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Comments
Compared to the Terence Young Bond films You Only Live Twice, fronted by Lewis Gilbert looks positively frivolous and light hearted. Which of course is what it is.
Sean Connery's era has seen the actor grow so comfortably into the role of Bond that by now it's all second nature. Connery is in perfect control in a less demanding role, full of action, as he moves from one location to another.
Often mistaken for 'looking bored' (give me strength), Connery's laid back and urbane Bond is slightly at odds with this faster paced spectacle. He is terrific non the less.
And as ever Bond never fails to show off his cleverness ( I mean, he knew that the sake he was served was the correct temperature. Knowing Bond though, he probably guessed).
As people love to point out Bond makes a lousy Japanese. Amazingly when he removes his space helmet to meet Blofeld for the first time all the lovingly applied makeup has disappeared, and Sean stands before us in all his rugged Scottish glory.
The villain Blofeld is played by Donald Pleasence who certainly does have a suitable look of calm malevolence. It's good casting, but Pleasence has little to do (less even than Joseph Wiseman in Dr No).
The main girl is Akiko Wakabyashi as Aki - she dies early, only for Mai Hame to step in and give Bond his expected tumble in the final frames, but Akiko is billed above Mai, she has the bigger role, and she makes the biggest impression.
Aki is sweet and resourceful and her death is arguably the most tragic of any Bond character since Kerim Bey.
Bond knows not to go back to the Osato building after Aki dies as every time he had been there before she was there to bail him out.
Tiger Tanaka doesn't come over as a man of such power and resource. And of course being dubbed he just sounds like Emil Largo with a slight Japanese accent.
Charles Grey makes his first appearance in a Bond, as Henderson. It's a brief, scene stealing appearance, and the look on his face when Bond identifies him by rapping his wooden leg with a stick is priceless.
"I'm glad you got it right" is probably the funniest line in the film.
But was the line "stirred not shaken. That is right isn't it?" deliberately incorrect?
Karin Dor plays a strangely confused Spectre operative whose motives are never absolutely clear, but she's fish food soon enough so all's good with the world.
And finally for those who say Lazenby was the first person in Bond to break the fourth wall, well at least two ninjas beat him to it!
You Only Live Twice
This is the big one. As evidenced by M leaving London for this first time. This is what the Bond series has been building up to. Sean Connery has evolved from an impetuous operative in Dr. No to a seasoned professional in Thunderball. His character arc is thus complete.
Whilst SPECTRE has evolved from a mysterious group, funding Dr. No to an all powerful, multi pronged organization, with an army of mercenaries, in Thunderball. Their arc is thus complete.
This is it. Bond vs SPECTRE.
An epic conclusion to the Sean Connery saga, or an overblown spectacular mess? This is the decision that has plagued me since seeing You Only Live Twice for the first time. And it still does. This time, however, I'm going to plump for the former. I paid particular attention to Connery's performance, after I slated him in the “Rank the Bond performances” thread. Although Connery was rather good, compare this picture with Dr. No for example. By this time, I think, Connery was so comfortable in the role of Bond, that he doesn't need to try. And anyway, the script does not allow Connery to act much, apart from the Aki's death scene, which is a lesson in the economy of drama. Regardless, I can't hate this film because of the twin geniuses of Adam and Barry.
Watching the movies in order made me realise the huge debt the early Bond pictures owe Nikki van der Zyl. Here Nikki provides the voice to Kissy. What a person! Kissy goes through hell! First climbing up that “damned mountain*”, then back down it, then swimming to fetch Tiger, then climbing the volcano yet again, running about inside of it, then escaping the volcano, plus more swimming. Bravo!
The beloved SirHenry was rather enamoured by Mie Hama. When the sunrise hits Mie’s face, as she was being rowed by Bond in their canoe, I can see why.
I was caught up in the sheer epic nature to You Only Live Twice. I was invested in the story and spectacle, as if I had never seen it before. Just phenomenal.
Even such things that had annoyed me before like SPECTRE Number 4’s petulant, whiny voice in the volcano lair, didn’t faze me.
My God, how stunning do the Blu Ray transfer of the 60’s films look? This is how to do a “cinematic Bond” as opposed to the “Fleming Bond”.
*A brief reference to Fleming. If the movie You Only Live Twice isn’t going to reference Fleming, it’s best I had do it.
I wonder how they got a camera up in space to film Bird 1? SPECTRE – they are always going the extra mile! Maybe, having the shooting cameras appears in the actual film, YOLT did the fourth wall breaking way before Deadpool and a couple of years before Majesty’s! So meta!
Royale’s Ranking -
1. From Russia With Love
2. Dr. No
3. You Only Live Twice
4. Goldfinger
5. Thunderball
I feel bad having to rank the Connery’s films like so. But it what is it.
Bondian Elements
Gun barrel sequence-
Thunderball’s gun barrel sequence is notable for many reasons. The switch to a widescreen presentation necessitated a new lead in to the Bond films, and this time around Simmons sits out walking duties so that Sean Connery can take his shot for the first time in the series. This was also the first full color gun barrel sequence beyond just the blood drip. In many ways, the Thunderball intro paved the way for all other gun barrels beyond, as after this point the lead actors were always used and the image of each Bond was always rendered in full color.
I really enjoy this gun barrel. The Bond theme is proud and loud, a great sound that sets up the very ambitious and epic nature of Thunderball’s story. I also get a kick out of seeing Sean finally get to do the iconic walk, and I love the turn and pose he strikes to shoot, as it looks like a realistic reaction for an armed person to have if they are in the line of fire. Sean’s Bond turns and immediately crunches down low to avoid a shot to the torso while making his shot, throwing off his enemy. The 3D looking blood drip adds a nice finishing effect.
Pre-title Sequence-
The pre-title sequence for Thunderball remains one of my all-time favorites. We get a great opening shot on a casket with the initials “J.B,” not knowing what to think, until we see Bond waiting in the wings, spying on the proceedings. We get many shots of a woman in funeral dress that who feels most curious, and the mystery continues to build. We learn in a bit of dialogue that the funeral is for a Jacques Bouvar, a man who killed two of Bond’s colleagues. His anger at not being able to punch the man’s ticket himself tells us that Bond takes actions against his fellow 00s personally, and will avenge them as a professional courtesy as a general principle.
The sequence takes us outside the church, where we see the woman (?) open her own car door, ignoring the guards around her. This clearly perplexes Bond, who smells a scheme afoot. We follow the woman to her French chateau, and find Bond waiting in the common area with his back turned while sitting in a chair like a silent predator. He feigns sincerity and compassion for the woman, before launching his fist into her face, revealing that it was a man all along (!).
What kicks off next is one of my favorite Bond fights because of how Hunt’s editing adds a sense of messiness to the action, and how Bond and Bouvar use their environment, like cabinets, chairs and vases, to offset each other and go for the kill. It only makes the scene better when you realize that Sean is onscreen fighting his own stunt double from the previous films, Mr. Bob Simmons. The sequence is fast, rough and imaginative, finishing with Bond coldly snapping Bouvar’s neck with a fire poker and dousing his body with flowers of mourning. There’s a bit of black comedy to this whole pre-titles sequence, because Bouvar is murdered barely ten minutes after he leaves his own funeral. If his people were quick to the draw they could get his body back to the church to fast track his services without letting the fake service go to waste.
Bond escapes on a real working jetpack as Bouvar’s support take shots at him, after which he lands by his trusty Aston Martin DB5 and uses its gadgets to give his pursuers a bit of a wash up as the camera is caked in jets of water, leading into the opening titles design.
Locations-
Thunderball was a nice return to form where locations were concerned. Dr. No took us to the warm and vibrant Jamaica, From Russia with Love followed up with a more dour and dangerous Turkey and Goldfinger continued by showing us locations that lacked an exotic or breathtaking sensibility (sans the beauty of Switzerland), making me miss more lively and engrossing locales.
With Terence Young back in the director’s chair, the travelogue feeling of the Bond films came with him as he took us on a ride to experience the atmosphere of the Bahamas in some of the greatest location shooting of the series. The wide beaches and deep seas are the perfect stage to set such an ambitious plot as this one, with Bond acting above ground and below it to achieve his mission.
We get some nice cultural flair in this movie as we see the Bahamas and its natives out and about, best eclipsed by the Junkanoo parade. Though the story is set in late May and the parade is usually only held at the end of each year for Boxing Day or New Year’s, seeing the festivities play out and to have it used in a major action sequence is thrilling. The vibrant colors of the floats and costumes of the dancers, who were competing in a contest for the best local creations, give great life to the scenery as Bond ducks and weaves out of SPECTRE’s grasp. The Kiss Kiss club, which the filmmakers themselves made, continues to show the vibrant life of the Bahamas, with fire dancers, passionate drummers and gyrating dancers becoming captivating parts of the scenery. There’s a real energy to everything we see in the Bahamas, a feeling that makes nice partners with Hunt’s quick and frantic editing style.
Gadgets-
As with all the Terence Young Bond films, in Thunderball Bond’s gadgets are practical, realistic and “spy smart,” largely with a basis in the actual technological capabilities of the day.
The jetpack of the pre-title sequence was a real working model and could take its pilot over 800 feet, noisy though it was, grounding the action in the possible. Bond’s arsenal in the Bahamas includes a reserve breathing device, handy for in a tough spot, an underwater infrared camera (best for sneaking pictures of boat hulls) and Geiger counters disguised as a watch and camera. For the underwater finale, Bond is armed with an powered aqualung with a working motor, headlights and mounted spearguns tipped with shotgun shells that takes center stage in a rousing moment where he fires the spears and collapses a door on two of Largo’s men.
Each item is used in a cunning fashion to help Bond complete his mission throughout the film, and most of the gadgetry, even down to the sea sleds that Largo and his men use to transport the nuclear weapons, are actual working pieces of tech, which heightens the drama of the film when you realize that so much of the fantastical imagery in front of you can and does exist in reality, operating as advertised.
Action-
Out of all of Connery’s films, I think it’s Thunderball that manages to be an action film and spy film in tandem without one element discrediting or bogging down the other. It’s clear that the Bond team took all that they’d learned from the previous films to stage the action we see in this movie, which is nothing short of amazing, and every set piece we witness feels necessary for the plot and what is required of the story. Thunderball succeeds, and is at its most pulse-pounding, when the filmmakers are juggling scenes with a lot of actors or extras in them while making it all feel natural and not staged in the slightest.
