Review of Never Say Never Again (1983) by Rob Ó — 19 Oct 2012
Possibly better than Octopussy, it's certainly more ambitious, but it fails on more levels. Connery does a fine job (better than in previous two films) and it's a credit to the screenplay that they actually address the fact that Bond isn't getting any younger.
The sad fact remains that this film is a remake of 'Thunderball', right down to most of the names of the characters and it owes its existence to a bizarre matter of legal rights and the money-grubbing spitefulness of its star towards the producers of the 'official' Bond films. The film lacks the reliable polish of Eon Productions, resulting in an effort that looks and sounds like a dated American action movie rather than a James Bond film. It's difficult to recommend this film to non-purists.
The score by Michael LeGrand is without question the worst of any Bond score and with the notable exception of Bernie Casey as Felix Leiter, many of the substitute actors just come across as foolish in place of their Eon counterparts (Edward Fox as M might as well have been playing the Monopoly man).
The crowning achievement of this film is the casting of Klaus Maria Brandauer in one of the most layered performances of a Bond villain to date.
This review of Never Say Never Again (1983) was written by Rob Ó on 19 Oct 2012.
Never Say Never Again has generally received mixed reviews.
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