An unidentified rocket opens up, "swallows" a NASA spacecraft with American and Soviet astronauts on board, and then disappears and lands somewhere near Japan. Since the US and Soviet politicians accuse each other, the British MI6 fakes James Bond's death, sends his coffin into a sea, but retrieves it on a submarine, and then Bond gets the mission to go to Japan to investigate. He meets his allies, Aki and Mr. Tanaka, who help him. Bond discovers that Mr. Osato, a Japanese industrialist, is collaborating with SPECTRE, which was paid by a "secret country" to lure America and the Soviet Union into a war, in order for the said country to rise to stardom afterwards. Luckily, Bond and Aki storm the secret hideout in a volcano, led by Blofeld, and stop SPECTRE's plan of a nuclear attack.
The 5th James Bond film featuring Sean Connery is unfortunately one of the weaker ones, which is a pity considering that its setting is in Japan, which is refreshing. However, for a spy film, this is counterproductive: if a spy is supposed to be sent to Japan, then he or she should be Asian, since a White spy like Connery sticks out like a sore thumb, and thus cannot "invisibly" blend in during his investigation without causing suspicion. The screenwriter Roald Dahl (!) was an interesting choice, but it seems the Cold War and spy subgenre is not quite his thing: the story is illogical, filled with sloppy action sequences, where rarely something connects as a whole. Take for instance the opening act: the rocket that "swallows" the NASA spacecraft seems today almost like something that came out of an "Austin Powers" film, whereas if MI6 wanted to feign Bond's death, why was there a need to use actors to play out soldiers who ostensibly shoot him in bed? Why not simply skip that, send Bond in a coffin in the sea, and just spread the story that he was shot? There were no witnesses, anyway. Some of the "macho" cliches aged badly, as well: Bond is in bed with a Chinese woman, and asks her a cringeworthy question ("Why do Chinese girls taste different from other girls?"), or the weird moment where Tanaka orders his women to wash Bond, telling him that "in Japan, men come before women", which is embarrassing. The fake metal water on a volcano, which is a rooftop for the secret base, is also laughable. However, at least Blofeld's appearance of a bald villain in a grey suit, holding a cat, was inspiration for Dr. Evil, while Akiko Wakabayashi is a beautiful, underrated actress whose charm graces the screen.
Grade:+
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