There’s great excitement when the Governor of the Bahamas triggers a power outage around Palmyra for Bond to slip in, stealthily taking out Largo’s men and making them shoot at each other. The Junkanoo chase is frantic and chaotic as a fearful Bond escapes the fire he caused to release himself from SPECTRE’s hold. The flashes of color and the blurs of movement are suitably kinetic in their energy, perfect for an editor like Hunt who uses this kind of stuff to his advantage.
And then there’s the biggie, the final battle sequence in the water. I get such a child-like thrill watching the Navy frogmen jump from the planes soaring over the Bahamas and pulling their shoots, lighting up the sky with orange as they land in the drink. Some call the underwater action in this film boring, but I find it to be immaculately rendered and riveting no matter how much I see it. Bond and the frogmen twist and turn in heated wrestling with Largo’s men as sharks worm their way in between them. Knives are brandished, spearguns are fired, and trails of deep red blood cloud the water as it seeps from fresh wounds, contaminating the murk. There’s so many extras during this sequence, so many logistical challenges to juggle and balance, and yet the filmmakers are able to make it look so easy, with some stunning photography to boot as the bright orange frogmen pop amid the crisp blues of the deep. There will be more of this sequence later.
All in all, Thunderball is able to feature a mysterious spy plot like Dr. No and retain the ominous SPECTRE conspiracy and lively action of From Russia with Love in a perfect package that improves on these elements in great ways, feeling like a greatest hits of Terence Young.
Humor-
As with all the Terence Young Bond films, Thunderball is at its most witty when lines are delivered dryly or with sarcasm, laced with some black comedy.
It’s a riot to hear Bond comment about the Prime Minister’s wife losing her dog when he’s called into the 00 briefing, hand Fiona some sandals when she tells him to get her something to put on, or hear him rib Largo about how easy it is to shoot clay pigeons. I get my most laughs during scenes like the latter where Bond is giving it to Largo inch for inch, deflating his ego big time as only he can. These moments are great companions to the dinner conversation Bond and Dr. No share in the villain’s lair during that film, Bond’s belittling of Grant on the train in From Russia with Love and his endless dismantling of Goldfinger’s ego at the ballooned man’s own golf course and ranch in that feature.
This movie is jam-packed with great dialogues brought to life by the great timing of the actors, and I’d lose pages trying to discuss each and every one the film contains.
Plot plausibility-
While Thunderball isn’t as raw and real feeling as From Russia with Love, overall it never feels overly bizarre or too far out of the realm of logic as I watch it.
The script does inarguably have moments of convenience and coincidence, including the fact that Bond is laying up at the same clinic Lippe and Angelo happen to be using to mount their SPECTRE plot, Bond finds the body of Francois that just so happens to be the brother of Domino, and later in the film he is picked up on the road by Fiona who just so happens to be traveling there at the very moment he is walking out from the beach. The script writers seem to address this convenience openly as Fiona drops Bond off after taking him for a ride. Bond points out that they are staying at the same hotel, to which Fiona replies, “What a coincidence.” Bond returns with, “Yes, so convenient.” The writers were aware of some of the leaps they were demanding audiences to take with them, but kept marching on regardless to tell their story.
And even with these moments of coincidence or convenience, the film never makes any of it feel overly lucky or sloppy in presentation. In true Bondian fashion, a plot revolving around the seizure and ransom of nuclear weapons, one of the most dire in all of Bond, feels not far removed from what could actually happen in a Cold War climate like that of the period.
Villain's scheme-
Continuing off of the discussion of Thunderball’s plot plausibility, it’s astounding how real a threat SPECTRE’s plan poses.
The scheme carries great mystery and tension, and it doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility that the theft of nukes from a NATO ship could happen, if not under the exact same circumstances as we see in the film. It’s without a doubt one of my favorite villain plans of the series, because it’s the perfect mix of a Cold War spy plot and its implications of intrigue, duplicity and war with all the mystery and suspense of a good thriller added on for good measure.
The ransom for nuclear weapons must have been scary for audiences of the time to image in the heat of the real world conflict of the Cold War at that place and time, and seeing the British government react so neurotically to the threat sells how dangerous the entire episode is. It’s quite ingenious as well. While $100 million doesn’t seem like anything at all for current day viewers, adjusted for inflation that value would be near to $800 million dollars today. It’s interesting that SPECTRE doesn’t strive to ask for more money in the deal, considering they have the Brits and Yanks in a bind and at their mercy, but why the organization does this tells us something about them. The organization wants a hefty sum to go towards the investment of their other operations, but they don’t want to rob the Brits of so much capital that markets crash and the financial aftermath negatively effects the world economy, which would hurt their own interests too.
Furthermore, SPECTRE could accept the diamonds the Brits are sending and turn around and nuke Miami anyway, but that would only send the world governments after them harder and it would make the organization appear to be dishonorable, and Blofeld prides his criminal group as being better than that. In this way SPECTRE and Blofeld by extension are a better class of criminal in comparison to those in other areas of cinema (with more exaggerated mustache-twirling villainy in their antagonists) because they commit bad acts to further their own interests, but are still true to their word and don’t resort to overly crude methods that would be illogical for what their motivates are. There’s a sense of professionalism Blofeld seems intent on keeping alive, even amidst the rough and tumble Cold War spy world because of this. SPECTRE aren’t out to destabilize the world, as there still has to be a world around to manipulate at the end of the day. That said, they’ll take every opportunity they can to extend their control and stake in power at every level, like a true to form business.
I also love what we learn about SPECTRE in this film and how they operate, as well as what their professional standards are and what they expect from their organization’s members. In From Russia with Love we got to visit the island where they train normal men into fierce killers, while in Thunderball we see first hand the effects of all that training as SPECTRE agents operate in the field. We’re a fly on the wall during a secret briefing in Paris, hidden behind the front for the organization’s French headquarters, “The International Brotherhood for the Assistance of Stateless Persons.” It’s quite fitting that SPECTRE works behind the walls of such a place, considering it prides itself on being a stateless organization with no countries to answer to or serve. I also wouldn’t be surprised if SPECTRE’s agents even bribed or persuaded some of these displaced and temporary vagabonds to join their cause, using the peoples’ desperation against them for the organization’s own gain.
When Blofeld announces that an embezzler is in the organization’s midst during this briefing, we see first hand how the organization treats those who resort to underhanded tactics and spread disloyalty through the hierarchy. The power and fear Blofeld displays here is palpable. When Lippe is ordered to be punished for his erroneous pick of the greedy Angelo for the Vulcan operation, we also learn that SPECTRE has a dedicated Execution branch whose sole job entails taking out contracts from inside the organization itself to erase any members whose mistakes prove too monumental or destructive to entertain any longer.
In the character of Dr. Kutz we also learn just how easy it can be for SPECTRE to swallow up people to help lead their cause. Kutz is a talented enough scientist to continue his work happily in his Warsaw lab, but as Largo points out, any scientific discoveries he made would amount to nothing but a million dollars for a Nobel prize, while his efforts in SPECTRE would give him endless amounts more. In this way, a good man like Kutz is tempted to the side of the organization where his efforts will be well rewarded, no matter how dastardly, which is a tantalizing temptation. There’s a slight implication that Kutz may have been “persuaded” against his will by SPECTRE to come along and help on the NATO operation, which would give credence to their overreaching power and explain why the scientist later turns against Largo and his crew when he can stomach their acts no longer.
One point regarding the functionality of the gimmicks per then-current science, though -- it is my understanding that the U.S. military contacted Eon to inquire about the availability of the miniature re-breathing unit, only to be told, "Sorry, it doesn't really exist. We just made that one up!"
Bond actor and performance
I’ve read people say that Connery looked bored in this movie. To be honest, I’m at a loss as to how people can see that someone is bored from their performance in a movie. For me, I think Connery is that comfortable in the role here, he’s almost laid back at times. Everything comes so naturally to him as if it’s second nature. He is still the cool, calm Bond we all know.
Bond girl/s and performance
Four to speak of here. Tsai Chin as Ling, the Chinese girl who gives us one of the sauciest lines in the Bond movies, “I give you very best duck”. Short time on screen but very memorable.
Karin Dor as Helga Brandt, the bad girl of the movie. Now, while I feel that Ms Dor is quite a looker and sexy, I don’t think of her as one of the more memorable Bond girls in the series. I almost feel that she is there to try and produce some of the brilliance that we got from Luciana Paluzzi in TB. Unfortunately we don’t see that here, not for me anyway, despite her efforts.
Mie Hama as Kissy – beautiful Chinese girl who spends the last part of the movie in a bikini. Even when she is sent back to get Tanaka and men for the final battle, she still comes back in the bikini. Surely, as Tiger and his men are making preparations for a battle she had time to put clothes on. Just there for decoration in that last part of the movie.
Finally, the doomed Aki, played by Akiko Wakabayashi, another Japanese lovely who is thought of very highly by some on this forum. She is a great ally for Bond, always on hand to help when needed (conveniently of course) and love how she lures Bond to Tanaka’s office. Her death is always one that brings a lump to the throat.
One thing that always gets me about Aki’s death is how quickly Bond gets over it and turns his attentions to Kissy. Just his character I guess.
Bond henchman and performance
A couple of henchman of note. Hans – big bruiser of a man but not much going on really apart from his fight with Bond. Easily forgettable.
There are other minor characters but they don’t add much.
Mr Osata played by Teru Shimada is great and a worth adversary for 007, if not in the physical side. After the first meeting with 007, and he turns to Brandt saying “Kill him” is perfectly executed.
Bond villain/s and performance
A lot can, and has been said about Donald Pleasance as Blofeld. Obviously, YOLT is the first movie where we actually get to see him face to face, complete with scar. Donald Pleasance is a great actor and, here, he is hamming up with all his might as he battles against Bond. I know a lot of people don’t care for his performance, which is fair enough, I guess it’s like Marmite, you’ll love it or hate it.
He’s another character where the actor changes from now on and his performance seems to make the character a mile away from the hidden Blofeld we have had before.
