Review of You Only Live Twice (1967) by Vidyabum — 27 Oct 2021

Having watched 25 Bonds from Dr.No to Spectre, I place You Only Live Twice at 3/25.

And let me say right now, it doesn't deserve that rating. It deserves a good rating, but 3rd best? I rate this movie this high because it has 2 elements: -Having watched 25 Bonds from Dr.No to Spectre, I place You Only Live Twice at 3/25.

And let me say right now, it doesn't deserve that rating. It deserves a good rating, but 3rd best?

I rate this movie this high because it has 2 elements:

- It's a Bond movie from its starter/golden era, where Bond was absolutely amazing.

- It's set in Japan.

Bond back in the 60s/early 70s had a very strong sense of escapism, and not just from the real world where plots need to make sense, but also from dreary old normal life. Travelling to Istanbul with From Russia With Love, to the Carribean in Dr.No, to Japan in YOLT was just wonderful.

You Only Live Twice starts off with Bond being "killed" and ends with him meeting the villain in a giant secret Space Station that's hidden in a volcano.

"Mr Bond, I thought you died".

"Yes this is my second life".

"You Only Live Twice, Mr Bond".

It's the epitome of these kinds of lines, now seen as cheesy and camp but honestly I think they've kept all of their charm. The visit to 1960s Japan, the Big Evil Secret Volcano Lair, the mad scientist villain, the fights, the girls, the banter, the army of Ninjas, the Rocket That Eats Other Rockets, the gadgets, the stupid ways they try to kill Bond, the everything really.

Bond always cared more about a solid amount of fun than a sensible storyline, and it was, back in the 60s, still managing to mostly have both. Here you escape to 1960s Japan with Bond, and you enjoy the ride from start to finish, easily brushing aside the silliness. This movie brings me joy in ways that no later movies in the franchise, and really very few movies, can.

The first half is all about escapism, and the latter half about fighting the Evil Villain, and even though I prefer the first half, the whole movie is joyful, witty, charming, all-around adorable and I love it to bits.

With that said, let me be a historian here: You Only Live Twice must be marked as the first "industrial" Bond movie. I have a personal theory that EON, after Dr.No, FRWL, and the brilliant Goldfinger, tried harder than normal to make an even more exceptional movie, and bombed with the nonsensical, terrible, absolutely ridiculous Thunderball. Thunderball was an immense directing and technical effort for a very boring movie, a stupendously complicated story for a stupendously retarded, nonsensical plot, it was the movie where EON tried its hardest to make a masterpiece and utterly went beyond their skills.

Thus out of the first 5 movies, there is the beginner, the reverser (FRWL is ultimately a classic thriller with a Bond coat of paint), the masterpiece, the failure, and the moment where the series just kind of accepts that it found its limits, sets itself in its formula, and keeps going straight forward, just toeing the guidelines the first 3 movies created. Of course, the later actors, especially Moore, the eras changing, and many other elements will demand changes. But the core "idea", the core "style", it's all set and followed starting this movie.

YOLT is the first movie to be an "industrial" Bond, being the moment where the franchise stopped being truly original and just applied what it knew and would keep doing it for 40 years and some (the last classic Bond was the last Brosnan, Craig is a really different beast).

But Bond was, long before it became this incredibly lengthy, unequal, sometimes decent sometimes bad series, fun. It was with so much banter, charm, wit, and good action for its time that it was just plain fun.

You Only Live Twice is where the series rested its feet into the concrete and solidifed. But even if it is the start of one of the longest-running series ever, a series that had its very large share of critics and fans that were increasingly tired of it, it is still carrying that brand of fun, that Bond-ness that is lost on us today.

I consider it historical, both the first industrial Bond movie, and the last movie of a golden age that will never return. After this movie, the series will delve into many lead actor changes, and questionable style problems. Bond will not stabilise again until 1977 with Moore's Spy Who Loved Me, a whole 10 years later.

It will have some good, and less good movies, but even the best of these movies will not equal the ones from the Golden Age. I can watch Moonraker or Licence to Kill and enjoy them to a point, I can watch You Only Live Twice and enjoy it more.

Whether it's for history, as a last dance before the fall, or it is for its own quality, You Only Live Twice is a thoroughly enjoyable piece of Bond silliness and plain enjoyment that deserves to be seen.