Review of You Only Live Twice (2007) by Conall M — 11 Jun 2013

In Sean Connery's last film before his break from the James Bond franchise, SPECTRE has been abducting spaceships from the Americans and Russians, and each superpower is blaming each other for the thefts. Britain's Secret Service, knowing that neither power would steal their ships, sends 007 (Sean Connery), who just recently faked his death in the pre-credits sequence, to travel to Japan to stop STECTRE from starting a nuclear war.

Returning to the franchise includes Bernard Lee as Secret Service boss M, Lois Maxwell as secretary Moneypenny, and Desmond Llewellyn as gadget maker Q.

Also playing a role in the film includes Akiko Wakabayashahi as Bond girl Aki, Mie Hama as Japanese agent Kissy, who ends up marrying Bond as part of the mission, Tetsuro Tamba as Japanese Secret Service Agent Tiger, and Donald Pleasance as the evil SPECTRE leader Blofeld.

By now, the Bond formula had started to kick in, with 007 having all the crazy gadgets, having humorous quotes, and getting all the girls. Goldfinger and Thunderball had raised the bar for the franchise, and the producers decided that in this round, they would go for a cheesier tone.

Normally I don't like cheesy stuff in movies, but oddly enough, the cheesiness actually works for this film. Sure, some moments are a bit far-fetched, like that spaceships are eating other ships, but the film actually comes out as plain fun than atrocious. Many of the cheesy scenes, such as Bond disguising as an Asian, blowing up helicopters with a toy helicopter, faking his death, and calling for ninjas for help in the climax, are cool, fun, entertaining stuff for a James Bond film. And none of that would of worked if it hadn't of been for Sean Connery. Although he was getting tired of the role at this point, his performance makes up for what I view as a fun Bond film.

John Barry's score is also a fun treat, the Japanese Bond girls, while cheesy, they are still good ones, and Donald Pleasance is a menacing Blofeld, despite some cheesy dialogue (His loud "GOODBYE, MR. BOND" is one of them).

The locations in Japan are beautiful, and the theme song by Nancy Sinatra is enjoyable, but not as phenomenal as Goldfinger.

Despite some far-fetched material, You Only Live Twice overcomes the cheese factor and turns into an entertaining Bond film, thanks to Connery's performance.

The end of my review for You Only Live Twice. But I will return with my review for On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the first and only film to star George Lazenby as 007.