Donald Pleasance
in 'You Only Live Twice'“You Only Live Twice” (1967)

MPAA Rating: PG
Directed by: Lewis Gilbert
Starring: Sean Connery, Donald Pleasance, Teru Shimada, Desmond Llewelyn, Akiko Wakabayashi

The Gist: It’s all geishas, sake and bullets as 007 heads for Japan.

The Story: At the height of the Cold War, someone is hijacking and stealing American and Russian space capsules. Each nation blames the other and the two superpowers are on the verge of all-out war. Enter secret agent James Bond (Connery). Bond fakes his own death to keep a low profile as he investigates the possible culprit: Tokyo-based Osato Chemicals. Mr. Osato (Shimada) is certainly no innocent, but he’s only a pawn in a greater scheme. The bald cat lover Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Pleasance) is the true evil mastermind. Blofeld hopes to prod the East and West into starting World War III. Bond alone can bust some heads — in the name of world peace.

The Review: For better or worse, “You Only Live Twice” took the Bond movies into a cartoonish and fantastic realm. Prior to this entry, Connery’s Bond films had been harder edged and somewhat grounded in realism. “You Only Live Twice” was more elaborate and faster-paced than any Bond film that preceded it. Some fans sneer at its cheesiness because they can’t appreciate the glory of 100 ninjas rappelling into SPECTRE’s hollowed-out volcano base. These dour purists don’t see the humor in Connery donning a jet-black bowl cut and waxing his chest to go undercover as a Japanese fisherman. Whatever. Keep your eyes peeled for a hilarious real-life feline meltdown. During the climactic battle, Blofeld’s Persian cat gets really spooked by the pyrotechnics.

The Classic Quote: Aki (Wakabashi): “You wouldn't touch that horrible woman, would you? Bond: “Oh heaven forbid.”

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com)