12 Things You Learn Rewatching You Only Live Twice

11. The Pre-Title Sequence Is Totally Insane

You have to give screenwriter Roald Dahl - yes, that Roald Dahl - credit for coming up with a totally bonkers pre-title sequence that really set the tone perfectly for the rest of the movie.

The opening scene shows a NASA spacecraft being stolen by another, larger ship, which opens up and "swallows" it. As it closes up, it cuts the tether of the poor astronaut working on the NASA vessel, condemning him to a cold, lonely death in the vacuum of space.

As if that's not an insane, far cry from the comparatively pared-down nature of most prior Bond intros, the scene shifts to Bond investigating the incident, in bed of course. However, it turns out to be a set-up, and the bed is soon enough riddled with bullets, leaving behind an apparently dead Bond as the title sequence begins.

The fake-out death isn't remotely believable - especially as From Russia with Love already pulled the same shtick - and the messy post-title explanation is pretty clumsy (he fakes his death, even being buried at sea with breathing apparatus), but the movie at least deserves points for being so shamelessly demented right out of the gate.