Supporting cast and performance (M, Moneypenny, Q, allies, minor characters etc)
Bernard Lee, Lois Maxwell and Desmond Llewellyn are all, their usual, charming selves. Nothing new there as these guys are always good as with Connery. However, and this is in no part the fault of the actors, I don’t think their scenes together with Bond have the same sort of impact that others before have had, especially the scene with M. Sorry, but just my opinion.
Tiger Tanaka is an ok Ally, I love the scenes on his train where he assumes that M has a similar situation and Bonds’ reply of, “Oh yes, but of course”, is said in a way that he doesn’t want Tanaka to think his service is lagging behind (something along those lines anyway, wasn’t sure on how to explain it). But, I do like Tetsuro Tamba in the role, and he does get hands on towards the end.
I thought the same last time I watched it.
Quite agree. As we get more and more films added to the discussion we shouldn't necessarily feel the need to abandon the earlier ones. Keep adding to the pot I say!
As a one off I'll be watching this today.
1. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
2. DR. NO
3. THUNDERBALL
4. GOLDFINGER
5. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
Film Elements
Direction-
After sitting out Goldfinger when he felt he had nothing more to provide to the Bond brand, Terence Young signed on for the Thunderball project to tie off his work with the character with great finality. After Goldfinger had marveled the world and made Bond even more of an international icon, Young knew that the fourth time around the track his Bond had to be bigger than ever, with not even the sky being the limit of its scope.
What resulted was no doubt his most ambitious and logistically challenging Bond production by a landslide, and he almost died during his second Bond film, if that tells you something. Thunderball demanded that Young juggle, advise and shoot over one hundred extras and crew members in the Bahamas in and around heavily packed locations that offered little wiggle room with film equipment and gear that amounted to over twelve tons in weight. He was able to reign in the chaos and bring the film into port on schedule, however, in so small part thanks to one of the all-time greatest production teams in cinema.
It’s fitting that Thunderball marks Young’s third and final go at a Bond film, because the film represents a culmination of all his strengths as a director, as well as what made his Bond films special, with an added shot of ambition thrown in to credibly tell the story he was assembling. Young’s shooting style and chemistry with his actors is visible on his return, as is his tenacious ability to get shots nobody else could have half as well. As far as the story is concerned, Thunderball is the perfect offspring of Dr. No and From Russia with Love, retaining the mystery and detective-styled narrative of the former and a tense and dangerous SPECTRE conspiracy best seen in the latter. Thunderball under Young’s direction takes the best of Bond, adapts it to the new story, and adds new twists into the mix to make things interesting. The SPECTRE plot is dire and mind-blowing in its consequence, and the amount of time we are underwater with or without Bond really sets this film apart as special and like no other. This is the water Bond film, fitting for the climate of the Bahamas which it is set around.
I would be erring if I didn’t also include a special recognition of the work of Ricou Browning, who, along with his cameraman Lamar Boren and engineer Jordan Klein, was able to direct the underwater sequences of Thunderball and bring them to glorious life. The second-unit of this movie really had their work cut out for them, but thanks to Browning and his team, who assembled, choreographed, shot and built the many underwater machines used in each underwater sequence (like the gear that transports the two nukes with a design by Ken Adam), we get to enjoy it all. It would be difficult to believe that Terence Young didn’t direct the underwater sequences, including the final battle, because the camera work and stunts are exquisitely produced and shot with an artistic eye. The divers we see cast as Navy frogmen and SPECTRE agents in the final battle are made up of the team of specialists Browning himself, a dedicated diver and stuntman, had brought to the Bahamas to shoot the sequence. Thanks to the widescreen presentation of Thunderball, the underwater crew used the expanded frame to their advantage, filling the camera’s picture box with dozens of extras battling it out with knives and spear guns in awe-inspiring fashion. There’s an epic feeling these sequences carry, and the shots we get are some of my favorites in the film. We cut from shots of tussling divers to those of sea creatures reacting to the chaos unfolding around them, juxtaposed with images of dead frogmen and SPECTRE agents sinking to the ocean floor with blood rushing out of their wounds. Everything we see feels alive and real, and never feels like a staged film production. I haven’t ever and likely will never see a film with better shot or choreographed underwater photography with such a great balancing act of logistical challenges as this one manages.
In another special mention, United States Air Force Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Russhon, who helped EON get the necessary authority to shoot in Turkey for From Russia with Love and fly over the real Fort Knox in America for Goldfinger, returned again for Thunderball, providing the second-unit with the experimental rocket fuel used to destroy the Disco Volante while also securing access to the fulton surface-to-air recovery system from the United States Navy that appears at the very end of the movie to get Bond and Domino out of dodge.
This all is just part of why the Bond team of the 60s is unmatched in every way: they took immense challenges and found clever ways to get the job done with their amazing cast of associates and problem eliminators.
Opening Title Design-
Thunderball’s opening title design is one of my all time favorites, in so many ways. While the titles of Dr. No and From Russia with Love were created with body projection, it was in Thunderball that Maurice Binder introduced the use of female bodies and silhouettes into the designs, elements which would be a vital part of these sequences forever after. It also marks the first instance of true nudity in the Bond films, thanks to the swimming seductresses.
The use of blues, reds and greens as the colored canvases the women and divers swim against work beautifully together, and the fact that Binder made all of the sequences with just some film tricks and a tank at Pinewood is stunning. Tom Jones’ tune (more on this later) does overtime to further accentuate the visuals, making it one of the most imaginative opening title designs in Bond history, and a timeless classic.
Script-
I have stated my love for the script of Thunderball in the previous sections of my analyses in the categories of “plot plausibility” and “villain’s scheme,” so I will add my final thoughts here to further argue why I find this script so strong in particular.
Firstly, Thunderball does what so little films can seem to manage to do, even outside of Bond: it welcomes us into the villains’ homes, figuratively and literally. We get a window into SPECTRE, how the organization is run and what Bond is up against. We see firsthand how they are planning to meticulously get their nukes, and what steps they’ve taken to make sure their seizure of the weapons is successful. Some think it’s a weakness on the part of Thunderball to show us so much of SPECTRE’s plans and how they unfold, but I view it as quite special and thrilling. Part of the reason why From Russia with Love is so different and fascinating is because it too allows us inside the minds of the villains as we see how and why they are acting out their plans in the ways they are. We see the shadow of SPECTRE gradually swallow up Bond and cast him into doubt and danger, and that’s nothing short of thrilling. It makes Thunderball special that we get to know Bond’s greatest enemies, that we get to see how their organization is run and how the SPECTRE briefing under Blofeld contrasts with the later 00 briefing under the command of M, two vastly different leaders with different causes and morals, both expecting the best of their agents. We see how Largo and his crew get the nukes and all the problem solving they perform to ensure their plans are a success. This makes it very difficult to nitpick the holes of Thunderball beyond some conveniences because the movie strives to show us how the villains are doing what they are doing step-for-step.
Secondly, in Thunderball Bond is back to being a man of action, a dynamic, not static character, unlike in the previous film. The Terence Young Bond returns, the half spy half detective super combo who meticulously bugs his hotel room to survey any enemy action against him, who uses his cleverness to eradicate his enemies, and who completes his mission by any means necessary, regardless of the increasing odds stacked against him. In Young’s films we get to see Bond subtly develop from a man who had no idea of SPECTRE’s existence in Dr. No and who became an ant-sized agent under the hell of the organization in From Russia with Love to a man who now knows his enemy well and is irreverently confident and devil may care in the face of Blofeld and his agents. Bond smells SPECTRE all over the NATO plot, and when he meets the plan’s architect, Largo, he immediately mocks the man and lets him know he is aware of his organization’s scheme and his connection to it. Both men know who each other are as they meet at the card table, nobody else, and Bond rather cavalierly defeats Largo in a pompous way while still keeping it gentlemanly in a nice sequel to the Dr. No card game that debuted the character to the world. It’s clear that after having two missions where he was in over his head and blind to SPECTRE’s influence, Bond refuses to be duped a third time around, and that makes him more dangerous to the organization than ever before: the gloves are off and he’s playing no games.
Lastly, the subtle black comedy of Thunderball’s script gives it even more character as a piece of writing because in it beautiful or harmless imagery is contrasted directly with images that are evil or dangerous by design. As if out of Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, the nuclear weapons Largo and his crew are seizing have a label painted on them that reads “Handle like eggs.” This element always strikes me as both funny and frightening at the same time, as the label brings to mind the soft and harmless imagery of eggs in a carton while being overlaid on top of the delicate, hard and serious weaponry of the nukes. A nice touch.
In addition, Thunderball is a story of concealment, where everything is being hidden between the characters, even when the truth is right under the nose. The beauty and grace of Fiona masks a deadly and resourceful tactician, just as Bond’s dapper suits deceive those around him. Domino’s innocence and sweetness hide away the tragedy of her character and the pain she faces under the thumb of Largo, and the Vulcan plane Bond is so intent on tracking is purposely hidden from sight. Even the British and American governments are lying to the innocent citizens of the world. They both know the consequences of their failure to retrieve the nukes, as well as the severe aftermath that would come following a nuclear attack on a major English or American city, but they can’t share the dreaded news with the world for fear of the catatonic panic it would cause and what the leak would drive SPECTRE to do in retaliation. It’s a nice detail that, when the British agree to SPECTRE’s terms and ring Big Ben the demanded 7 times, the government report it as a mechanical failure to the public, who are unaware in their ordinary lives just how close the world is to reaching a possible breaking point. Like so many plots in the Bond films, 007 is risking his tail to save the world, and because he does his job successfully and stops these schemes, the public are ignorant to his sacrifices, almost as if they didn’t even happen in the first place. Such is the life of a spy whose risks so often meet no rewards.
In conclusion, Thunderball is nothing if not a film about literally and figuratively tearing the veil off of things hidden away, whether the surprises come from the deceitfully beautiful faces of the most alluring women or in the form of crashed ships covered in camouflaged netting. It also represents one of the greatest scripts when it comes to dialogue and in the creation of immense tension, a perfect culmination of what made Young’s Bond films so special and mind-bending in the first place.
