You Only Live Twice (film)

Novel — Film — Comic — Radio drama — Soundtrack — Song — Characters — Releases

Cast & Crew
James Bond:	Sean Connery
Director:	Lewis Gilbert
Producer(s):	Harry Saltzman, Albert R. Broccoli
Writer(s):	Ian Fleming (novel)
Screenplay:	Roald Dahl
Editor:	Peter R. Hunt
Music:	John Barry
Theme song:	"You Only Live Twice" John Barry (Composer), Leslie Bricusse (Composer) Nancy Sinatra (Performer)
Facts & Figures
Budget:	$9.5 million
Gross:	$111.6 million
Distributed By:	United Artists
Released:	12 June 1967 (UK)
Running Time:	116 minutes
Preceded By:	Thunderball (film)
Followed By:	On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)

"James Bond. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ernst Stavro Blofeld. They told me you were assassinated in Hong Kong."
"Yes, this is my second life."
"You only live twice, Mr. Bond."

― Ernst Stavro Blofeld and James Bond

You Only Live Twice is a 1967 spy film, and the fifth film in the James Bond series as well as the fifth to star Sean Connery as MI6 agent James Bond. The film's screenplay was written by Roald Dahl, and lightly based on Ian Fleming's 1964 novel of the same name; although both Dr. No and Goldfinger had taken liberties with the source material, You Only Live Twice is the first Bond film to deviate substantially from the original novel, although it retained many of the characters and the Japanese setting of the original. Significantly, however, the film depicts Bond's first meeting with Blofeld, whereas the novel depicted a later encounter, due to the films not following the books' publication order.

You Only Live Twice is the first Bond film to be directed by Lewis Gilbert, who later directed 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me and 1979's Moonraker, both starring Roger Moore. After its release in 1967, Connery stepped down from the role, leading to the hiring of George Lazenby for 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Connery later returned officially, one last time, in Diamonds Are Forever (1971).

In the film, Bond is dispatched to Japan after American and Soviet spacecraft disappear mysteriously in orbit. With one side blaming the other, and an American moonshot just a few days away, Bond goes undercover on a remote Japanese island with local agent Kissy Suzuki, to find the perpetrators, bringing him face to face with Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE. This film reveals the features of Blofeld, who was previously a partially-unseen character.

Plot summary

Rocket theft and dying on the job

The unidentified spacecraft abducting Jupiter 16 and leaving Astronaut Chris to his death.

Orbiting over the Earth is Jupiter 16, a US space capsule manned by two astronauts. As they maintain radio contact with bases in Hawaii and Houston, one of the astronauts ventures outside to make routine repairs, when radar picks up another spacecraft closing fast. Radio contact is lost and the spacecraft opens up and swallows Jupiter 16, in the process severing the other astronaut's lifeline and leaving him to die in space.

A contentious meeting between US and Soviet diplomats follows, brokered by a member of Britain's foreign service. The US believes the pirate spacecraft is Soviet in origin, having tracked the ship in orbit before it ventured into the atmosphere; the US is to launch another capsule in three weeks and will regard interference with the ship as an act of war, and will launch a military attack on the Soviet Union should the capsule come under attack itself. Great Britain, however, believes the alien ship landed in the Sea of Japan based on tracking of the ship from a station in Singapore and that a British official in Hong Kong is following this lead.

In Hong Kong, MI6 agent James Bond is enjoying a romantic encounter with a Chinese woman. She leaves the bed and pushes a button that levers it into the wall. Two men burst into the room with machine guns and spray the bed. When the police arrive, the woman has disappeared and Bond is found dead.

Faked funeral, meeting Dikko and Osato Offices

Bond discovering Dikko Henderson having just died.

News is made of Bond's death, and he has a funeral by being buried at sea. As soon as Bond's casket hits the sea floor, it is retrieved by MI6 agents and taken to a submerged submarine, whereupon the casket is opened and a healthy Bond emerges. His assassination in Hong Kong was a ruse to trick his enemies into believing he was dead so he can continue his mission undetected. He is ordered to Japan to meet with members of Japan's SIS.

