Never Say Never Again is the second and last "unofficial" Bond film I'll be watching, and I'm rather thankful for that. It was everything I expected it to be, and less.
Never Say Never Again
After 13 films establishing distinct characters, it was immediately off-putting to me to see different actors portray M, Q, and even Ms. Moneypenny in Never Say Never Again. It was odd enough to see Blofeld portrayed by three different actors in three consecutive "official" Bond films, so you can imagine how I felt when essentially everyone was replaced by unfamiliar faces. I couldn't help but look upon the establishing scenes of the movie with a little bit of disdain, and my initial thoughts were that it felt like a pretender to the franchise, which, of course, it sort of is. On top of all this, my opinion of the movie was not helped by the fact that I found myself constantly comparing it to Thunderball.
Next, while I had been warned about Connery showing his age here, I wasn't expecting the movie to address this issue head-on, alluding to Bond having recently spent more time "teaching, not doing" and sending him off to a wellness clinic. But while he certainly looks much older, he still looked fitter than Roger Moore has appeared, and he handled his action scenes pretty effectively. So that wasn't as much of an issue as I expected it to be.
I also really enjoyed the performance of Klaus Maria Brandauer as Largo. His quirky mannerisms, his sporadic pauses in speech, the tangible sourness lurking beneath his charm and sophisticated accent... I bought it, and I thought he was actually one of the better Bond villains, one that had a little more charisma and personality than, say, Drax, Stromberg, or even the original Largo. Largo's hench(wo)man, however, I didn't really like. Barbara Carrera eats up her role as Fatima Bush, but I didn't find her threatening, and I felt the effort to portray her as a steamy, psychotic vixen was overwrought. I mean, her undoing was a direct result of her need to be acknowledged by 007 as the greatest lover he ever had? That's just asinine. Interestingly enough, I found out later that she received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance, so that just goes to show what I know, right?
This brings me to my bottom line: there were actually some enjoyable elements in Never Say Never Again, but there were far more things I took issue with than not. Kim Basinger, 80s sexpot that she was, is completely forgettable as Bond girl Domino. The video game showdown, while it may have been novel at the time, looks silly now. Several points were either glossed over or left unexplained, like the shark-magnet device (how did that work, exactly?) and the speedy discovery and disarming of the warhead "under" Washington D.C. (and how'd he get it "under" there in the first place?).
All things considered, I'll take Thunderball over this any day. I am going to go ahead and say that this was the "Bond film" I enjoyed the least so far, and I'm glad it's not officially included as part of the franchise. However, I'm also willing to concede that my opinion of it might have been different if it was the first Bond film I ever saw, or if I hadn't seen Thunderball first. It simply didn't feel like a Bond film without the standard intro, without the iconic theme music, without the regular cast, and that inevitably caused me to dismiss it early on.
My favorite line: "I hope we're gonna have some gratuitous sex and violence." -- Q to Bond when Bond is reinstated for duty.
My favorite moment: Bond poses as a masseur at a spa and basically fondles Domino all over as he probes her (no pun intended) for information. When the real masseuse appears and Domino figures out that the old man sliding his hands all over her backside was a fraud, she simply smiles and shrugs it off.
Other Articles:
- Day 1: Dr. No (1962)
- Day 2: From Russia With Love (1963)
- Day 3: Goldfinger (1964)
- Day 4: Thunderball (1965)
- Day 5: Casino Royale (1967)
- Day 6: You Only Live Twice (1967)
- Day 7: On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
- Day 8: Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
- Day 9: Live and Let Die (1973)
- Day 10: The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
- Day 11: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
- Day 12: Moonraker (1979)
- Day 13: For Your Eyes Only (1981)
- Day 14: Octopussy (1983)
- Day 15: Never Say Never Again (1983)
- Day 16: A View to a Kill (1985)
- Day 17: The Living Daylights (1987)
- Day 18: Licence to Kill (1989)
- Day 19: GoldenEye (1995)
- Day 20: Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
- Day 21: The World Is Not Enough (1999)
- Day 22: Die Another Day (2002)
- Day 23: Casino Royale (2006)
- Day 24: Quantum of Solace (2008)
(1-20 of 35 posts) | Reply
on Nov 04 2008 04:52 PM Well you are close to the Shakespearean Bond now. (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 04 2008 05:08 PM Yes definitely one of the lesser Bonds, and unfortunately it doesn't get any better with A View To a Kill (only good thing in that is Christopher Walken). You may have a simialar reaction to when Dalton is the new Bond because a lot of the cast is recast, however Q stays around for awhile longer. I am just curious, but how did you like the performance of the hench woman compared to Thunderball. Keep up the great work, these are awesome reviews to read. (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 04 2008 05:26 PM I must admit... I'm prejudiced against this film because of its unofficial status, and haven't seen it. It just seems stupid. Although you'll undoubtedly be missing it while you try to make it through the next one. It'll be interesting to see what you think of Dalton. Its certainly... different. Actually, it'll be most interesting to see what you think of Craig once you finally get there. From what you've written so far, I have a hunch your feelings on him will confirm a lot of things die-hard Bond fans have been thinking. (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 04 2008 05:29 PM i told you Ryan, you'll miss the "bond theme" and you'll feel something's missing... i remembered when i've watched it and heard the intro music, i thought, what the ****!!! wow, AVTAK is next?! damn, that's awful, and i mean awful with a capital A... (Reply to this) |
