I would re-edit You Only Live Twice to make it the sequel to On Her Majesty's Secret Service, as it was in the books. Basically, with some re-editing and a bit of recontextualization, YOLT becomes a better film and a great revenge movie.
Here's what I'd do:
*Open with Lazenby's gunbarrel, backed by YOLT's Spanish guitar Bond theme; we iris into the final scene of OHMSS, let it run, then fade into For You Eyes Only's scene of faceless Bond visiting Tracy's grave, then fade into the first few scenes of Diamonds Are Forever (the Japanese guy getting thrown and the fez guy getting hit).
*For the Diamonds Are Forever portions, I'd dub in some Lazenby lines from OHMSS; namely, "Where is Ernst Stavro Blofeld?" and "I can be more persuasive".
As Fez Guy says, "Marie! Ask Marie!", we cut into Bond kissing the woman from Hong Kong, and the film proceeds from there.
*After M says "That's it" in the briefing scene, cut to Bond putting on his scuba gear; "I love you" seems too callow after the way the film has been reframed.
*After the montage of Japanese signs flashing, cut to Aki's car pulling into Henderson's driveway; since the codeword has been discarded, Aki's introduction and the sumo match seem pointless. Also, it moves the plot along a great deal.
*Cut "stirred, not shaken" and the Russian vodka tidbit.
*In Osato's office, cut out Bond drinking the Siamese vodka and have him immediately notice the safe; it's a stupid joke.
*As soon as Bond crouches down over the safe, cut to one of the intense closeups of Sean Connery for a moment, then cut to Bond opening the safe; having him have the safecracker right in his pocket is ridiculous.
*When Bond and Aki run into the building, cut to the shot of Bond walking onto the sliding floor and falling.
*Cut "I love you" from Tanaka's office scene; again, no longer needed.
*Cut the walking out to Tanaka's private train and instead have them go from the small elevator to the compartment; this cut moves the film along.
*After the shot of Bond walking with Tanaka and asking him who Osato is and if he can arrange a meeting with him tomorrow, cut to Bond being driven to that meeting; the beautiful girls and Aki bog the film down.
*At Osato's office, cut from Bond walking in to the outside shot of the helicopter approaching; the moment where he's being watched is, again, not needed.
*At the end of the scene, cut Osato telling Miss Brandt to kill Bond, as it's superfluous.
*Cut out everything from the end of the office scene to right at the brief shot of Aki's car before Tanaka tells Bond the Ning-Po is at Kobe docks; the car chase is horribly stupid, and Osato's order has been cut along with it.
*Cut from Bond walking away from the docks (right before the stray goon jumps him) to the outdoor briefing scene with Tanaka; the capture and plane scenes are patently ludicrous.
*When the Soviet controllers remove their headpieces after their shuttlecraft is stolen, cut to Bond getting out of the helicopter and Tanaka saying "Bad news from outer space"; the scene with Blofeld's volcano lair removes all suspense from the film.
*After Tanaka says "This is my ninja training school", cut to the later scene of Tanaka telling Bond what he's going to do; the whole ninja school montage bogs the film down.
*After Tanaka says "But first, you must become Japanese", cut to the bell being rung at the wedding; the scenes in between, again, bog the film down.
*After Kissy stands next to Bond in the procession, cut to the scene where the two and Tanaka are on the boat; the wedding is too long.
*After Bond and Kissy walk off down the street, cut to the shot of day turning into night; the whole interplay looks horribly insensitive after OHMSS.
*Cut all the interplay and kissing between Bond and Kissy on the mountain; again, it just looks insensitive.
*Cut all shots of the interior of the volcano until Bond ventures in, as it keeps an air of mystery about it.
*Cut all of Blofeld's lines before "Remove his helmet"; it makes him look more mysterious.
*Recut Blofeld and Bond scene, to have Blofeld turn after saying "James Bond", we hear Bond say "Blofeld" (a clip from DAF), a quick shot of Osato, then cut back to Blofeld saying "They told me you were assassinated in Hong Kong"; after OHMSS, Blofeld introducing himself looks dumb, and the title line is just horrendous.
*Cut Blofeld's lines about his "little war" and such, as well as swinging the chain and his preening; ugh... :sick:
*Cut all outside shots on Blofeld's telescreen of the Bird 1; who's filming it, then? :huh:
*Cut Blofeld's speech about firing power and such, but cut from the ninjas fighting to Bond beating the crap out of those two guards; the cigarette gun looks dumb after its introduction is cut.
*Cut "I look forward to exterminating you personally"; stupid.
*Cut most of the ninja battle, to make the disconnect from "We are now impregnable" to "Impregnable?" a little less obvious.
*Cut from Blofeld, Bond, Osato and Hans running down to the secret door to Blofeld and Bond reaching the tram; Blofeld killing Osato is stupid.
*Cut from Hans falling into the moat to Bond running away; the pirahna look out-of-the-blue once their intro is cut.
*Dissolve from the shot of the planes flying overhead to the plaque of Universal Exports in OHMSS, all the while keeping the YOLT cue going, then cut to M buzzing Moneypenny about her checking communications, go through the scene, then cut from M telling Q "The PM wants to be informed personally when we find 007" to the scene where Bond kills Blofeld in FYEO, putting in insert shots of Sean Connery from the plane scene whenever Roger Moore is shown; cut the "delicatessen" line, "keep your hair on", and "oh, do you want to get off?"; dub in "We Have All the Time in the World" as Blofeld falls down the chute; cut from the end of the scene to the credit reading An EON Production, and that is that.
So, what do you think? Any comments, queries, or suggestions are thoroughly appreciated.