Cinematography-
Cinematographer Ted Moore returns for yet another time as the visual mind of Bond, giving us some of his all-time greatest work.
Moore really uses vibrancy to his advantage in Thunderball, popping the color of the scenery with how he shoots his sequences. This is added to by the costume department, who enabled Moore’s camerawork to really make the movie’s colors pop in lavish form by what color palettes they chose to dress the actors in.
The location shooting is nothing short of legendary as well, and thanks to Moore and Young we feel a part of the action in the Bahamas just as we did in Jamaica during Dr. No and Istanbul in From Russia with Love. Goldfinger’s heavy use of sets must have stifled Moore’s creativity outside of the shooting in Switzerland, but in Thunderball we get to witness what he is able to do when given the right tools and a natural environment to shoot in. His use of light and shadow to create tension, as in the Shrublands sequences and in the stealth raid Bond mounts on Palmyra is legendary. While in previous films scenes set at night made it extremely difficult to see the action unfolding, in Thunderball all night sequences are crisp and clear to the eye, which must be down to Moore’s use of well-placed production lights and in his handling of the natural lights from the environments around him.
Overall, Moore’s work transports us to the Bahamas and makes the location feel like a character in the story, something he always managed to do effectively in each Bond film he had cinematography duties over. Even when he was shooting on sets, he utilized Adam’s creations and their amazing scale to fix the camera in ways that made Bond and his fellow agents feel small, like in the legendary 00 briefing scene. Thanks to Moore and Adam’s teamwork, the SPECTRE plot and the consequences of the danger it poses feels suitably larger than life and seemingly insuperable for Bond to overcome.
Music-
In Goldfinger John Barry created the Bond sound, and with Thunderball the music man only continues to create magic for the ears. If the former score was all about being brassy and conveying a suitably “golden” sound, for the latter Barry takes his orchestra and amps everything up to absolutely blaring levels with sound fit to burst the eardrums. It’s loud, it’s sexy, it’s masculine, the perfect score to accompany Sean’s Bond during his fourth journey. Barry provides music that is the perfect accompaniment to any scene of action, whether Bond is sneaking around Largo’s compound, seducing Fiona or wrestling underwater with SPECTRE agents. Barry also utilizes the film’s opening tune cunningly, my favorite instance being when he places a light and classy arrangement of it right when a tuxedoed Bond walks off the boat and heads to the card tables in the Bahamas, where Largo and Domino are awaiting him.
A special mention must also be given to Barry’s use of the 007 secondary theme here that debuted in From Russia with Love. In this movie Barry amps the sound up and really gives it a whizzing, pulsating, percussive boom that just gets your head banging to it as the final underwater battle commences.
If I had to pick scores to share with those who had never heard any Bond compositions, Goldfinger and Thunderball would be my go-to choices because they are both so loud and proud to be Bond films, and it was these two that cemented the big band orchestral style that defined these films musically.
When it comes to opening tunes, Tom Jones’ Thunderball has few competitors when it comes to sheer brilliance, power and masculinity. The theme is perfect for a Bond film in so many ways. Barry’s score makes it feel like a song only meant for a man as capable and machismo-soaked as James Bond, and the lyrics express from Don Black that are breathed into life by Jones’ vocal chords make the tune the ultimate anthem of 007, describing to audiences emphatically all that makes him a fascinating and engaging character. At the end of the song Tom Jones pulls a Matt Monro and holds an insanely long note that ends the piece brilliantly. According to Bond legend Jones even fainted in the recording booth after singing the long note. Jones once said, "I closed my eyes and I held the note for so long when I opened my eyes the room was spinning."
The original plan was for a song entitled “Mr. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang” (a label an Italian journalist gave to Bond during Dr. No’s release) to be used for Thunderball’s opening titles with versions by both Shirley Bassey and Dionne Warwick recorded, but the Bond producers thought the song wouldn’t be effective because it wasn’t written with the title of the movie in mind. The song by Tom Jones, Don Black and Barry then had to be sped into production, with little time to spare. What happened next was…history.
Editing-
Peter Hunt’s iconic fast and fierce editing style returns in fine form to Thunderball, a film that had more action than he had ever cut before, driving him to request more time to edit the film from United Artists.
Hunt’s style and influence on the film is easy to see, best exemplified during the Junkanoo chase sequence, which he and Young worked hard to produce through long hours of filming the extras in action so that the latter could give the former a lot to work with in the editing room. It must have been a real slog for Hunt to pour through all the images of dancers and floats to find the right noises, colors, compositions and perspectives that worked best once juxtaposed one after the other to create an effective and fluid sequence. What results is a stunning piece of film that conveys the tension and heart rattling danger of the action we are seeing on screen as Bond truly feels masked by the loud colors and noise of the Junkanoo parade as he heads for deep cover to slip away.
The editing of the underwater sequences is equally as effective, and Hunt seems to make a point not to drop in any awkward jump cuts where the viewers will easily spot them. Instead, when he has to, the film is sped up to convey a sense of action and heavy motion, such as when Bond shoots a boat door down on two Largo soldiers. In the underwater fight Hunt switches shots at perfect moments again and again, always giving us a new and exciting image to take in as we witness wide shots of divers twisting and turning, battling for knives and spears in a deadly embrace.
This may be Hunt’s most effective editing yet, because it’s stylized and recognizable without seeming awkward or filled with more sloppy jump cuts than are comfortable.
Costume Design-
If Goldfinger represents the epitome and end-all-be-all of Bond style, Thunderball is both a worthy successor and strong competitor for the title. While it’s hard for any Bond film’s suits to equal those of Goldfinger’s stunning ivory dinner jacket or legendarily iconic Prince of Wales gray check three-piece suit, Thunderball has an endless parade of strong formal and casual wear that continued to solidify Sean Connery as a style maverick.
There’s five extremely strong suits in Thunderball that I would happily steal for my own closet: the grey flannel three-piece suit that Bond wears in the pre-titles sequence, the brown mohair three-piece suit he wears during his briefing with M, the midnight dinner jacket he wears when he meets Largo for the first time at the card tables, and the light grey semi-solid suit he adorns during the Junkanoo chase.
The grey flannel suit is suitable for what appears to be a cold French climate, and the warmth of the fabric and heavier weight of the suit makes it truly feel like Bond’s body armor that he’s adorned himself with to head into battle with Bouvar, accentuated by a black grenadine tie. The brown mohair suit Bond wears during his briefing with M is a nice retread of the previous suit, but also reminiscent of the Goldfinger gray three-piece (both by Anthony Sinclair) that Sean wears with great-if brief-sophistication. The midnight blue tuxedo Bond wears during his card table face-off with Largo and his dance with Domino may be Sean’s very best tuxedo, though it’s always hard to determine. Sean looks so effortlessly cool and suave in it, largely because by this point he’d worn so many tuxedos that it’s not hard to imagine them feeling like his second skin whenever he put one on. He wears it with such elegance and posture, and in the context of the story it’s a defining moment that provides it with an added punch as Bond comes face-to-face with Blofeld’s second in command.
In the light grey semi-bold suit Bond wears in his big face-off with Fiona and her SPECTRE cohorts, we see the style legacy of Terence Young and his impact on the Bond films’ visual appeal represented in just one ensemble. In Dr. No and From Russia with Love the default, go-to suit Bond so often wore was a gray suit with a light blue dress shirt and navy grenadine tie. Thunderball then marks the return of both Terence Young in the director’s seat and the iconic suit of Bond’s style past that he helped nurture to life. The semi-bold suit feels like a more mature, “grown up” version of the previous gray suits with light blue shirts Bond had worn in his first two films, and that may be because at this point he had matured as a character in his personality and style, just as Sean had playing him. This is a Bond who is done getting played by SPECTRE, and now he wears the suit with an added sense of conviction and ferocity. It’s fitting that this suit is the last one Bond wears in Thunderball, and the last suit he wears for the Terence Young trilogy, because the director was of such an iconic influence on the style of Bond and his suits, which all started with him advising Sean on the kind of gray suits he wears in this Junkanoo sequence.
When it comes to casual clothing in the field, Sean wears a series of great lightweight striped and solid color shirts and polos that are the epitome of his Bond’s informal style. He pops in every ensemble, most of all in the all-blue outfit he wears while getting his gadgets from Q as his features pop against the palette.
When it comes to the supporting cast, there is an endless stream of great ensembles to marvel at, such that Thunderball is one of the Bond films where everyone, not just Bond, looks immaculate. Largo gets a lot of nice and moody suits to his name, like the charcoal suit we first see him in that suitably characterizes him as a dangerous and vile figure and the ivory dinner jacket he wears when he and Bond first meet. The latter suit was purposely chosen for Celi so that Largo would pop out amongst the sea of black dinner jackets around the card table, showing the audience subliminally that he is the villain of the piece that Bond will be rallying against forever after. It’s a nice touch that he’s in white, a pure hue largely saved for more innocent and “good” characters in fiction and especially in film design. In Thunderball, however, the villains wear the hero’s colors.
And I would be remiss if I didn’t give a round of applause to those who assembled the many bikinis Ms. Auger shifts through during the film. Everything looks amazing on her, and though I’m not as knowledgeable on what makes a good bikini as I am on what makes a good suit, I certainly like what I see, and that’s all I can really ask for. In addition, the best looking woman of the picture is Luciana Paluzzi in her skin tugging blue dresses that show of her…assets with great effectiveness. These are the kinds of women who ruin the rewind and pause buttons of your remote.
When it comes to fashion and style, Thunderball is right up there with Goldfinger with one of the all-time greatest series of suits and formal wear for Bond and the rest of the cast.
Sets-
As production designer of Thunderball, Ken Adam really had his work cut out for him when it came time to breathe life into this particularly ambitious Bond adventure. Adam not only had designing duties for the sets, but also took it upon himself to design the crafts that Largo uses to transport the nuclear weapons, scouted and rented locations around the Bahamas to shoot the film in and bought and re-tooled any boats that were needed for the production’s action sequences, including the iconic Disco Volante that he helped envision and trick out and the Vulcan NATO plane he and his team replicated in a stunning model. He also re-tooled the shark pools with sheets of plexiglass so that Young could shoot the scenes where actors or stuntmen needed to be in the water at the same moment as the sharks. This went terribly wrong once, however, and nearly cost Sean a limb or two. Adam explains:
“We used lots of sharks for this movie. I'd rented a villa in the Bahamas with a salt-water pool which we filled with sharks and used for underwater filming. The smell was horrendous. This was where Sean Connery came close to being bitten. We had a plexiglass corridor to protect him but I didn't have quite enough plexiglass and one of the sharks got through. He never got out of a pool faster in his life - he was walking on water."
