|
|
 |
Never Say Never Again (1983)
 
Preceded by:
Octopussy (1983)
Followed by:
A View to a
Kill (1985)
See our
full list
of James Bond films.
 |
Directed
by:
Irvin Kershner |
COUNTRY
UK/USA |
GENRE
Spy/Action |
NORWEGIAN
TITLE
Aldri
si aldri |
|
RUNNING
TIME
134
minutes |
|
Produced by:
Jack
Schwartzmann |
Written by:
Lorenzo Semple
Jr. |
Based on "Thunderball" by:
Ian Fleming |
Review
Sean Connery makes a
convincing return in what was to become the one and only Bond movie
produced by Jack Schwartzmann's Taliafilm, in direct competition with
Eon Productions and their 1983 entry
Octopussy. And although Connery couldn't
match Roger Moore on hair or wittiness, he certainly could on
physicality and tan. As directed by Irvin Keshner (The Empire Strikes
Back) and written by veteran Hollywood penner Lorenzo Semple Jr. (Pretty
Poison,
The Parallax View), you immediately
get the impression that the filmmakers aimed for a more gritty, serious
Bond movie than what Eon had delivered over the past decade. Still, it
doesn't take long before Never Say Never Again has presented its
share of sillinesses on par with anything from Roger Moore's films
(such as a painfully drab underwater shark chase, or Bond's final
showdown with the intolerable Fatima Bush). What Never Say Never
Again does boast, however, is an impressively fit Connery and a
bravura performance by Klaus Maria Brandauer, who creates one of the
best ever Bond villains. There's also a crisp motorcycle chase in the
streets of Nassau. And perhaps somewhat surprisingly, 52-year-old
Connery strikes up some real chemistry with Bond girl Kim Basinger.
Unfortunately, the final showdown and Max von Sydow's insignificant turn
as Ernst Stavro Blofield make for an anticlimactic ending.
|
|