One, a beautiful woman named Aki, takes him to the home of Dikko Henderson, a British intelligence official living in Japan who has discovered information about the rogue spacecraft. Henderson theorizes that a third power is using Osato Chemicals, a vast multinational corporation, to launch spacecraft from Japan to attack US and Soviet space crafts and trigger war between the two superpowers. However, Henderson is stabbed to death before he can reveal more.

James subdues Henderson's killer, then takes his place and infiltrates Osato Chemicals to find more information. He battles with a large bodyguard and defeats him before he finds a safe containing paperwork and a film negative that he takes before being pursued by security guards. James is rescued by Aki, but he is now mistrustful.

Meeting Tiger

Bond and Tiger Tanaka meeting.

When Aki stops her car near a subway entrance James chases her, only to fall into a "trap" set by Tiger Tanaka, the head of Japanese SIS and the most secretive official in Tokyo. After verifying Tanaka's credentials via a codeword, James works with him and they examine the paperwork found in Osato's safe. It details the smuggling of LOX - technical shorthand for liquid oxygen for rocket fuel and which is also the name for smoked salmon, and the perfect cover.

The film negative is of a supertanker, the Ning Po, the picture coming from an American tourist killed by whoever works for Osato Chemicals; the picture shows not only the ship but a small boat of fishing women, indicating the area is an outer island on the way to Shanghai. James theorizes that the international criminal consortium SPECTRE has a role in the space hijackings given their history of using private organizations for the actual legwork of a conspiracy in the service of other foreign powers.

James spends the night at Tanaka's house, where he is given exotic hospitality in the form of being bathed by "very sexiful" young ladies and given a relaxing massage by one. James' massage is taken over by the shapely and scantily-dressed Aki, who has fallen in love with him, a love the two consummate.

Osato Chemicals, docks and plane trap

The next day James is arranged to meet with Mr. Osato in the guise of businessman Jim Fisher to negotiate a bulk-purchase of important chemicals. Osato surreptitiously X-rays James, finding he is armed, and James is given a drink by Osato's secretary, Helga Brandt, who is more than just an efficient aide-de-camp.

Osato orders hit men to kill James, but he and Aki escape and Tanaka dispatches the hit men via a transport chopper sporting a giant magnet. Tanaka radios James and orders him and Aki to Kobe, where the Ning Po is being loaded for departure. James then urges Tanaka to contact M in London to dispatch "Little Nellie" and her father - a minicopter gunship built under the supervision of Q.

Bond interrogated by Helga Brandt

After arriving at Kobe, James and Aki find tanks of liquid oxygen but the two are attacked by a gang of dockworkers. James fights them off to allow Aki to escape, and it appears James himself will get away - until he is ambushed and knocked unconscious. He is bound to a chair in Helga's room on the Ning Po, where she questions him about snooping around the dock and threatens to torture him with a plastic surgeon's instrument - a dermatome.

Bond - still posing as Fisher - admits being an industrial spy and tries to bribe her. Helga is aroused by James' masculinity and allows herself to be seduced by him; after consummating their arousal she flies James in a private plane, then sets the plane on fire, bails out and locks him in, but James manages to escape, land the crippled plane, and escape before it explodes.

Little Nellie, SPECTRE meeting

Little Nellie assembled.

Returning to Tiger's house, James is given photos of the Ning Po showing she stopped at an outer island and offloaded an enormous stockpile of equipment, shown by a vastly lower waterline. The threesome meet "Q" and Little Nellie is assembled by Q's crew of specialists. Sporting a variety of powerful weapons aboard Little Nellie, James overflies the area islands, but finds nothing of interest amongst the volcanoes below. However, just when Bond is about to abandon the search, he is attacked by four gunships which he shoots down, leaving no doubt as to the presence of SPECTRE in the general area.

A scheduled Soviet space shot, meanwhile, goes off, and is grabbed by the enemy rocket, which is tracked by the US Air Force before disappearing, seeming to confirm to the US that the Soviets are behind the space hijackings and will now use the excuse of losing their own spacecraft to shoot down the next Jupiter launch. The Soviet Union is angry at the USA for stealing one of their rockets.

Both Osato and Helga Brandt meet with their leader, "Number 1", in his headquarters after the rogue craft returns to its base. The man's face is not shown; however, he holds a white cat and finishes a meeting with two scientists who designed the radar jamming system that has cloaked the location of the villain's base.

