Never Say Never Again (1983)

Yet another remakes infinitely superior to the laughably overrated original.Never Say Never Again: 4 out of 10Thunderball: ZEE.......ROW.The end.

The final installment in Connery/Bond series finds 007 on a mission to thwart Spectre which has threatened to blow up cities if a ransom is not paid . James Bond (Sean Connery who shows his face clean-shaven and wearing a variety of grey and brown wigs) matches wits with a nasty , good-looking tycoon , Largo (Klaus Maria Brandauer) , who is holding the world nuclear hostage as part of a diabolical plan schemed by Espectre led by a sinister leader (Max Von Sydow) . As Emilio Largo , is a ruthless and flamboyant enforcer who has hatched a scheme against the North Atlantic Treaty powers . British send his "00" agent , James Bond , to recover the warheads before SPECTRE carries out its threat to detonate the devices on the UK and US mainlands . As the world is held hostage by the threat of a nuclear nightmare , Bond jumps into action , racing against the clock as the trail leads him to tropical Nassau . Later on , Bond facing off heavies and bedding a lot of pink and dust beauties (Barbara Carrera as Fatima Blush , Kim Basinger as Domino , Valerie Leon , among others) . Will 007 prevent the killing of millions of innocent victims?Connery returns to the world of Bond after 12 years , it results to be smooth in this peculiar remake of ¨Thunderball¨(1965) by Terence Young with Claudine Auger , Adolfo Celi , Luciana Paluzzi . The noisy action is staged with all the mechanical efficiency of the classic Bond pictures with a bit more bite . After Diamonds are forever (1971) Sean told her he'd never play James Bond again, there he was, playing James Bond again , her response was for him to "never say never again" ; however , for a big salary he accepted this film . Although Connery is back to recover two nuclear warheads stolen , purists will have qualms deeming this part of the official Bond series since longtime producers Albert ¨Cubby¨ Broccoli , Harry Saltzman , had nothing to do with this endeavor . This Bond film was not part of the franchise produced by these producers , but here Kevin McClory who was producer and co-writer of Thunderball (1965), won a legal battle against Ian Fleming to make his own Bond movie , the settlement stipulated that it had to effectively be a remake of Thunderball . Here James Bond/Connery bedding a variety of wonderful women , the bond girls are the followings : Kim Basinger as the beautiful heroine , Barbara Carrera is excellently cast as the nasty villainess and the Hammer-girl Valerie Leon . Bond/Connery is given hot competition in the acting department by Klaus Maria Brandauer who makes ¨Largo¨ a stunning , memorable smiling psychotic baddie from Sprectra criminal organization , replacing prior Adolfo Celi . Being Final James Bond film to feature Spectre until recent film Spectre (2015) . Support cast is frankly magnificent as Bernie Casey , Alec McCowen , charming Pamela Salem as Miss Moneypenny , Rowan Atkinson as Embassy official , Edward Fox , Gavan O'Herlihy , Ronald Pickup and brief acting by the busty Bond girl Valerie Leon as Lady in Bahamas .Colorful cinematography by Douglas Slocombe shot on several locations in Côte d'Azur, Antibes, Beaulieu-Sur-Mer, Alpes-Maritimes,France , Malta Nassau, New Providence Island, Bahamas , La Alcazaba , Almería, El Ejido, Almería, Andalucia, Spain . However , this ¨Never say never again¨ is hampered by an atrocious soundtrack by Michael Legrand . The motion picture was professionally directed by Irwin Kershener , but with no originality . The main theme that runs through many of his films is social alienation and human weaknesses - although his biggest commercial success was the science fiction blockbuster ¨Star Wars: Episodio V Empire strikes again¨ and made decent sequels as ¨Return a man called horse¨and ¨Robocop II¨. This is an acceptable and passable Bond movie but inferior to other entries . This monarch of mayhem and luxury strides easily back into his kingdom .

