“You Only Live Twice” was the fifth James Bond film, which tells the story of 007 dispatched to investigate the disappearance of American and Soviet spacecraft, both blaming the other, in the midst of the Cold War. Bond has a big confrontation with SPECTRE leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who seems to know a lot about the situation. Director Lewis Gilbert (“Alfie” 1966) and screenwriter Roald Dahl put together an enormously entertaining movie, with all of the bells and whistles expected from a Bond motion picture.
Sean Connery once again played Her Majesty’s favorite secret agent, with a supporting cast that includes Donald Pleasence, Akiko Wakabayashi, Tetsuro Tamba, Mie Hama, Karin Dor, Charles Gray. Returnees as 007’s co-workers are Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny, Desmond Llewelyn as Q, and Bernard Lee as M. The theme song was performed by Nancy Sinatra, composed by John Barry (music) and Leslie Bricusse (lyrics).
“You Only Live Twice” was a huge hit at the box office for producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli, Eon Productions, and United Artists. A competing Bond film, “Casino Royale” from Columbia Pictures, was released a few months earlier. However, it was a comedy spoof-spy adventure, not a serious 007 story.
You Only Live Twice (1967)
cinema
My Review
“You Only Live Twice” was the fifth James Bond film, which tells the story of 007 dispatched to investigate the disappearance of American and Soviet spacecraft, both blaming the other, in the midst of the Cold War. Bond has a big confrontation with SPECTRE leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who seems to know a lot about the situation. Director Lewis Gilbert (“Alfie” 1966) and screenwriter Roald Dahl put together an enormously entertaining movie, with all of the bells and whistles expected from a Bond motion picture.
Sean Connery once again played Her Majesty’s favorite secret agent, with a supporting cast that includes Donald Pleasence, Akiko Wakabayashi, Tetsuro Tamba, Mie Hama, Karin Dor, Charles Gray. Returnees as 007’s co-workers are Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny, Desmond Llewelyn as Q, and Bernard Lee as M. The theme song was performed by Nancy Sinatra, composed by John Barry (music) and Leslie Bricusse (lyrics).
“You Only Live Twice” was a huge hit at the box office for producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli, Eon Productions, and United Artists. A competing Bond film, “Casino Royale” from Columbia Pictures, was released a few months earlier. However, it was a comedy spoof-spy adventure, not a serious 007 story.