Both men demand more money but acquiesce after his bodyguard, Hans, shows them his leader's pool of piranha. The two scientists leave and the mysterious villain flashes the x-ray showing Bond's Walther PPK and expresses his disappointment in both Osato and Brandt for failing to recognize and to kill him. Both accuse each other of failure. The villain orders Brandt to leave and drops her into the piranha pool as she walks across its bridge; she is eaten alive. He then sharply orders Osato to kill Bond immediately.

Ninja camp, Aki's death, Kissy

Bond is ordered to report to Tiger's palatial estate which also doubles as a ninja training camp. Tiger's plan is to use his army of men to infiltrate a fishing village on the island where the Ning Po last made port. Bond himself will be disguised as a Japanese man and will train with the rest of Tiger's ninja army; the army will later hide in the island's largest village as local fishermen. Bond will also take a wife; to his dismay, Aki will not be the woman because she is not from the village. After the procedure which disguises him, Bond and Aki spend the night together.

While they sleep, an assassin sneaks into the rafters above their bed and lowers a needle on the end of a thread. He trickles a powerful poison down the thread, his target being Bond. Bond, however, shifts in his sleep. Aki also shifts at the same moment and the poison drips onto her mouth. As she struggles and dies, Bond wakes up and shoots the assassin dead.

Tiger comes in and Bond tells him what happened. Bond seems more urgent than ever to investigate the plot but Tiger tells him he needs a few more days of training. The next day during a staff match, Bond is attacked again by another assassin who tries to stab him with a knife hidden in his weapon. Bond kills the man and Tiger identifies him, saying he's not one of his men. The next day Bond is wed to a lovely young woman from the fishing village, Kissy Suzuki.

The two settle into a small house in the village and Kissy rejects Bond's advances to consummate their marriage. The two also notice a small funeral being held for a young girl who'd been exploring a nearby cave along the shoreline. When the girl's boat floated out of the cave, she was mysteriously dead. At early morning, Tiger warns Bond that the Americans are launching their next spacecraft today with a last warning to the Soviets!

Entry to the volcano lair

Bond finally meeting Blofeld, the elusive #1 of SPECTRE.

Bond becomes interested in the cave; the next morning, he and Kissy explore it by boat. When they enter it, Bond immediately notices that a poison gas, phosgene, has been released. They jump over the side of their boat and dive outside. After coming ashore they deduce that the cave is connected to the volcano's crater and hike up to the top.

They see a helicopter fly down into the basin but it disappears. A closer investigation reveals that the surface of the crater's lake is actually a gigantic metal cover. As it opens, it reveals a secret base where the rogue rocket, which has swallowed the American and Soviet spacecraft, prepares for another launch. Bond sends Kissy back to get Tiger and his men, while he himself sneaks into the base.

Inside the volcano, Bond locates the missing astronaut and cosmonauts being held prisoner. They subdue a few guards and imprison the SPECTRE astronauts that are next to fly into space and capture the next spacecraft already launched by the USA. Bond takes the place of one of them, hoping to sabotage the next capture; however, as he prepares to enter the rogue rocket, he's stopped at the last moment and taken to the volcano's control room.

The final battle

There he meets the mysterious villain; Ernst Stavro Blofeld, leader of SPECTRE. Bond's personal effects are confiscated and Blofeld reveals his plan; the capture of both American and Soviet spacecraft will trigger a nuclear war between the two, eliminating them from the world stage. Bond cannot prevent the start of Blofeld's spacecraft, now painted as a Soviet rocket to provoke the USA into starting the war. Bond asks for a cigarette, one of the weaponised ones given to him by Tiger. He kills one of Blofeld's men with the miniature rocket and opens the crater for Tiger's arriving ninja army.

A fierce battle erupts, in which Bond and Tiger's men eventually gain the upper hand. Bond finds a way back into the control room through Blofeld's private quarters, where he briefly battles with Hans until the henchman is thrown into his boss' pool of piranhas. Bond is able to destroy the spacecraft in time, using the self-destruct mechanism originally intended to cover up all evidence after this final capture. Relieved, the POTUS calls off the nuclear run. Blofeld himself escapes after killing Osato and triggers a self-destruct device that cause the volcano to erupt. Tiger, Bond, Kissy and the ninja army escape into the sea.

