James Bond Wiki
Register
Advertisement
James Bond Wiki
Header_Tag_Spacer.png
Cinematic Tag



You Only Live Twice - Helicopter lands in the volcano

The interior of SPECTRE's volcano facility, as seen in You Only Live Twice (1967).

"It is an island called Matsu and lies in the direct route between Kobe and Shanghai."
Tiger Tanaka[src]

The Volcano Lair was the fictional headquarters of the terrorist organization SPECTRE during the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice. The entire facility, an enormous launch site for SPECTRE's Bird One spacecraft, was built into an extinct Japanese volcano. An alternate-universe version of the location also appeared in Electronic Arts' 2004 spin-off video game GoldenEye: Rogue Agent. The re-imagined location is no longer a rocket launch-site and sits on a free-standing volcanic island.

History[]

You Only Live Twice[]

To be added

GoldenEye: Rogue Agent[]

The Lair exterior (GoldenEye - Rogue Agent)

Exterior of The Lair, as seen in GoldenEye: Rogue Agent

The volcano lair later appeared in the 2004 spin-off Bond game, GoldenEye: Rogue Agent. Set in an alternate timeline, the location dubbed "The Lair" serves as a hub of global operations for a shadowy criminal organisation; heavily implied to be SPECTRE. Located on a free-standing volcanic island in the middle of the ocean, the facility's main aircraft hangar is accessible via a large set of launch doors in the crater.

After betraying the organisation, Auric Goldfinger detonates his recently-developed super-weapon, the OMEN, inside the volcano - disintegrating the old guard and declaring himself its new Head. GoldenEye arrives at the volcano lair in Dr. No's aircraft, and signs of battle are everywhere. A broken message from Francisco Scaramanga reveals that prisoners held within the Lair prison have sworn allegiance to GoldenEye and, if freed, will fight for him against Goldfinger’s traitors

Behind the Scenes[]

For the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice, director Lewis Gilbert, producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, production designer Ken Adam and director of photography Freddie Young went to Japan, spending three weeks searching for locations. Initial plans to utilise a shore fortress headquarters for SPECTRE, in keeping with Ian Fleming's novel, were changed to an extinct volcano after the team learned that the Japanese do not build castles by the sea.[1] The volcano's exterior was Mount Shinmoe-dake, filmed in Kirishimu National Park at the southern tip of Kyūshū, the southern island of Japan.[1] Its interior was a vast $1 million set, designed by Ken Adam and constructed under canvas at a lot inside Pinewood Studios.[1][2] With an operative heliport and monorail, the 45 m (148 ft) tall set could be seen from 5 kilometres (3 miles) away, and attracted many people from the region.[3]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Production Staff. (2000). Inside You Only Live Twice: An Original Documentary [Television]. MGM Home Entertainment Inc.
  2. On Location With Ken Adam. You Only Live Twice: Ultimate Edition DVD (Disc 2): MGM Home Entertainment. Retrieved on 31 January 2008.
  3. John Cork. (2000). You Only Live Twice Commentary track. MGM Home Entertainment Inc.

See also[]

Advertisement