 (Portugal)
  • PG (Singapore) (self-applied)
  • 15 (South Korea)
  • 18 (Spain) (ICAA)
  • 15 (Sweden)
  • 7A (Turkey) (self-applied)
  • PG (UK)
  • A (UK) (original rating)
  • PG (UK) (TV rating)
  • PG (UK) (2001, video rating)
  • TV-PG (USA)
  • Approved (USA) (original rating)
  • PG (USA) (1994)
  • GP (USA) (1970, re-rating)
  • 16 (West Germany)
  • 12 (West Germany) (re-rating)

Images[]

Cast and Crew[]

Director[]

  • Lewis Gilbert

Writing Credits[]

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

Cast[]

  • Sean Connery - James Bond
  • Akiko Wakabayashi - Aki
  • Mie Hama - Kissy
  • Tetsurô Tanba - Tiger Tanaka (as Tetsuro Tamba)
  • 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 - Chinese Girl - Hong Kong
  • Peter Fanene Maivia - Car Driver
  • Burt Kwouk - Spectre 3
  • Michael Chow - Spectre 4
  • Ronald Rich - Blofeld's Bodyguard
  • Jeanne Roland - Bond's Masseuse
  • David Toguri - Assassin in Bedroom
  • John Stone - Submarine Captain
  • Norman Jones - Astronaut - 1st American Spacecraft
  • Paul Carson - Astronaut - 1st American Spacecraft
  • Laurence Herder - Astronaut - Russian Spacecraft
  • Richard Graydon - Astronaut - Russian Spacecraft
  • Bill Mitchell - Astronaut - 2nd American Spacecraft
  • George Roubicek - Astronaut - 2nd American Spacecraft

Other Cast (in alphabetical order)[]

  • Anthony Ainley - Hong Kong Policeman #2 (uncredited)
  • Vic Armstrong - Ninja #1 (uncredited)
  • Robin Bailey - Foreign Secretary (uncredited)
  • George Baker - NASA Engineer (uncredited)
  • David Bauer - American Diplomat (uncredited)
  • Ed Bishop - Hawaii CapCom (uncredited)
  • Cecil Cheng - Control Room Technician (uncredited)
  • Dennis Chin - Policeman (uncredited)
  • Anthony Chinn - SPECTRE Guard (uncredited)
  • Hans De Vries - Control Room Technician (uncredited)
  • Peter Evans - British Diplomat (uncredited)
  • Moris Farhi - Control Room Technician (uncredited)
  • Lynda Fisher - Spectre henchman (uncredited)
  • Takemitsu Fujinishiki - Sumo Wrestler (uncredited)
  • Yumi Fujiwara - Tanaka's Agent (uncredited)
  • Jonathan Hanson - Control Room Technician (uncredited)
  • Masaaki Hatsumi - Photographic Assistant to Tanaka on Train (uncredited)
  • David Healy - Houston Radar Operator (uncredited)
  • Sylvana Henriques - Japanese Fan Dancer (Silhouette) in Title Sequence (uncredited)
  • Tony Hill - Diver Rescuing Bond (uncredited)
  • Frazer Hines - Mr. Osato's Secretary / Tannoy (voice) (uncredited)
  • Andy Ho - Control Room Technician (uncredited)
  • John Howard - Diplomat (uncredited)
  • Stephen Hubay - Control Room Technician (uncredited)
  • Robert Hutton - President's Aide (uncredited)
  • Patrick Jordan - Hong Kong Policeman #1 (uncredited)
  • Hisako Katakura - Blofeld's Financier (uncredited)
  • Michael Kennedy - Control Room Technician (uncredited)
  • Alexander Knox - Secretary of Defense (uncredited)
  • Kiyomi Kobayashi - Title Geisha (uncredited)
  • Masakatsu Kotozakura - Sumo Wrestler (uncredited)
  • Kristopher Kum - Control Room Technician (uncredited)
  • Roy Lansford - American Diplomat (uncredited)
  • Arnold Lee - Assassin (uncredited)
  • Robert Lee - 2nd Chinese VIP (uncredited)
  • Mai Ling - Bath Girl #2 (uncredited)
  • Ned Lynch - Diplomat (uncredited)
  • Fred Machon - British Diplomat (uncredited)
  • Junko Makimura - Tanaka's Agent (uncredited)
  • Alex Marchevsky - Russian radio operator (uncredited)
  • Richard Marner - Russian Spacecraft Communicator (uncredited)
  • Kikko Matsuoka - Diver Girl (uncredited)
  • Yuka Minami - Ginza Girl (uncredited)
  • Basil Moss - British Navy Officer on Submarine (uncredited)
  • George Murcell - Russian Diplomat (uncredited)
  • Willy Myers - Diver Rescuing Bond (uncredited)
  • Yasuko Nagazumi - Bath Girl #4 (uncredited)
  • Bill Nagy - USAF General at Pentagon (uncredited)
  • James Payne - Man at Typewriter in Office (uncredited)
  • Robert Rietty - Tiger Tanaka (voice) (uncredited)
  • Shane Rimmer - Hawaii Radar Operator (uncredited)
  • Sadanoyama - Japanese Sumo Wrestler (uncredited)
  • Isaburo Shikimori - Gyoji (uncredited)
  • Andy Stewart - Extra in Crowd Scene (uncredited)
  • William F. Sully - Russian Envoy (uncredited)
  • William Sylvester - Pentagon Official (uncredited)
  • Peter Taylor - Control Room Technician (uncredited)
  • Akio Tsurugamine - Sumo Wrestler (uncredited)
  • Francesca Tu - Osato's Secretary (uncredited)
  • Burnell Tucker - Hawaii Control Room Technician (uncredited)
  • Zsolt Vadaszffy - Control Room Technician (uncredited)
  • Nikki Van der Zyl - Kissy Suzuki (voice) (uncredited)
  • Jeffry Wickham - Russian Control Room Officer (uncredited)
  • Brian Wilde - 1st Policeman (uncredited)
  • Yee-Wah Yang - Bath Girl #3 (uncredited)
  • Tommy Yapp - Control Room Technician (uncredited)
  • Ric Young - Chinese Agent (uncredited)

