You Only Live Twice (1967)

IMDb plot summary: James Bond and the Japanese Secret Service must find and stop the true culprit of a series of space hijackings, before war is provoked between Russia and the United States.

Directed by Lewis Gilbert. Starring Sean Connery, Akiko Wakabayashi, and Mie Hama.

You Only Live Twice is a Sean Connery James Bond film, in which Bond is apparently killed in the first few minutes. Of course -- and I'd hardly consider this a spoiler -- his death has been faked so he can more easily track down a technological villain who has been capturing spacecraft in flight. I by far prefer my Bonds (and spy films in general) to be goofy and over-the-top, and for the most part, this one delivers. The early scene in which the giant evil spacecraft appears to literally eat the US ship made me laugh out loud. The set piece for this particular movie is Japan, and we do get an unfortunate, poorly-aged scene in which Bond disguises himself as a Japanese fisherman. But that is the worst moment of what is overall a decently fluffy and ridiculous action sequence. Am I going to remember it in contrast to every other Bond pic? Absolutely not. But I had a good time watching it.

How it entered my Flickchart:

You Only Live Twice > Ripley's Game

You Only Live Twice < Woman in the Dunes

You Only Live Twice < Battle Royale

You Only Live Twice < Drive My Car

You Only Live Twice > Bonnie and Clyde

You Only Live Twice < Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella (1997)

You Only Live Twice > Limitless

You Only Live Twice > Critters

You Only Live Twice < A Separation

You Only Live Twice < The Revenant

You Only Live Twice < A Star Is Born (1954)

You Only Live Twice < Pather Panchali

Final spot: #1665 out of 3643, or 54%.