You Only Live Twice (1967) - film review

When one of their spacecraft mysteriously disappears shortly after take off, the Americans naturally assume that it has been destroyed by the Russians.  And when the same thing happens to a Russian space vessel, the Soviets are equally confident that the Americans are to blame.  Neither side realises that the disappearances have been orchestrated by SPECTRE in an attempt to provoke the Superpowers into starting a Third World War.  Believing that the missing spacecraft came down in the Far East, the British security services send their best agent, James Bond, to Japan to investigate.  Once again, Bond proves to up against a powerful adversary, so powerful in fact that, before he can start work, he must first die...

Five films in and the Bond franchise already looks as if it might be in trouble, descending to the level of self-parody whilst its lead actor does a good impression of a man desperate to be let out of Pentonville Prison.  By this stage, Sean Connery was reluctant to go on playing the part that had made him an international star and his disenchantment with the role shows in just about every shot.  Add to that the most ridiculous plot imaginable (conceived by Roald Dahl, a writer of children’s stories and macabre fantasies), with a villain that looks like he stepped out of a cheap pantomime, and the result can only be described as a let down after the generally impressive four Bond films that preceded it.

With neither Guy Hamilton nor Terence Young available to direct the film, producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman turned to veteran director Lewis Gilbert, who had helmed such classics as Reach for the Sky (1956), Carve Her Name with Pride (1958) and Alfie (1966).  Gilbert was a bizarre choice to direct a Bond film, since his previous films had consisted mainly of comedies and character-driven dramas, not big budget adventure thrillers of this kind.  Yet, in spite of this, he rose to the challenge admirably and directs this, and his two subsequent Bond films – The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979) – with great flair.  Like the Bond films before it, this was another major box office hit, even if the critical reaction was very mixed.

Despite its many shortcomings, You Only Live Twice still manages to be one of the more enjoyable entries in the series (its silliness perhaps adding to its appeal).  Don’t even think of trying to rationalise the plot – it will only give you a headache (although you do wonder just why the film’s producers decided to discard most of Ian Fleming’s original novel and commission someone with no experience as a screenwriter to do a complete rewrite). 

This is the first of the Bond films where you just have to sit back, switch off your reason, and relish the mad implausible spectacle that takes place in front of your eyes.  The plot may be ludicrous, Connery may have had enough, Blofeld could have done with a few more hours in the make-up chair, but the production values are still awesome and the action sequences are, as ever, superbly realised.  The question is, with Connery about to hand in his Walther PPK and collect his P45, could the series survive a change of lead actor?

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

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