Overrated

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Fantastic!

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

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 .

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.

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.

1983 was an interesting year for Bond fans. We had the 13th official James Bond film Octopussy starring Roger Moore and an unofficial James Bond film by the name of Never Say Never Again starring Sean Connery. This is a remake of the 1965 Bond thriller Tunderball. I think if you are a fan of Sean Connery as James Bond then you'll like this movie. Barbara Carrera is this film's femme fatale and she is very over the top but she is incredibly enjoyable to watch in an otherwise dull movie. There is nothing visually appealing about Never Say Never Again, the cinematography is bland and the score is bad. But it still is fun for Sean Connery fans.