Bond's Return: Borrow More From "You Only Live Twice"

Now that No Time To Die has been out for several months in theaters and home video along with word-of-mouth about James Bond's death at the end of the movie is common knowledge now, I can discuss it without fear of including spoilers.

People are questioning, rightfully so, on how the Bond movie series will continue. Will it be rebooted again? Or will it pick up where No Time To Die left off? I prefer the latter as it would be more in keeping with Ian Fleming.

Much of the elements of No Time To Die were lifted from Fleming's You Only Live Twice. The Sean Connery film version of 1967 did not follow the book, so it would be useless to even discuss it. So, from here on, references to YOLT will be book-based.

Eon Productions can introduce the new James Bond by lifting more from YOLT. 

There is an article at The James Bond Social Media Project that gives one some ideas for the next movie in bringing Bond back. I am not sure when it was written. 

The following quotes from the article includes passages highlighted by me in bold that can be templates for the next move.

Here's goes:

The Ian Fleming book from which the movie is “based” is a dark, plotless revenge story that takes place in the aftermath of the death of Bond’s new wife in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. M is planning to dismiss Bond from the service because he’s been incapable of performing his duties. Rather than sack him outright, M gives Bond the opportunity to redeem himself as part of the diplomatic branch of the service.

Devoid of action-packed thrills, the novel proves impossible content for escapist entertainment. At best 20% of the novel concerns actual “espionage.” The Bond character in You Only Live Twice finds himself caught between the love of country and the loss of his wife. This is Bond on the fringe, a shell of his former self. Drinking to excess, mired in notions of mortality and morality. Once he discovers Shatterhand’s true identity, the narrative becomes driven by grim revenge but Bond is again given a reason to live.

And perhaps this is why I found Fleming’s You Only Live Twice to be such a fascinating novel. As an outlier it challenges the Bond image, which by the time of this novel’s 1964 release had been firmly established through 11 prior books and 3 movies. In the end, Bond succeeds in killing Blofeld, destroying the castle but the physical trauma of the mission renders him an amnesiac. His superiors believe him to be dead, and Bond goes back to living (albeit this time sincerely) as a fisherman, fake-married to Kissy Suzuki. After a few months, Bond leaves for Russia, drawn there because he thinks he can uncover his true identity. Kissy knows he will not return and she does not tell him that she is pregnant with his child.

Here's how the above can use those elements. 

Bond, following the missile attack on the "Garden of Death" island, is wounded and amnesiac. He is found alive, after being thought dead, and is sent off for months of healing and rehabilitation. This is where the "opportunity to redeem himself" by M comes in. After rehab, he is sent to Japan or Russia. Since the loss of Madeline Swann and their daughter were due to the Heracles nanobots he was poisoned with, he is out for revenge against Blofeld. But Blofeld was killed in No Time To Die, right? Well, maybe he faked his death or an imposter was involved. Or, someone even bigger in the Spectre organization than Blofeld was involved. The possibilities are endless. 

It is fun to speculate. Still, my bottom line is that the Bond series should not be rebooted again. The ending of No Time To Die offers many future "cliffhanger" resolution possibilities. Rebooting would be a cheat after fans have invested so much in the Daniel Craig movies. In a previous blog post, I joked that Bond's death was another dream of Pam Ewing of Dallas. That one is definitely not going to happen, it's safe to say.

Producer Barbara Broccoli recently said that she doesn't know how Bond will be brought back. They're still thinking about it. I believe her. 

"You Only Live Twice": James Bond In Japan

Above, Akiko Wakabayashi and Sean Connery. United Artists photo.

Well, since we cannot go to Japan for the Olympics or for anything else right now, we can at least read up on some Japan cinematic history.

In this case is the 1967 James Bond film, You Only Live Twice, starring Sean Connery, Akiko Wakabayashi, Donald Pleasense and Mie Hama. 

Above, Akiko Wakabayashi autographed photo.

The U.K. website, Designer Women, takes a look at the movie in a new article. It has some errors, but its critiques of the movie are those I generally agree with. 