Producers[]

  • Albert R. Broccoli (produced by)
  • Harry Saltzman (produced by)

Details[]

Countries[]

  • UK
  • USA

Language[]

  • English
  • Italian

Release Dates[]

  • June 13, 1967 (Canada)
  • June 13, 1967 (UK)
  • June 13, 1967 (USA)
  • June 17, 1967 (Japan)
  • August 4, 1967 (Ireland)
  • September 11, 1967 (Denmark)
  • September 14, 1967 (Netherlands)
  • September 14, 1967 (West Germany)
  • September 15, 1967 (Finland)
  • September 15, 1967 (Sweden)
  • September 18, 1967 (Norway)
  • September 20, 1967 (France)
  • September 20, 1967 (Greece)
  • October 2, 1967 (Brazil)
  • October 4, 1967 (Italy)
  • October 16, 1967 (Spain) (Madrid)
  • October 26, 1967 (Belgium) (Brussels)
  • October 27, 1967 (Belgium) (Gent)
  • November 16, 1967 (Portugal)
  • December 14, 1967 (Australia)
  • December 14, 1967 (Hong Kong)
  • September 16, 1968 (Uruguay)
  • October 31, 1968 (Mexico)
  • February 22, 1969 (India)
  • November 8, 1969 (Turkey)
  • 1972 (Iceland)
  • January 4, 1977 (Philippines) (Davao) (re-release)
  • December 25, 2011 (Russia) (DVD premiere)
  • May 22, 2007 (Singapore) (DVD premiere)
  • April 27, 2010 (Czechia) (DVD premiere)
  • February 13, 2021 (Poland) (TV release)

Also Known As[]

  • You Only Live Twice (original title)
  • 007: You Only Live Twice (Australia) (alternative title)
  • You Only Live Twice (Australia)
  • Agente 007 - Si vive solo due volte (Italy)
  • 007 - Si vive solo due volte (Italy) (alternative title)
  • Si vive solo due volte (Italy) (alternative title)
  • Ian Fleming's You Only Live Twice (UK) (alternative title)
  • You Only Live Twice (UK)
  • Ian Fleming's You Only Live Twice (USA) (alternative title)
  • You Only Live Twice (USA)

Production[]

On Her Majesty's Secret Service was the intended next film after Thunderball (1965), but the producers decided to adapt You Only Live Twice instead because OHMSS would require searching for high and snowy locations. Lewis Gilbert originally declined the offer to direct, but accepted after producer Albert R. Broccoli called him saying: "You can't give up this job. It's the largest audience in the world." Peter R. Hunt, who edited the first five Bond films, believed that Gilbert had been contracted by the producers for other work but they found they had to use him. Ted Moore, the director of photography on the first four films, was unavailable because he was filming A Man for All Seasons and was replaced by Freddie Young.

