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You Only Live Twice Trailer

Synopsis: Bond's successes against SPECTRE has made him a marked man, so MI6 decides to fake his death in order to throw his enemies off his scent. Meanwhile, a US space capsule has been literally eaten up by a mysterious space craft. The Americans suspect the Russians and threaten them with retaliation. With another US launch only weeks away, MI6 believes a third party is trying to foment nuclear war between the superpowers of the world.

Bond is dispatched to Tokyo where, aided by the Japanese Secret Service, he infiltrates the headquarters of a corrupt industrialist, Mr. Osato. But 007's cover is blown by a scheming vixen and his "second life" is soon spiraling out of control. He finally escapes the clutches of Osato and reports to a secret ninja training base on an island that is seen in a micro-dot photograph taken from Osato's headquarters. Bond is trained as a ninja and then finds out that Blofeld, his arch nemesis, is hiding there. Blofeld's base is inside a volcano with a retractable roof. He then leads a party of ninjas to take out Blofeld's operation.

Release Date: June 12, 1967


Plot: The start of World War III for profit.


Box Office Results: $111.6 million

Running Time: 1 hour, 57 minutes


Gadgets: Little Nellie, Rocket Cigarette


Director: Lewis Gilbert

Issued Sidearm:

• Walther PPK

Screenplay: Roald Dahl

• Additional story material by Harold Jack Bloom.

Sean Connery as James Bond
Villain:

• Donald Pleasence as Ernst Stavro Blofeld

Henchmen:

• Teru Shimada as Mr. Osato
• Karin Dor as Helga Brandt
• Ronald Rich as Hans

Bond Girls:

• Mie Hama as Kissy Suzuki
• Akiko Wakabayashi as Aki
• Karin Dor as Helga Brandt
• Tsai Chin as the girl in the pre-title sequence.

Supporting Cast:

• Tetsuro Tamba as Tiger Tanaka

• Bernard Lee as M
• Desmond Llewelyn as Q
• Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny
• Charles Gray as Dikko Henderson
  

Filming Locations:

• Hong Kong; Tokyo, Japan; Matsu, Japan; Cape Cod, USA; Hawaii, USA; Pentagon, USA; Russia; Outer Space.

Best Quote

• Blofeld: "James Bond. They told me you were assasinated in Hong Kong."

Bond: "Yes, this is my second life."
Blofeld: "You only live twice, Mr. Bond."

Best Mistake:

• When Bond enters the sumo game, the writing above the door reads "Beauty Parlour" in Japanese.

Distinguishing Feature:

• Ernst Stavro Blofeld's face is seen for the first time, revealing him as the archetypal alopecian villain.

Around The World With 007:

• Filmed entirely on location in Japan (with the exception of second unit photography done in Hong Kong, Nassau and Spain). The remote fishing village of Akime, known for its hot springs, served as the fishing village where Bond and Kissy 'honeymoon', while the volcano on Kyushu led to complications because much of the production equipment had to be transported by foot and packhorse. Because of fans' hysteria at the presence of Sean Connery in Tokyo, director Lewis Gilbert had to hide cameras for some of the sequences to minimize the attention drawn to the production.
• As in previous films, Pinewood Studios played host to all the interior set sequences.
  

Vital Statistics: (According to mi6.co.uk)

• Conquests: 3
  
• Martinis: 1
  
• Kills: 21
  
• "Bond, James Bond": 0

Title References:

• Blofeld quotes the film's title to Bond towards the end of the film.

An American space capsule on a routine mission, orbiting the Earth while NASA keeps track of it's progress. But routine suddenly takes a horrible turn as an unidentified spacecraft flies towards the capsule, devouring it and killing one of the two astronauts in the process! The Americans immediately blame the Russians for the capture (with the Cold War enemy denying all involvement), but the British have noticed a peculiarity: the spacecraft lands nowhere near Russia but in an area around the Sea of Japan. They know of the danger of the infiltration but they have the man for the job in James Bond...that is, until he is suddenly assassinated while on "duty" in Hong Kong with masseuse Ling.

With Bond killed, he is given a proper funeral for his military duties before being thrown into the sea. But as his body falls into the water, his corpse is pulled into a nearby submarine, where he is revealed alive after all! M assures Bond that his "death" would get the enemy off his back while he finally heads forth towards "the big one": an infiltration in Japan to find out what happened to the spacecraft before the Americans send up another ship. Given instructions to find a certain contact, Bond is shot out of the sub and arrives on the shores of Japan to begin his infiltration.