They begin with:

007 – No Time to Die, the twenty-fifth official film in the longest-running film franchise, is slated for release on October 7, 2021 – after being pushed back from last year due to the pandemic. In order to heat up the engines of this new blockbuster which, as we said, is part of one of the biggest, most traditional and beloved film franchises in the history of the seventh art, we have decided to create a new series of stories dissecting a bit of all the previous films, bringing you a lot of curiosities and a lot of information.

In the fifth film in the franchise’s official timeline, the most famous secret agent in cinema had it all. Or almost, since here the producers decided to take James Bond to Japan, where, among other things, he would train with ninjas, taste exotic Japanese cuisine and once again face the face of the organization. SPECTER criminal, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. . Check out the details of the fifth adventure with Spy 007 below.

Back in 2006, I stopped at the New Otani Hotel in Tokyo for directions to Kadokawa Pictures, not realizing that the hotel was used as Osato Chemicals headquarters in You Only Live Twice. The hotel looked the same as it did in 1967.

So, pour yourself a dry vodka martini (shaken, not stirred) and read on by going here. 

Mental Floss: 11 Facts About "King Kong vs. Godzilla"

Above, the 1962 meeting between King Kong and Godzilla. Photo by Toho Co., Ltd.

Godzilla and King Kong (or just Kong) fans are ramped up in excitement for the long-awaited "rematch" between the two movie giants in Godzilla vs. Kong that is set to premiere next month 

For the fun of it, Mental Floss has posted 11 "facts" of the 1962 Toho King Kong vs. Godzilla. 

In their article, they noted that the movie featured a "future Bond Girl", Mie Hama. Actually, it featured one additional Bond girl, Akiko Wakabayashi. Both appeared in You Only Live Twice in 1967 with Sean Connery.

Above, Akiko Wakabayashi.

They begin with:

It’s east versus west, giant reptile versus mega-mammal, the “Big G” versus the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” Godzilla vs. Kong—a new slugfest from Legendary Pictures—is set to be released in theaters and on HBO Max on March 31, 2021. But it won't be the first time these two iconic movie monsters have faced off. They met once before in 1962’s King Kong vs. Godzilla—a crossover battle for the ages that also featured a rampaging octopus and a future Bond Girl. Not to mention the craziest tree-related violence you’ll ever see outside an M. Night Shyamalan flick.

Above, the hilltop Atami Castle was the location used for the ending of King Kong vs. Godzilla. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To read more, go here.

About Tokyo's Street Names and Address System

Above, a Roppongi intersection. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It took me about three trips to Tokyo before I got some sort of semblance of being able to figure out the city's street system. Finding an address is another story.

Back in 2006, I had to find the office of Kadokawa Pictures. I was in the general area but was unable to find the place. Fortunately, the New Otani Hotel in Chiyoda (which was used as Osata Chemicals headquarters in You Only Live Twice) was in the area and I checked with their concierge desk and they gave me a detailed map. I just handed it to a taxi driver he got me there within minutes.

Still, it is not unusual to get "mighty bewildered" when trying to find an address. What I found helpful (besides a hotel) was to ask a local, go to a police koban or, if lucky, go to a visitor information office.

Time Out Tokyo has an article explaining Tokyo's street system.

It begins with:

Were U2 singing about Tokyo all along? In this city, only a handful of the main thoroughfares and shopping streets have honorary street names, such as Meiji-dori and Takeshita-dori. Other than that, rather than having street names, we’ve given names to areas and assigned numbers to the districts or sections within them, which are then counted as ‘chome’. For example, Aoyama It-chome is thus Aoyama (District) 1. 

So when you’re looking at a map, you first need to find the area and then you can go searching within it. Theoretically it’s a lot faster than trying to figure out at what end of that long street number 98 is.

To read more, go here. 

Follow Ian Fleming's (and James Bond's) Footsteps In Japan

Above, a view of Fukuoka from Fukuoka Tower. Ian Fleming visited the city in 1962. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Japan is more often associated with Godzilla, anime and other genres of pop culture, but James Bond and his creator, Ian Fleming, also visited the Land of the Rising Sun.

Now, visitors can follow in their footsteps.

Above, my copy of You Only Live Twice.

