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CBn Reviews 'Never Say Never Again'


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#31 triviachamp

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Posted 02 January 2006 - 06:11 AM

I just rented the DVD of NSNA. The first DVD release cut some scenes. How can I tell if this is not the "bad" DVD?

#32 DLibrasnow

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Posted 08 June 2006 - 05:59 PM

I just rented the DVD of NSNA. The first DVD release cut some scenes. How can I tell if this is not the "bad" DVD?


The initial release of NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN had some scenes inexplicably missing. I doubt there are any left out there.

The correct version has some *'s after the title on the top security seal.

#33 chrisno1

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Posted 15 January 2010 - 04:59 PM

In 2008 I watched all the Bond movies and wrote a series of reviews for another site. The aim was to watch them in order in the run up to the premiere of QOS. I succeeded and the reviews were well received.
However, subsequently, I have re-read my reviews and re-watched a number of the movies (the BFI had a whole 007 season earlier this year and I saw quite a few on the big screen again!).
This is my updated review for Never Say Never Again.


NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN
REVISED REVIEW 15/1/2010


Never Say Never Again opens with a screen covered in see-through “007”s, the camera sweeping across the Florida Everglades. It’s an excellent opening shot and writer Lorenzo Semple Jr wastes no time in introducing us to his James Bond: a tanned, somewhat aged and greying Sean Connery, who is performing a training exercise to justify his position as a “double-O” agent. M remains unconvinced and urges Bond to cut out the “red meat, white bread and dry martinis.” Connery is suitably ill at ease, his disdain for his new boss, played by a pompous Edward Fox, clear in his facial expressions and witty ripostes.

Connery carries this film in much the same way as he whole heartedly took centre stage in TB, possibly his most natural performance of the ‘60s. The superficiality of his last two Bond efforts is replaced by a knowing authority. Sometimes he looks bewildered at the proceedings, but he deftly fences this off with a series of knowing facial asides and one liners provided by the unaccredited Dick Clement and Ian Le Frenais.

Bond’s trip to Shrublands is gently humorous and throughout the film Connery is prepared to mock the image of James Bond he helped to create. His manner is more the naughty schoolboy who got expelled from Eton than the seriously deadly spy; early on his portrayal feels quite close to Fleming’s literary hero, although later on this Bond is hardly ruffled by any of the scrapes he gets into.

None the less Connery is a joy to watch in this film, all twinkling eyes and smile disturbing a stern facade. It’s a mature performance; this is 007 at the end of his career, a man who has seen it all and doesn’t need to be told what to do or say. He is jovial in the presence of Rowan Atkinson’s attaché, brusque with his bosses, tactful with Kim Basinger’s beautiful heroine Domino, playful with a bevy of assorted admiring females (a roll call of British talent including Valerie Leon, Pamela Salem and Prunella Gee) and equally intrigued and amused by his nemesis Maximillian Largo.

Perhaps NSNAs biggest failure is with its chief villain, played by Klaus Maria Brandeur. During the film Largo admits he is crazy and we rather figured that out before hand, but he comes across as a sort of dirty old man, a voyeur who toys with people and their possessions, unable to appreciate what he has. Maybe that is why he joined SPECTRE, here headed by an underused Max Von Sydow.

The true villain of the piece is Barbara Carrera’s Fatima Blush, a black widow assassin determined to kill Bond at all costs. Carrera is wonderful in this role, completely over shadowing Largo. She is both alluring and deadly; each kill is performed with a relish, each failure met with a scowl of anger and her anticipation of the moment is joyous: she dances down a flight of stairs when told to eliminate Bond. Carrera and Brandeur share a wonderful scene moments before this, where, in the casino shadows, they discuss what will become of his mistress; she licks her lips sensually when informed she will kill Domino. When Fatima finally meets her end, director Irving Kershner shows us her smoking shoes, invoking memories of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Kim Basinger could almost be Dorothy, so out of her depth is her character, but she makes up for this by being gorgeous to look at, wearing as little as possible most of the time and being photo checked in a poster for Helo Saunas. Bond receives a little help from Bernie Casey as an underused Felix Leiter and even less aid from Saskia Cohen Tanuei’s Nicole, who isn’t around long enough even to be window dressing.