Bond and Kissy find a life raft waiting nearby and board it. Bond asks Kissy if it's OK to take their "honeymoon" now and she agrees. As they kiss, a British sub surfaces underneath them and the raft is caught on the fore section of the sub. Inside, M orders Miss Moneypenny to tell Bond to report in to headquarters.

Development

Writing

Although this film is not the series' first wholly original James Bond film adventure (Bond's infiltration of the Japanese fishing village, and the characters of Blofeld, Tanaka, and Kissy are from the novel), the screenplay by Roald Dahl is the first James Bond screen story to substantially diverge from the original novel's story and plot, due, in part, to having been produced before On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Casting

Jan Werich was originally cast to play Blofeld. After five days, both Gilbert and Broccoli determined that Werich wasn't menacing enough, and recast Donald Pleasence in the role – the official excuse being that Werich was ill.

Shooting

A visibly upset cat on set. This was an unscripted reaction to explosions, and the cat ran away and hid on set for some time.

Reportedly, Blofeld's cat was so surprised by the loud noises in the finale that it was only found several days later cowering in the rafters of the volcano set.

While filming, Connery's then-wife, Diane Cilento, had to replace Mie Hama (as Kissy Suzuki) for a swimming scene, because the Japanese actress was struck with stomach cramps. Other sources suggest Cilento stepped in because it was discovered that Hama could not swim.

Cast & characters

James Bond
(Sean Connery)

Tiger Tanaka
(Tetsuro Tamba & Robert Rietty (voice))

Aki
(Akiko Wakabayashi)

Kissy Suzuki
(Mie Hama)

Ernst Stavro Blofeld
(Donald Pleasence)

Mr. Osato
(Teru Shimada)

Helga Brandt
(Karin Dor)

Hans
(Ronald Rich)

M
(Bernard Lee)

Miss Moneypenny
(Lois Maxwell)

Q
(Desmond Llewelyn)

Dikko Henderson
(Charles Gray)

Ling
(Tsai Chin)

Spectre 3
(Burt Kwouk)

Spectre 4
(Michael Chow & Frazer Hines (voice))

The cast also included Alexander Knox in a small role as the unnamed President of the United States. Knox had been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1944 for his performance as another President, Woodrow Wilson, in Wilson.

The cast also included professional wrestler Peter Maivia as the large bodyguard who James Bond fought with and defeated at Osato Chemicals the night of Dikko Henderson's murder. Peter Maivia is the maternal grandfather of fellow professional wrestler and actor, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Also included as a Hong Kong Policeman in the opening was Anthony Ainley who would go on to play The Master in Doctor Who in 1981.

Crew

• Directed by: Lewis Gilbert
• Produced by: Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman
• Written by: Ian Fleming
• Screenplay by: Roald Dahl
• Cinematography by: Freddie Young
• Music composed by: John Barry
• Production design by Ken Adam
• Second unit director: Peter R. Hunt

Weapons & gadgets

Gadgets

Main article: List of Gadgets

Utility

Underwater Breathing Gear - To enable Bond to fake his own death, he was equipped with inconspicuous breathing gear and thrown overboard.

Safe-Cracker - A small device that can easily be carried in a jacket pocket and works by attaching it to a safe the operator wants to open. With it properly positioned, the user needs only to turn the combination dial and the device would light up a series of lights as each correct number on the combination dial is found until the entire series is revealed to open the safe. However, Bond finds out the hard way that gadget is not designed to defeat a safe's other security functions, such as alarms.

Weaponized

	Lipstick Gas Grenade - A gas grenade disguised as a makeup applicator. While flying Bond in a light aircraft Helga Brandt catches the spy off guard by dropping the device, locking him in his seat and parachuting to safety. Within seconds the cabin is filled with a disorienting gas, leaving 007 fighting for his life in a pilot-less plane.
	Piranha Tank - Blofeld's trap door that he uses to dispose of failures to his organization and unwelcome guests. Operated by a foot pedal concealed behind Blofeld's desk, part of the foot-bridge over the piranha-infested pool collapses, sending the unsuspecting victim to their death.
	Explosive Bullets - Tiger's specially trained ninjas, as well as Tiger himself are armed with Gyrojet pistols that use rocket-propelled explosive bullets in lieu of standard ammunition.
	Bō Staff - Used by a SPECTRE assassin who infiltrated Tanaka's Samurai training school in an attempt to assassinate Bond.
	Shooting Cigarette - Tiger gives Bond a cigarette capable of shooting a jet powered projectile accurately up to thirty yards. Used in Blofeld's volcano to kill a technician standing by the entrance controls to enable his allies to storm the base.