Of course, Bond productions are anything but easy going and without their stressors, and Thunderball was no different in this regard, especially with how big the production team was, and the challenges they needed to face daily to shoot the picture.
If Dr. No’s anteroom was Adam’s defining piece from that film and the Fort Knox set the same for Goldfinger, the set that really evokes the feeling of Thunderball to me is the 00 briefing room. This one may be my favorite Adam design of the Connery films at the very least, because it’s a combination of all that Adam was great at. He always knew the right materials to get to make the sets something special, and how he played with geometry and space are as vital to defining the Bond style as Barry’s orchestral music defined the sound. The 00 briefing room is just immaculate in every single way. The use of symmetry Adam employs, the measurements he made to make Bond and the rest of the agents feel small in comparison to the room and the large NATO map adorning the far wall add such an epic and ambitious flavor to what is already such an epic and ambitious film. The set really underscores the dire and dangerous scope of SPECTRE’s scheme, and what it could mean for Bond and the world at large if he fails.
Adam also designed a SPECTRE briefing room to accompany his MI6 one, which I like simply because the two designs effectively contrast the respective spaces where SPECTRE agents and MI6 agents frequent and exist inside. The SPECTRE briefing room is suitably smaller and slimmer (likely to emphasize how hidden away it is), stressing a closer contact amongst the agents. It’s almost by design that agents must face each other from opposite seating positions, like Blofeld is manipulating them to feel a sense of surveillance and observed paranoia. Blofeld is also at the head of the “table” in this briefing room, like a king or lord, giving his malicious sermons to his followers from behind a screen that masks his face from view. The ceiling is low with a geometric print resembling a window pane cut into its surface, reminiscent of the giant barred circle that dominated Adam’s design for Dr. No’s anteroom.
Adam also has brilliant creations once the action takes us to the Bahamas. It was he who designed the hotel rooms of Bond and Paula Kaplan, giving them a suitably tropical, warm feeling, as if they were made from the nature of the Bahamas itself. The Kiss Kiss club that appears when Bond sneaks into it following the Junkanoo parade chase also had to be created by Adam and his crew, because the production team failed to find an already existing area in the Bahamas that had the space or atmosphere they required for the scene of 007’s final face-off with Fiona. It’s a stunning design that uses much of what was already there, including the shot up palm trees, to hang ornate and illuminating lights around the space to give it a festive feeling suitable for a club. The square dance floor in the center of the space is another clear sign that Adam was heavily involved in the club’s design, and how the extras are packed around the area where Bond and Fiona literally and figuratively dance with death adds to the chaos and brouhaha of the chase as 007 fends for his life, outnumbered and surrounded. Apparently the locals of the Bahamas loved the Kiss Kiss club set so much they pleaded with the production crew to keep it running as an actual business once Thunderball was done shooting. Like everyone else in the world afflicted with Bondmania, the people of the Bahamas couldn’t get enough of the secret agent and his vibrant world.
All in all, Ken Adam’s work on Thunderball is nothing short of astounding. He wore so many hats and completed so many jobs outside of set design for this film that it’s astounding to read about. The reason this film was so successful, and why Young managed to face the challenges shooting it posed to come out on top is partly down to the work of Adam, one of the core members of the Bond team whose talents overcame these straits to create something truly legendary.
Gun barrel
We have Connery, we have Barry. Need I say more? A great gun barrel.
PTS
It start off by giving us an idea of what is to come with this movie. Outrageous space sequence tell us this is going to be a massive adventure for 007. From here, we go to the meeting of the Americans and Russians, with the British in the middle, chairing the meeting, and quite obviously being the main men as it were. From there we go to their “man in Hong Kong” who is “on the job” with Chinese agent, Ling. Next thing, we see Ling leave with that brilliant line, before a storm of gun wielding men enter the room and shoot Bond, before we see him dead. Wow! As much as this movie falls quite low in my rankings, this PTS is one of my favourites. It is an exhausting 8 or so minutes, non-stop from the beginning, so much going on. It’s like a little movie all of its own. Yes, it may be outrageous, but it is quite brilliant. My favourite part of this particular movie, bar the volcano set. And the little twist of seeing Bond dead at the end of the sequence is such a shock. I remember the first time I saw this as a youngster, watching with my mum, and I was gutted that Bond was dead. I remember asking mum if that was it. No more Bond, even though it was only 8 or 9 minutes in, haha, she did laugh at me. A quite excellent PTS.
Locations
Japan – some stunning scenery and Japan looks a stunning country. Seeing how beautiful it looks makes me want to visit it. Some great location work.
Gadgets
As we know it’s not just 007 that gets all the good gadgets, the villains, and others characters of the movies also get their share. The retractable bed, the microphone purse, trap door slide, the spying typewriter, Mr Osato’s x-ray screen, Brandt’s’ explosive lipstick, the trick bridge, in car video calling, there are so many in the movie.
For Bond, well he has the burial at sea, a rocket cigarette, safe cracking gadget and, most notably, he has Q bring the gyrocopter, Little Nellie to him. For such a small machine she certainly packs a punch and is filled with all the gadgets anyone would need. Again, these gadgets are all the great, British spy needs during his adventure, all having their uses to help ensure 007 gets the outcome he wants.
Action
Some very good sequences here. Bonds fights in Osato’s office is very good, the aerial battle that 007 and Little Nellie have is brilliantly done, creating some great shots and, I think the most well-known of all Bond battles, is in the volcano. A massive set put to such use that this massive battle can take place. Excellent.
Humour
As with all Bond movies, it’s the one-liners that make me laugh. No exception here, some good and funny moments. The funniest moment, however, could well be the transformation of British Agent to Japanese fella.
Plot plausibility
What can we say? Of the movies we’ve seen in this Bondathon already, this takes it to another level entirely. Massive, silly plot that we will see more of in future movie. Not that I see that as a bad thing myself.
Villains’ scheme
This is the first, completely bonkers scheme that we see in the Bond movies. SPECTRE will use their own spaceships to gobble up other, smaller spaceships, have the Russians and Americans blame each other and try and cause a nuclear war. Oh, and they’ll hind in a hollowed out volcano until it’s all over, and take control of Earth. Completely crazy scheme and something we’ll see in future movies, mainly during the Moore years. Again, no bad thing for me.
You Only Live Twice - Notes on Bond Elements
Sounds like the theme is plucked on an acoustic guitar?
We have a PTS that is already suggesting this may very well be 'the big one'. Space rockets, political intrigue, Bond dying 'on the job'. All sounds very promising. Interesting that a film which ups the ante with more action set pieces plays it down a little in the PTS.
The film is set mainly in Japan which is captured lovingly - contrasting the bustling city of Tokyo, including some terrific Sumo action, with the coastal fishing areas where people lead a much simpler life.
The action is spectacular. New director Lewis Gilbert sweeps the horizon with his cameras lending real grandeur to set pieces like the Little Nellie copter fight.
Even during the roof top chase where Bond is pursued by Spectre goons Gilbert builds up the music, shoots from a helicopter (I assume) and gives the whole sequence an epic scale that transcends the Bond universe and almost becomes parody. In actual fact it doesn't become parody, it's just a little self mocking. In an epic way. Superb.
We can pick holes in the action, but it's great. Bond's fight in Osako's office is as good as any before in this series, the climax with Ninjas dropping down the ropes inside the volcano is arguably the greatest climatic sequence in Bond history. All in all it works beautifully.
Good gadgets - the cigarette is typical Bond; Little Nellie; Bond's safe cracking gear (lucky he remembered to take that with him to see Henderson, just in case!)
As for plot plausibility and the villain's scheme? Oh forget it, it makes no sense, of course it doesn't. I really don't care though, the sheer spectacle of You Only Live Twice is enough for me.
Direction
Here we have Lewis Gilbert on directing duties and, for me some of the direction is a little erratic. The aerial battles, while they look great, lack any real tension and some of the ninja training scenes does see some of the fighters fall to the ground for nothing. Attention to detail really, lacking in parts. However, the scene where Bond is running across the rooftops is brilliants, the pull back of the camera for the widescreen shot is brilliant.
Opening title design
I really like this one. Very fitting with the theme of the movie, exploding volcanoes, geisha girls. And the colours are beautiful. Great design, one of the best.
Script
I love the fact that Roald Dahl wrote the screenplay for this movie. I always loved his Tales of the Unexpected series. There’s quite a mixture in this movie, from the crazy acts such as the helicopter magnet that picks up a car chasing Bond and Aki, to the tenser moments like the death of Aki. Plenty of Bond one-liners, which, for me, is always a good thing. A couple of things that I’m not keen on in this movie are the scenes between Bond and M/Moneypenny/Q. For me, they don’t have the same feel as the ones that have come before, not as well written. A mixed bag.
Cinematography
Oscar winner Freddie Young took on cinematography duties for this movie and he gives the movie the epic it look it clearly wanted to achieve, with a good Japanese style. The locations and scenery all look very good and are very well shot.
Music
One of John Barry’s finest in the Bond series. Despite a few downfalls in this movie, the one constant is the beautiful score from Mr Barry. One could listen to this on repeat for quite some time.
The Nancy Sinatra theme tune is also one of the best of the series, very fitting, goes so well with the title design. And a tune that has been sampled by the likes of Robbie Williams for his Millennium single. Excellent.
Editing
Ok, for the most part, but there are some things that aren’t so great; such as 007 jumping out of the plane and the quick cut shows it exploding but Bond nowhere to be seen. For the very small time lapsed, Bond would have had to have been Billy Whizz to get away from the explosion. There’s another small little editing error during the Q scene too. Again, minor things really but noticeable.
Costume design
Ok, so the Japanese costumes are all very authentic and look beautiful on screen. Bond, always looks good but, again for me, some of his suits don’t seems as tailored as in earlier movies and are a little loose fitting. Maybe that is because of the slight weight that Connery had put on when filming this movie?
