Never Say Never Again (1983)
Directed by Irvin Kershner
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.
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What critics compared Never Say Never Again to
These themes were toyed with in the non-canonical Thunderball remake Never Say Never Again, which saw Connery return to action 12 years (and one broken "never" vow) after Diamonds Are Forever.
Now they have reteamed for a slightly less Chekhovian project: the 23rd official James Bond film (24th if you count the Sean Connery off-brander "Never Say Never Again").
Or it's the 25th, if you include Sean Connery's 1983 return to the role in "Never Say Never Again," an independent production made outside the context of the MGM Bond series, and the 1967 spoof "Casino Royale," which cast David Niven and Woody Allen as unlikely James Bonds.
Bond never has endured so many rude remarks about his physical prowess since Sean Connery made his middle-aged one-shot return to the role in the ill-advised Never Say Never Again.
It’s as if, after reclaiming the title Casino Royale for the official franchise, the Broccolis wanted to remake Never Say Never Again as well – a movie, that, by the way, managed to still be fun even while dealing with an aging Bond worried about the future.
Even Sean Connery – whose reign as James Bond ranged from 1962 until 1983 – took a 12-year, Roger Moore-fused hiatus before the non-canon one-off, Never Say Never Again.
In some ways, he reminded me of Klaus Maria Brandauer in the “unofficial” Bond movie, “Never Say Never Again”.
His cooly menacing performance obliterates everything between Diamonds Are Forever and now, including Never Say Never Again, thank goodness.
What Eastwood does with that anti-character here is similar to what Sean Connery did with the James Bond character in "Never Say Never Again" or what Sam Peckinpah did with the aging western heroes in "Ride the High Country."
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(Echoes here of nearly every Bond film since Never Say Never Again.
But director Verhoeven abandoned ship, replaced by Irvin Kershner, who had done so well with "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) and "Never Say Never Again" (1983).
Looking considerably older and a bit embarrassed, he top-lined the non–Saltzman-and-Broccoli Thunderball knockoff Never Say Never Again , a film whose title goofed on the actor’s noble, broken promise to himself.