You Only Live Twice: 50th Anniversary
By David Pegram
Fifty years ago this week, Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli released You Only Live Twice. It was the fifth Bond film and presumably the final one that Sean Connery would ever make as 007. Let’s take this opportunity to look at what others have said and are saying about the film and its place in James Bond lore.
Reviews
The original New York Times review, in 1967, by Bosley Crowther, praised the film as a “bag of good Bond fun.” But Crowther also noted that the film’s overall effectiveness was diminished by excess, particularly its length.
In his review of You Only Live Twice, Roger Ebert wrote that Connery “labored” through the film. Ebert recognized that the film contained all of the Bond elements, including gadgets and girls, but with a plot that goes nowhere
In a 2006 retrospective review for Empire, Ian Nathan gave the film 5/5 stars, saying that it “drips with splendour.”
In 2012, Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers listed You Only Live Twice at #7 in his rankings of Bond films. Travers wrote that the film “just gets better and cooler with age.”
You Only Live Twice carries a 72% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
History and Legacy
Of course, Sean Connery had announced during filming that You Only Live Twice would be his last Bond film. Connery was unsatisfied with the salary he was offered to continue playing 007. He also was not happy with the lack of character development.
Production designer Ken Adam created Blofeld’s at Pinewood Studios. In a 2002 interview with The Guardian, Adam revealed the dangers of the set, out of which helicopters would be flying. Of the lair, he said:
"I really went big – a volcano is big and I had to more or less match the size of that crater lake. I decided to build the lake out of fibreglass – it was 70ft in diameter, and I knew it had to open up in order for helicopters and space rockets to get in and out of it. So it was no longer a normal film set. We built it on the back lot of Pinewood."
Though Donald Pleasence does not appear on screen until late in the film, his portrayal of Blofeld has been the most iconic. His physical features, including the scarred eyelid, were copied by Mike Myers for the look of Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers film series.
Trivia
- After scouting locations in Japan, members of the production crew were supposed to be on a flight out of Tokyo that crashed near Mount Fuji.
- Camerman John Jordan had his foot accidentally sliced by a propeller while filming the Little Nellie helicopter chase. Jordan had to have his leg amputated, as a result.
- Tsai Chin, who played the Chinese double agent, responsible for killing Bind in her bed, also starred in Casino Royale, as a poker player.
- Nancy Sinatra was the first non-British performer to sing the theme song.
- The two lead actresses, Akiko Wakabayashi and Mie Hama, also appeared together in the Japanese monster film, King Kong vs. Godzilla.