I actually loved NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN when I saw it for the first time. It is after all Sean Connery's real final take on the James Bond role (but is usually exempted since NSNA was never really part of the EON Productions package). He has aged a lot since the public last saw him as Bond... James Bond, and it clearly shows. The movie itself establishes this fact by having Bond attend a health spa early in the movie so that he be back in tip-top shape to save the world again when two nuclear warheads are stolen by the ever-present organization of terror SPECTRE. Anyway, it's really a remake of THUNDERBALL (it's even made by the people who did the original), only modified a little to fit the subplot involving Bond coming out of retirement.
Seeing it many times before, I've always learned to suspend my disbelief when the older Connery does stunts that his younger self used to do. After all, I was able to buy an elderly Roger Moore in OCTOPUSSY and A VIEW TO A KILL. But seeing it again recently, it was clear that the real flaw wasn't Connery's aging. The movie itself hasn't entirely aged well. While I still kinda like it, and I enjoyed it more than his inferior DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, but like that one, Connery is one of the chief reasons to see it. There are a number of other good things to say about it, beginning with Klaus Maria Brandauer's performance as Largo. While THUNDERBALL was superior in anyway, the Largo in that one paled in comparison to this one which was much more intriguing and menacing.. and he doesn't even need an eye patch to hint at his malice.
Unfortunately, not everything was nearly as good as I used to think. The Bond girls are surprisingly weak, even if one of them happens to be Kim Basinger. Basinger doesn't do much as Domino, other than being completely gorgeous (the Tango scene was the best moment of her in the entire film). On the other hand, bad Bond girl played by Barbara Carrera hams it ups just too much that it almost becomes irritating. Not to mention those things she wears! It certainly hasn't aged well. Another quibble would be the requisite change of talents. It's a little off-putting to see a number of familiar faces (M, Q, Moneypenny) being played by unfamiliar faces and even in alternate names (here, Q is referred to as "Algy", and that's not even his real name). The music was OK at best, cheesy at worst; I prefer Barry's works.
NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN is a pretty mediocre entry in the series, it even goes on too long (by the time it reaches the third act, I felt that the film has lost much of its gas), but it wasn't bad. Actually, it was much better than some of the mediocre entries in the official franchise. Worth watching, mostly for Connery's final performance as Bond (MR. BEAN fans will also want to check out Rowan Atkinson's first ever role).
Rating: *** out of 5.
Seeing it many times before, I've always learned to suspend my disbelief when the older Connery does stunts that his younger self used to do. After all, I was able to buy an elderly Roger Moore in OCTOPUSSY and A VIEW TO A KILL. But seeing it again recently, it was clear that the real flaw wasn't Connery's aging. The movie itself hasn't entirely aged well. While I still kinda like it, and I enjoyed it more than his inferior DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, but like that one, Connery is one of the chief reasons to see it. There are a number of other good things to say about it, beginning with Klaus Maria Brandauer's performance as Largo. While THUNDERBALL was superior in anyway, the Largo in that one paled in comparison to this one which was much more intriguing and menacing.. and he doesn't even need an eye patch to hint at his malice.
Unfortunately, not everything was nearly as good as I used to think. The Bond girls are surprisingly weak, even if one of them happens to be Kim Basinger. Basinger doesn't do much as Domino, other than being completely gorgeous (the Tango scene was the best moment of her in the entire film). On the other hand, bad Bond girl played by Barbara Carrera hams it ups just too much that it almost becomes irritating. Not to mention those things she wears! It certainly hasn't aged well. Another quibble would be the requisite change of talents. It's a little off-putting to see a number of familiar faces (M, Q, Moneypenny) being played by unfamiliar faces and even in alternate names (here, Q is referred to as "Algy", and that's not even his real name). The music was OK at best, cheesy at worst; I prefer Barry's works.
NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN is a pretty mediocre entry in the series, it even goes on too long (by the time it reaches the third act, I felt that the film has lost much of its gas), but it wasn't bad. Actually, it was much better than some of the mediocre entries in the official franchise. Worth watching, mostly for Connery's final performance as Bond (MR. BEAN fans will also want to check out Rowan Atkinson's first ever role).
Rating: *** out of 5.