"You Only Live Twice," the only "James Bond" film — to date — to be set in Japan, celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. While undoubtedly great fun, it must be admitted that it's a long way from being a masterpiece of cinema.
Its own screenwriter, Roald Dahl — yes, he of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" fame — described his own hastily written script as "a load of bull----," and its silly plot, tin-pot gadgets and unimpressive special effects (even for 1967) prompted one critic to liken it to "an episode of 'Thunderbirds.'"
It marked the point at which the Bond films started to get silly — when exotic locations, underground lairs, space rockets and girls in bikinis became essential elements, the subtleties of the original books were dispensed with, and the effort involved in trying to follow the increasingly preposterous, convoluted plots outweighed the benefit in actually doing so.
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