Nicole’s death scene is one of the best moments in the film, as Bond prowls his cavernous villa chewing over an apple and his thoughts, the sun rising and footsteps echoing in the distance. It’s a well constructed, atmospheric scene, but sadly Kirshner doesn’t give us too many of these. The action is well paced, without being particularly tense or exciting and the prerequisite fights and chases pass by without incident. Luckily the good verbal exchanges between the actors hold our interest. The plot has gaping holes all over the place, but like its predecessor, this doesn’t seem to effect our enjoyment of proceedings.

Douglas Slocombe photographs it all in slightly smudgy colours, which suit the goings on, as it’s all a bit tawdry, despite the exotic surroundings and Charles Knode’s well cut suits and gowns. Michel Legrand’s score is at its best when Bond is in France and he evokes the lazy, hazy Riviera lifestyle excellently. His music is less effective with the action and melodrama, often being intrusive and over the top.

All five gentlemen come up trumps during the tango scene which is beautiful to look at and listen to, moves the plot forward and allows Connery to dance better than he did in TB. It’s curious then that the most bizarre element of the film precedes it: a computer game called “Domination” which is voiced by the Cylon from Battlestar Galactica. NSNA is a curiously timeless film and, along with the hairstyles and glasses, this is one of the few phases of the movie that really dates it. Indeed some of the characters and situations feel as if they could be dropped into any Eon Bond film of the 1960s 70s or 80s without so much as a by-your-leave.

NSNA is cosy, funny and enjoyable. It’s something of a guilty pleasure. Bond saves the day virtually single handed and with the minimum of fuss; he gets the girl and retires. Job done! That goes for Connery too; whose wink to the camera is the final hurrah for his James Bond. One scene in Nassau that sums the whole affair up: neat, quick, witty and as little fuss as possible. Bond meets Fatima Blush for the first time, she has been water skiing and she apologises for spraying him; “I made you all wet,” she says. “Yes,” comes the unflustered reply, “But my martini is still dry.”

RATING 6 from 10.


#34 DR76

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Posted 16 January 2010 - 07:40 PM

The best thing about NSNA was Connery. He was a lot better in this film than he was in his last one for EON - DAF. Other than that, the movie simply came off as a second rate version of TB. And I think that Barbara Carrera's performance was over-the-top and overrated. I found myself wishing for Luciana Paluzzi. Hell, I could even endure Famke Janssen's performance in GE over Carrera's. As for Kim Basinger . . . better roles were ahead of her.

#35 Genuine Felix Leiter

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Posted 16 January 2010 - 07:56 PM

I think this is one of those movies, Bond or otherwise, where the controversies and making off stories are way more interesting than the film itself. There is a lot to like here, don't get me wrong, seeing Connery playing as an aging Bond is a wonderful concept, the scenes in Shrublands hint at a great film on the cards but that sadly doesn't last, as the film that follows is enjoyable but easily disposable, the action sequences being somewhat lacklustre, something that even the weaker Eon entries can make up for is great action sequences, strange characterisations of Q and M, with only Felix Leiter (I love Bernie Casey by the way) and Moneypenny getting any rightful portrayals which is made moot by lack of screentime. On the plus side, Klaus Maria Brandauer is strangely compelling as Largo, you can't take your eyes off him on screen, but Barbara Carrera is way too over the top whilst Kim Basinger, who I loved in Batman and LA Confidential is somewhat wooden, but hey, she's easy on the eye. But the least said about Michel Legrand's music, the better.

Edited by Genuine Felix Leiter, 16 January 2010 - 07:56 PM.


