You Only Live Twice (1967) is, on the surface, a title that would interest a Catholic film reviewer.  If you did not know that it is part of the James Bond franchise, and went simply by the words, you could wonder if there is something philosophical.  Sadly, it is just a play on words based on an event early in the film that I will discuss in a moment.  At least it is not a reference to the modern phenomenon of “you only live once,” or “YOLO” as the kids used to say.  Gosh, it is scary to think that those who used to use that as permission to act a fool are now responsible adults.  Actually, James Bond (Sean Connery) was practicing this lifestyle long before YOLO became popular, and his reckless behavior is on display here as usual.

The astronauts aboard an American spacecraft probably do not think that You Only Live Twice as it is enveloped by a mysterious unidentified space object.  Since this is not science fiction, the governments of the world with a space program, namely the Soviet Union and United States, naturally each blame each other for the loss of these expensive vehicles.  Since they have ruled out extraterrestrial sources for this attack, they begin looking at possible launch sights for whatever might be intercepting legitimate space missions.  The rough area on which they settle is the Pacific coastline of Asia, and that is where we find James.  He has assumed his typical nocturnal position, but this time the young Chinese woman leaves suddenly, closing the murphy bed behind her and ushering in a number of armed men that shoot the hidden piece of furniture full of holes.  When the police arrive, they find James’ apparently lifeless body.  He is given a burial at sea, and the newspaper report the death of a naval officer.  Yet, scuba divers retrieve his corpse from the sea floor and bring it into a nearby submarine.  The vessel is a floating headquarters for military intelligence, section six (MI6), complete with a reception area for James’ eternally put off lover Miss Moneypenny (Lois Maxwell), who is secretary to the agency’s head, M (Bernard Lee).  James’ reported demise means that he should be able to get a lead on investigating the space incident without attracting any attention.  While M speculates that it could be the Russians behind the hijacking, James’ believes it to be the work of the Special Executive for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion (SPECTRE).  This criminal organization has been behind most global threats for the past few years now, and the clues they have on this latest disruption to world stability take him to Tokyo.  His contact in the Land of the Rising Sun is a man called Tiger Tanaka (Tetsuro Tamba), the chief of the Japanese secret service.  Yet, it is not as easy as walking into a Japanese government building and getting a name.  Instead, James must give a code phrase to one of his assistants, Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi), and then go through an elaborate series of maneuvers to finally be ushered into Tiger’s presence.  Along the way, James is also “harassed” by other SPECTRE agents, namely Helga Brandt (Karin Dor), who is sent to kill James, but ends up in bed with him before this can take place.  It is also preceded by James sneaking into the building of Mr. Osato (Teru Shimada), who company is suspected of aiding SPECTRE’s activities.  These suspicions are confirmed when Aki and James visit the port facility where Mr. Osato has a ship that takes supplies to the secret volcano base nearby, which is also the lair of Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasence), the person in charge of SPECTRE, known to this point as Number One.  Yet, James and Tiger as yet do not know the exact location of this secret locale, but from confiscated pictures are able to work out a more or less exact area in which to look.  James takes to the air in a miniature helicopter, prompting a helicopter dogfight from which he emerges victorious.  So . . . yeah.  Despite this not getting the hoped for result, the improbable clash does clue them in that they are on to something.  Thus, Tiger has James train with his ninjas in order aid in his ability to infiltrate the island they believe to be where the launch site is hidden.  Further, Tiger has James marry Kissy Suzuki (Mie Hama) and alter his appearance to look more Asian, all in an attempt to blend in further.  I am not sure any of this was ultimately necessary, but I digress.  On their first day on the island they believe to be the location of SPECTRE’s hide out, James and Kissy separate from the fishing fleet that is their cover, and find the volcano inside which is their target.  The entrance proves to be a false lake at the bottom of the mountain’s cone.  James goes in at the first opportunity, sending Kissy back to alert Tiger and his men.  James is about to go into the rocket responsible for the space attacks when Ernst’s voice rings out over the loudspeaker, demanding that James be brought before him.  This is when Ernst’s face is finally revealed.  Anyway, Tiger and his ninjas arrive, and it is a bunch of action schlock from then until the end.  In the chaos, Ernst manages to get away, attempting to entrap his attackers in the mountain in the process.  Many survive, including James and Kissy, who settle down for a long wait in a rescue boat.

As I have progressed through these movies, I have found that there is a vast difference between You Only Live Twice and modern Bond productions.  This stuff might have seemed okay in the 1960s, but it plays a little differently today.  It is not just the constant womanizing on James’ part, though I am beginning to recoil more with every misogynistic moment filmed.  It is also the low-technology gadgets of the era, which I am sure were seen as cutting edge in their day.  However, what is more universal is the dedication to service on display.  Unfortunately, most of the time when James’ acknowledges the “selfless” fulfillment of his duty, it is as he is about to sleep with another woman.  Apparently, he does not have just a “license to kill.”  Though he makes far fewer one-liners when actually doing the action stuff, his first imperative is to serve king and country, or queen as the case may have been.  There are Biblical parallels with this attitude, such as in Mark 12:17 when Jesus admonishes us to give to God what belongs to Him, only giving earthly things to earthly powers.  Of course, the cause must be just.  For example, during the kingdom of Judah, whenever the ruler would turn away from God and lead his people to do the same, God would reward those who remained loyal.  In short, it is selflessness with a purpose.  If you channel your efforts towards doing God’s will, then good things will come to you.  In James’ case, though I would prefer to see him engaging in other activities, it is roughly the same concept.

If nothing else, we finally get to see the face of Ernst in You Only Live Twice as mentioned.  You could skip the first four of the series and just watch this one.  However, you could probably skip all these early ones because the more recent movies redid the SPECTRE story.  I would just like to spare you some of the uglier parts of the franchise.