You Only Live Twice (1967) watched 11/10/08PREMISE:
Just when you thought you knew of 007's Earthly limitations, he shows up for You Only Live Twice and brings down a rouge space satellite, which threatens the peace between the US and USSR. That's right, Bond in space!! YOLT is a stellar installment where Bond goes places literally and figuratively we haven't seen in the first four episodes. On the literal side Bond spends most of the film in Japan tracking down the latest apocalyptic peril, and on a less literal level he deals with his own death and a few trust issues.
Taking down a satellite AND a SPECTRE-backed plot isn't an easy task for any one man, so Bond's plans are complex and involve many aspects. The first problem is Bond's early death... or so we think! (This would be a spoiler only to those dumb enough to think Bond could die nine minutes into the movie... hint there are about 17 Bond films to follow) The faked death would make Jack Bauer proud the scene where Bond is brought back is one of the coolest so far in Fleming's series.
After the revelation that 007 is still alive, Bond goes through a series of smaller battles including him infiltrating a heavily guarded industrial factory, destroying four helicopters in his solo-copter, landing a rigged-to-crash plane at the last second, and undergoing a Japanese makeover. The makeover included some sort of eye manipulation and a stereotypical black wig, and for
those scoring at home, it is the second most un-politically correct piece of the movie trailing Bond's question to his Asian lover: "Why do Chinese girls taste different than other girls?" That seems out of bounds for even Mad Men dialogue.And Bond gets more help than ever before, this time from a squad of Japanese ninjas, most of whom are sacrificed in a evil-lair storming scene eerily reminiscent of Normandy Beach. Once inside the base we get some of the Austin Powers fodder including piranha's trained to kill (post-kill line: "Bon appetite"), a self-destruct command, and a comic reveal of the SPECTRE leader. Yadda yadda yadda Bond foils the plot and for the second time in five films, we hit the credits with 007 getting cozy in a raft with his latest swing.
THE BOND GIRL:
YOLT puts a lot less impact on one Bond girl, but if there is one woman who takes the lead role it is Mie Hama (somewhere Asian Nomar just got a boner) who plays Kissy Suzuki. In a role reversal from the last few installments, Kissy is an aide of Bond's, as the head of Japanese secret-service. Besides being deployed into the field where she is handy with the steel (to earn her
keep), she plays a role in a fake marriage to Bond during his Asian "transformation."Like Bond, Kissy seems to have no fears and willing to sacrifice all for the chance to make things right. She is central to the sabotage of SPECTRE's lair and the foiling of the evil plot, plus I already explained where she ends up when all is said and done. However we really never learn much about Kissy including her background or much about her personality. Except for her good looks she is almost as bland as the hundreds of extra ninjas. Hama, is a Japanese actress who brings a new flavor to Bond girls, and I give her a very bland double-o-5 out of ten.
WHAT TO TAKE AWAY:
This is basically the end of the Sean Connery era and its sad to see him go, especially of Roger Moore sucks as bad as I hear. Connery brought unbelievable personality to the Bond character, including an awesome accent, unbelievable chauvinism, and a plume of chest hair. Besidesthe apex of Connery-isms YOLT is much more of a snapshot of the times than the other films. We are treated to a 1960's display xenophobia and Cold War fears that were rampant in the time of release.
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