#36 chrisno1

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Posted 17 January 2010 - 03:11 PM

DR76,
Hell, I would take Lucianna Paluzzi anyday.
Who wouldn't? Gorgeous, sexy, whitty and dangerous.
WOW!
Doesn't detract from what I think of Carerra in NSNA. Different film, different style, different actress.

#37 SecretAgentFan

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Posted 19 January 2010 - 12:37 PM

Having re-watched it, I must say the first hour went by extremely quickly, I was well entertained. The second hour, however, drags and the finale is pretty boring. Connery is the only element that truly works throughout the whole film. Brandauer is fine, Carrera over the top but sexy, Basinger okay - and there are great Bondian moments (the urine sample, the "bomb" in the cigarette case and the "not yet perfected" pen). Kershner directs well but cannot help the pedestrian and unsurprising script. Legrand´s score is much better than given credit for. And the title song is fantastic.

5 out of 10.

#38 Harry Fawkes

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Posted 19 January 2010 - 08:25 PM

I saw NSNA when it first came out way back in the eighties.
The excitement was electrifying to say the least.
Sean Connery back as James Bond.
Wow!
It was an event that could only come along once in a lifetime for sure.
I remember looking up at the film poster when I got to the cinema that day and hell did it look bloody good!
Connery was so suave, so...devil-may-care.


Heck, I knew that we were in for nothing but a treat.

My first disappointment however was the way it started. I remember I was so let down when I discovered that NSNA didn't open with the traditional white dots, gun barrel opening, cool walk, shoot and bright red blood filling the screen, but then I learned to live with that fact as soon as the title song by Lani Hall hit me.

What a song!

Anyway, back to the point: as a Bond film I found that it did deliver the goods, or rather - Connery delivered the goods.

Without him the film would have bombed in my book which I boild down to the lack of, as stated above, traditional Bond ingredients I was so accustomed to.

Having said that, the film works despite so please don’t get me wrong.

The only part I think that crashes it is the ending. I was expecting more of a climax (ala THUNDERBALL or YOLT) and I think the director or producers or whoever it was cheated us.

The bits I loved most were Bond at Shrublands and the subsequent fight; Connery meeting Fatima Blush for the very first time (...Yesh, but my Martini'sh shtill dry); Bond in the massage parlor (...Mish Pitachi, nobody told me you were here! I am shorry); Bond in the casino (...I do owe you an explanation....My name ish Bond. Jamesh Bond. May I buy you a drink?) The motorcycle chase and well.... that's it basically :tdown: .

Oh, don't get me wrong.

There are other memorable scenes in the film but, well, the one's I just mentioned are imbedded beautifuly in my mind.

As for the music, it has it's special moments but I honestly feel Michel Legrand's score was unfortunately uninspiring like the ending (Mind you, writing this piece has made me want to play Une Chanson D'Amourby Sophie Della. A fantastic piece that never fails to touch me whenever I play it).

My overall rating therefore?

Definitely 9/10 - but remember : It all boils down to the return of Connery as Bond.

Oh, yeah, laugh as much as you want at this but when I left that cinema that day, a million and one years ago, my life (and I bull[censored] you not) was never the same again: The film, or rather Connery, actually changed the way I looked at life in a whole. I found I had a spring to my walk and a certain look in my eyes; a devil-may-care look that said: The boring life I was leading prior had suddenly become fantastically exciting - so watch it, all, I'm on fire B) .

Harry Fawkes

#39 Jack Rapace

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Posted 29 January 2010 - 12:37 PM

NSNA is a ghastly abomination that should never have been made (...)
I'm afraid, for me, NSNA is the visual record of a group of people dancing on Ian Fleming's grave.


Replace "NSNA" by "CR" and "QoS" and we'll be friends. B)
NSNA is as good as DAF. Connery is Bond, a "real man, Margo" :tdown:, not just a silhouette. The maturity suits him very well.

