Never Say Never Again ("James Bond")
An un-official James Bond movie. It was released between the official installments 13 ("Octopussy") and 14 ("A View To a Kill").
"Inventive, imaginative, tension-filled fun!" -Los Angeles Times
Sean Connery is back for his final performance as superagent James Bond in this high-velocity action thriller from the director of The Empire Strikes Back. When two atomic warheads are hijacked by the evil SPECTRE organization, Agent 007 is hurled into an explosive pulse-pounding race to save the world from nuclear terrorists!
Member Reviews
Good classic Bond film - thenewguy
Never Say Never Again is a classic Bond film with all the things which mark a good 007 movie. It's got Connery playing the smooth, deadly ladies man, terrorists who need stopping and an array of beautiful women who are eager for seduction (led by the beautiful Kim Basinger).
Never Say Never Again goes a great job of combining action, humour and sexuality. I particularly like how they acknowledge Connery's advancing age and the changing political climate of the time, putting Bond in a semi-retired state in which he's expected to train and become more politically correct. I was also impressed with the variety of action, much of which takes place under water and one scene which involves a fight with a shark.
The movie hasn't aged badly, with two notable exceptions. The fight scenes on land will appear campy to a modern audience. Also the computer technology shown is both cartoony and out of date. However, the movie doesn't dwell on these aspects and so, for the most part, it makes for a solid action/comedy/spy film. Strong cast, good one-liners and inventive underwater action.!! - basilbenz
The year 1983 saw a strange phenomenon; two rival Bond films. "Octopussy", starring Roger Moore, was part of the official Cubby Broccoli Bond franchise. "Never Say Never Again", made by a rival producer, is, apart from the awful "Casino Royale", the only Bond movie which does not form part of that franchise. Its big attraction was that it brought back the original Bond, Sean Connery; its title reputedly derived from Connery's remark after "Diamonds Are Forever" that he would never again play the role. Some have complained that Connery was, at 53, too old for the role, but he was in fact three years younger than his successor Moore, who not only made "Octopussy" in the same year but went on to make one further Bond film, "A View to a Kill", two years later.
The film owes its existence to the settlement of a lawsuit about the film rights to Ian Fleming's work. It is perhaps unfortunate that the terms of the settlement included a clause that the new film had to be a remake of "Thunderball", as that was perhaps not the greatest of the Connery Bonds. (A remake of "Dr No" or "Goldfinger" might have worked better). The plot is much the same as that of the earlier film; the terrorist organisation SPECTRE, acting together with a megalomaniac tycoon named Largo, have stolen two American nuclear warheads and are attempting to hold the world's governments to ransom by threatening to detonate them unless they receive a vast sum of money. It falls to Bond, of course, to save the world by tracking down the missing missiles.
The film is fortunate in that it has not just one but two of the most beautiful Bond girls of all, Barbara Carrera as the seductive but lethal Fatima Blush and Kim Basinger as Largo's girlfriend Domino who defects to Bond's side after learning of her lover's evil plans. A number of the Bond films have a plot that hangs upon the hero's ability to win over the villain's mistress or female accomplice- there are similar developments, for example, in "Is this a comedy? - jimmy_bond
There are more scenes played for laughs in this mess than I intially thought. Connery looks great, even better than he did in "Diamonds". He's tanned and lean and ready for action. Too bad the action never comes. It seems to take forever for Spectre to get the warheads and once Fatima dies so does the movie.Bassinger is bland, Fox is great as M and Connery is just OK. I think this proves that the actor protraying bond is important but without the gun barrel opening and the bond theme it just isn't Bond.Could be worst, could have been Peter Sellers.
Member Reviews
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Good classic Bond film - thenewguy
Never Say Never Again is a classic Bond film with all the things which mark a good 007 movie. It's got Connery playing the smooth, deadly ladies man, terrorists who need stopping and an array of beautiful women who are eager for seduction (led by the beautiful ...!! - basilbenz
The year 1983 saw a strange phenomenon; two rival Bond films. "Octopussy", starring Roger Moore, was part of the official Cubby Broccoli Bond franchise. "Never Say Never Again", made by a rival producer, is, apart from the awful "Casino Royale", the only Bond ...Is this a comedy? - jimmy_bond
There are more scenes played for laughs in this mess than I intially thought. Connery looks great, even better than he did in "Diamonds". He's tanned and lean and ready for action. Too bad the action never comes. It seems to take forever for Spectre to get ...