Movie · 1983 · Adventure, Action, Thriller · 2h 14m · PG · English
Curator score: 1.7/10 (126.1K ratings)
Sean Connery is James Bond 007
Overview
James Bond returns as the secret agent 007 to battle the evil organization SPECTRE. Bond must defeat Largo, who has stolen two atomic warheads for nuclear blackmail. But Bond has an ally in Largo's girlfriend, the willowy Domino, who falls for Bond and seeks revenge.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.7/10
IMDb: 6.1/10
Letterboxd: 2.72/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 71%
Metacritic: 68
TMDB: 6.1/10
Director
Irvin Kershner
Production
TaliaFilm II Productions, Woodcote
Cast
Sean Connery, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Max von Sydow, Barbara Carrera, Kim Basinger, Bernie Casey, Alec McCowen, Edward Fox, Pamela Salem, Rowan Atkinson, Valerie Leon, Milos Kirek, Pat Roach, Anthony Sharp, Prunella Gee, Gavan O'Herlihy, Ronald Pickup, Guido Adorni, Robert Rietti, Vincent Marzello
Curator Review
Verdict
A curious, off-brand Bond detour that benefits from Sean Connery’s return, a few lively action beats, and strong villain energy, but it’s uneven, overlong, and often feels like a lesser parallel-universe remake rather than a fully satisfying 007 adventure.
Best for
Bond completists
fans of 1980s spy thrillers
viewers who enjoy campy star-driven genre oddities
people curious about Connery’s late-career Bond
Skip if
you want a polished classic Bond entry
you dislike remake/rehash energy
you need a consistently exciting pace
you are sensitive to dated gender politics and sleazy 1980s spy-movie attitudes
Overview
Never Say Never Again is the kind of movie that exists because of legal history, and you feel that oddness in almost every scene. It has the broad pleasures of a Bond adventure — exotic locations, gadgetry, underwater peril, a charismatic villain, and Sean Connery slipping back into the role with enough authority to remind you why he defined it in the first place.
Worth noting
But the film also has a strangely hollow quality. It keeps circling familiar Thunderball territory without fully finding its own identity, and the rhythm is patchy enough that the action spikes feel more like relief than momentum. Irvin Kershner brings competence, and there are flashes of real wit and texture, yet the whole thing often plays like a competent imitation of a better Bond movie.
Bottom line
Still, there’s enough here to make it worth a look for genre fans. The cast is strong, the villainy is enjoyably theatrical, and the movie’s weirdness has its own appeal. It’s not essential Bond, but it is an interesting one: a glossy, slightly off-center relic with a few memorable jolts.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Sarah (2★) · 320 likes
Never Say Never Again is usually remembered as the non-EON James Bond production that saw Sean Connery's return to the role after a 12-year absence. I think it should be remembered as the one where James Bond throws a vile of his own pee in someone's face.
I don't really care if this one's canonical or not; I care about having a good time, and Never Say Never Again kind of, sort of, a little bit delivers. It's got most… more
Josh Lewis (2★) · 245 likes
Having already declared this the year I'm going to finally watch up on all the classic Bonds, I had to break chronology—and brave our first big snowstorm of the year—when I found out the the off-brand one no one likes was going to be playing a rare film print. Unfortunately, for the most part, I got why, but this is what being a soldier of cinema is all about.
Despite this having all kinds of weird detail I found charming… more
san (2★) · 245 likes
perhaps the earliest example of nostalgia bait in film?
matt lynch (2.5★) · 214 likes
Gets the slight edge over THUNDERBALL only in the action department; the underwater sequences have some actual speed and dynamism, and there's a pretty nifty auto chase with a couple sweet jumps and car flips (although this may simply be the result of better available tech). Other than that this really drives home just how much of a Bond film's success is look-and-feel dependent. Despite impeccable-as-usual craft there's just something off about the whole thing. Kershner's and the great Douglas… more Gets the slight edge over THUNDERBALL only in the action department; the underwater sequences have some actual speed and dynamism, and there's a pretty nifty auto chase with a couple sweet jumps and car flips (although this may simply be the result of better available tech). Other than that this really drives home just how much of a Bond film's success is look-and-feel dependent. Despite impeccable-as-usual craft there's just something off about the whole thing. Kershner's and the great Douglas… more
Calvin Dyson (1.5★) · 202 likes
I’m kind of glad this exists as a weird, parallel reality Bond film but damn is it a slog.
Connery is on good form and Barbara Carrera is a blast but that’s where the positives end for me. Never liked the villain and the music is positively ruinous.