Weapons

Main article: List of Firearms

Notable weapons

	Walther PPK - James Bond's sidearm. Osato manages to use X-ray camera to find Bond carrying one, and causes SPECTRE to find out that Bond's still alive. (Due to a continuity error, the PPK changes into a Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless in certain occasions.)
	Webley Mark IV Revolver - carried by Hong Kong Police in the pre-titles. Later appears during the Volcano shoot-out, being used by Blofeld, Blofeld's henchmen and Kissy Suzuki.
	Colt New Service - used by security at Osato building. Later, due to a continuity flub, the Webley Mk IV carried by Blofeld turns into Colt New Service.
	Colt Detective Special - drawn by Bond to shoot the assassin who poisons Aki.
	Gyrojet Weapons - the Gyrojet pistol is used by Tiger Tanaka, first to demonstrate it at his Ninja training center and later during the raid at the volcano lair. Tanaka's other ninjas are seen using the Gyrojet Carbine at Blofeld's volcano lair.
	Sterling L2A3 - first used by the "Hong Kong assassins" who "kill" Bond during the pre-title sequence. During the volcano raid, its carried by some of Tanaka's ninjas.
	Thompson M1928A1 - used the gunner aboard the Toyopet Crown Deluxe. One of Tanaka's ninjas is seen with the M1928A1 during the volcano siege
	Sten Mk II - used by Blofeld's security troops at the Volcano lair against Tanaka's ninjas.
	MP 40 - used by Blofeld's security troops at the Volcano lair. Tanaka ends up picking one and using it to provide cover fire for Bond.
	Lee-Enfield No. 4 - used by Royal Navy's honor guard during Bond's fake funeral.
	M1 Carbine - used by Blofeld's security troops at the Volcano lair against Tanaka's ninjas.
	Browning M2 (Aircraft model) - first appears installed on the helicopters that attack Bond in his Little Nellie. Other set appears at the walls of the volcano lair that open fire on Tanaka's men.
	Poison-on-String - used by the Island Assassin who tries to kill Bond but unwittingly kills Aki instead.
	Shuriken - used by Tanaka's ninjas. Notably used by Tanaka himself to save Bond before Blofeld shoots him.

Background/low presence weapons

• Mauser C96 (gun turret camera at Osato Headquarters)
• Sturmgewehr 44 (background at the Ninja training facility equipment lab)
• Sten Mk.III (one of the ninjas during volcano raid)
• MAT-49 (one of the ninjas during volcano raid)
• Star Z-45 (some of the ninjas during volcano raid)
• Lee-Enfield No. 5 Jungle Carbine (one of Blofeld's grunts at the Volcano lair)

Vehicles

Main article: List of James Bond vehicles

Major vehicles

	Toyota 2000GT convertible - owned by Aki. (Two prototype convertibles were built especially for the film; no others were made. One 2000GT convertible was located in South Africa awaiting restoration into the Cars for the Stars museum.)
	Toyopet Crown Deluxe - used by gunmen who chase Bond and Aki's 2000GT. It gets grabbed by the KV-107's magnet and dropped in the sea.
	Dodge Polara - used by the Japanese assassins who kill Dikko Henderson.
	Little Nellie (Wallis WA-116 Series 1) - heavily armed gyrocopter that could be transported in several cases and quickly assembled in the field.
	Kawasaki KV-107 - A vehicle pursuing Bond and Aki is dispatched by the use of this Japanese variant of the Boeing-Vertol Sea Knight and a large magnet suspended from the helicopter.
	Kawasaki-Bell 47G-3 - Operated by SPECTRE, these helicopters attack Bond flying the Little Nellie to scout where the Ning-Po ship had unloaded its cargo.
	Aero Commander 200 - used by Helga Brandt, it is later used by her to trap Bond and crash the plane to kill him.
	Ning-Po (Yamaguchi Maru) – Japanese cargo vessel operated by Osato Chemicals and Engineering on behalf of SPECTRE.
	HMS Tenby - Bond's fake military funeral is held aboard this ship.
	HMS Aeneas (P427) - the submarine that picks up Bond after the fake funeral. At the end of the film, it surfaces right on the spot where Bond's and Kissy's raft is.
	Jupiter 16 (McDonnell Gemini Capsule) - the American space capsule captured by Bird 1.
	Vostok 16 - the Soviet space capsule captured by Bird 1.
	Jupiter 17 - the second American space capsule. Bond destructs the Bird 1 before its able to snatch it.
	Bird 1 - built by SPECTRE, the Bird One spacecraft was designed to kidnap American and Soviet orbital vehicles, engulfing the target craft and returning it to SPECTRE's hidden launch site in Japan.

