Never Again? Say It Ain’t So…
Never Say Never Again is an odd James Bond in several ways, but that doesn’t make it a bad one. First off, the film is essentially a remake of an earlier Connery Bond film, Thunderball. Additionally, when the film was created in 1983, Connery hadn’t played as Bond in over a decade as Roger Moore had taken over the role in 1973. The film is also consider odd due to the fact that it is not an EON Productions Bond release, which was behind every other major James Bond work.
That said, Never Say Never Again is still a great film. It may be seen as a weird connection, but Never Say Never Again reminds me a lot of Indiana Jones And the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. In both films, the leading actors had aged and weren’t quite the same as what we all remembered them as when they were in their prime. Still, although Connery’s Bond in 1983 is a bit older, maybe a little slower and not quite as spry as he was in the late 60s, he still gets the job done, and with class – just like Indy in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
So let’s take a look at the plot in Never Say Never Again. The film begins with a great action sequence in which Bond storms a Central American encampment alone and rescues a young woman; only to be stabbed by the woman who has suffered the Stockholm Syndrome, where in her time of captivity she had come to sympathize and agree with the cause of her captors. Fortunately, this entire exercise was just training, but M, played by Edward Fox, is still disappointed in Bond’s performance during these war games. At this point in MI-6 history, the 00’s have been deactivated by M, and Bond is relegated to training and teaching.
Bond is sent off to a health clinic and spa to help get the edge back M believes he has lost, but it isn’t long before the dark hand of SPECTRE intervenes in Bond’s rejuvenating stay. Bond is soon reactivated as 007 and on the trail of two stolen nuclear warheads that are suspected as being held for ransom by Maximilian Largo (Klaus Maria Brandauer), an extremely wealthy man and high ranking agent of SPECTRE. Bond will work with CIA counterpart Felix Leiter (Bernie Casey) and encounter Domino Petachi (Kim Basinger) who is the Bond girl this time around. With Felix and Domino’s help, as well as the help of the US Navy, Bond is ultimately able to keep Largo and SPECTRE from detonating the warheads.
I thought Never Say Never Again included some good witty humor and I think it may be the only Bond movie to include a (fictional) video game as the center point of a scene. The tabletop, holographic “World Domination” game that Largo challenges Bond too is cool to see and looks like it’d still be fun to play today. Of course, at this time in American history, arcades and video games were doing quite well, so it may not be too shocking that they play a very small part in the film, but it’s just neat to see (at least in this retro gamer’s mind). I also thought the motorcycle scene was a lot of fun and really cool.
Ultimately, Never Say Never Again is an enjoyable Bond film, I don’t know that there is a more succinct way to describe it. It has its quirks but they’re easy to overlook and it’s an excellent film for a weekend afternoon.
On Blu-ray
The Never Say Never Again Blu-ray doesn’t get the same look and packaging as the other Bond films on Blu-ray, nor does it share the same menu, but it’s still a fine standalone release. In terms of video quality, it’s great, no major complaints. It’s hard to say clearly that it’s any better or worse than the other old Bond films brought into Blu-ray, but I can certainly say that it looks great and I wasn’t disappointed. The 5.1 DTS-HD also does a great job in bringing together the action, dialogue, and score.
This Blu-ray release contains a few extra features as well. They include:
-Audio Commentary with Director Irvin Kershner and James Bond Historian Steven Jay Rubin
-The Big Gamble
-Sean Is Back
-The Girls of NSNA
-Trailer
-Photo Gallery
I don’t believe any of these features are new compared to the DVD release of the film, and there aren’t as many features here as the other Bond Blu-rays, but it’s a respectable set.
With that, let’s get to the summary…