James Bond: 8 Movies You Need To See To Understand Spectre

2. You Only Live Twice

1967's You Only Live Twice featured the first final appearance of Connery as Bond and it also brought Bond to the far east for the first time in his film career. Taking place in Japan, Bond is trying to discover who's responsible for the disappearance of American and Soviet-manned spacecraft before the two countries escalate tensions even further. Of course, SPECTRE is behind the plot, implied to be working at the behest of China, trying to provoke a war between the United States and Russia. This is the first time that we see Blofeld, played by Donald Pleasance. The suit Pleasance wears, combined with his bald head and facial scar (and the pet cat), became so associated with the character that they were directly spoofed by Michael Myers in the form of Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers films. You Only Live Twice was really when the series took a turn to the more outlandish, what with Blofeld's base located within a hollowed-out volcano and his penchant for using environmental methods of killing, like a piranha pool. But even with those more cartoonish elements, You Only Live Twice is still a fun entry in the series and worth it for Donald Pleasance alone, who plays the best version of Blofeld seen yet.