Also, Connery as a Japanese fisherman didn’t work at all.
Sets
Well, what can be said here that hasn’t been said a million times before. This movie is probably the finest for set design in the series (although the anteroom in DN is very close in my opinion). And there are a good few to choose from.
There’s the meeting room where the Americans and Russians are thrashing it out, refereed by the British in the PTS; a great design or the meeting room. There’s the office of Tanaka, right from the secret slide that takes Bond all the way down to a seat and Tanaka’s waiting for him in the office. Tanaka’s train that takes him anywhere he wants to go anywhere underground; Henderson pad with its mixture of styles; these are all great looking sets in what is a massive spectacle of a movie.
However, the greatest achievement of all has to Ken Adams’ volcano lair. A masterpiece of cinema, even to this day it has never been bettered. A wonderful, huge scale, lair that is big enough to fit hundreds of people, for ninjas to scale down on a rope, to fit a monorail in etc. etc. and to play host to a massive end battle. It is outstanding and has to be the most memorable set design in cinema history. Ken Adam – I salute you.
The titles include plenty of molten lava and naked Geisha girls. Lovely.
The script doesn't have the wit of say Thunderball or the tightness of From Russia With Love, but this isn't that kind of film. It's a spectacle designed around Cubby's philosophy of making this one bigger than the last. So, it's functional but full of holes.
Wonderful cinematography, epic in scale, bold in presentation.
The music is lovely. As usual any composer with an Oriental flavoured film will add the usual tricks to highlight the location, and John Barry is no different. However he is better than most, so the soundtrack oozes over us like melted caramel.
Interesting to note that the James Bond 'theme' which so many people complain isn't in the Daniel Craig films enough, doesn't arrive here properly until the Little Nellie sequence. But then back in the 60s the films didn't have to use the theme to remind us it's Bond, they didn't have to put Bond in a dinner jacket to satisfy the box ticking fanatics, they didn't have to have Bond drinking a vodka martini.
VOLCANO! This is what happens when you give Ken Adam a lot of money. He turns it into the most iconic of all James Bond sets. Breathtaking in the extreme.
His work elsewhere impressive, but this is the bad boy that has launched a thousand parodies.
Bond in a Naval uniform. Very sexiful.
I do love You Only Live Twice. Watching it so soon after the previous four in this tight Bondathon has made me see it's problems more clearly. But any film with piranhas, helicopters, ninjas, a hollowed out volcano, and a villain with the mother of all scars can't be all bad.
And if it has done nothing else it has become the film that has stuck most in the public conscience, thanks to all of the above. Iconic in every way.
What really bothers me is Bird 1 landing in the Volcano Lair. Not only would one have to have amazing gyroscopic controls/instruments to make that happen, but one can also see the matte painting doubling for the night sky.
So my question is this – was it noticeable when you two fine gentlemen saw YOLT in the cinemas, or is it just the advancement of Blu Ray technology that has exposed this matte painting?
Anywho...
Gun barrel sequence
A fine GB with John Barry on form, once again. Maybe my fav one of the series.
PTS
A mid space hi-jacking! This is the biggest Bond off them all. Shame Bond is assassinated. Wait....
Locations
As cinematographer Freddie Young does an incredible job, his work being rich and beautiful, evoking the exotic nature of the Far East. The colour pallet too is a feast for the eyes.
Gadgets
A bit too much gadgets for me, TBH. I could have done without the helicopter magnet. Though the rocket cigarette is a highlight.
Action
Most of it is excellent yet daft. Highlights include Little Nellie and the Kobe Docks Fight.
Plot plausibility
Oh, let’s just skip this one, ‘eh....
Villain's scheme
Imagine this if you will. Blofeld has improved on Dr. No’s technique. Instead of sending rockets haywire, he now has the effect to crash spacecraft up in orbit. You still get the big volcano lair, but without the tricky logistics nightmare. (Granted Blofeld still has to construct the damn thing, but hey ho..)
It's easy to see why people really love this movie. It's the biggest adventure so far, with the most outlandish plot so far. It features iconic gadgets (Little Nellie), an iconic set (Volcano lair) and the first time we properly see Blofeld. Add the exotic location, the beautiful Bond girls and the regulars in M, Q and Moneypenny and you have a Bond movie jam packed with what is now expected.
As I said, it's easy to see why some love this movie. I do myself, in fact I love all Bond movies for some reason or another. However, while I do enjoy others more than this, it may well move up from the lowly 21st position it currently holds.
Glad to see YOLT is being treated in a pragmatic way and not just dumped alongside Mathis in a skip somewhere. ;)
No one in the 60s of course ever foresaw the future of home cinema and Blu Ray and anything else that would allow clear, repeated viewings of their films. YOLT is ludicrous.
But in a good way.
All true. It's just not as good as the first 4.
Agree with this.
It's extremely difficult to judge this film fairly, because of all the iconic films that came before it that it honestly couldn't hope to live up to. This was the point in the series where the gears began turning away from the Young style Bond thrillers with a slathering of espionage and intrigue and only a sprinkling of wit and comedy towards Bond films with a slathering of wit and comedy and only a sprinkling of espionage and intrigue. Every Bond film has its place, sure, but it's hard for me not to lament the death of true, pure Bond as I know it in the early 60s, with On Her Majesty's Secret Service being the last breath that beautiful vision took until Dalton's movies took us back to that feeling almost twenty years later, though never replicating it.
Most of the great 60s team is back here, but You Only Live Twice feels markedly different from its predecessors in impact and quality. The first hour of the film is grand, really thrilling and clever, with some of the greatest location shooting in the series with some moments that give it some strength. But once Bond "goes Japanese" and the walk to the finale begins, the film sinks and sinks, and rises again briefly for the volcano fight, but never to the level it was before.
At the center of it all is Sean Connery, who does his best with what he's got, which at times isn't much. Some say this is the film where he shows his boredom, but I think it's more to do with the fact that the script doesn't provide him with the kind of meat Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger and Thunderball constantly did and that he always used to great effectiveness. The sleek panther and animal of a man appears all too briefly here, overwhelmed by a plot that is the result of EON trying to make the films bigger and bigger, but missing the mark. The Bond films started as small, isolated adventures in one area, with Goldfinger branching out a bit more, and Thunderball returning to that somewhat isolated story, but with a more ambitious story that stopped short of being ridiculous. You Only Live Twice doesn't have that filter, and while there's plenty of grand stuff in this film, the content that isn't really fights back against the positives. It's just such a tonally confused movie, not sure if it wants to be a space race thriller, a Cold War spy movie or a regular Bond film in the Young style. It's muddled because of this, which is a shame, and the first hour and second hour feel like two different movies because of this.
I couldn't in good conscience rate it over Dr. No, From Russia With Love or Thunderball, and Goldfinger provides enough strengths to offset You Only Live Twice's failures. For all the great build up to Blofeld and SPECTRE we had in the first four films, this wasn't the reveal it could-or should-have been, and it represents one of the biggest missed opportunities of the series for that. I certainly appreciate the film more than I have in the past, but since I wasn't ever a big proponent of it, that's not saying much.
Bondathon Ranking (2016-2017)
1.) From Russia With Love
2.) Thunderball
3.) Dr. No
4.) Goldfinger
5.) You Only Live Twice
I'll try to replicate my more detailed analyses of the past films and get things all submitted before Sunday night, and I'll try to re-watch this film to see if anything changes about it for me, but I won't make any promises.
Yes that would be my assessment too. Getting old takes away some of the "sense of wonder" of certain films. On the other hand, it allows us to appreciate the finer things in life. I certainly would not have appreciated FRWL as a kid.
You raised her well.
I like to think so.
I barely ever mention Ian Fleming, preferring to treat them as quite seperate entities.
You Only Live Twice, on balance, i guess is far more representative of the film series as a whole than say Thunderball or FRWL. It's a dry run for the 1970s Bond films and as such it's very hard to be dismissive of it. In fact dismiss YOLT and we may as well dismiss all of Roger Moore's films in one fell swoop.
I never worry whether a film captures Fleming or whether an actor is close to Fleming's Bond. If I did it would probably drive me mad.
Suffice it to say that Terence Young's absence is felt here, with Thunderball and On Her Majesty's Secret Service being not just the last great Bond films of the 60s, but also the last two proper Bond films we'd get in my mind until nearly twenty years after the latter's 1969 release. You Only Live Twice marks a fundamental change in the Bond series that I couldn't care less for, and it's a shame that all the promise of the early 60s films amounted to barely any impact at all.
It's no wonder Sean saw fit to exit the series after this, and it's even more understandable why it took the biggest paycheck of the day to get him back for one last adventure. He saw the changes coming to the series and how it was gradually distorting itself from its superior origins. If I was in his place, I'd have packed my bags too.
Actor & Character Elements
Bond & Actor Performance
Sean Connery returns to the role of James Bond 007 for the fifth time in EON’s series of Bond films. Some would say he did two Bond films too many in the series, and that this point in the series marked the stage at which his increasing disinterest in the fame the character brought him really started showing. I don’t find this to be true, however, and I think the biggest culprit was a script whose ambitions and over the top nature took it far enough away from Bond as a character to render Connery’s performance as less than grand in the eyes of audiences. The story is so overblown, so out of this world-literally-that it’s easy to lose sense of Bond in the adventure, a factor that made films like Dr. No and From Russia with Love classics. The best moments come when it’s Bond up against it with little to help him other than his refined skills and brain. In the same token, Sean Connery is best as Bond when the focus of the movie is on him as that character facing a cavalcade of villains, with nothing but his PPK and wits about him to face it all. In You Only Live Twice the larger plot is serviced with heightened emphasis to make SPECTRE seem like a greater threat, and as a consequence we lose focus of Bond within the mission and what his journey is as this element is overlooked or underserved.
At this point, Connery also began to not feel as much the part as he did just two years previously in 1965’s Thunderball. The best word I could use to describe Sean here would have to be “pudgy.” His lack of fitness is visible in his frame, which had ballooned enough to make his suits fit awkwardly at times, which hurt his impact as a stylish spy and a capable looking man of action.
