The fifth movie in the franchise opens up with James Bond (007) in Tokyo, seducing a beautiful woman before he is shot and killed. Hence the title, You Only Live Twice.
The plot is grounded but mostly serviceable and pedestrian. Despite this, there are a couple of effective action set pieces, see: the moment Bond is trapped solo in an airplane that is free falling to the ground.
The story: Bond is dispatched to Japan after an American and Soviet-crewed spacecraft vanishes mysteriously in orbit, each nation blaming the other amidst the Cold War. It turns out megalomaniac head of SPECTRE Blofeld wants to start World War 3.
Sean Connery seems to be sleepwalking through the role, which is a shame as this is Bond's first real showdown with Blofeld (played menacingly by Donald Pleasence.) The less said about Bond turning Japanese the better and the Bond girls (Akiko Wakabayashi and Mie Hama) are fine, if not particular memorable. Yet, the volcano hideout finale delivers (with an impressive set) and the helicopter showdown is fun (if a little 'green screen' dated.) It's missing the style and sophistication of the earlier Bond films but it's still moderately entertaining.
FG FG FG
DIRECTED BY: Lewis Gilbert. SCREENPLAY BY: Roald Dahl. LOOSELY BASED ON: You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming RUNNING TIME: 117 minutes. CERTIFICATE: PG. UK / USA.
 in Tokyo, seducing a beautiful woman before he is shot and killed. Hence the...){kind=link}