2/5 The WORST 007 of all-time!
  by Sean Byron (Milwaukee, WI)
Unless you consider Casino Royale- with David Niven part of the franchise- this is the clear cut worst Bond ever made. You have to be a die-hard Bond fan to say you like this-it's bad folks. The Blu-ray version is better as you would expect, but as much as you want to shine this turd -it's still a turd.

If you haven't seen Dr. No, Goldfinger, Thunderball, and the BEST Bond - From Russia with love- (even if you have) see them or see them again. Don't buy this- it will be $9 soon if you really want it.

2/5 weak Bond AND a weak BluRay
  by Michael Giltz
The last few weekends, I've been watching as a 12 year old boy works his way through my James Bond DVDs, something every young kid should do on spring break when they're growing up. So I feel as ready as ever to tackle Never Say Never Again ($34.98 on BluRay but onsale at Amazon for $14.98; Fox), which is just out on BluRay. It's the first title in that format I've seen that doesn't look smashing. I don't know whether it's the source print or laziness, but this is a grainy, unremarkable DVD, appropriate for a very unremarkable Bond film. Yes, it's nice to see Sean Connery back as 007, but the tone is very jokey, a la Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and this is the most dated Bond of all.

Typically, the secret agent lives in an unchanging universe of beautiful women, lavish resorts, expensive cars and dry martinis. But in Never Say Never Again, the real world intrudes to an unpleasant degree. Poor Kim Basinger is seen doing aerobics and kicking up her heels at every opportunity. Worse, when Bond is following her in a casino, she leaves the main area and walks into a video parlor and Bond has to stand next to a bleeeping and blurping video game while trying to look suave. It's cheesy and awful and pained in a way even the late Roger Moore entries never were. There's tongue in cheek and then there's tongue on the ground in embarrassment. Stick to Daniel Craig.

4/5 Underrated, unofficial Bond film finally gets an HD release
  by A Customer
Never Say Never Again is an unofficial, non-EON Bond film that was released in 1983, directed by Irvin Kershner. The film stars Sean Connery, Kim Basinger, Edward Fox, Max Von Sydow, Alec McCowan, Bernie Casey, and Klaus Maria Brandauer. The musical score is composed by Michel LeGrand, and the title tune is sung by Lani Hall.

A little history lesson for the unfamiliar. In the late 50s, Ian Fleming had written several James Bond novels, and was desperately trying to make a film out of one of them. These attempts never quite worked and were met with skepticism, so Fleming teamed up with Kevin McClory, a brilliant writer. The two created a screenplay, but Fleming had it turned into the next Bond Novel (Thunderball) at the=2 0insistence of his publishers. This caused McClory to start a series of legal battles that continued well after Fleming's death, and even rambled on in some shape or form until McClory's death in 2006. McClory won the rights to make his own Bond film after ten years from Thunderball's theatrical release had elapsed. What resulted was 1983's Never Say Never Again, an unofficial, non-EON film that brought Sean Connery back to the role. The title was a joke on Connery saying he would "Never Again" play Bond (this story may not be a hundred percent accurate and may omit some major details, but it should give you a general idea of how this film came to be.)

It is also due to McClory's owning the rights to the SPECTRE organization and the Blofeld character that they never appeared in most of the post-60s Bond films.

As you probably guessed, the plot is more-or-less identical to Thunderball. Bond heads down to the islands to foil a SPECTRE plot, which involves the terror organization hijacking nuclear weapons and holding the world hostage. Bond has aged, and is more of an instructor than anything now - but following a health spa visit, he finds some intriguing details that lead him straight into the fire. Teaming up with long-time CIA buddy Felix Leiter, Bond sets out to deal with SPECTRE by any means necessary.

This film gets a bad reputation for no good reason. Just because it's not an official EON production doesn't make it an inferior work. Hell, it's better than at least half of the EON movies. Sean Connery plays Bond here very well, despite his age, and actually puts a new and interesting spin on the character, making him more human. He seems to want to retire and even (gasp!) eventually settle down with his leading lady. There are some g reat performances here, and it's great to see that this take on the Thunderball story makes Felix Leiter, played brilliantly here by Bernie Casey, a more important character (see? Casino Royale wasn't the first film to feature an African-American Felix Leiter!) Yes, some scenes do feel a bit dated, and in a few areas it lacks the classic Bond touch only EON could do.

But all in all, this is a more-than-worthy Bond title. Doesn't quite rise to the heights of the sixties Bonds, or even the original Thunderball, but it's better than just about anything that came after, including nearly every Roger Moore film. The film came out the same year as Octopussy, and while that film grossed more, Never Say Never Again is by far the superior movie. It was great to see Connery get one last shot at glory, and he does it nicely. Strongly recommended, Never Say Never Again gets 4 stars out of 5 (though I wouldn't put this one quite as high on the Bond pedestal as most the EON films I give 4 stars to. Do esn't mean it's not great though.)

