"The Last Outpost"

Blofeld: The firing power inside my crater is enough to annihilate a small army. You can watch it all on TV. It's the last program you're likely to see.

James Bond: Well, if I'm gonna be forced to watch television, may I smoke?

Blofeld: Yes. Give him his cigarettes. It won't be the nicotine that kills you, Mr. Bond.

#9 in the James Bond Film Countdown...

1967's "You Only Live Twice"...starring

Sean Connery :James Bond
Akiko Wakabayashi: Aki
Mie Hama: Kissy Suzuki
Tetsuro Tamba: Tiger Tanaka
Teru Shimada: Mr. Osato
Karin Dor: Helga Brandt
Donald Pleasence: Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Bernard Lee: M
Lois Maxwell: Miss Moneypenny
Desmond Llewelyn: Q
Charles Gray: Dikko Henderson
Tsai Chin: Ling (Chinese Girl, Hong Kong)
Ronald Rich: Hans (Blofeld's Bodyguard)

After five years of playing Bond, Sean Connery had had enough. The world was shocked to hear the "You Only Live Twice" would be his last film starring as James Bond. The movie was hyped greatly with teases such as "Bond will become Japanese", "Bond will marry", "Bond will come face to face with his arch nemesis" and most of all "James Bond will die".

All of these DO happen of course in the movie, but all of them were only to advance the plot line. The world knew he couldn't die, and Roald Dahl and Ian Flemming knew as well. Therefore they killed Bond off in the first 10 minutes of the film. The other part of the opening sequence led to the opening of "Austin Powers in the Spy who Shagged me" where a UFO devours a US Spacecraft, and later a Russian spacecraft. Both sides of course start accusing the other, and only the British know that it is obivouslt the Japs, or at least someone using a hollowed out volcano lair. This of course is Blofeld, Bonds nemesis through the three of the first four films (Auric Goldfinger of course being the sole opperative working on his own). The title sequence is sang by Nancy Sinatra, and is one of the better known Bond songs. Robbie Williams took the main theme from the song and sampled it into his song "Millenium". Besides some terrible editing sequences involving a fight at the dockyards and Helga Brandt jumping out of the doomed airplane (lets not forget the volcano explosion near the end) this movie was an excellent film. It was the first plot to be rehashed later in the Bond Series (see "The Spy Who Loves Me") and was the 1st of three consecutive films to feature Blofeld as the main bad guy (to be protrayed by different actors each time), but it was Pleasances appearance that Mike Myers choose to rip off the most.

This movie is my 9th favorite because of the change it brought to the series overall. This marked the last movie to be made with Sean Connery (at the time...we all know he returned 2 films later...) and seemed to mark the end of an era. I also loved Little Nelly, and the ninja fight sequence at the end.

The End of "You Only Live Twice" review. But Alex will return with #8 in his James Bond top ten countdown.

" I think I am going to enjoy serving under you"

~Oz