Gilbert, Young, producers Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and production designer Ken Adam then went to Japan, spending three weeks searching for locations. SPECTRE's shore fortress headquarters was changed to an extinct volcano after the team learned that the Japanese do not build castles by the sea. The group was due to return to the UK on a BOAC Boeing 707 flight (BOAC Flight 911) on 5 March 1966, but cancelled after being told they had a chance to watch a ninja demonstration. That flight crashed 25 minutes after takeoff, killing all on board. In Tokyo, the crew also found Hunt, who decided to go on holiday after having his request to direct declined. Hunt was invited to direct the second unit for You Only Live Twice and accepted the job.

Unlike most James Bond films, which usually feature various locations around the world, almost the entire film is set in one country, and several minutes are devoted to an elaborate Japanese wedding. This is in keeping with Fleming's original novel, which also devoted a number of pages to the discussion of Japanese culture. Toho Studios provided soundstages, personnel, and the female Japanese stars to the producers.

Writing[]

The first draft was written by Sydney Boehm based closely on the original novel. The producers had Harold Jack Bloom come to Japan with them to write a screenplay. His work was ultimately rejected, but since several of his ideas were used in the final script, he was given the credit of "Additional Story Material". Among these elements were the opening with Bond's fake death and burial at sea, and the ninja attack. As the screenwriter of the previous Bond films, Richard Maibaum, was unavailable, Roald Dahl (a close friend of Ian Fleming) was chosen to write the adaptation, despite having no prior experience writing a screenplay except for the uncompleted The Bells of Hell Go Ting-a-ling-a-ling.

Dahl said that the original novel was "Fleming's worst book, with no plot in it which would even make a movie", and compared it to a travelogue, stating that he had to create a new plot though "I could retain only four or five of the original story's ideas." On creating the plot, Dahl said he "did not know what the hell Bond was going to do" despite having to deliver the first draft in six weeks, and decided to do a basic plot similar to Dr. No. He was inspired by the story of a missing nuclear-armed U.S. Air Force bomber over Spain and by the Soviet Union and the United States' recent first spacewalks from Voskhod 2 and Gemini 4. Dahl was given a free rein on his script, except for the character of Bond and "the girl formula", involving three women for Bond to seduce – an ally and a henchwoman who both get killed, and the main Bond girl. While the third involved a character from the book, Kissy Suzuki, Dahl had to create Aki and Helga Brandt to fulfil the rest.

Gilbert was mostly collaborative with Dahl's work, as the writer declared: "He not only helped in script conferences, but had some good ideas and then left you alone, and when you produced the finished thing, he shot it. Other directors have such an ego that they want to rewrite it and put their own dialogue in, and it's usually disastrous. What I admired so much about Lewis Gilbert was that he just took the screenplay and shot it. That's the way to direct: You either trust your writer or you don't." Charles Gray, who played Dikko Henderson, actually says the famous "shaken not stirred" line the other way round saying "that is stirred not shaken, that was right wasn't it?" Bond replies "Perfect."

Casting[]

When the time came to begin You Only Live Twice, the producers were faced with the problem of a disenchanted star. Sean Connery had stated that he was tired of playing James Bond and all of the associated commitment (time spent filming and publicising each movie), together with finding it difficult to do other work, which would potentially lead to typecasting. Saltzman and Broccoli were able to persuade Connery by increasing his fee for the film, but geared up to look for a replacement.

Jan Werich was originally cast by producer Harry Saltzman to play Blofeld. Upon his arrival at the Pinewood set, both producer Albert R. Broccoli and director Lewis Gilbert felt that he was a poor choice, resembling a "poor, benevolent father Christmas". Nonetheless, in an attempt to make the casting work, Gilbert continued filming. After several days, both Gilbert and Broccoli determined that Werich was not menacing enough, and recast Blofeld with Donald Pleasence in the role. Pleasence's ideas for Blofeld's appearance included a hump, a limp, a beard, and a lame hand, before he settled on the scar. He found it uncomfortable, though, because of the glue that attached it to his eye.

