# You only live twice



## Joab (May 19, 2009)

Does anyone here remember the James Bond movie, "You Only Live Twice"? In it they show what they claim is both ancient and modern ninja training, training that 007 himself undertakes. Is there any truth to the movie, or is it all typical cinematic nonsense?  Is any of it even resembling true ninja techniques and training? Just curious, I watched the movie recently.


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## bluekey88 (May 19, 2009)

I remember the film fondly...I'd take it with a huige grain of salt.  I mean, any movie where teh main plot conceit is that teh bad guy was able to build a high-tech secret base in an old voclano and employ hundreds of workers....in secret...hard to take seriously.

How did he get the earth movers in?  How about all the contruction materials?  

Anyhoo....the MA I saw looked like basic movie fu karate with some Ninja garb added for flair.

Also, as much as I love Sean connery as bond, when they did him up to look Japanese...it looked more like he had down's syndrome than anything else.


Peace,
Erik


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## Joab (May 19, 2009)

Yeah, Sean wasn't convincing at all as Japanese. Your probably right about the authenticity of the ninja training, probably not close to the real thing.


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## Omar B (May 19, 2009)

Oh god I hate that movie.  Yet another case of the Bond film not even trying to correctly adapt the story as written by Fleming.


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## Joab (May 19, 2009)

Omar B said:


> Oh god I hate that movie. Yet another case of the Bond film not even trying to correctly adapt the story as written by Fleming.


 
I thought it was fun, never read the novel.


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## Xue Sheng (May 19, 2009)

Strange..all I seem to remember about that movie is "Suzuki"


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## Shinobi Teikiatsu (May 19, 2009)

From what I've read, Soke Hatsumi oversaw much of the fight choreography in the movie..


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## Omar B (May 20, 2009)

Joab said:


> I thought it was fun, never read the novel.



You should.  The Fleming experience is pretty transcendent.  Plus the Bond on film is quite different than how he's written.  Oh, and plot wise it's nowhere near the book (though it does have a couple people with the same names).

Oh, and the chick's name was Kissy Suzuki, mother of James's son James Suzuki (who does not even appear in the movie).


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## MA-Caver (May 20, 2009)

Well not to mention that Donald Pleasence was the influence of Dr. Evil for the Austin Powers franchise... still don't know where the Pinky thing comes in yet. 

Also interesting about the purty women in the film 





> (from IMDB) Akiko Wakabayashi However, in the Western Cinema, she is probably best known for her role as Bond girl Aki in the 007 epic You Only Live Twice (1967), appearing along side actor Sean Connery. When production of the 007 film began, Wakabayashi was originally chosen to play Bond girl Kissy Suzuki and her co-star, Mie Hama is to play Bond girl Suki. As Hama had a difficult time mastering the English language, the two actresses switched roles. In addition, Wakabayashi suggested her character name be Aki instead of Suki.


Either way... as a kid watching it that is when I first realized REALLY realized how pretty Asian women can be. 

Yeah the ninja training is way way over the top. The modern stuff definitely to be a Q branch counterpart. That super expert swordsman was cool to watch... notice how his face was uncovered while his partners all had theirs covered... it's because he was cooler than the rest because he knew how to handle the sword better... :wink1: But of course he doesn't even get credit ... not even listed on the IMDB list. 

Yeah gotta love the over the top secret underground lairs that Spectre villians seem to have. Not only were they able to manage a volcano and all that but to repeatedly launch a rocket and land it in the exact spot every time, all within a few days time ... something NASA must've been dreaming about for years. 

I read the book too and often went ... HEY where's the ninja's where's the volcano? Where's the rockets? What a rip!
I got older and read the book again... it'd been nice if Hollywood hadn't gone WAY off into left field in their interpretation of the story.


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## Xue Sheng (May 20, 2009)

MA-Caver said:


> Also interesting about the purty women in the film
> Either way... as a kid watching it that is when I first realized REALLY realized how pretty Asian women can be.


 
Like I said Suzuki


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## JadecloudAlchemist (May 20, 2009)

I remember seeing the book Instant Japanese that James gets that book is a classic.

Some cool stuff here:

http://www.mi6.co.uk/sections/movies/yolt_trivia.php3?t=&s=articles&id=01587


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## yorkshirelad (May 20, 2009)

As a child a read all of the James Bond books, but much preferred the movies. As an adult, I'm of the same opinion. I especially liked the movie "You only live twice", not just because of the martial arts componant, but also because the sceenplay was written by my favourite childhood author, Roald Dahl.


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## Korisuya (May 21, 2009)

the ninja clan in you only live twice is togakure ryu, soke hatsumi was connected to the book and movie. there were a few japanese articles about it you can probably dig them up. also the thing with petting the cat is based on oda nobunaga


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## MA-Caver (May 21, 2009)

JadecloudAlchemist said:


> I remember seeing the book Instant Japanese that James gets that book is a classic.
> 
> Some cool stuff here:
> 
> http://www.mi6.co.uk/sections/movies/yolt_trivia.php3?t=&s=articles&id=01587



Very cool stuff... also interestingly enough was this little tid-bit on the name of the film... 



