Review of You Only Live Twice (1967) by Tonto — 17 Oct 2021

This is the fifth installment of the Bond franchise, with Sean Connery as James Bond, and takes place largely in Japan. The plot has to do with SPECTRE being behind a NASA spacecraft being swallowed up and lands in the Sea of Japan.

In the film, Bond is dispatched to Japan after American and Soviet crewed spacecraft disappear mysteriously in orbit, each nation blaming the other amidst the Cold War. Bond travels secretly to a remote Japanese island to find the perpetrators, and comes face-to-face with Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE.

The film reveals the appearance of Blofeld, who was previously a partially unseen character. SPECTRE is working for the government of an unnamed Asian power, implied to be the People's Republic of China, to provoke war between the superpowers.

Blofeld again is seen in his Mao suit and pets his Persian white cat. He has a scar on his right eye and is bald. The movie gets a higher score because it is the first to reveal Blofeld's face. The action and cinematography are fantastic especially for the year the movie was released.

Overall, the movie is a fun ride.