There is a lot to like from Bond and Sean by association in You Only Live Twice, however, which I’ll get into a little bit here.
The pre-titles sequence offers us some interesting insights into who Bond is as a man, how he views his job and what he appreciates. As Bond lays with Ling, he inquires about why Chinese women taste different, pointing out that it’s not a bad thing, and that he appreciates all flavors, as he does the foods of many cultures, naming Peking duck and caviar are mere examples. I like how Bond compares women to fine foods here, showing his love of not just fine flesh but also the meals of cultural epicenters.
When Bond “dies” while being shot from the bed, the Hong Kong police have this dialogue:
“Well, at least he died on the job.”
“He’d have wanted it this way.”
This tells us a lot about Bond from the men who no doubt knew enough about him through their work together in the past while the spy was in Hong Kong on MI6 business. Their reactions to his “death” characterizes Bond as a true man of travel and adventure who lives only to be on the trail of the next thrill in whatever way it comes. Like Andrew Jackson, he was born for a storm and a calm does not suit him. In addition, his commitment to duty and the mission tells us he would go to the death for its completion, even if it meant his demise.
I can only image how jarring it must have been to witness the “death” of Bond in the theaters of 1967, and the premise is an interesting one, though it’s largely underserved in the film and doesn’t seem necessary to the story as it unfolds. It’s fascinating to watch Bond’s colleagues give him a funeral service at sea and read him a bit of poetry in memoriam, just as it’s also unbelievably cool to see Bond in his naval uniform and see the respect his fellow seamen have for him.
Once the film takes us to Japan we get the best of Bond that this film has to offer as we see the culture of 007’s Britain clash with that of the oriental land. As Bond strives to make contact with his Japanese associate amongst the audience of the wrestling ring, Bond seems more than a little out of sorts culturally while watching the sumo wrestlers go at it. He’s clapping his hands to follow everyone elses’ lead, and doesn’t look sure about why he’s doing it in the first place. His reaction to the wrestling is also interesting: there’s no ceremony to the fights in Britain, they just get on with it, so the pomp is strange to witness for him. The sumo wrestlers do a dance before they face off, kind of like the dance Bond and his villains make before they have a final, fatal face-off. Maybe he at least appreciates this aspect of the proceedings?
The prowling panther that Bond is during Dr. No returns for a moment in You Only Live Twice as he sticks up Dikko Henderson, unsure of the man’s allegiances. It’s amusing that in slaying Dikko’s killer, Bond takes up the appearance of a noir detective, which is how I’d best describe the character in Young’s films. Bond proves himself in the Osato Chemicals fight with The Rock’s grandfather, and it’s immaculate to watch him stuff the body into the drinking cabinet while pouring himself some liquid courage afterward to take the edge off, catching his breath before he sips. A nice touch is how he condemns the taste and blend of the Siamese vodka; like the late Mr. Henderson, he can’t ever go fully Japanese to appreciate all its wonders, as his British sensibilities and tastes are too engrained in his makeup. The half detective half spy James Bond returns briefly to help Tiger Tanaka uncover the meaning of the “lox” on the naval order that he pilfered from Osato’s safe.
One of the best moments of the movie comes when Tiger Tanaka invites Bond to his home for some relaxation. The scene underscores the Japanese custom of “what’s mind is yours” and offers a perfect stage for Bond and Tanaka’s competing cultures to clash. The views of the Japanese-“men first, women second”-are jarring for the social milieu of today, but this tinge of sexism perfectly underscores the times and draws a line between the lives that both of the spies live and the divide between the east and west, even then. As Bond and Tanaka relax in the water we also discover that 007 is already sure SPECTRE is once again involved in the big scheme of the film. As in Thunderball, he is unable to be deceived by the organization, no matter how hard they try to hide.
Even stronger than the previous scene is the one that follows as Bond finds his way into Osato Chemicals under the guise of a Mr. Fisher, a fellow industry managerial director. There’s some nice subtle notes in Sean’s performance here as Bond enters the room where he recently battled for his life-and did some property damage-and finds that everything has been repaired, as if the bout didn’t even happen. There’s something uncomfortable and eerie about this, a nice visual metaphor about how quick SPECTRE is to get back up over an upset or sign of trouble. Bond is understandably on edge after witnessing this, and there’s a great moment where he urges Helga Brandt not to get him a drink for fear that the body he hid away in the drink cabinet will be discovered. The fact that the body is gone is a good sign he may be compromised. There’s a nice unconscious face-off between Bond and Osato as the former tries to bullshit his way through the “interview,” while the latter uncovers the PPK holstered to the agent’s side. Just like the scene early on made us think that Brandt was going to find the body Bond hid before it was revealed to be not what we thought, when Osato comments on Bond taking a big risk he acts like he’s referring to 007’s smoking habit to avoid showing his hand, when we the audience know he is commenting on Bond walking into his offices strapped with a gun. The cherry on top of the cake is when Brandt mentions the importance of having a healthy chest, which draws Bond’s eyes to her bust.
One of my favorite moments in the series comes when Bond wakes up aboard the Ning-Po in Brandt’s quarters after being knocked out at the docks. Brandt looks triumphantly at Bond and says, “I’ve got you now,” to which he replies, “Well, enjoy yourself,” earning a slap for his efforts. It’s a great return of the Connery Bond I know and love, completely irreverent in the face of possible death, and bragging about his own capture at the hands of the henchwoman.
Overall, it’s clear that by this point in the series Sean was beyond his prime in look and feeling as James Bond. He doesn’t have the same draw or appeal as he did in the previous films, nor is he given much opportunity to, and it’s a shame to see the focus of the movie shift away from the character of Bond in favor of building up a plot that isn’t exactly mind-blowing or interesting anyway.
Bond Girl/s & Performance
Aki- In a film where the “Bond girls” do little and amount to little, Aki does impress for however brief a time she appears. She saves Bond’s tail a series of times and proves herself to be a capable agent working alongside him. The sexual connection between her and Bond is more than a little manufactured, however, and feels odd in the film when they take no time to develop it properly.
The scene of Aki’s death is brilliant in idea, with a SPECTRE ninja sneaking into her domicile in an attempt to get at Bond, and her being the accidental victim. Watching the poisonous liquid squirm down the string is an unnerving image for some reason. You can see the sadness in Bond as he finds Aki and sees how prudent it is for him to storm the volcano post-haste.
Kissy Suzuki- Speaking of Bond girls that do nothing, here we have Ms. Kissy Suzuki. This is one that’s never done it for me, really. Mie Hama certainly is beautiful in the movie (certainly not the “face of a pig”), especially in her white bikini even when it’s clear the only reason she’s wearing that is so that EON could arouse heterosexual male viewers of the day. Besides being good to look at, there’s not much to Kissy. We know she’s an Ama diving girl from the fisherman’s village, and…and…see what I mean? I can get behind the whole “ordinary girl caught in a situation bigger than her” deal, but there’s no substance to make Kissy a worthy character. Honey, Tatiana and Domino all had the feeling of being ordinary women caught in the crossfire of big threats, but they each had something about them that made them feel like actual characters with dimensions too. Kissy is a sweet girl, but there’s nothing about her that makes you remember her after the movie ends.
There’s fun moments in the movie, like when Bond pushes a plate of clams away from him when Kissy refuses to sleep with him, making the aphrodisiacs useless. These moments are few and far between, however, and there’s no reason at all why Kissy would storm the volcano with Bond, at all. She has no experience with guns or combat of any kind, so her placement in the finale is beyond bizarre, one of the many things that don’t add up in the second half of the movie.
All this makes me wish Aki was kept as the main Bond girl of the film while Kissy was binned completely as a character, since she offers so little to the film. Aki’s presence in the preparations to raid the volcano would have actually made sense, considering her training, skill sets and that her boss is Tanaka, who would call on her services when the moment to strike came. With the second half of the film open to her character, Aki could have been fleshed out more to become a Bond girl that is truly extraordinary and fully formed like all the Connery Bond girls of the past maybe sans Honey, who just falls short of that line. One of the many missed opportunities of this film.
Bond Henchman & Performance
Helga Brandt- The woman that by far makes the most impression, for how little that time lasts, is Helga Brandt. While she feels like Fiona Volpe Lite in comparison to the superior Ms. Paluzzi from the last film, her character is fascinating as a high-ranking member of SPECTRE. Her scene with Bond where he talks back to her and she gives him a slap back is great, and Dor and Connery have strong chemistry as they continue their mating ritual. It’s interesting that like Bond, Brandt sleeps with him for the kicks, fully planning on killing him as she ditches him in the plane.
When we next see her she’s answering for her failures in front of Blofeld, who she has a visible fear of. When Blofeld leaves the room at one point all the agents but her bow, while she stands there almost stalled out of fear. For being No. 11 in SPECTRE she certainly doesn’t have much control over herself around her boss.
All this stuff makes Brandt an interesting, if underserved, character. We don’t get much more from her before the piranhas munch on her, which is a shame. Like Aki, she deserved way more time to develop as a character, and part of why she only feels like Fiona Volpe Lite is because she lacks the screen time that character had to build up the relationship she had with Bond to make their conflicts worthwhile. We got to see Fiona’s part in the SPECTRE plot, witnessed her increasing interactions with Bond, got a window into their intimate moments-even in the bedroom-and were treated to an interesting final face-off between the two which is one of the many reasons Thunderball is a classic. With Brandt and Bond in You Only Live Twice we get none of that as fast forward is pressed on anything interesting that could have happened between them to set-up a Blofeld reveal that under-delivers.
Mr. Osato- Though he’s not a major character, Mr. Osato has some interesting moments in the film. I like how quickly he catches on to Bond’s game when the man comes to his offices, and spots his holstered PPK while trying not to let on all he knows about 007. It’s also amusing that his workers all act like they’re doing their jobs when they’re really just randomly typing keys and simultaneously spying on Bond.
Through Osato we also see the fear Blofeld commands. He’s terrified his failures will end up causing his death, and is petrified when faced with the leader of SPECTRE because of this. We know Osato is providing Blofeld with the supplies he needs to launch his rockets, but how deep is his involvement? Unlike Brandt he isn’t a high-ranking SPECTRE agent, only an associate, so you have to wonder what he’s getting out of the deal beyond the United States and Russian powers at odds, a result that wouldn’t seem to help him in any tangible way.