Other notable vehicles

	Land-Rover 107" Series I Station Wagon (HK Police variant) - the police car that Hong Kong police arrive to "confirm Bond's death."
	1964 Prince Gloria Special 4 (S40) - the taxi Bond takes to Osato Building while posing as Mr. Fisher.
	Komatsu FD 20 - the forklift that the thugs by Ning Po try to use to kill Bond with.
	Brantly B-2B - used by Helga Brant.
	Aérospatiale Alouette II - used by Bond and co. to arrive at Tanaka's Ninja Training Center
	F-105 Thunderchief - shown taking off on the screens at US command center.
	Boeing B-52 Stratofortress - shown taking off on the screens at US command center.
	Lockheed C-130 Hercules - appears at the end to drop rafts for Bond and Tanaka's ninjas.
	Martin Titan II GLV (Gemini Launch Vehicle) - shown as the Soviet Launch vehicle
	Atlas-Agena D - shown as the American Launch vehicle

Background vehicles

Background vehicles include:

• 1965 Austin Mini Moke
• 1966 BMC Mini
• 1955 Cadillac Fleetwood 75
• 1959 Chevrolet Impala Convertible
• 1960 Datsun Bluebird
• 1966 Datsun Sunny Van
• 1964 Ford Consul Corsair
• 1965 Ford Mustang (Backwards, during the 2000GT-Crown Deluxe chase)
• Isuzu TD
• Land-Rover 109 Series II
• 1963 Mazda B360 Light Van
• 1966 Mazda Kraft
• 1964 Mitsubishi Colt 1000
• 1957 Morris Minor 1000
• 1964 Morris 1100 MkI
• 1963 Nissan Cedric
• 1963 Nissan Cedric Van
• 1966 Nissan Cedric
• 1966 Nissan Cedric
• 1966 Nissan President
• 1960 Plymouth Coronado
• 1961 Plymouth Belvedere Stretched Limousine
• 1965 Pontiac Catalina
• 1966 Pontiac Parisienne
• 1960 Prince Skyline
• 1963 Prince Skyline
• 1961 Subaru Sambar
• 1965 Subaru 360
• 1966 Subaru Sambar
• 1962 Toyopet Crown
• 1964 Toyopet Corona
• 1966 Toyopet Crown
• 1964 Toyota Publica
• 1964 Toyota Publica Van

Locations

Film locations

Country and region	Location	Real/shooting Location
Outer Space	Bird 1 abduction sequences	Sets
USA	NASA Control Center	TBA
	The Pentagon	TBA
Norway	Secret UN base in Northern Norway	Reporting Centre Mågerø, Tjøme
Hong Kong	Ling's apartment	45 Tam Kung Road (exterior)
	Victoria Harbour / HMS Tenby (funeral)	Same
Mobile location	HMS Aeneas (P427)	Same (exterior); studio sets (interior)
Japan, Tokyo	Sumo Arena	Kuramae Kokugikan
	Dikko Henderson's Mansion	Good Fukuhisa Restaurant (has been demolished/doesn't exist anymore)
	Osato Chemicals and Engineering Building	Hotel New Otani Tokyo
	Tiger Tanaka's secret warehouse	Nakano-Shimbashi Station
	Tiger Tanaka's Tram	TBA
	Tiger Tanaka's House	Shigetomisoh Manor
	The car chase between 2000GT and Crown Deluxe	Fuji Speedway
Japan, Kansai Region	Kobe Docks	Same
	Ning Po / Helga's interrogation room	TBA
	Helga's Airport	RAF Finmere
	Ninja Training Center	Himeji Castle, Hyōgo Prefecture New Hotel Otani Tokyo Gardens
	Marriage Site	Kumano-Nachi Taisha, Higashimuro District
Japan, Kyushu Region	Q's Workshop	Tenpozanchō, Kagoshima
	Aerial Flight	TBA
	Fishing Village	Bonotsucho Akime, Kagoshima
	Volcano Lair	Shinmoedake (exterior); Studio set (interior)

