Never Say Never Again (1983) Orion/Action-Adventure RT: 134 minutes Rated PG (language, violence, sexual content/innuendo) Director: Irvin Kershner Screenplay: Lorenzo Semple Jr. Music: Michel Legrand Cinematography: Douglas Slocombe Release date: October 7, 1983 (US)/December 15, 1983 (UK) Cast: Sean Connery, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Max Von Sydow, Barbara Carrera, Kim Basinger, Bernie Casey, Alex McCowen, Edward Fox, Pamela Salem, Rowan Atkinson, Saskia Cohen-Tanugi, Valerie Leon, Milow Kirek, Pat Roach, Anthony Sharp, Prunella Gee, Gavan O’Herlihy. Opening Song: “Never Say Never Again” by Lani Hall Box Office: $55.4M (US)
Rating: ***
In an interview following the release of Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Sean Connery told the press he would “never again” play James Bond 007 of the British Secret Service. Twelve years later, Connery agreed to return to the role that put him on the map. His wife Micheline suggested the title Never Say Never Again as a playful retort to his vow. She’s given credit for it in the end titles.
Never Say Never Again is not considered an official Bond movie because it wasn’t produced by EON Productions, the result of the lawsuit over the rights to Thunderball of which this film is essentially a remake. As such, you won’t see the traditional gun barrel opening or the distinctive opening titles nor will you hear Monty Norman’s iconic theme.
Here’s another interesting fact. Never Say Never Again came out the same year as Octopussy (with Roger Moore), about four months apart. That’s never happened before or since, two Bond movies in the same calendar year. I didn’t see Octopussy at the cinema, but I did see Never Say Never Again at a $1 theater a few months after its release. It was my first time seeing Connery in the role. I liked it well enough even though others (including my father) told me I should see the older films which I finally did in summer ’92 during a period of unemployment. I had to do something to fill the downtime.
Like I said, Never Say Never Again is basically an updated version of Thunderball with Bond being ordered to recover two stolen nuclear warheads. The culprit, Largo (Brandauer, Mephisto), a card-carrying megalomaniac and number one guy of SPECTRE head Blofeld (Sydow, Flash Gordon). He has big plans to make parts of the world go BOOM unless he’s paid a huge ransom.
The movie opens with Bond being sent to a health clinic outside London to get back in shape after failing a routine field training exercise. Not that it matters since M (Fox, The Day of the Jackal) has dismantled the double-0 section of MI6. He sees no point in keeping it going in this day and age of diplomacy. Yes, this M is a clueless twit.
There’s never any shortage of action when James Bond is around. While at the clinic, he sees something he shouldn’t involving Fatima Blush (Carrera, Lone Wolf McQuade), a SPECTRE agent posing as a private nurse, and her mysterious patient (O’Herlihy, Death Wish 3). She sends a big guy (Roach, Raiders of the Lost Ark) to take him out, but Bond defeats and kills the goon, causing extensive damage to the clinic in the process. That gets 007 suspended from active duty, but only temporarily. Once the warheads get stolen, he’s reactivated.
Bond manages to get to Largo through his kept girlfriend Domino (Basinger, L.A. Confidential), the sister of the mysterious patient who was killed by Fatima shortly after he outlived his usefulness. An American Air Force pilot, he had access to the warheads. He’s the one who put them in Largo’s hands by switching out dummy ones with real ones right before a training exercise. It’s Bond, of course, who enlightens Domino about her lover’s true evil nature.
Directed by Irvin Kershner (The Empire Strikes Back), Never Say Never Again retains a few familiar elements like the gadgets provided by Q played here by Alec McCowen (Frenzy). This time, Bond gets a fountain pen that shoots explosive bullets and a wicked cool motorcycle with rocket power for big jumps. It fires rockets too. His CIA ally Felix Leiter is also on hand to lend assistance. This time, the role is played by Bernie Casey (Sharky’s Machine), one of my favorite character actors. As always, Bond gets to sleep with several beautiful women in exotic locations. Oh yeah, his preferred drink is still a vodka martini.
The action in Never Say Never Again is right on point, especially the motorcycle chase through the streets of France. It culminates in a final showdown between Bond and Fatima that includes a line that had the audience roaring at the showing I attended with my dad and brother. It had to be the mention of Philadelphia. Another exciting sequence has Bond rescuing Domino from being sold as a sex slave to Arabs in the North African desert after Largo learns of her betrayal. Then, of course, there’s the exciting climax that features an underwater fight that isn’t murky. You can actually see what’s happening.
So yes, Never Say Never Again is Connery’s final turn as Bond. This time, he plays the character with a knowing wink and devilish smile. He looks like he’s having fun despite troubles on the set like the star’s tense relationship with producer Jack Schwartzman and a broken wrist sustained while training with martial arts coordinator Steven Seagal. Carrera is OTT great as Fatima, one of the most evil Bond Girls in the series. She’s hot, sexy and dangerous as hell. Basinger, in one of her first roles, is pretty good as Domino. She dances a mean tango with Bond. Brandauer does a passable job as Largo. Sydow is okay as Blofeld, but he’s nowhere near as good as the greats, Donald Pleasance (You Only Live Twice) and Charles Gray (Diamonds Are Forever). Yes, that’s Mr. Bean (known in the real world as Rowan Atkinson) as Nigel Small-Fawcett, the bumbling British embassy official who serves as Bond’s primary contact in the Bahamas.
What we have with Never Say Never Again is a good, solid Bond adventure that should satisfy fans enough. I mean, of course, old school fans who appreciate the silly, relative simplicity of the older Bond films. It and any Bond film made before 2006 might not go over with younger audiences who like their movies bigger and louder which doesn’t make them better. Because nobody does it better than Bond, am I right?