on Nov 04 2008 05:35 PM Come on Ryan, don't call this the last 'unofficial' Bond movie. You've got to add the 1954 Casino Royale with Barry Nelson playing Bond, it's on the 1967 Casino Royale DVD. (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 04 2008 05:37 PM Does anyone know if MGM/Eon's purchase of the rights to Never Say Never Again recently (and their licensing of it along with the other 21 movies to things like Comcast's cable ondemand selection of the movies) means that we can expect Never Say Never Again to be added to one of the future Bond Blu-Ray volumes? (Reply to this) |
on Nov 04 2008 05:46 PM I'm trying to keep an open mind, despite what everyone's been saying. I've been trying to do so all throughout this little journey. I haven't even checked the Tomatometer scores for any of these yet, so it may turn out that my opinions of these differ quite a bit from those of the critical majority. But we'll see. Kevan, I liked Volpe much better than Fatima Bush. She was calmer, cooler. Barbara Carrera really hammed it up. (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 04 2008 05:56 PM Up until recently this movie was going to get ANOTHER remake, before the behemoths of Sony stepped in and put a final stop to it. The film was going to be called Warhead 2000. It included remote controlled sharks (with nuclear warheads in them) and had the finale staged on top of the Statue of Liberty - Crazy! I'm glad McClory was finally defeated in the courts and stopped from making another Bond movie, because as has been mentioned in these blogs earlier, he has been a major thorn in the Bond films for some time - causing the real films to make changes (mostly for the worse eg, Blofeld in For Your Eyes Only) I have to admit a guilty pleasure with NSNA, always on at Christmas Day after a big feast of turkey! It was also the time when I was starting to get into Bond, having read the books and watched the films on TV. The next one was the first I saw at the cinemas, and I've seen them all since, can't wait for Quantum, it's getting good reviews in th UK! Keep it going Ryan, I'm really enjoying reading your reviews! (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 04 2008 06:43 PM I don't remember much, but I liked AVTK as a kid. (Reply to this) |
on Nov 04 2008 06:47 PM NSNA was actually my first Bond film, I thought it was okay but it didn't get me jazzed up into seeing more Bond films. Then when I saw Connery's official films I was sold. (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 04 2008 07:47 PM I haven't seen this movie in full so I can't really comment on it. But from what I've seen, Connery, despite being older, was in better shape than DAF. At least it's nice to get a little break from Moore's stuff with this movie. I must admit I'm looking forward to the review of "A View to a Kill". I said this the other day and I'll say it again here. I actually like the movie despite it's reputation and I don't think it's as bad as people say. Yes, there are flaws and I certainly won't dispute them. However, for some reason, the movie works for me. Maybe it works in more of a guilty pleasure sort of sense since there are a lot of problems with it. Kind of like a "so bad it's good" type of thing. But really, it ain't THAT bad. If you lower your expectations it will probably go over better. (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 04 2008 07:49 PM I haven't seen this movie in full so I can't really comment on it. But from what I've seen, Connery, despite being older, was in better shape than DAF. At least it's nice to get a little break from Moore's stuff with this movie. I must admit I'm looking forward to the review of "A View to a Kill". I said this the other day and I'll say it again here. I actually like the movie despite it's reputation and I don't think it's as bad as people say. Yes, there are flaws and I certainly won't dispute them. However, for some reason, the movie works for me. Maybe it works in more of a guilty pleasure sort of sense since there are a lot of problems with it. Kind of like a "so bad it's good" type of thing. But really, it ain't THAT bad. If you lower your expectations it will probably go over better. (Reply to this) |
on Nov 04 2008 08:43 PM Ladies and gents, Barack Obama is the first black President of the United States of America. Anyway, I'm not going to watch this because it's not official. And no Bond should be that old. Connery looks mummified. Ima gunna skip this. Hey Ryan, do you like the new "Indiana Jones"? I'm just curious. Because a few weeks ago I was trolling about it, hoping that I might sway some people to my side, but instead it went down 01 percent. Damn! Do you like it? (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 04 2008 08:50 PM Connery's still the best Bond, but there comes a time when even the best guy can't get the job done. (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 04 2008 08:57 PM Hard to believe though that Connery went from playing James Bond to Indiana Jones' dad in only a span of 6 years. (Reply to this) |
on Nov 04 2008 08:57 PM I don't think I dislike 'Never Say Never Again' as much as you did, but its certainly a weaker entry in the series. I actually just re-watched 'A View to A Kill' today, and I must say the only thing you have to look forward to is Christopher Walken. Max Zorin is one of my favorite Bond villains, but Moore is an old man and terrible, the Bond girl is the worst of the series, and it generally just feels cheesy and not that great. That being said, 'The Living Daylights' is in my opinion the best Bond movie. Period. (Reply to this) |
on Nov 04 2008 10:05 PM NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN...eewwwwwww. (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 04 2008 10:08 PM P.S. I'm glad Bush Jr. will be out of office soon. (Reply to this) |
on Nov 04 2008 10:47 PM one more awful movie to go... then it gets good..... (Reply to this) |
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on Nov 04 2008 11:30 PM I have a new Bond title... NEVER DO HER TWICE (Reply to this) |
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