Whilst the good old producer Albert R. Broccoli was carelessly finalizing the thirteenth official Bond movie "Octopussy", together with regular director John Glen and star Roger Moore, the frustrated writer/producer Kevin McClory thought it would be a funny joke to release an unofficial Bond flick with the original hero Sean Connery and – God forbid – an American (!) director by the name of Irvin Kershner. A lot of people openly wonder why "Never Say Never Again" ever got made. Well, I think this movie has three main reasons for existing. Number one: to sooth McClory's ego (something with a lingering lawsuit). Number two: to boost Sean Connery's popularity and bank account during a dip in his career. And number three: to mess with the heads of die-hard 007 fans, since this episode is never included in fancy collector box-set editions and has to be purchased separately! Is this one of the most redundant movies in cinematic history? Yes, most definitely! Is it worth tracking down in case you're a fan of the series or action/adventurous movies in general? Yes, it certainly is! "Never Say Never Again" is a reshape of the fourth official Bond movie "Thunderball", which also starred Connery. "Thunderball" coincidentally also just happens to be Bond movie I watched most recently, so it was very easy to compare them. Both films are really quite identical and the only significant difference is that 007 is twenty years older and about to enjoy his retirement. The rest is pure repeat. The multi-millionaire SPECTRE agent Largo developed a very ingenious plan to steal two nuclear warheads and holds the world at ransom by threatening to detonate them. James Bond discovers the scheme by chance, when he's in a fancy health spa and follows Largo to the Bahama's. By seducing Largo's girlfriend Domino Petachi, who still doesn't know that Largo abused and killed her brother, 007 hopes to discover where the warheads are located. The return of Sean Connery as the heroic special agent is undoubtedly the biggest trump of the film, but I usually always classify my Bond favorites based on the entertainment value of the villains. Max von Sydow makes a very promising Ernst Stavro Blofeld, but unfortunately his role is little more than a cameo. Klaus Maria Brandauer is decent but can't hold a candle to Adolfo Celi who played the role in "Thunderball". Most entertaining is Barbara Carrera as Bond's iron female opponent Fatima, who's as sexy and deadly as Luciana Paluzzi was in the original. I think "Never Say Never Again" is best enjoyed as a parody, since many aspects of the film are clearly intended to be ambiguous and humorous, like the meaning of the title itself (referring to the fact that Connery himself said that he would never play James Bond again after "Diamond are Forever") and the presence of Rowan Atkinson as a clumsy British ambassador.
Review of Never Say Never Again