Many European models were tested for Helga Brandt, including German actress Eva Renzi who passed on the film, with German actress Karin Dor being cast. Dor performed the stunt of diving into a pool to depict Helga's demise, without the use of a double. Dor was dubbed by a different actress for the German release.

UA CEO Bud Ornstein met with Toshiro Mifune in the Canary Islands to try to convince him to play Tiger Tanaka, but he was already committed to appear in Grand Prix. Gilbert had chosen Tetsurō Tamba after working with him in The 7th Dawn. A number of martial arts experts were hired as the ninjas. The two Japanese female parts proved difficult to cast, due to most of the actresses tested having little English. Akiko Wakabayashi and Mie Hama, both Toho Studios stars, were eventually chosen and started taking English classes in the UK. Hama, initially cast in the role of Tanaka's assistant, had difficulty with the language. Initially the producers were going to fire her, but after Tamba suggested she would commit suicide if they did so instead switched her role with Wakabayashi, who had been cast as Kissy, a part with less dialogue. Wakabayashi only requested that her character name, "Suki", be changed to "Aki".

Filming[]

Filming of You Only Live Twice lasted from July 1966 to March 1967.

The film was shot primarily in Japan, and most of the locations are identifiable.

Most of the interiors were shot at Pinewood. The opening sequence in Hong Kong used some location footage of a street in Kowloon. Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour is also shown, but the at-sea burial of Bond and the retrieval of the corpse was filmed off Gibraltar and the Bahamas. The scenes with the light aircraft ferrying Bond to his supposed death were shot over very English-looking countryside in Buckinghamshire, whereas this was supposed to be Japan.

Large crowds were present in Japan to see the shooting. A Japanese fan began following Sean Connery with a camera, and police had to deal with fan incursions several times during shooting.

The heavily armed WA-116 autogyro "Little Nellie" was included after Ken Adam heard a radio interview with its inventor, RAF Wing Commander Ken Wallis. Little Nellie was named after music hall star Nellie Wallace, who has a similar surname to its inventor. Wallis piloted his invention, which was equipped with various mock-up armaments by John Stears' special effects team, during production.

"Nellie"'s battle with helicopters proved to be difficult to film. The scenes were initially shot in Miyazaki, first with takes of the gyrocopter, with more than 85 take-offs, five hours of flight and Wallis nearly crashing into the camera several times. A scene filming the helicopters from above created a major downdraft, and cameraman John Jordan's foot was severed by the craft's rotor. It was surgically reattached by surgeons visiting the country, and then amputated in London when the surgery was deemed to have been flawed. Jordan would continue work for the Bond series with a prosthetic foot. The concluding shots involved explosions, which the Japanese government did not allow in a national park; hence, the crew moved to Torremolinos, Spain, which was found to resemble the Japanese landscape. The shots of the volcano were filmed at Shinmoedake on Kyushu Island.

The sets of SPECTRE's volcano base, including operative heliport and monorail, were constructed at a lot inside Pinewood Studios, at a cost of $1 million. The 45 m (148 ft) tall set could be seen from 5 kilometres (3 miles) away, and attracted many people from the region. Locations outside Japan included using the Royal Navy frigate HMS Tenby, then in Gibraltar, for the sea burial, Hong Kong for the scene where Bond fakes his death, and Norway for the Soviet radar station.

Sean Connery's then-wife Diane Cilento performed the swimming scenes for at least five Japanese actresses, including Mie Hama. Martial arts expert Donn F. Draeger provided martial arts training, and also doubled for Connery. Lewis Gilbert's regular editor, Thelma Connell, was originally hired to edit the film. However, after her initial, almost three-hour cut received a terrible response from test audiences, Peter R. Hunt was asked to re-edit the film. Hunt's cut proved a much greater success, and he was awarded the director's chair on the next film as a result.

Release and reception[]

You Only Live Twice premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on 12 June 1967, with Queen Elizabeth II in attendance. The film opened the following day in the United Kingdom and United States, set an opening day record at the Odeon Leicester Square, and went to number one in the United States with a weekend gross of $600,000. It grossed $7 million from 161 theaters in the United States in its first three weeks, and was number one for seven weeks. The film grossed $43 million in the United States and over $68 million worldwide.