> The title of "You Only Live Twice" comes from a haiku                 (or poem) included in the Ian Fleming novel on which the film                 is based. It goes: "You only live twice. Once when you are                 born. And once when you look death in the face."


 I guess I'm living my second life then... or would it be third... hmm, maybe fourth? ... I've lost count.


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## yorkshirelad (May 22, 2009)

JadecloudAlchemist said:


> I remember seeing the book Instant Japanese that James gets that book is a classic.
> 
> Some cool stuff here:
> 
> http://www.mi6.co.uk/sections/movies/yolt_trivia.php3?t=&s=articles&id=01587


Very cool stuff. I'm gonna watch the movie again and see if I can spot Hatsumi soke. I forgot, that he was so young when he inherited the schools from Takamatsu. I didn't know he had anything to do with this film. 

Thanks for the link.


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## elder999 (May 22, 2009)

MA-Caver said:


> Well not to mention that Donald Pleasence was the influence of Dr. Evil for the Austin Powers franchise... still don't know where the Pinky thing comes in yet..


 

The pinky thing was a habit of Lorne Michaels, the producer of Saturday Night Live. Mike Meyers was making fun of his old boss.....:lfao:

While Hatsumi sensei served as an advisor on the set, and had a brief acting role, it's noteworthy that Donn Draeger, the well known martial arts historian and _kiyoshi menkyo_ of the _Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu, _was credited as Martial Arts Coordinator, and acted as Sean Connery's stunt double.


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## Nebuchadnezzar (May 24, 2009)

Shinobi Teikiatsu said:


> From what I've read, Soke Hatsumi oversaw much of the fight choreography in the movie..


 
Curse you Cuffee, I wanted to answer this.


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## kenjutsushi (May 27, 2009)

elder999 said:


> While Hatsumi sensei served as an advisor on the set, and had a brief acting role,



This has been discussed before and screen shots were posted.  The actor in the train scene with Tiger Tanaka was definitely not Soke Hatsumi.  Do you know of any other scenes that show Hatsumi?  I have the dvd and have never spotted him.


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## JadecloudAlchemist (May 27, 2009)

Kenjutsushi Supposely here:



> but also allowed him a few brief moments of screen time aboard Tiger Tanaka's private train, as he interrupts Bond and Tanakas Sake discussion to announce that the photographs are ready for viewing.


 From the link http://www.mi6.co.uk/sections/movies/yolt_trivia.php3?t=&s=articles&id=01587

If you see it on the DVD let us know.


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## ElfTengu (Jun 11, 2009)

I didn't realise Hatsumi Sensei is IN the movie, I believe that in the end though they did not even use him for choreography etc. 

They filmed him doing some stuff but didn't deem it showy enough, and that is about it. Someone else stepped in, I can't remember who. Frank Dux, who I do not hold in high esteem, claims that Tiger Tanaka is based on his teacher Senzo Tanaka, but that's like me making a movie and saying the main character is based on the real Easter Bunny, if you catch my drift.

However, Hatsumi Sensei and Takamatsu Sensei were definitely involved in Shinobi no Mono, a far more worthwhile movie featuring ninjas.

I sometimes wonder whether they created those awful grey outfits for the ninjas in You Only Live Twice after filming them in black outfits and not being able to see them very well on screen. Duh!

How to sneak into an enemy's stronghold: Abseil straight down into the middle of it in a pale grey costume, standing out like a baboon's bum, especially when the enemy are all looking straight up at you and have machine guns.


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## MMcGuirk (Jun 11, 2009)

If you guys are really interested in seeing a movie about Ninja and having Hatsumi Sensei/Takamatsu Sensei as the adivsors check this movie out:

http://www.amazon.com/Shinobi-No-Mono-Raizo-Ichikawa/dp/B000TXNDSY

On the updated DVD there are English subtitles and the fights are not as cheesy as in the Bond movie. In fact, the moves look pretty darn familiar!  ( BTW, I do think Sean Connery is the best Bond!  The new guy is pretty good too, the rest you can have.)

Also there are extras on the DVD which give background on the advisor "Yoshiaki Hatsumi".   I think that's the name he used.

This is a series and if memory serves only the first movie involved Hatsumi Sensei and I think they mention something about "You Only Live Twice" and the underground train scene he was supposed to be in.  

Sorry I'm not going to go home and load the DVD to copy what it says for here.  

Get the movie or rent it, it's pretty good.   For those in America, I've seen it on IFC, independent film channel, when they used to have "Samurai Saturday".


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## Brian R. VanCise (Jun 11, 2009)

elder999 said:


> The pinky thing was a habit of Lorne Michaels, the producer of Saturday Night Live. Mike Meyers was making fun of his old boss.....:lfao:
> 
> While Hatsumi sensei served as an advisor on the set, and had a brief acting role, it's noteworthy that Donn Draeger, the well known martial arts historian and _kiyoshi menkyo_ of the _Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu, _was credited as Martial Arts Coordinator, and acted as Sean Connery's stunt double.




No doubt about it that Donn Draeger was the driving force behind the martial arts scenes.


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