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When American and Russian spacecraft are attacked in Earth
orbit, the threat of conflict looms between the superpowers.
In order to prevent a third world war, James Bond travels
to Japan to confront his old adversary, the evil SPECTRE organisation,
and comes face to face with its diabolical leader, Ernst Stavro
Blofeld...
This
was the first Bond movie to radically depart from the plot
of the Ian Fleming novel upon which it was supposedly based.
Only the Japanese location and the character names of Kissy
Suzuki (Mie Hama), "Tiger" Tanaka (Tetsuro Tamba), Ernst Stavro
Blofeld (Donald Pleasence) and Henderson (Charles Gray) are
retained from the Fleming original. Blofeld's "garden of death"
is replaced by a more far-flung concept, befitting the '60s
obsession with the US/USSR space race.
In
fact, the plot is so different that, with minor tweaking,
it could be novelised
and placed within the book series as more recent films have
been. Bond's dealings with Tiger could become their second
encounter, taking place a few years after the original novel.
Bond's initial wariness of Tanaka could be attributed to awkwardness
resulting from the circumstances of their last encounter,
in which Tiger was arguably a party to Kissy's deception of
the amnesiac Bond. Kissy herself could also reappear, with
Tiger deciding that 007 should resume his ready-made cover
as the girl's fiancé. Her initial frostiness in the film could
be transferred to Bond in the novelisation, as he might understandably
harbour some bitterness towards the woman who took advantage
of his memory loss. Bond could also be shocked to learn about
the birth of his son, James Suzuki (a character mentioned
in the Raymond Benson short story "Blast from the Past"),
and angry that Kissy didn't tell him sooner.
On the other hand, the Henderson of the movie is so far removed
from Fleming's "Dikko" Henderson that the character's dialogue
would have to be significantly rewritten. It would be simpler
to just rename him as a different character. Similarly, Blofeld
could become some new member of SPECTRE in the novelisation
(let's call it You Only Live Thrice, since the proposed
book is very much a sequel to Ian Fleming's You Only Live
Twice - following Bond's apparent death in Fleming's book,
and the agent's faked demise at the beginning of the movie,
007 is now therefore on to his third life).
But
back to Blofeld. The film also boasts the distinction of featuring
the first direct cinematic confrontation between Bond and
SPECTRE's leader, a villain whose face had remained hidden
during previous movies. Here Blofeld is played with inimitable
menace by Pleasence.
You Only Live Twice is also justly famous for Ken Adam's
spectacular set design for SPECTRE's volcano headquarters
(the construction of which can be seen in newly discovered
vintage footage in the extra feature On Location with Ken
Adam). This, together with Pleasence's scarred, bald-headed
version of Blofeld, provided Mike Myers with a great deal
of source material for his Austin Powers movies.
Certain
other elements let this film down upon repeat viewing, though.
For instance, when Bond's love interest Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi)
is murdered, he recovers from his grief with alarming rapidity.
He seems ready to get it on with the next girl within a few
short minutes of screen time! And how exactly does Bond's
Japanese disguise manage to fall by the wayside? When he sets
sail with Kissy, he looks Oriental, but by the time he descends
into the volcano, he has become Caucasian once again. Oh well,
I guess we shouldn't worry too much about the plot, but instead
sit back and enjoy visual treats such as the aerial battle
between SPECTRE helicopters and 007's autogyro Little Nellie
(the storyboards for which are included among disc 2's special
features).
These
extras also provide, amongst other revelations, a glimpse
- in the documentary Inside You Only Live Twice - of
the actor who almost played Blofeld before Pleasence took
over at short notice.
New to DVD are excerpts from Alan Whicker's visits to the
location shooting for the BBC documentary series Whicker's
World and a promotional TV programme Welcome to Japan,
Mr. Bond. This 50-minute production, made by the movie
producers Albert R Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, is an elaborate
clip show featuring specially recorded scenes with Lois Maxwell
(Miss Moneypenny) and Desmond Llewelyn (Q). These scenes could
actually work within the context of the movie, say between
chapters 15 and 16, though scenes featuring some other mysterious
characters break through the "fourth wall" by discussing the
film and book series.
Despite
its reputation as an all-time classic, You Only Live Twice
is not without its faults. Still, I'm sure we can live these
on DVD... for the second time.
  
Richard
McGinlay
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