#40 right idea, wrong pussy

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Posted 15 July 2011 - 03:28 AM

9/10 - Highly recommended. The unduly harsh savaging this movie tends to get from Bond fans (particularly those on fan sites) seems to be because 1. It's not one of the "offical" EON films (so what?) and 2. because it's a remake of Thunderball, and the people who hate this movie tend to love Thunderball.

Pros:

Connery's humor is very dry, just like his martinis. The whole film has a breezy air about it, right up to a really wonderful take on Q by Alec McCowen as a fed-up, under-paid and under-appreciated civil servant longing to join the CIA.

The film (unlike the Roger Moore films) addresses Bond's age and the fact that MI6 is not a static organization that never changes. This seems to me to be an innovation over Fleming, who just kept changing Bond's age so that he could continue serving Queen and Country (and the same M). Here MI6 has been taken over by a supercillious bureaucrat (wonderfully played by Edward Fox) who holds Bond in contempt. Outside of Kim Basinger, who is bland but serviceable in her role, the supporting performances are excellent, including Barbara Carrera (an obvious model for Xenia Onatopp 12 years later) exuding pure sex as Fatima Blush, Bernie Casey as a more active Felix Leiter, Rowan Atkinson as an inept diplomat (the way he pronounces "snorkling" makes me laugh every time) and Klaus Maria Brandauer as a nuerotic Largo, much more interesting than EON's 1965 version. His feelings of inferiority towards Bond (and his need to constantly try to one-up him) are played beautifully.

The script and the action are all serviceable if not superb. Interestingly, the sex scene between Bond and Fatima may be the most erotic thing seen in a Bond film since Bond's fling with Miss Taro in DN (and director Kershner cuts from the sex scene to scuba diving in a brilliant fashion).

Cons:

In retrospect, Michel Legrand was not a good choice to score a Bond film. He doesn't reach Monty Norman's or Michael Kamen's level of incompetence, but he doesn't get much higher. While Legrand's romantic Franch cues are fine, it often seems like he doesn't realize or care that he's scoring an action movie. Comparing his action cues to, say, Bill Conti's action cues from FYEO is startling. Conti pumps up the action he scores. Legrand deflates otherwise good action (or simply has no music at all during action scenes).

Douglas Slocombe did sterling work as cinematographer on the first three Indiana Jones movies, but here he gives the picture a dull look that undermines its effectiveness.

#41 FOX MULDER

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Posted 05 January 2013 - 04:15 AM

I think NSNA is somewhat underrated.

 

It suffers from a weak third act in what is otherwise an enjoyable - if never quite brilliant - unofficial Bond film.

 

Personally, I think Connery is very good in this one.



#42 Iceskater101

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Posted 08 January 2013 - 05:25 PM

I do not like this Bond movie. I hate how it is a remake, Connery is very old you can tell, I mean Diamonds are Forever and this one are my least favorite Connery movies.



#43 thecasinoroyale

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Posted 14 January 2013 - 02:14 PM

I've seen bits of this movie, but never all the way through - the water skiing moment, the video game battle, the horse jumping off a castle, a fight in a temple or something...? Please.

 

It's not a Bond film as we know it - this is simply an action film using the name James Bond. It's National Lampoon's Secret Agent!

 

Not rated by me, and something I'll never assosciate with James Bond 007 himself, as the EON production of films and literature character creation of Ian Fleming.



#44 SILVERTOE

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Posted 14 January 2013 - 03:10 PM

I can recall my step dad renting NSNA from the local video shop, when it first came out on VHS here in the Uk, i was 8 years old at the time, and even to me, as an 8 year old, i thought there was somthing just sort of different about it, and it did not seem like a regualr James bond film........

 

I still enjoy watching it nowadays, but to me it still lacks somthing that an EON bond film has.......



#45 seawolfnyy

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Posted 24 January 2013 - 10:42 PM

After forcing myself to watch this film through, I can honestly say that it is a gigantic mess that spends the entire time trying to differ itself from Thunderball and fails miserably. Kim Basinger is awful as is the score. Klaus Maria Brandauer is decent as Largo, but nowhere near Adolpho Celi. Connery is awful in it and doesn't even try to hide his Scottish accent. Just a mess, easily the worse Bond film.



