Inspiration for the title of the fifth Bond screen adventure came from an unlikely source; the seventeenth century poet Bussho, who wrote:
 

Fleming, impressed by this simple, but thought provoking line, titles his twelfth novel, You Only Live Twice, inspiring the book’s eventual secondary life as a film.

Twice offers the first look at Ernst Stavro Blofeld, until this moment never referred to by name, and seen only in the shadows, as he delegated his schemes for the subjugation of mankind to underlings. As portrayed by Donald Pleasence, he looks eerie but lacks conviction when compared to the character conceived by Fleming. (In fairness to Pleasence, he was a last- minute replacement for Czech actor Jan Werich, who was unwell.) While Pleasence does not pose a physical threat to Bond, the character remains intriguing, with his monotone threats reminiscent of Joseph Wiseman’s Dr. No.

Other main cast members include Karin Dor who is the ravenhaired German beauty German beauty who seduces, then tries to eliminate Bond. Her charcterization is not unlike Luciana Paluzzi's Fiona in Thunderball although admittedly her performance is not nearly as memorable. Teru Shimada appears as Mr. Osato, a Japanese industrialist whose empire is a key element in SPECTRE's plans to initiate yet another World War by sabotaging both American space flights.

Twice follows the capture of American, British and Russian space shuttles from orbit. 007 is sent to Japan to investigate the sudden disappearance of the spacecrafts and receives plenty of help from Tiger (Tetnuro Tamba), who is an agile and capable ally to Bond.

At the conclusion of filming, Connery announced what Bond fans had feared was an inevitability: he was resigning from the most lucrative role ever possessed by an actor. Sean Connery was determine to see if his screen career - like Bond - could live twice.