Contemporary reviews[]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, in which he criticised the focus on gadgets, declaring "the formula fails to work its magic. Like its predecessor Thunderball, another below-par entry, this one is top-heavy with gadgets but weak on plotting and getting everything to work at the same time." Bosley Crowther, reviewing for The New York Times, felt "there's enough of the bright and bland bravado of the popular British super-sleuth mixed into this melee of rocket-launching to make it a bag of good Bond fun. And there's so much of that scientific clatter – so much warring of super-capsules out in space and fussing with electronic gadgets in a great secret underground launching pad – that this way out adventure picture should be the joy and delight of the youngsters and give pleasure to the reasonable adults who can find release in the majestically absurd."

Variety stated more positively that "As entertainment [You Only Live Twice] compares favorably in quality and is replete with as many fights, gadgets, and beauties as its predecessors". Time was sharply critical of the film claiming the franchise had become "the victim of the same misfortune that once befell Frankenstein: there have been so many flamboyant imitations that the original looks like a copy." The reviewer later derided that "the effects are ineffective. The outer-space sequences would be more appropriate in a grade school educational short entitled Our Amazing Universe, and the volcanic climax is a series of clumsy process shots that no one took the trouble to fix. Even Connery seems uncomfortable and fatigued..." Clifford Terry, reviewing for the Chicago Tribune, remarked that "a large percentage of You Only Live Twice is disappointing, lacking the wit and zip, the pacing and punch, of its predecessors, especially the first three. Roald Dahl's script is larded with sex-slanted jokes that are either pathetically feeble or sophomorically coarse, Bond's patented puns are punier and even Connery's enthusiasm for his shrewd, suave, and sensual character seems to have waned."

Retrospective reviews[]

On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 73% based on 49 reviews with an average rating of 6.53/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "With exotic locales, impressive special effects, and a worthy central villain, You Only Live Twice overcomes a messy and implausible story to deliver another memorable early Bond flick." James Berardinelli of ReelViews said that the first half was good, but "It's only during the second half, as the plot escalates beyond the bounds of preposterousness, that the film starts to fragment", criticising Blofeld's appearance and stating "rockets that swallow up spacecraft are a bit too extravagant." Ali Barclay of BBC Films lightly criticized Dahl's script, writing that Dahl had "clearly helped thrust Bond into a whole new world of villainy and technology, maybe his concepts were slightly ahead of themselves, or maybe he just tried too hard." Leo Goldsmith lauded the volcano base as "the most impressive of Ken Adam's sets for the franchise." Danny Peary wrote that You Only Live Twice "should have been about twenty minutes shorter" and described it as "not a bad Bond film, but it doesn't compare to its predecessors – the formula had become a little stale."

IGN ranked You Only Live Twice as the fourth-best Bond film, and Entertainment Weekly as the second-best, considering that it "pushes the series to the outer edge of coolness". However, Norman Wilner of MSN chose it as the fifth-worst, criticising the plot, action scenes and lack of screentime for Blofeld. Literary critic Paul Simpson called the film one of the most colourful of the series and credited the prefecture of Kagoshima for adding "a good flavour" of Japanese influence on the film, but he panned the depiction of Blofeld as a "let-down", "small, bald and a whooping scar". Simon Winder said that the film is "perfect" for parodies of the series. John Brosnan, in his book James Bond in the Cinema, compared the film to an episode of Thunderbirds with a reliance on gadgetry, but admitted it had pace and spectacle. Christopher Null considered the film to be one of James Bond's most memorable adventures, but the plot "protracting and quite confusing".

Company Credits[]

Production Companies[]

  • Eon Productions (as An Eon Production)

Distributors[]

Technical Specs[]

Runtime[]

  • 117 mins

Color[]

  • Color

Sound Mix[]

  • Mono
  • 4-Track Stereo

Aspect Ratio[]

  • 2.39:1
  • 1.33:1 (4:3 Pan & scan prints, along with the opening and closing credits in proper scope aspect ratio with black bars)

Trivia[]

