Review of Never Say Never Again (1983) by Aj V — 08 Jan 2011

Interesting what a 5-plus year hiatus between viewings can do for you. I've always flip-flopped on [i]Never Say Never Again[/i] over the years. When I first watched it I was appalled by its... unofficialness. It was so nasty. Then I saw it a few more times and found it to be reasonably entertaining, probably as much as the lower-tier EON productions. Then I went back to scorning it for its unoficialness.

But now that I've grown out of infantile and rather sad concepts such as brand loyalty, I can assess the film on a bit more of an even keel. And although it's got some problems (the most egregious appearing in the final act, which aint a good sign), I found it to be a highly entertaining ride, and one of the more visually layered Bond films ever made.

It's got the right mix of sex, humour, suspense and action that every Bond film should have. God knows how many EON productions have failed to get the right mix. In fact, they haven't hit that perfect mix since Cubby Broccoli died, with perhaps one exception. There are some awful goofball moments here and there: the horse jumping off the cliff is terrible by anyone's standard, for starters, and when you move the death of Largo in the [i]Thunderball[/i] formula underwater, when Domino has no reason to be in attendance, it just doesn't work at all.

Some other things that don't work: Max Von Sydow as Blofeld (too grandfatherly, too Santa-ish) and Michel Legrand's score - which I don't particularly dislike, it's just that Legrand and Bond isn't really a great mix, and not because it's not Barry. I mean, it's got individuality, it's distinctly Legrand, and there are even a few segments that are top-notch (like the loading of the missiles), it's just one of those chalk-and-cheese picks.

Apart from a few other snafus though, the film is a lot of fun. And that can be boiled down, largely, to two performances: Klaus Maria Brandauer and Barbara Carrera. First, Brandauer - a performance peppered with all sorts of delightfully amusing idiosyncrasies and odd tics. It's a vivid and self-aware turn by an accomplished foreign actor - something that EON would like to think it's done in recent years, but has failed. Dominic Greene in particular is a poor man's Maximilian Largo. There's so much about Brandauer's performance that makes no sense, and that's the idea - this guy is off the hook, Zorin-style (perhaps more so) and it makes for great viewing.

Carrera is cut from much the same cloth, but she takes everything to an even more ridiculous and colourful level. She even manages to make descending a staircase both decadent and villainous. Speaking of which, part of what I really enjoyed about this viewing of [i]Never Say Never Again[/i] is Kershner's use of motifs. For Fatima Blush, it's her high-heeled shoes - she's introduced with them, for some segments it's all that we see of her, clacking away at a brisk pace. The ostentatious nature of her character is summed up with a few shots of her feet. Fantastic economy, and I'd like to know where you can see that kind of thing happening in an "official Bond film.".

Similarly, the technologically-minded Largo is introduced on view-screens, employs two-way mirrors... same principle. Visuals that underlay or reveal character. Proper filmmaking. Probably more than the film itself deserves, to be honest, but there you have it. Douglas Slocombe's done better work, but him on bad day is better than most on a good day. Even he's got something going on - the classical soft, luminous close-ups for Basinger and Carrera, rather mundane and straightforward lightning for Connery and Brandauer.

There's probably a lot more I could go on about, from the hilarity of Edward Fox's imperious M to waxing lyrical about the exceptional bodily forms of both Basinger and Carrera, but I've devoted too much text and thought to a film that... yeah, it's not great, but it's nowhere near as bad as what most people would paint it as. And for what it's worth, it's better than a significant percentage of the "official" Bond films, I can give you the tip.