You Only Live Twice (film) manned spacecraft disappear mysteriously in orbit. With each nation blaming the other amidst the Cold War, Bond travels secretly to a remote Japanese island to find the perpetrators and comes face to face with Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE. The film reveals the appearance of Blofeld, who was previously a partially unseen character. SPECTRE is working for the government of an unnamed Asian power, implied to be the People's Republic of China, to provoke war between the superpowers. During the filming in Japan, it was announced that Sean Connery would retire from the role of Bond, but after
Motifs in the James Bond film series can be a private island ("Dr. No", "The Man with the Golden Gun"), underwater ("The Spy Who Loved Me"), mountaintop retreat ("On Her Majesty's Secret Service", "For Your Eyes Only") volcano ("You Only Live Twice"), or underground base ("Live and Let Die"), a ship ("Thunderball", "Tomorrow Never Dies"), an oil rig ("Diamonds Are Forever") or even a space station ("Moonraker")—among other variations. Bond usually sabotages the lair and, with time ticking down, dispatches the supervillain, rescues the principal Bond girl and they escape as the place blows up. In some cases, the villain or his primary henchman escapes to launch