  • This is considered to be one of the most cultured Bond films to date. 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 devoted a number of pages (more than the usual for a Bond book) to the discussion of Japanese culture.
  • The script for the film was inspired by rumours that had circulated after the release of the prior film, namely "James Bond will die", "James Bond will get married", "James Bond will become Japanese". All of those were incorporated into the film, and were all shown as cover for MI6 work.
  • The film is unusual in the degree that it illustrates a camaraderie between James Bond and Tanaka, a.k.a. Tiger. 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. Tiger even seems to have come up with a nickname for Bond in this film, at one point calling him "Zero Zero".
  • 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.
  • In the Raymond Benson short story Zero Minus Ten, Bond has fathered a son with Kissy, aptly named James Suzuki after both parents. It is also stated that Kissy died of cancer a few years before the story took place, making a rare instance where a Bond girl has passed away naturally.
  • 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."
  • 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.
  • Blofeld's volcano lair, complete with internal monorail system, was heavily borrowed for the 2004 film The Incredibles.
  • Jan Werich was originally cast to play Blofeld. After five days, both Gilbert and Broccoli determined that Werich wasn't menacing enough, and recast Donald Pleasence in the role – the official excuse being that Werich was ill.
  • 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 who fell down a trap elevator into a shark tank. Both films were directed by the same man.
  • Kissy Suzuki's last name is never mentioned on screen, and is known only from the closing credits where the character is identified fully (and, of course, from reading Fleming's novel). The only other Bond girl likewise unidentified is Octopussy, whose real name is never revealed (although in the movie, Octopussy gives her father's last name as Smyth).
  • It has been reported that Blofeld's cat was so surprised by the loud noises in the finale that it was only found several days later cowering in the rafters of the volcano set.
  • 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 (in which M's office is hidden aboard the wreck of the RMS Queen Elizabeth in Hong Kong Harbor), The Spy Who Loved Me (hidden inside an Egyptian tomb), Moonraker (located in a monastery in Brazil), and The Living Daylights (on board a C-130).
  • While filming, Connery's then-wife, Diane Cilento, had to replace Mie Hama (as Kissy Suzuki) for a swimming scene, because the Japanese actress was struck with stomach cramps. Other sources suggest Cilento stepped in because it was discovered that Hama could not swim.
  • Connery was involved in a minor scandal while filming when he stated that he didn't find Japanese women sexy.
  • The manned U.S. spacecraft named Jupiter in the film are clearly Gemini vessels, flown between 1965 and 1966 with two astronauts to test various systems and procedures vital to the successor manned space project, Apollo, that would land the first men on the Moon in 1969. These procedures included EVA and spacecraft docking.
  • The Soviet manned spacecraft shown — ironically named Gemini — are based on early (incorrect) U.S. speculations about Soviet Vostok and Voskhod spacecraft — the designs of which were not revealed officially by the Soviet Union until 1967.
  • The SPECTRE spaceship might been inspired by the Augmented Target Docking Adapter used during the Gemini missions.
  • The launch scene of the Soviet mission was actually a Gemini launch on a Titan II rocket from Cape Kennedy, Florida (note the palm trees). The rocket is also quite different looking from the Soviet style ones, which typically had four booster rockets surrounding the main rocket's first stage.
  • Cubby Broccoli, Harry Saltzman, Ken Adam, Lewis Gilbert and Freddie Young were due to return to the UK on a 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 take off, killing all on board.
  • One of two Eon productions, the other being Octopussy, to be released in the same year as a rival Bond film. Casino Royale was the other offering. While both films turned a healthy profit, Casino Royale was accused of lowering the takings of You Only Live Twice. Ironically, on the second occasion this happened, in 1983, Connery was in the lead role for the rival Bond film, Never Say Never Again.
  • The first Bond film to indicate James Bond holds the rank of Commander. M holds the rank of Rear Admiral (the old insignia) while Miss Moneypenny holds the rank of Second Officer in the Women's Royal Naval Service (aka WRNS or Wrens, later disbanded).
  • Bond has the following decorations on his Royal Navy Uniform: Top row L-R
  • The volcano set cost almost as much as Dr. No (1962)'s entire budget. It was so large, it could be seen from three miles away.
  • This is the only EON Productions James Bond movie to date in which James Bond does not get behind the wheel of an automobile.
  • Nancy Sinatra was the first non-British singer to perform a theme song for a James Bond movie. In The Nation's Favourite Bond Song (2015), shown in Britain, it was revealed that she was so nervous about doing it that it took twenty-five different takes, and the final song used in the film was made up of the best parts from each recording.
  • Before the title sequence, there is an outdoor shot of a Russian radar station where U.S. and Soviet leaders are having a crisis meeting. This was filmed at Mågerø in the Oslo fjord in Norway to add a Nordic winter feel to the footage. The dome-shaped radar station is still in operation today, run by the Norwegian military.
  • Much of the story structure of this movie was re-used extensively in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997).
  • This marks the fifth and final on-screen appearance together of Sir Sean Connery and Lois Maxwell. In Diamonds Are Forever (1971), the scene where the disguised Moneypenny gives Bond his travel documents at the port of Dover, Maxwell and Connery filmed their lines separately, and were not present together for the short scene.
  • This movie was released two months after Casino Royale (1967). This was the first of two times that two "James Bond" movies were released in the same year. It occurred again sixteen years later with Octopussy (1983) and Never Say Never Again (1983).
  • First Bond movie not to show MI6 headquarters.
  • Peter R. Hunt was not the original editor. The producers were not happy with the movie, and pleaded with Hunt to return as editor. He did this on the condition that he could direct the next Bond movie, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).
  • This movie marked the first time in the franchise that the worldwide gross was less than that of the previous movie. It grossed around $30 million less than Thunderball (1965).
  • First James Bond to have a two year gap between one another
  • Peter R. Hunt wanted to direct, but was turned down. He directed On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).
  • One of three James Bond movies where Bond does not wear a tuxedo. The others being From Russia with Love (1963) and Live and Let Die (1973).
  • This would be the final Bond movie until The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) in which James Bond was played by the same actor as in the previous movie.
  • First EON "James Bond" movie to feature a United Artists logo at the very beginning of the film. The particular logo in question was a rarity - it was (pardon the pun) only used twice: for this film, shown in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio, and in 1.85:1 for another UA feature film, the non "Bond" "In The Heat Of The Night". The logo has been replaced with a newer MGM/UA logo.

