Producer: Harry Saltzman
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Scriptwriters: Roald Dahl
Score: John Barry
Title Song: Nancy Sonatra
Locations: Japan, Pinewood Studios
Running Time: 1 hour, 56 minutes

The Players:
James Bond- Sean Connery
Aki - Akiko Wakabayashi
Tananca (Tiger) - Tetsuro Tamba
Blofeld - Donald Pleasence
M - Bernard Lee
Q- Desmond Llewelyn

      You only Live Twice was produced in 1967 by Eon Productions. This is the first time that there were two years in between Bond films, which will become the standard for the next few films. This movie was billed as the greatest Bond of all. It was promoted like crazy, since for a time it seemed quite possible that this would be Connery's last film. (This would later prove to be not the case.) Trailers promised that this movie had everything. Bond would become Japanese, get married, and even die! This was all true...sort of.
      At the start of the movie, it does appear that Bond is shot to death. However, we learn shortly thereafter that it was all a trick to convince Blofeld that Bond was dead. Bond is then sent to discover who is stealing American and Russian space crafts from outer space. Each power expects the other, and threatens to retaliate. Bond has only days to discover the true threat to prevent World War III.
      Bond goes to Japan, becomes Japanese, takes a wife to make the transformation seem more real, and is trained in the ways of the ninja. This all prepares him for a grand fight with Blofeld's men in the heart of a hollowed out volcano.
A NOTE ABOUT THE TITLE SONG: You Only Live Twice was designed to have a definite Japanese flair, but with high paced action overtones. The song was sung by Nancy Sonatra (a hot commodity on the heels of "These boots are Made For Walking"). This song reached #11 on U.K. charts.
MY GRADE: B-  Albert Broccoli (Producer) Terence Young (Director) and Richard Maibaum (Scriptwriter), who all worked on the first four Bond movies, were not involved with this one. I think the movie definitely loses something without their guiding presence. Also, this movie deals with space. I don't like the space angle in Bond movies. (Especially in Moonraker.)
BEST MOMENT: Two words: Little Nelly. The scene in which Little Nelly, with an amazing assortment of gadgets, fends off several larger helicopters is great. This scene replaced the car w/ gadgets scene in a new and exciting way.
DID YOU KNOW: *This is Blofeld's first time being seen (entirely) in the movies.
*The two leading Japanese women could not speak English at first. When one learned the language quickly, she took the main role. The other one had difficulty, and the producers wanted to fire her. However, she said she would commit suicide if they did, so they gave her the smaller role.
*Sean Connery's first wife, Diane Cilento, could swim very well, so she played the role of five "different" Japanese women when they were seen swimming.
*During the "Little Nelly" scene, one of the cameramen got his foot cut off by a helicopter blade. It was re-attached, and he worked on the next Bond movie even.
*The volcano lair set costs more than the entire budget of Dr. No.
*This movie is the only one in which Desmond Llewelyn ever wore shorts.
Fleming borrowed the title of this book from an ancient Japanese tonka that goes:
You only live twice,
once when you are born,
and once when you look death in the face.