Review of Never Say Never Again (1983) by Stuart K — 05 Sep 2012

Because of a lawsuit by Kevin McClory, who had come up with some of the story for Thunderball, it granted him the right to do a James Bond film of his own. He wanted to have it open up against Octopussy (1983), but production problems both within and beyond his control put a stop to that.

Even though he brought back the original Bond, a lot of the film feels like it's being played solely for laughs, more than the Roger Moore Bond's were doing. After failing a training exercise, James Bond (Sean Connery) is sent to a health spa to get back in shape, but he stumbles on a plot which see's a nearby American military base being broken into, and two nuclear warheads stolen by Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Max Von Sydow).

It takes Bond to the Bahamas, where he meets Domino Petachi (Kim Basinger) and her wealthy lover, Maximillian Largo (Klaus Maria Brandauer), who is a member of Blofeld's society, SPECTRE. Bond follows Largo to Nice, where he learns of what's going to happen with the bombs, and he confronts Largo's deadly but beautiful assistant Fatima Blush (Barbara Carrera), who he saw at the health spa.

It does have it's moments, like a fight with Pat Roach, but even Connery looks bored, even more so than he did in Diamonds Are Forever. Despite seasoned pro Irvin Kershner (then hot off The Empire Strikes Back (1980)), directing it.

Some of it feels like a pantomime, but Brandauer is brilliant as the baddie, adding an eccentric, complex side. But it needs more than that, it could have been a lot worse mind.