Shooting locations

• Pinewood Studios — London
• Japan

Map

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Soundtrack

Main article: You Only Live Twice (soundtrack)

Legacy

You Only Live Twice is considered to be one of the most cultured Bond films to date. Unlike most Bond epics featuring England, Russia, or America as prime locations, almost the entire film is set in Japan, and several minutes are devoted towards an elaborate Japanese wedding in the middle of the movie, although the start involved Bond in Hong Kong. This is in keeping with Fleming's original novel, which also devoted a number of pages (more than the usual for a Bond book) to the discussion of Japanese culture.

Tributes and parodies

Donald Pleasence's performance as Ernst Stavro Blofeld has become a classic staple of spy-fiction cinema.

Main article: Parodies & Imitations

You Only Live Twice became the quintessential example of a 1960s spy film, particularly in regards with its main villain, supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, with his aspirations of world domination and extravagant lair in a volcano. As a result, many of the film's most recognizable elements have been replicated in other popular culture - be it seriously or for parody reasons - and even referenced in music.

• Dr. Evil (from Austin Powers), a spoof of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, was inspired by, more than any other actor, Donald Pleasence's portrayal in You Only Live Twice. Both share the same grey suit, bald head, pet kitty, facial scar, and bulging eyes.
• Blofeld's volcano lair, complete with internal monorail system, was heavily borrowed for the 2004 film The Incredibles.
• The backing soundtrack to the film was used by British singer Robbie Williams in his hit Millennium.