Arriving in Tokyo, he initially is guided towards a sumo hall, where he makes his initial contact with Aki, who works alongside the one he needs to see. Following her lead with her behind the wheel, Bond is taken to the estate of British citizen Dikko Henderson, who had lived in the nation for 28 years. Henderson makes notes of an agent named Tanaka in the country and of the spacecraft landing in Japan and suggests that someone there may be behind it, but is killed before saying anything further on whom. Bond takes down one of the assassins and takes on his guise to ride with another associate unknowingly to Osato Industries. Taking down the hitman after a fight in the main office at the headquarters, Bond soon does a quick investigation, where he discovers some important information in a safe he cracks. Spotted by security guards, Bond rushes out, where Aki is unexpectedly waiting for him to ride away.

Taken to a local warehouse, Bond persues Aki believing her actions being as suspicious as the rest he had encountered. But his woman problems lead him straight into a trap...luckily set up by ally Tiger Tanaka who uses Bond's traits to his advantage. Touching base on the situation, the duo go over what was seized from the Osato safe, which includes a peculiar shopping order hiding an order for "liquid oxygen" (rocket fuel) and a picture of a ship who's taker was killed not too long after taking it. Finding suspicion in the company, Bond returns to the Osato building the next day to schedule an appointment questioning his motives. Under the careful watch of spying office workers, the spy meets up with company head Mr. Osato and his personal secretary Helga Brandt, who seem to see suspicion in this "ordinary office worker" from the mere meeting. As Bond leaves, several hitmen are asked to follow behind. But Aki uses Tiger's resources to help Bond get a "lift" in removing the obstacles from the road by way of a magnet on a helicopter!

Returning to base, Tanaka reveals peculiar information regarding the discoveries, including the ship moving back and forth on a route between Kobe and Shanghai and a certain island between the two in the Sea of Japan. Moving down to the shipyard in Kobe, Bond attempts to investigate but is persued and ultimately captured by Osato's forces. Left in the "care" of Brandt, Bond appears to seduce his way to prevent a painful encounter with her. But as he seems to have her on his side, Brandt betrays Bond in a mid-air escape after their rendezvous, forcing him to make an emergency crash landing. Meanwhile, a Russian spacecraft is similarly abducted like the American one, forcing more mistrust on the two sides drawing them closer to war.

After escaping, Bond decides to persue a lead regarding the island Tanaka found, calling on the assistance of "Little Nellie", a small personal helicopter assembed and equipped by her "father", Q. Initially seeing that there is nothing on the island but volcanoes, Bond is swiftly attacked by several minions, which he easily takes out using Nellie's special additions. At the same time as Bond draws closer to the truth, Brandt is forced to pay for her failure by being devoured by a pool of pirahna by the ultimate mastermind behind the scheme: Ernst Stavro Blofeld, leader of SPECTRE hidden underneath one of the volcanoes on the island and using Osato's company as his cover for extortion.

Drawing closer towards discovering the rockets locations, Bond is forced to undergo a particular "training" for his operation set up by Tanaka, including "becoming Japanese" and training in the art of the ninja. Aki attempts to assist in the matter, but is soon killed by an assassin trying to poison Bond in his sleep. As Bond's training neared it's end, he was forced to undertake the final part of his blending in: marrying local island diving girl Kissy Suzuki to make him seem like one of the natives.

Finally on the island as one of the locals, Bond finds from Kissy that a local was killed for investigating caves near the volcanoes. Soon finding out that the Americans were preparing for another space launch sooner than expected and with them and the Russians on high alert, Bond decides to investigate the cave with Kissy, maneuvering towards the volcanoes while giving Tiger and the ninja stand-by to prepare for invasion. Making his way towards a particular volcano with a fake roof, Bond sneaks in as it opens to allow a helicopter inside. Eventually discovering the abducted astronauts, he gains their assistance to take down several guards and attempt to sneak onto the spacecraft as it prepares to steal another American craft as if the Russians were doing it. But a slight mistake draws attention towards Bond, forcing him to finally meet face to face with Blofeld himself.

Captured and seemingly helpless as SPECTRE's craft begins it's ascent towards starting World War III, Tanaka and Kissy lead a platoon of ninja to begin a seige of the volcano, only to be hindered by hidden machine guns near the cone. Taking advantage of "rocket cigarettes" supplied to him by the Japanese, Bond begins to cause chaos allowing for the ninjas to enter the volcano and take apart the SPECTRE minions. Blofeld kills Osato for his failure before attempting a getaway, while Bond tries to get back to the control room to hit a self-destruct button for the space craft before the Americans are captured. After a brief fight with bodyguard Hans (meeting a similar fate to Helga in pirahna devouring), Bond maneuvers back towards the exploding control room, where he finally pushes the button and puts a stop to SPECTRE's plan! But Blofeld has the last laugh, attempting his last effort to stop Bond by reactivating the dormant volcano! With seconds to spare, Bond, Tanaka, Kissy and the ninja all safely escape unharmed.

As the volcano erupts behind them and another mission accomplished, Bond and Kissy attempt to finally have "alone time" with neither on duty for the moment. But the liferaft is unexpectedly lifted by M's submarine, who specifically asks Miss Moneypenny to "check on them"...