 |
|
| |
|
||||
Missing image YouOnlyLiveTwiceNew.jpg 2003 Penguin Books paperback edition You Only Live Twice is the twelfth novel by Ian Fleming featuring James Bond, secret agent 007; it was published in 1964, around the time Fleming died. It was adapted by screenplay writer Roald Dahl as the fifth entry in the James Bond movie series, which was released in 1967, starring Sean Connery as James Bond. The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman and was made by EON Productions. This film is the first Bond movie to deviate from the source material. Other than the Japanese setting, and several characters, the two stories are very different.
The novelMissing image YouOnlyLiveTwiceNovel.jpg 1965 paperback edition by Pan Books. Plot summaryJames Bond, his career fading (after the wedding-day murder of his wife, Tracy), is offered either dismissal from the service or promotion to a special branch of MI6. He is re-numbered as 7777, and assigned an impossible mission: Convincing the head of Japan's secret intelligence service, Tiger Tanaka, to provide information about an informant within the Soviet Union. In exchange, Tanaka asks Bond to kill Dr. Shatterhand, who operates a politically embarrassing "Garden of Death" where people go to commit suicide, whether they want to or not. Bond accidentally discovers that Shatterhand is his nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and gladly takes the mission. Aided by former Japanese movie star Kissy Suzuki, and, with make up and training, James Bond learns to live and think as a Japanese in order to penetrate Shatterhand's Garden of Death. Bond ultimately exacts revenge on Blofeld, but, on escaping, suffers a head injury leaving him an amnesiac living as a Japanese fisherman (with Kissy, who conceals his true identity) while the rest of the world believes him dead. At novel's end, Bond finds a paper slip with the name Vladivostok written on it, making him wonder if the far-off Russian city is the key to his missing memory. It was suggested that Fleming had chosen to retire Bond with this novel, but later changed his mind and wrote The Man with the Golden Gun. You Only Live Twice completes the "Blofeld Trilogy" started with Thunderball and On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Moreover, in Fleming's book series, this was Blofeld's and S.P.E.C.T.R.E.'s final appearances, but a later novel, For Special Services, by John Gardner, again featured S.P.E.C.T.R.E. (as did a couple of followups), and in the 1990s, Raymond Benson wrote the short story titled "Blast from the Past" as a sequel to You Only Live Twice. This is the only Fleming novel in which Bond is given a designation other than 007. He was never again referred to as 7777, and by the next novel had returned to double-oh status. At book's end, is the obituary for Commander James Bond, R.N.V.R., featuring the majority of his biography, per Fleming. It includes his parents' names, their fate, and Bond's Royal Navy service. Most notably, the obituary refers to a series of sensational novels about his exploits — a clearly post-modern reference to Fleming's work, and the source of rumours that James Bond was based upon a real man. The book, James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007 is based upon that premise.
Comic strip adaptationIan Fleming's novel was adapted as a daily comic strip published in the British Daily Express newspaper, and syndicated worldwide. The adaptation ran from May 18, 1965 to January 8, 1966, was written by Henry Gammidge and illustrated by John McLusky. It was the final James Bond strip for Gammidge, while McClusky returned to illustrating the strip in the 1980s; the strip was reprinted by Titan Books in 2004. The adaptation features two notable elements. In the segment featuring Bond's obituary there is a reference to "sensationalistic novels" written about Bond's adventures (as in the novel's plot summary, above), wherein artist McLusky uses actual covers of Fleming's books. The graphic adaptation also goes beyond Fleming's novel, revealing that Bond fathered Kissy Suzuki's son during his life in the fishing village. This plot element, something that did not originate in Fleming's work, would be featured, decades later, in Raymond Benson's semi-sequel short story, "Blast from the Past". The filmPlot summary
In outer space, a mysterious spacecraft captures and steals manned space capsules, of both the United States and the Soviet Union, in mid-orbit. Thinking that the other goverment is the cause of their loss, the Cold War world is thrown to the brink of another world war. The United Kingdom's government, however, believes the mystery spacecraft landed in the Sea of Japan indicating, instead, that a Japanese element may be involved. James Bond, after participating in a charade faking his his murder in Hong Kong (to give himself "more elbow room" as M puts it). He is then sent to Japan, to investigate the British suspicion, in conjunction with the Japanese secret intelligence service leader "Tiger" Tanaka, to stave off a possible nuclear war. Together, they learn that the true villain behind all this is Ernst Stavro Blofeld and his organization S.P.E.C.T.R.E., with Red China financing him in their effort to have the super powers destroy each other so they may rule supreme over what survives. Bond infiltrates S.P.E.C.T.R.E.'s secret rocket base, hidden in a hollow volcano, while his female partner, Kissy, returns to alert Tanaka. Bond, however, is caught before stopping the final phase of the plan, and is taken before Blofeld. Meanwhile, Tanaka and his élite ninja force attempt to enter the volcano's crater hatch. Unfortunately, they are spotted, and Blofeld shoots at them with the crater's sentry guns. All is hopeless until Bond manages to open the crater hatch, allowing Tanaka's troops' entry in force to the rocket base. In the ensuing battle, Bond enters the rocket launch control room and destroys the S.P.E.C.T.R.E. spacecraft before it could capture a second U.S. space capsule and spark a war with the U.S.S.R. Although this film is not the series' first wholly original James Bond film adventure (Bond's infiltration of the Japanese fishing village, and the characters of Blofeld, Tanaka, and Kissy are from the novel), the screenplay by Roald Dahl is the first James Bond screen story to substantially diverge from the original novel's story and plot, due, in part, to having been produced before On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Cast & characters
The cast included Charles Gray, as Dikko Henderson, MI6 liaison with Japanese SIS; Gray later portrayed Ernst Stavro Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever. Crew
SoundtrackMissing image 007YOLTsoundtrack.jpg Original You Only Live Twice soundtrack cover The soundtrack was composed by Bond veteran, John Barry. At the time, this was his fourth credited Bond film. The theme song, You Only Live Twice, was sung by Nancy Sinatra. In 1998, Robbie Williams sampled the title song "You Only Live Twice" for his #1 song "Millennium" Williams has often been mentioned by some fans as a possible Bond in future movies. Track listing
These seven tracks were later added, as a bonus, to the complete version of the original soundtrack.
Vehicles & gadgets
Trivia
See AlsoLocationsFilm locationsShooting locationsExternal links
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
Copyright 2008 WordIQ.com - Privacy Policy
::
Terms of Use
:: Contact Us
:: About Us This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "You Only Live Twice". |