Never Say Never Again July 22, 2006
Posted by jackal in : Films , trackback
The odds were stacked against Never Say Never Again right from the start. It had to compete with Connery’s previous “official” Bond efforts, the most recent of which had been over a decade ago; his best three (From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball) were almost 20 years old. That’s not all, though. I once read a review of the film which nailed exactly what the larger problem was: Never Say Never Again not only had to recapture the same atmosphere as the 60s films, it had to be as good as the viewer’s favourite - by which I don’t just mean Dr No for example, but rather the viewer’s composite favourite: the most evil villain, the most beautiful girl, the best title song, the wittiest one-liner, the most exotic location, the most exciting pre-credits sequence, etc. NSNA had to match the very best in each category, it had to compete against the audience’s warm, nostalgic memories of the earlier films, and as an “unofficial” Bond film, it had to do all this without any of the familiar supporting actors, John Barry’s music (he declined to score the film out of respect for Cubby Broccoli), the traditional Bond touches (gun barrel sequence, 007 logo, the James Bond Theme) and, crucially, without the experienced crew from the official series, who already had 12 Bond films under their belt.
Oh, and there was also the small matter of Roger Moore’s sixth official Bond outing, Octopussy, in production at the same time. No wonder the press dubbed it the “Battle of the Bonds”.
Never Say Never Again does suffer from its lack of “official” Bond touches: Edward Fox’s buffoonish ”M” is a definite mistake, the title song and Michel Legrand’s score are both unreservedly awful, and the plot loses its way in the second half of the film.
That said, the film otherwise largely succeeds. Klaus Maria Brandaeur underplays Largo beautifully as a chilling psychopath, nicely balancing out the comic-book excesses of his henchwoman, Fatima Blush (Barbara Carrera). Kim Basinger makes for a suitably drop-dead-gorgeous Bond girl, the film moves briskly, belying its 130 minute running time, and the script has a lot of fun poking fun at Bond’s - and Connery’s - age. It’s a theme GoldenEye would pick up 12 years later: Bond is old, out-of-date, not politically correct. ”Q” gets the best line in this vein: “Things have been awfully dull around here since you’ve been gone … I hope we’re going to see a return to some gratuitous sex and violence.”
Then there’s the man himself. Looking tanned and in much better shape at 52 than he did in Diamonds Are Forever 12 years earlier, Connery steps up to the plate and hits one right out of the park: he’s a joy to watch, the trademark blend of charm, wit and toughness unchanged by time out of the role. His Bond has mellowed a little: older, world-weary, but still with a twinkle in the eye. And he dances a mean tango, too.
Largo: I wonder, do you lose as gracefully as you win?”
Bond: “I wouldn’t know; I’ve never lost.”
Comments»
What is so right about Connery in this, is that he’s not that far off the correct age for Fleming’s Commander Bond, if we’re to believe Fleming based the character (very) loosely on himself. In ‘61 when Fleming wrote ‘Thunderball’ (the basis for this outing), Fleming / Bond would have been 53…
And he drives that Blower Bentley. Which is nice.
I have a great affection for this; as you say, it does miss John Barry.