#46 WasteOfScotch

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Posted 25 January 2013 - 01:30 PM

I don't like it, for the reasons most detractors don't, it does have two redeeming factors.

 

Fatima absolutely bricking it for real when she sets the bomb off, then styling it out like she wasnt bothered.

An Atari Gravitar cabinet. What an awesome game.



#47 JLaidlaw

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Posted 25 January 2013 - 02:57 PM

Connery is awful in it and doesn't even try to hide his Scottish accent.

 

 

 

Forgive me, but why should he?



#48 Iceskater101

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Posted 25 January 2013 - 04:13 PM

because James Bond is british!



#49 Double-0-Seven

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Posted 25 January 2013 - 04:41 PM

So are the Scots. ;)



#50 SecretAgentFan

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Posted 25 January 2013 - 04:53 PM

Um, did Connery ever hide his Scottish brogue? C´mon, pushy...



#51 Shaun Forever

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Posted 04 February 2013 - 12:34 PM

It's amazing isn't it, Connery looks better in this than what he did in Diamonds Are Forever.



#52 glidrose

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Posted 04 February 2013 - 10:31 PM

It's amazing isn't it, Connery looks better in this than what he did in Diamonds Are Forever.

 

Can't agree with you. He's too old and overweight in NSNA. Can't believe he'd done Outland only two years before. All his snap and sinewy tension is gone.



#53 Iceskater101

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Posted 05 February 2013 - 03:35 AM

It's amazing isn't it, Connery looks better in this than what he did in Diamonds Are Forever.

 

Can't agree with you. He's too old and overweight in NSNA. Can't believe he'd done Outland only two years before. All his snap and sinewy tension is gone.

 

Connery looked wayy better in Diamonds are Forever.. just saying.



#54 seawolfnyy

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Posted 05 February 2013 - 08:48 AM

 

It's amazing isn't it, Connery looks better in this than what he did in Diamonds Are Forever.

 

Can't agree with you. He's too old and overweight in NSNA. Can't believe he'd done Outland only two years before. All his snap and sinewy tension is gone.

 

Connery looked wayy better in Diamonds are Forever.. just saying.

Actually, he looked way better in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. White hair and all.



#55 Iceskater101

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Posted 06 February 2013 - 06:48 PM

Haha so true. Definitely have to go with Indiana Jones



#56 PPK_19

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Posted 07 February 2013 - 07:10 PM

Terrible film. I own it but never watch it. Only two good bits.

 

"I made you all wet"

"Yes, but my martini is still dry"

 

And 'Bond' throwing piss in Lippe's face.

 

Gutter film making. 



#57 Turn

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Posted 08 February 2013 - 02:45 AM

I've never been a big NSNA defender. It paled in comparison to OP when it was new and I even sold my DVD and Blu-ray copies on eBay recently as people were bidding outrageous sums for copies. 

 

That said, I can't figure why so many here have such loathing for it these past few posts. Is it really that bad? Yes, it's a bit of a mess and it resembles TB because it HAD to. That was part of the requirement for getting it made and there were numerous restrictions with what they could do. I guess I appreciate it for what it was and feel like it's a sincere attempt at a different type of Bond film. Had the producers been allowed to make the film they wanted, from the scripts for Warhead/James Bond of the Secret Service, it very well could have blown many of Eon's films out of the water. No wonder Cubby was so dead set on keeping it from being produced as long as he could.

 

As for Connery's appearance, at least they had the courage to admit this was an older Bond. Although he's basically running around like he was 20 years younger later in the film NSNA acknowledges it, unlike the 56-57-year-old Moore running around in AVTAK with no real nod to his being an older Bond, which Eon basically ignored. Unless you count the bit with grandpa in the rocking chair with the rock salt-loaded shotgun.