Trivia

• The script for the film was inspired by rumours that had circulated after the release of the prior film, namely "James Bond will die", "James Bond will get married", "James Bond will become Japanese". All of those were incorporated into the film, and were all shown as cover for MI6 work.
• The film is unusual in the degree that it illustrates a camaraderie between James Bond and Tanaka, a.k.a. Tiger. The two are seen cavorting about in several scenes during the movie, and seem to form a genuine friendship, and not simply a business association through the course of the movie. This is also in keeping with Fleming's novel. Tiger even seems to have come up with a nickname for Bond in this film, at one point calling him "Zero Zero". Bond did strike a close relationship with Ali Kerim Bey in From Russia with Love.
• James Bond is married in this film, although controversy exists over whether it is a legitimate marriage because he chose a fake name to go undercover when the marriage occurred. Since his wife, Kissy, survives it leaves open whether he was still married under Japanese law when he wed Tracy in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
• In the Raymond Benson short story Blast From The Past, Bond has fathered a son with Kissy, aptly named James Suzuki after both parents. It is also stated that Kissy died of cancer a few years before the story took place, making a rare instance where a Bond girl has passed away naturally. Also, the main villain is Irma Bunt, who was in the You Only Live Twice novel, but not the film.
• The Osato henchman whom Bond manages to subdue in Osato's office is portrayed by Samoan-American wrestler Peter Fanene Maivia, who was also the grandfather of famous actor/wrestler Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.
• During the movie, James Bond tells expatriate Henderson he has never been in Japan. It contradicts the scene in the earlier From Russia with Love in which 007 tells Tatiana (Tania) Romanova that "once when I was with M in Tokyo, we had an interesting experience."
• There is a brief shot of scene, corresponding with Tiger Tanaka's line "she's very sexyful", that shows Bond staring at a massage girl from his pond with the girl's legs widely open, backing the camera. This shot apparently inspired the pose in the famous movie poster for the 12th Bond film, For Your Eyes Only, starring Roger Moore as James Bond.
• The death of Helga occurs when Blofeld presses the footpedal and lets her fall into a piranha-infested tank. This death resembles the death of the archvillain's secretary in The Spy Who Loved Me who fell down a trap elevator into a shark tank. Both films were directed by the same man.
• Kissy Suzuki's last name is never mentioned on screen, and is known only from the closing credits where the character is identified fully (and, of course, from reading Fleming's novel). The only other Bond girl likewise unidentified is Octopussy, whose real name is never revealed (although in the movie, Octopussy gives her father's last name as Smyth).
• This was the first film in which M's office is shown to be "portable", relocating to a submarine. This gimmick would be revived in The Man with the Golden Gun (in which M's office is hidden aboard the wreck of the RMS Queen Elizabeth in Hong Kong Harbor), The Spy Who Loved Me (hidden inside an Egyptian tomb), Moonraker (located in a monastery in Brazil), and The Living Daylights (on board a C-130).
• Connery was involved in a minor scandal while filming when he stated that he didn't find Japanese women sexy.
• The manned U.S. spacecraft named Jupiter in the film are clearly Gemini vessels, flown between 1965 and 1966 with two astronauts to test various systems and procedures vital to the successor manned space project, Apollo, that would land the first men on the Moon in 1969. These procedures included EVA and spacecraft docking.
• The Soviet manned spacecraft shown — ironically named Gemini — are based on early (incorrect) U.S. speculations about Soviet Vostok and Voskhod spacecraft — the designs of which were not revealed officially by the Soviet Union until 1967.
• The SPECTRE spaceship might been inspired by the Augmented Target Docking Adapter used during the Gemini missions.
• The launch scene of the Soviet mission was actually a Gemini launch on a Titan II rocket from Cape Kennedy, Florida (note the palm trees). The rocket is also quite different looking from the Soviet style ones, which typically had four booster rockets surrounding the main rocket's first stage.
• Cubby Broccoli, Harry Saltzman, Ken Adam, Lewis Gilbert and Freddie Young were due to return to the UK on a BOAC Boeing 707 flight on March 5, 1966 after scouting locations across Japan. The group cancelled their tickets when they were told they had a chance to watch a ninja demonstration. That flight crashed 25 minutes after take off, killing all on board.
• One of two Eon productions, the other being Octopussy, to be released in the same year as a rival Bond film. Casino Royale was the other offering. While both films turned a healthy profit, Casino Royale was accused of lowering the takings of You Only Live Twice. Ironically, on the second occasion this happened, in 1983, Connery was in the lead role for the rival Bond film, Never Say Never Again.
• The actress for Ling, Tsai Chin, returned to the James Bond Franchise as Madam Wu in Casino Royale.
• The first Bond film to indicate James Bond holds the rank of Commander. M holds the rank of Rear Admiral (the old insignia) while Miss Moneypenny holds the rank of Second Officer in the Women's Royal Naval Service (aka WRNS or Wrens, later disbanded).
• Bond has the following decorations on his Royal Navy Uniform: Top row L-R
  • 1st Row: Commander of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Distinguished Service Order, 1939–45 Star
  • 2nd row: Atlantic Star (With subsequent France and Germany Star denoted by the Silver Rosette clasp), Pacific Star (With subsequent Burma Star denoted by the Silver Rosette clasp
  • 3rd row: Defence Medal, War Medal (unlike the literary bond, this Bond wears the active Commander stripes, while Bond in the novels was an Royal Navy Reserve (RNR) Commander)
• M wears the old Rear Admiral shoulder boards and has the following decorations:
  • Top Row: Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, Distinguished Service Order, 1939-1945 Star
  • Second row: Atlantic Star, Pacific Star (with clasp)
  • Third row: Defence Medal, War Medal 1939-1945
• The Captain of the submarine wears four ribbons: the Korea Medal, the United Nations Korea Medal, the Naval General Service Medal and the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.
• The officer who cuts Bond free of his shroud and leads him to M is a Lieutenant-Commander and wears two ribbons, the Naval General Service Medal and the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.

Gallery

• You Only Live Twice (film)/Gallery

External links

• You Only Live Twice (1967) at IMDb
• MGM's site on the movie
• Ian Fleming bibliography of first editions - illustrated