In addition to the core film franchise produced by the Broccoli family, two unofficial James Bond films produced outside of the EON label were createddue to wrinkles within licensing contracts.Rival producerCharles K. Feldmanproduced a parodical version ofCasino Royalein 1967 after the Broccolis chose to adaptDr. Noinstead ofIan Fleming’s first Bond novel, with EON eventually earning back the rights to 007’s origin story. It’s an interesting history behind a not-very-interesting movie; the lazy approach to a spy movie spoof was tiresome in 1967, and any initial amusement has completely evaporated with age. At 131 minutes and cameos in place of jokes,Casino Royaleis borderline unwatchable.
The other non-EON film is more interesting.Sean Connery’s fourth Bond filmThunderballwas based on a novel co-written by Fleming andKevin McClory, who sued for legal rights to the adaptation and set up the unofficial remakeNever Say Never AgainatJack Schwartzman’s Taliafilm.Irvin Kershnerset the project as his first film afterThe Empire Strike Backand Connery returned after closing his run twelve years earlier withDiamonds Are Forever. It resulted in a battle of the Bonds for box office supremacy of 1983, asNever Say Never Againwas released in fall withRoger Moore’sOctopussyreleased during the summer. Moore claimed victory.
While most rankings of the Bond franchise tend to ignore both films,Never Say Never Againdoesn’t deserve to be dismissed. It’s not a perfect film, but it was the first Bond film to recognize that the character had grown older and adapt the story to fit. The Moore films continued to ignore that he was no longer believable in the action sequences. While theDaniel CraigfilmsSkyfallandSpectrepositioned him as an older spy, the approach wouldn’t have been possible without the influence ofNever Say Never Again. Its essential viewing for 007 fans beyond its inherent novelty.
Connery was 53 years old whenNever Say Never Againwas released and Moore was 55 at the time ofOctopussy. The difference between the two is night and day.Octopussyfeatures Bond duelling with knife wearing assassins, dexterously leaping out of fighter jets, and leading a military raid on a Soviet base. It wasn’t even his last adventure; two years later he foughtGrace Joneson top of a giant blimp inA View To A Kill. Compared to that blissful infeasibility,Never Say Never Againopens with Bond failing to pass a routine exercise regime and forced to attend a specialty health clinic.
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Bond being an older man doing a young man’s profession isn’t just a framing device, but the central storyline ofNever Say Never Again. Bond is ordered by M (Edward Fox) to stay out of the action until he’s gotten in better shape, but it’s during his visit to the clinic that he encounters the assassin Lippe (Pat Roach).Although Bond is able to defeat Lippe, it’s after a brutal fight where the two clumsily brawl throughout the facility. Bond can’t even lift the weight he once did; he only defeats his opponent after clumsily knocking over lab equipment.
Bond accidentally encountering a threat is a great gateway into the story. Lippe is secretly an agent of SPECTRE, fronted byNever Say Never Again’s version of Blofeld (in an underrated performance by the reliably sinisterMax Von Sydow). Bond is now on SPECTRE’s hitlist once again, and M bemoans the fact that he has to reactivate his double-0 status when he’s ordered to do so by Foreign Secretary Lord Ambrose (Anthony Sharp). The temperamental older spy is the last person he wants to be investigating the disappearance of nuclear warheads.
What’s brilliant about having M reluctantly reenlisting Bond is British command only knows Bond’s reputation. Bond is in the shadow of his own legacy, and although the standalone rights preventedNever Say Never Againfrom directly referencing the earlier films, it acknowledges that Bond has been on many adventures. He’s now just coasting on his charisma and forced to live up; when asked by the main villain “Do you ever gracefully lose?” his reply is “I don’t know, I’ve never lost.”
The self-awareness makes the action more exciting. Bond is captured when the seductive Fatima Blush (Barbara Carrera) overpowers him, and he requires the assistance of CIA ally Felix Leiter (Bernie Casey) to infiltrate the base of billionaire SPECTRE agent Maximillian Largo (Klaus Maria Brandauer), the film’s main antagonist. It’s not pathetic to see Bond defeated, as it humanizes a character who had become a superpowered male fantasy and no longer a real person.
As a result, Bond’s solutions to outwit his enemies are more creative. In order to uncover Largo’s plot, Bondmeets his challenge to competein a virtual reality simulator that replicates his naval strategy (the joke that he’s an older man playing video games isn’t lost). It’s this expertise that Bond uses in the film’s climax in order to guide the nuclear warheads to detonate in the ocean. He’s actually picking up new skills.
While the concept of a grizzled older hero sounds like a dark and dour affair, this isn’tThe Dark Knight Returnsof Bond. Connery still has his trademark humor, quipping throughout with no sense of dulled charisma. He playfully complains about his healthy new diet in order to irritate M. The film leans into self-aware humor without the lens ofCasino Royale’s outright parody; Q remarks that Bond will bring his signature “gratuitous sex and violence,” and Largo pokes fun at his frequent consumption of vodka martinis.
Irvin Kershner’s talents for capturing suspense within his action sequences are well-utilized here; whether it’s the masterful intensity ofThe Empire Strikes Backor the ruthless approach to Verhoeven satire inRobocop 2, Kershner tends to ground his franchise installments in some semblance of reality. There’s a consistency to Bond’s abilities, as he uses the same massaging techniques he’s enjoyed in order to infiltrate a luxury spa, and finally finds a way to use Q’s silly pen gun in order to kill Blush.
Not every Bond was given Connery’s chance to mature into the role.Timothy Daltonnever got a crack at playing the character for an extended duration, and by the timePierce Brosnanconcluded his series withDie Another Daythe saga had fallen into camp. The Craig films borrow many elements fromNever Say Never Again.Skyfallalso utilizes the concept of Bond needing to pass an entrance exam and reluctantly being reactivated by M, andSpectrealso features him considering retirement.
Never Say Never Againis hardly perfect, as its runtime can drag and the similarities withThunderballstrains the story’s originality. However, the development of an over-the-hill hero was a major advancement that distinguishes it among other more forgettable installments. Despite saying that he’d “never” return, when Bond closes the film by saying it’s his final adventure, for once it feels definitive.
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