Never Say Never Again

Well I didn't think I would find myself watching Never Say Never Again as my part of my James Bond marathon but seeing as I had already endured the unofficial 1960s Casino Royale and had recently watched Octopussy, which also released in 1983, it seemed rude not to swing by good ol' Sir Sean Connery's return as 007. But this is not a Bond film as we know it! No, this was an unofficial release born out of a legal battle between the Fleming estate and Kevin McClory which gave the latter an opportunity to essentially make their own version of Thunderball. Now Connery had been out of the MI6 game for over ten years but was somehow recruited once more back into the role where he made a name for himself 21 years prior to this.

And as I have given away, the story of Never Say Never Again is more of less a remake of Thunderball, which starred the same leading man, but without much of the familiar Bond trappings. M, Q and Moneypenny are all here played by a new cast but gone is the gunbarrel opening pre-title sequence and the iconic theme song. So goes for any familiar regulars behind the scenes as we now have Irvin Kershner directing, McClory and Jack Whittingham writing, a score by Michel Legrand and produced by Jack Schwartzman. It's only Connery who made the move over for this one-time gig as Bond from Eon Productions. 

Beginning with a rather dreadful opening song, we see Bond supposedly mid-mission in a tropical location while dispatching various goons with ease to prove there is still life in the old dog yet. However, this is quickly revealed to be a training exercise before he is scuttled off for a briefing with M where the parallels with Thunderball begin. Here, we learn a nuclear warhead has been stolen by SPECTRE and 007 is issued to retrieve the weapon before any harm can come of it. 

Just like with Thunderball, we get a protractedly long sequence with Bond at the health clinic but Kershner and the team keep most of the similarities to a minimum. We do get the villain Largo and his superyacht along as well as some familiar names with the Bond girls but I wouldn't want to call this a repetitive experience. Just sadly very dull and tedious for much of the run time. Thankfully, Connery seems to be more buoyant with the role and provides a very entertaining turn as 007, effortlessly delivering plenty of humour, and it is interesting to catch a rare glimpse of him as an older Bond who has grown with the role.

It's just unfortunate that visually this is a very flat production, despite a number of colourful locations, and the action seems to be constrained by a limited budget. Klaus Maria Brandauer is also very unthreatening as the villain, Largo, and just adds to the lacklustre experience. Meanwhile, Max von Sydow shows plenty of promise as Blofeld but his screentime is all too brief to make any real impact in a series of scenes that never once cross with Bond or Largo. Thankfully Barbara Carrera as a SPECTRE agent, Fatima Blush, and Bernie Casey as Felix lend some fun charisma to the film, and both work well with Connery who is more than comfortable 11 years after Diamonds are Forever. Meanwhile the action lacks any fun, memorable moments and all of which pale in comparison to the fast and fun adventures with Moore in Octopussy.

Sadly though I must rank Never Say Never Again as a "Bond" film only for hardcore fans and completionists. It straddles over the two hour mark when this should have been a brisk 90 minutes and I really can't see myself returning to this inoffensively average flick. 'Never watch again' might seem a tad too harsh but sadly I think the shoe fits on this occasion even with Connery on form..