Oddball James Bond film is not part of the official Eon Production cannon. Kevin McClory, a producer and writer on "Thunderball" won a legal battle against Ian Fleming to make his own Bond movie based upon his version of the "Thunderball" script. In this versions Connery plays an older Bond, but very much like in the original "Thunderball" finds himself going after SPECTRE agents who've stole nuclear warheads. It's the usual Bond nonsense, but it's a lot better than the Roger Moore output at this same time (though "For Your Eyes Only" was quite good). Still, this one did subscribe to the over-use of gadgets that the Moore films were doing, which is unfortunate. On the plus side, this film does boast an excellent cast. Max von Sydow plays Blofeld, Edward Fox plays M, Bernie Casey plays Felix Leiter, Klaus Maria Brandauer is the industrialist villain, Largo. Barbara Carrera and Kim Basinger are Bond Girls. There's even Rowan Atkinson in his film debut in a small bit of comic relief. The film also has a quaint scene that was super cool back in the day, where James Bond plays a very lame video game where you have to claim more shapes on a digital line drawn map before your opponent. Hot off of "The Empire Strikes Back" the film was directed by Irvin Kershner, who brings an assured hand to the action. McClory offered John Barry a chance to score the film, but he declined out of loyalty to Albert R. Broccoli, producer of the main series. Instead, Michel Legrand provides a solid score for the film, even if it's lacking the "James Bond Theme." Even if this is far from the best bond film (though better than most of the 80s Bond output), this film does hold a fair amount of nostalgia for me; Brandauer and Connery's intense confrontation over the very lame video game, Connery chained up in a skeleton filled cell, and Kim Basinger dancing were all moments that burned themselves into my adolescent brain. Interesting note of trivia: a young Steven Seagal was the martial arts instructor for this film and broke Sean Connery's wrist during training.

Never Say Never Again (1983)Plot In A Paragraph: A SPECTRE agent has stolen two American nuclear warheads, and A long retired James Bond (Connery) is brought back and must find their targets before they are detonated.It was The Battle Of The Bond's in 1983 a returning Connery had this movie, whilst Roger Moore starred in Octopussy. My second favourite Bond movie of the 80's (Behind Licence To Kill) I think this is better than anything Roger Moore turned out that decade, and its superior to Thunderball which it is a loose remake of.It's not without its faults, it has some ropey effects, its theme song is OK, but not up to the usual high standard of songs. And It's a bit daft how Kim Basinger's Domino trust Bond straight away, he touched her up in health club, he introduced himself and they had a chat at the bar (within a 24 hour period) and that's it. She immediately cares about him, and believes everything he tells her over her long term partner.12 years after his last outing as Bond, it's a welcome return for Connery. As much as he'd hate to admit it, he is right at home in the role. It's the the first time he had been clean shaven since 1971, and it would mark the last time he would appear on screen clean shaven too. It has a good amount of tension and the perfect amount of humour too. Most of the supporting cast nails it too Klaus Maria Brandauer makes an a compelling villain (much better than the full guy with an eye patch in Thunderball) Max Von Sydow is in full pantomime villain mode as Blofeld, Kim Basinger looks great and is OK as Domino and Barbara Carrera is a lot of fun too. Bernie Casey is fine as Felix Leiter and Roman Atkinson has a small role too. Edward Fox is awful as M though. I don't know what was going on there.In the end Never Say Never Again lost The Battle Of The Bond's (Octopussy grossed $12 million more) but It gave Connery a much needed boost at the box office. grossing $9.72 million on its first weekend, which was reported to be the best opening record of any James Bond up to that point and surpassing Roger Moore's Octopussy's $8.9 million from June that year. It ended up grossing $55 million at the domestic box office (which was a solid return on a budget of $36 million) to end the year the 14th highest grossing movie of 1983. Connery would not star in another movie for three years. When he did return, it was mostly older, wiser mentor roles from then on. So as a goodbye to the leading man, sex symbol, action man Connery (excluding The Rock) this was a good way to bow out.