Search - You Only Live Twice on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG Content Advisory: Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1967 DVD Release: 10/17/2000 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English, Spanish Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 57 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 17 Genres: Spy Film, Action, Glamorized Spy Film See Also: You Only Live Twice [Widescreen]

James Bond heads East to save the world (and to learn how to serve saki properly) in this action-packed espionage adventure. When an American spacecraft disappears during a mission, it's widely believed to have been intercepted by the Soviet Union, and after a Russian space capsule similarly goes missing, most consider it to be an act of American retaliation. Soon the two nations are at the brink of war, but British intelligence discovers that some sort of UFO has crashed into the Sea of Japan. Agent 007, James Bond (Sean Connery) is sent in to investigate. After staging his own death to avoid being followed, Bond, disguised as a Japanese civilian, teams up with agent Tiger Tanaka (Tetsuro Tamba) and his beautiful associate Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi). With their help, Bond learns that both the American and Russian space missions were actually scuttled by supercriminal Ernst Blofeld (Donald Pleasance) in yet another bid by his evil empire SPECTRE to take over the world. As he battles the bad guys, Bond finds time to romance both Kissy Suziki (Mie Hama) and Helga Brandt (Karin Dor). You Only Live Twice was one of Sean Connery's last outings as James Bond. The next Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, would star George Lazenby as 007, and while Connery would return for Diamonds Are Forever, in 1973, Roger Moore took over the role. (Connery would play Bond one last time, in 1983's Never Say Never Again, which was produced outside the official series.) ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Sean Connery - James Bond
Akiko Wakabayashi - Aki
Tetsuro Tamba - Tiger Tanaka
Mie Hama - Kissy Suzuki
Karin Dor - Helga Brandt
Teru Shimada - Mr. Osato

The largest-scale James Bond film made at the time of its release, You Only Live Twice benefits greatly from its new digital master on DVD. As with the DVD release of Thunderball, the film's new 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer helps to re-establish its sense of adventure and epic sweep. The cinematography in Japan is much more gorgeous here than it ever was on video and the full scale of the impressive volcano lair set can be fully appreciated. Luckily, director Lewis Gilbert is available to offer new commentary on the film, so the track doesn't feel as patched together despite the edited interview format. The heightened pressures of the production and the laborious location shoot in Japan make the "Inside You Only Live Twice" documentary well worth the time of any Bond fan. The featurette also doesn't shy away from Sean Connery's growing resentment for the franchise at the time and the intense media exposure the role was bringing. A second featurette, "Silhouettes -- The James Bond Titles," profiles the history of the opening credit sequences and is one of the better secondary featurettes in the DVD series. An "animated" action scene storyboard sequence, trailers, and radio spots are also included. You Only Live Twice may not be of the same caliber as other Connery Bond adventures, but the quality of the supplements still make this an entertaining DVD. ~ Oliver Thornton, All Movie Guide