The Japan Times reported:

Tasked to trace the route across Japan that Ian Fleming, the author of James Bond, took in 1962 — and which Bond himself largely follows in Fleming’s penultimate 007 novel “You Only Live Twice” (1964) — it was suggested I could experience the same route but with modern sensibilities. 

In truth, if you wish to follow the two-week trip Fleming took across Japan — beginning in Tokyo and winding your way down to Kyushu — you can assuredly do so, either in one go or knocked off in discrete sections. You can visit nearly all of the places that Fleming went to and see the eternal sights that he did: the Mikimoto pearl fisheries and the Grand Shrines of Ise on the Kii Peninsula; the Nijo Jinya and Shimabara brothel district in Kyoto; and take a ferry ride from the city of Kobe along the islands of the Seto Inland Sea to the “hells” of Beppu, to finally arrive at the magnificent caldera of Mount Aso in Kyushu before taking in Fukuoka on a bullet train back to Tokyo.

Above, Sean Connery and his co-stars of You Only Live Twice at the
Pinewood Studios set. Thanks to G-FEST's Stan Hyde for finding this photo.

To read more, go here.

5 James Bond Japan Movie Locations

Above, Tokyo Tower was shown in You Only Live Twice, particularly when Tiger
Tanaka had a carload of baddies dropped into Tokyo bay. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Japan served as the primary central location in one James Bond movie. The movie was You Only Live Twice in 1967 starring Sean Connery.

Bond returned to Japan (although it wasn't specified) in Skyfall in 2012 at Gunkanjima (Battleship Island near Nagasaki.

Along with Gunkanjima, Gaijinpot.com has an article on four other James Bond Japan locations.

They start it with:

It’s been over 50 years now since the famous movie spy James Bond first visited Japan. Released on June 13, 1967, the film You Only Live Twice saw agent 007 adventuring in the capital and other parts of the country. Three years earlier, the Olympics had put Tokyo in the global spotlight. Now, the city is a mere two years away from hosting another Olympics. 

Next year also sees the release of the 25th installment in the Bond film series by Eon Productions. Anticipation for this latest movie has been further stoked by the recent announcement that it will be helmed by Danny Boyle, the Academy Award-winning director of movies like Slumdog Millionaire, 28 Days Later, The Beach and Trainspotting. 

If you live in Japan or plan on visiting (for the Olympics or any other time), these five locations will allow you to retrace some of James Bond’s globetrotting footsteps here. Since March 2018, Mount Shinmoedake — the volcano used for exterior shots of the villain Blofield’s secret rocket base in You Only Live Twice — has been logging major eruptions. With that in mind, it’s not the safest bet for travel at the moment — in fact, access to the mountain is currently restricted — but here are five cooler spots across the country that will allow you to get in touch with your inner spy.

Above, Sean Connery's co-star, Akiko Wakabayashi, of You Only Live Twice.

To read more, go here.

On The Tracks of 007: Guide To Japan

Above, an autographed photo from Akiko Wakabayashi
 I received after interviewing her for G-FAN in 2007.

It has been 50 years since Sean Connery joined Mie Hama and Akiko Wakabayashi in Japan for Eon Productions' You Only Live Twice (1967).

There is now a new book for fans to celebrate the movie called On The Tracks of 007: Guide To Japan by Martijn Mulder.

According to Benzinga.com:

Travel like 007 from Tokyo to Kagoshima, revisiting all the filming locations used in You Only Live Twice. From Osato Chemicals HQ to Tiger Tanaka's countryside house, from Blofeld's volcano base to the remote shrine where Bond married Kissy. It's an action packed adventure for movie buffs, Bond fans and film location hunters. Includes a bonus trip to Hashima (Gunkanjima or Battleship Island) in Nagasaki Bay, which served as the model for Silva's hideout in Skyfall (2012).

Above, Akiko Wakabayashi and Sean Connery
 at the sumo arena in You Only Live Twice.

The Hotel New Otani Tokyo served as the headquarters of Osato Chemicals in You Only Live Twice. It still stands today, I visited it in 2006.

To read more, go here.