His death is a pattern: failure in SPECTRE is seen as an affront to Blofeld and it’s met with a bullet.
Bond Villain/s & Performance
Blofeld- The biggie. After years and many films to build up his legend, Blofeld finally appears from behind the veil in You Only Live Twice. We get a sense of sadism about him, especially considering how proud he is of his piranha pond and how keen he is to feed people to them. It’s also great to get a scene with him where he’s actively extorting money from his associates, true to one piece of SPECTRE’s famous acronym.
Donald Pleasance appears as SPECTRE’s No.1, a far cry from the physical appearance we’ve come to attribute to Blofeld while he was being played by the tall and lean Anthony Dawson of Dr. No fame. But one thing we have to get used to in this series is how metamorphic Blofeld has to be viewed as a character to explain all the rubbish re-castings his character goes through.
Blofeld has some discomforting moments in this film that impress, though the positives are short in number. Pleasence puts on a very strange voice, creepy in tone and fitting for the sick mind who had dreamed up the plans of the previous movies. It is incredibly jarring to hear this kind of voice from the man, however, when we had gotten so used to Eric Pohlmann’s booming and commanding tone by this point in the series. Pohlmann presented a credible force of evil, and with Dawson’s physique you believed that if Blofeld had to, he could take up arms and finish off Bond himself. While Pleasence certainly has a screen presence-he wouldn’t be the iconic screen actor he’s celebrated as being without it-I can’t say he was right for this role, at least with how Blofeld had been set up to us by this point in the series.
But with You Only Live Twice many things didn’t add up, and the production of the film and the mishaps in casting that have plagued Bond before arose again while filming was underway. Originally the Czech actor Jan Werich was cast as Blofeld, and he had shot all his major scenes as the character with Sean as Bond before director Lewis Gilbert decided the man was wrong for the role, too “benign,” causing Pleasence to be jammed in last minute to fill the massive gap left by Werich’s departure. Sean had already finished filming his reactions to Blofeld in the control room as played by Werich by the time Pleasence was even a thought in Gilbert’s mind, which meant that when Pleasence was put in make-up and placed on set many of his lines were delivered straight to a camera and not to Connery himself. It really hurts the impact of a hero and villain’s first meeting when you know the actors weren’t even on the set at the same time when their reactions to each others’ initial dialogues were filmed. It doesn’t help that this introduction to Blofeld and Bond’s first face-to-face with him isn’t terribly exciting to begin with, but that’s just one of the problems.
The truth is that it would have been very hard for EON to deliver a truly exceptional Blofeld after hyping him up so much in previous, far superior films. By this point in the series Bond was having an identity crisis and the films were no longer what they once were, and that is part of why You Only Live Twice feels underwhelming. M comments to Bond during his briefing that this is “the big one,” but it certainly doesn’t feel like it, nor does it feel like a worthy result to all the lead-up that’s teased Blofeld’s coming out of the shadows. Bond and Blofeld’s first meeting should have been explosive and dizzying, showing the prowess of both men as they did the dance of death together, preferably with an actor in the role who actually looked like Dawson’s version of the character with a Pohlmann-like tone to his voice. The story should have made a point to include more meat for Blofeld and Bond, more opportunities for them to butt heads after so many years of sabotaging each other from afar instead of relegating their meeting to a very milquetoast control room repartee. Furthermore, the Bond and Blofeld interactions we do get usually result in the villain holding a gun directly at Bond’s face, with Bond doing nothing about this fact, literally just standing there, waiting to be shot. There’s a real sense of melodrama-or no drama, really-to everything we see, and as a fan of early Connery where the promise of a proper Blofeld and his first meeting in the flesh with Bond was exciting to imagine, it almost physically pains me to watch it all unfold. It’s impossible not to be disappointed with what little You Only Live Twice serves up in this regard.
Maybe You Only Live Twice and the character of Blofeld in association represents the evidence of an idea greater than the James Bond film series or the villainous figure himself by being a perfect example of a literal interpretation of “the banality of evil.” After so much lead up to this character, there was little hope that our expectations for a fierce, satisfying and interesting villain would be met or surpassed. The truth, as sad as it is to admit, is that Blofeld is a rather poor villain when dragged out from the shadows. He’s at his best acting behind the veil, tinkering away as a mythic figure of mystery without a face and with only that name to call him by, his head always turned away from us, the audience. When you tear away that veil, when you give him a face and put him mano a mano with Bond, it feels like something has been lost in the doing. Maybe it’s the mystery, the suspense, the myth; whatever it is, it’s gone and once it’s shattered you can’t rebuild it.
Maybe I’m being a tad dramatic here, but I think my feelings match those of many Bond fans. You Only Live Twice was a film that had to be gotten right, and while there are some great qualities to it, like most of the first hour, the second hour and its handling of Blofeld aren’t one of them and it serves to deflate the myth of SPECTRE and its leader far too effectively. Pleasence was in it for the pay check (can’t blame him), the production was pressed for time after Werich was let go and Connery had already gone through the motions with that Blofeld before Pleasence had even landed on set. It wasn’t meant to go smoothly, nor could it have.
Supporting Cast Performances
M- Apart from showing up to tell the audience that the plot of You Only Live Twice was “the big one,” Bernard Lee doesn’t get much to do this time around, which is a shame. This does however fit the pattern of a film that strives to do nothing much with its minor players. M even seems quite indifferent to everything in this movie, barely realizing Bond was there in his office, but I guess I’ll chalk that up to him being overwhelmed by the consequences posed by the failure of MI6 in this particular operation, driving him to be more than a little distracted by it all.
It would have been interesting to see M in the field with Bond in Japan working the mission with him in some capacity greater than from behind his office desk to underscore the threat of SPECTRE this time around and to make their scheme feel too hot to handle, but alas it just wasn’t meant to be.
Moneypenny- For a film that often disappoints in some big ways, the Bond and Moneypenny scene in this film is one of my favorites. As Bond exits M’s office he hilariously shines Moneypenny’s desk lamp on her like he’s playing bad cop and interrogating her, which always gives me a laugh. The best moment comes when Moneypenny says the code word aloud that Bond will be using in Japan, egging him on to say it back to her. To finish off the scene we get a nice little hint of Bond’s language studies and his proficiency in oriental tongues (that sounds weird) to set up his ability to speak with his contacts while in Japan.
Q- For two films in a row poor Q is ordered away from his workshop by Bond and, as in Thunderball, he isn’t happy about it. Q is one of the shining moments of this film, and I love that Bond refers to him as the father of Little Nellie, a nice touch. We get to see the gadget man more than a little perturbed and frustrated with Tanaka and his crew, who deride his work and Nellie as a “toy.” Q is used to hearing these kinds of rude aspersions from Bond, but sometimes a man has his fill when he’s got to get it from others too. It’s great to watch him react to this sideline commentary going on about his creations, because it’s clear that Q feels he now has something to prove to Tanaka by making sure Nellie is in fine working order. What’s missing is a shot where Q quite arrogantly gives a look of smug satisfaction Tanaka’s way as a visual expression of “I told you so,” but that’s not really his style, is it?
In the Q scene we also get a hint of a history between Bond and Nellie, and that they’ve worked together on other missions, which I enjoy. It gets your imagination firing to wonder just what scrapes Bond has gotten himself out of thanks to the gyrocopter.
In a weird twist, it’s Tiger Tanaka who gives Bond all his necessary gadgets for most of the film, a cruel bit of outsourcing that I don’t think Q would be proud of. If the alternative was staying in Japan even longer, however, I don’t think he’d mind missing out on gadget duties this time around.
Tiger Tanaka- While Tiger Tanaka fails to reach the heights of the best Bond allies, he does the job and has some memorable moments.
It is really cool and interesting to get a window into how Tiger runs his spy operations in Japan as we learn about the secret subway line he uses to transport himself throughout the country unnoticed. In a nice moment we have Bond assuring him that M has something similar back in England in an effort not to make his boss seem like he’s embarrassingly lagging behind in regards to resources or cunning. These scenes were reminiscent to me of From Russia with Love and how we got to see how Kerim navigated Turkey as well as how his spying was done there. It’s nice to get a look at how espionage differs from location to location around the globe, and how spy officers manage the unique challenges of each city or nation to do their jobs, as Tiger does here.
There’s a great respect evident between Bond and Tiger, because each is accepting of the others’ cultures and there’s no attempts to deflate either one on both sides. Tiger is visibly impressed and proud to see that Bond knows the right degree of temperature at which sake is best served-to the decimal point-proving him to be a cultured man despite the stuffy stereotypes the British or Europeans in general seem to carry in Tanaka’s mind.
Some of the most interesting parts of the film emote from the culture clashes that Bond and Tiger experience as their perceptions of how life should be led meet at a crossroads. To see Bond live a Japanese life for a while is new and fascinating, even if the film eventually takes this too far as he goes “full Japanese.”
It’s also great to see Tiger in the thick of battle with Bond, saving his life and the lives of others to fight back against SPECTRE inside the hollowed out volcano. In a great departure from the Connery era, he’s also the only main side ally outside of Felix who doesn’t bite it by the end of the movie.
Dikko Henderson- Surprisingly, I found myself really taking to old Dikko. He’s another character that is interesting for the culture clash he represents. As he tells Bond, he has never been able to go full Japanese in his sensibilities even while making his base of operations there, always preferring to have some objects from England around to remind him of his home while he’s away from it. A nice detail is how he messes up Bond’s drink of choice, but 007 says nothing about it, wanting to be polite. We also learn about Dikko’s loss of his right leg that he experienced in Singapore while fighting in the South-East Asian theatre during World War II. I like to imagine that while he was recovering he found his way to Japan, fell in love with the place and never left, but that’s just me. He even said it’s taken him all of his 28 years there just to get to know the place, which is a testament to Japan’s rich surroundings.
Dikko’s eventual death is uncomfortable and shocking (maybe because we’d just met the man) as it happens in his mid-speech. It’s a shame he exits the film so soon, because he was an interesting character and it would have been satisfying to see more from him (that’s a common criticism of mine with much of this film, actually).
You have Columbo, for instance.