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References[]

  • You Only Live Once (1937) - Novel/movie title is a pun on this.
  • Murderers' Row (1966)
  • In Like Flint (1967)

Referenced in[]

  • On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
  • Highlander (1986)
  • Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002)
  • Die Another Day (2002) - A large bell is rung with a large log in an Asian country. Scenes of the Icarus unfolding in space, are shown on screens in the Ice Palace. Jinx descends from the ceiling of the fake diamond mine on a rope system similar to that of the ninjas in the volcano crater lair. The name of the ship Bond is on: the H.M.S. Tenby. The use of Japanese swords in the films. Bond's death is faked (or exaggerated) in both films to free up 007's maneuverability.
  • The Incredibles (2004) - The megliomaniac rocket/secret hide out on the island and the monorail transport
  • Marks and Spencer James Bond 'Die Another Day' Television Commercial (2006) (Video) - White spherical swivel seat with person patting a white cat.
  • Zodiac (2007) - Cover of the original novel is shown in Robert Graysmith's house.
  • Speed Racer (2008) - scene where Ninja drips poison into Togokhan's mouth
  • Skyfall (2012) - Bond is presumed dead during the title sequence. An obituary for Bond is seen being written by M.
  • Spectre (2015) - Meteorite crater villain's lair evokes the hollowed-out volcano lair; Arch villain gets a scar down the right side of his face; Nehru collarless jacket of main villain
  • No Time to Die (2021) - The source novel features Dr Shatterhand's "Garden of Death". Safin has a Poison Garden which is also the name of a track on Hans Zimmer's soundtrack. Shot of bells ringing. The movie features some content and story elements from James Bond creator Ian Fleming's eleventh James Bond novel 'You Only Live Twice (1964). These are threefold: (1) Safin (Rami Malek)'s poison garden is derived from Dr. Shatterhand (Blofeld)'s Garden of Death ; (2) Verbatim dialogue from the book is used between James Bond (Daniel Craig) and Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) e.g. when Bond is choking Blofeld, he says, "Die, Blofeld, Die!" ; and (3) The quotation that M (Ralph Fiennes) reads at the end of the film.

Featured in[]

Spoofed in[]

  • Casino Royale (1967) - Dr. Noah's outfit is a takeoff on the Blofeld character's outfit in the real Bond film.
  • Scrubs: My White Whale (2003) (TV Episode) - Dr. Cox turns around in a chair stroking a cat like Blofeld
  • Scrubs: My Hypocritical Oath (2005) (TV Episode) - When the Janitor turns around in his chair while stroking his "pet"
  • Flushed Away (2006) - "You Only Live 9 Times" in Roddy's DVD collection
  • Scrubs: My Friend with Money (2007) (TV Episode) - (chair turns around) "I've been expecting you"
  • St. Trinian's (2007) - girls turn around in chair petting stuffed animals
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