Sean Connery Turns 86

The actor who made James Bond into a worldwide household name is celebrating a birthday today.

Sean Connery, now happily retired, turned 86.

Above, Sean Connery in Dr. No (1962). Eon Productions.

"James Bond in the movie is a ladies' man, but Sean-san is a warm-hearted honest man. He has a clear vision as an actor. He can be stubborn from time to time, but he is a real man with a bit of old-fashioned taste." - Akiko Wakabayashi, co-star in You Only Live Twice (1967), G-FAN interview by Armand Vaquer and Brett Homenick.


Happy Birthday, Sean Connery!

"SPECTRE" Script Stolen In Sony Cyberattack

Above, Donald Pleasence as SPECTRE boss Ernst Stavro
Blofeld in You Only Live Twice (1967). United Artists photo.

An occurrence that would make for a good script itself has actually happened to Sony Pictures.

Japan Today reported:

LOS ANGELES —Early villains have emerged in the next James Bond film “SPECTRE”: hackers who stole a version of the screenplay as part of a devastating cyberattack on Sony Pictures. 

Producers of the James Bond films said they learned on Saturday morning that an early version of the “SPECTRE” script was among material stolen and made public by hackers who infiltrated computers at the Sony studio. 

“Eon Productions is concerned that third parties who have received the stolen screenplay may seek to publish it or its contents,” Eon said in a statement, while warning that the script is protected by UK copyright laws.

Earlier, it was reported that sensitive information gleaned from the cyberattack included emails, salary information and actors' personal information.

To read more, go here. 

Take A Cinematic Tour Of Tokyo

Above, Shibuya Crossing, featured in Lost In Translation and other films. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Visiting places used in past Godzilla and other kaiju over the years in Tokyo and other places in Japan has been the primary focus of this blog and, of course, The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan. But non-kaiju movies over the years have also used Tokyo.

Time Out Tokyo has an article on taking a cinematic tour of Tokyo that will take movie fans to locales on film.

Such films include Lost In Translation, Kill Bill, The Wolverine, Emperor, You Only Live Twice and others.

To read the article, go here.

Ken Wallis, Autogyro Pilot For Sean Connery, Dies At 97

Above, 'Q' (Desmond Llewelyn) and James Bond (Sean Connery) review the functions of the autogyro "Little Nellie."

Back in October 1966, I saw a demonstration of the autogyro mini-helicopter at the annual Point Mugu Airshow.

The following year, the autogyro was featured as "Little Nellie" in the James Bond movie, You Only Live Twice, starring Sean Connery and Akiko Wakabayashi and Mie Hama.

MI6-HQ.com, a website of James Bond enthusiasts, reports that the stunt pilot for Sean Connery of "Little Nellie" has died at the age of 97.

They wrote:

Commander Ken Wallis, known the world over to James Bond fans as the inventor and pilot of the auto-gyro seen in the 1967 adventure "You Only Live Twice" as Little Nellie, has died at the age of 97. 

Wing Commander Kenneth Horatio Wallis MBE, DEng (hc), CEng, FRAeS, FSETP, PhD (hc), RAF (Ret'd), was a leading exponent on autogyros and has held, and in some cases still holds, 34 records related to them.

To read the full article, go here.

Akiko Wakabayashi's Birthday(?)

Above, an autographed photo of Akiko Wakabayashi.  From Armand Vaquer's collection.

Some websites say she was born on December 13, 1939. And others say she was born on August 26, 1941.

Well, regardless of when she was born, here's a salute to actress Akiko Wakabayashi who appeared as Tamiye in King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962), as Princess Salno in Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) and as Aki in You Only Live Twice (1967).

What James Bond Did For Japan

Above, Akiko Wakabayashi and Sean Connery at the sumo stadium
in "You Only Live Twice."  Photo: United Artists.

In 1967, James Bond 007 (in the form of Sean Connery) had a mission to stop the hijacking of U.S. and U.S.S.R. space capsules by S.P.E.C.T.R.E. to prevent a war between the two nations.  That mission took him to Japan.  The movie was You Only Live Twice.