Let me start by saying that Never Say Never Again, as an unofficial film, never got the Lowry Digital Images treatment that the official movies did. As such, home video releases of the movie have always been hit-and-miss affairs. This marks the first attempt to actually make the movie look decent, and for the most part, it succeeds. There's some print damage and dirt here and there, and grain does spike heavily in a few scenes. Likewise, the increased definition makes blue screen a nd rear projection work all the more obvious. But as a whole, this is the best Never Say Never Again has ever looked and sounded, and given its nature and history, it isn't likely it will ever get a better transfer than this. There's more good than bad points about the transfer, though.

Again, not an abundance of material here since it's not an official film and has never been given the Ultimate Edition treatment. But unlike older versions of the film, at least there is SOME bonus content here. Director Irvin Kershner (you may remember him as the director of The Empire Strikes Back, the finest film in the Star Wars series) and a Bond historian team up for a commentary, which is an enlightening listen. Four featurettes are included, while short they re a worthwhile view for the film. Topping it all off is a photo gallery. No, not a great collection of features, but I'm glad they bothered putting anything on here. It's at least an improvement over the bare-bones releases of the movie we've endured for so long.

Don't say "Never" to when you'll watch this film. Official or unofficial, it's a damn good classic Bond picture. Connery's last outing as 007 is an underrated classic that is waiting to be discovered, or in some cases, rediscovered. Don't pass this one by.


3/5 A somewhat mixed bag, but definitely worth owning on Blu-Ray
  by M. Hockman (flyhigh2014)
For years I have had questions about Never Say Never Again that remained unanswered for lack of special features or director's commentary to explain some of the elements in this film. Finally, we hear from the director and a Bond historian about many of the backstories about how this renegade Bond film was made, and the many challenges the producers had to overcome to complete this film. I never realized just how much of a nail-biter it was for the producers to crank out a coherent movie due to all the script, logistical, budget, and legal issues that dogged the film every step of the way.
But most of all, I really wanted to understand how the AWFUL musical score got added to this film. It was really a by-product of the low-budget and chaotic schedule to get the film completed that such a counterproductive score was added. Irvin Kirschner did not approve of the score that Michel Legrand produced because it failed to convey the proper on-screen emotion, but it was too late in the production cycle and there was no money available to commission a new score. It was interesting to note that Legrand has more history and comfort writing songs than a theatrical score, and it showed clearly in this film. It was a huge editing challenge to mix and move the music that they had to scenes of the movie.

To my surprise and disappointment, the director and some other crew members had wanted Howard Shore to create the music, but some unnamed other producers were against it for reasons unexplained (probably money). If only a more mainstream composer had created the score, it would have lifted Never Say Never Again to a whole new level. The irritating music is a constant negative throughout the movie and undermines scene after scene. The opening title sequence is marred by the terrible title track, and the main NSNA theme is so melancholy and of such poor sound quality that it gives the whole movie a B-movie feel.

Another fact revealed in the commentary is how ruthlessly the Broccolis fought this movie in court. They literally dragged Jack Schwartzmann into court almost daily during production of NSNA to dispute script changes that the Broccolis claimed were outside the scope of the allowable screenplay. Somehow, the Broccolis were getting information about all the script changes as they happened to fuel their complaints in court.

I appreciate the candor that Kirschner relates in the commentary about the musical score issues, and some other production problems, that explain some of the forces that kept NSNA from being a truly great film. At least I feel better knowing they tried to make the best film they could, and indeed, made a better film than they had any right to considering the constant budget and legal issues that dogged the film.

With the exception of Kim Basinger, who looks great in this film, the actors did a superb job in this movie. I think this was Sean's best performance as Bond besides From Russia with Love. And as others have noted, he looked much more fit in this film than in Diamonds are Forever 12 years before. He deserves a lot of credit for returning to Bond and delivering a performance with the right balance of strength, wit, and acknowledgement of age.

Oh, and don't miss Rowan Atkinson as Bond's contact in Nassau. Mr. Bean was never so funny.


4/5 great to see this in high def
  by David J. Lizotte (Waterville Maine)
Although this was not my favorite James Bond movie, and is basically a rehash of Thunderball, it did bring back Sean Connery. It also managed to outperform MGM's simultaneous release of Octopussy which starred a rather geriatric looking Roger Moore. (I think Connery looked more the part then Moore did at this point). It also had a better cast in my opinion. The blu-ray release looks and sounds stunning. I believe it is a must buy for any Bond fan