As this year is the fiftieth anniversary of the James Bond movies, the Japan Times took a look at what Bond did for Japan in "The Gentleman In The Tux and What He Did For Japan."

Along with Connery, Toho actresses Akiko Wakabayashi and Mie Hama were featured as Japanese agents Aki and Kissy Suzuki respectively.

The article starts out with:

In 1967, James Bond made his official Japan debut in "You Only Live Twice": The gentleman spy came to Tokyo and Fukuoka, saw some sumo, consorted with ninja and got intimate with two homegrown Bond girls. Directed by Lewis Gilbert, "You Only Live Twice" goes down in Japan's collective memory as the one and only time 007 made it to these shores.

The movie version of You Only Live Twice is quite different from Ian Fleming's novel, although both are centered in Japan.

On working with Connery, Wakabayashi said in my interview with her, "James Bond in the movie is a ladies' man, but Sean-san is a warm-hearted honest man. He has a clear vision as an actor. He can be stubborn from time to time, but he is a real man with a bit of old-fashioned taste."

One bit of trivia:  the location used for Osato Chemicals in Tokyo was the New Otani Hotel.

To read the full article, go here.

"On Her Majesty's Secret Service" and "Reanimator"

On the way back from some business in Chatsworth today, I stopped off at Best Buy in Northridge and picked up a couple of Blu-ray movies.

The first was 1969's James Bond outing, On Her Majesty's Secret Service.  In this movie, George Lazenby plays Bond for his first and only time after Sean Connery called it quits after You Only Live Twice (1967).  He does a good job, considering his limited acting experience.  Diana Rigg and Telly Savalas co-star.  It is one of the best of the Bond movies and it is pretty close to the Ian Fleming novel, which is a rarity of the Eon Productions Bond series.

The other movie I bought was 1985's Reanimator.  An odd new student arrives at a medical college and some strange experiments on re-animating dead tissue ensues.  This is a classic horror flick that has a big cult following.  I have an old VHS copy, but it needed replacement.  With Jeffrey Combs, Bruce Abbott and Barbara Crampton. 

Diane Cilento, ex-Mrs. Sean Connery, Dies At 78

Diane Cilento, ex-wife of actor Sean Connery, has died, Reuters reports.

According to Reuters:

(Reuters) - Australian actress Diane Cilento, nominated for an Oscar in the 1960s for her role in "Tom Jones" and ex-wife of James Bond star Sean Connery, has died after a long illness, local media reported on Friday. She was 78.

Cilento often played dizzy blondes, but she did appear in one of Connery's James Bond movies, You Only Live Twice. Wearing a black wig, she doubled for Japanese actress Mie Hama in a diving scene.

Next: "The Spy Who Loved Me"

Left, the first edition paperback of "You Only Live Twice" I finished reading last night.

Yes, I finished what I thought was the last Ian Fleming James Bond book I had in my collection, "You Only Live Twice." It is the first edition paperback as shown at left.

It turns out that I have one Fleming novel left (it was misplaced on my shelf) to read: "The Spy Who Loved Me." So I'll be reading it out of publishing order.

"You Only Live Twice" novel is vastly different than the movie version. The story takes place about nine months after Ernst Stavro Blofeld murdered Bond's wife Tracy. It does not involve spacecraft, but instead a mission to assassinate a Swiss doctor who set up a suicide "clinic" in a castle near Fukuoka, Japan.

Frankly, this story would've made a more interesting movie than the one Eon Productions put out in 1967 with Sean Connery.

On "The Spy Who Loved Me," we see 007 "through the eyes of a passionate woman." We'll see how it differs from the Roger Moore feature from 1977.

Next: "You Only Live Twice"

On Her Majesty's Secret Service by Ian Fleming was finished (finally!) last night.

It is one of Fleming's best James Bond novels and I found that the 1969 movie with George Lazenby (as Bond) and Diana Rigg (as Tracy) was pretty close to the book, with some changes here and there.

The next book (in the order of publication) I am going to read is You Only Live Twice, which is set in Japan. It will be interesting to see the differences between the movie (with Sean Connnery (as Bond) and Akiko Wakabayashi) and the book.

Left, Akiko Wakabayashi.