| |  | Director: Irvin Kershner
Actors: Sean Connery, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Max Von Sydow, Barbara Carrera, Kim Basinger
Category: DVD
Buy New: $20.94
New (3) Used (1) from $17.51
Rating:  195 reviews
Sales Rank: 171101
Format: Pal
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), German (Original Language)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 2
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5050070006292
ASIN: B00005ABTT
Theatrical Release Date: October 7, 1983
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Condition: BRAND NEW, Factory Sealed items direct from the Studios. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Quick International Airmail!
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 16-20 of 195
 The "red-headed step-child" of the Bond series November 28, 2007
Randy E. Halford (Boise, ID)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Bond fans often turn up their noses with the mention of this film. They've called it "Connery at his worst" or complained that it's not a "genuine" entry in the series. Yet, I went to see it when it was first released & liked it. A remake of the classic "Thunderball", it's flawed & imperfect, but still an enjoyable film. It was great to see Sean Connery again in his "007" status, playing an older Bond, but one which hasn't lost his knack for adventure & romance.
While some of the trademarks are missing---understandably, since it was made outside the home studios of MGM/UA---it's the film itself that counts, and Connery makes the most of it, showing all the other Bond actors how it's done. He slips back into the role so easily that it's as if he never left.
It also benefits from a first-rate villain in actor Klaus Maria Brandauer as Largo, a baddie who's more complex than the sum of his parts. Kim Basinger--here at the beginning of her film career--plays the typical Bond babe who finds herself in a power struggle between Bond & Largo.
This is a much-maligned film that deserves a second look.
 Not just the worst Bond film, but one of the worst films I've seen November 15, 2007
Jed (UK)
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
I remember when this was released in the cinemas, people were pretty much lukewarm towards it;
"It's just a remake of Thunderball" were common remarks. Looking back on it after 25 years though it's apparent what an astonishing pile of backside this film really is.
Now I know that in essence much of the Bond world *is* rather silly if you really think about it, the films are mostly made with such craftmanship that there is suspension of disbelief. On the other hand Never Say Never Again is far sillier, and is made so ineptly that disbelief is not so much suspended as hanging by a thread- which is broken every fifteen minutes or so. This is James Bond almost reduced to slapstick comedy. Eg at a health farm Bond throws a bottle of liquid at an assailant , who falls to the ground unconscious. Bond looks at the bottle and discovers that it's his own urine sample. In the cinema this might have raised an (uneasy) chuckle, but objectively it's more fitting for a Carry On film. The villainess is destroyed by an explosive pen, Rowan Atkinson, then hot property as Blackadder, makes a cameo....etc. And one of the films supposedly "memorable" points has Bond and villain playing a video game in a casino. This looks extremely dated , even kitsch now. I find it hard to believe the makers could be so oblivious to the fact that this would look so dated in later years.
Okay, the bile is spent. I do kind of like the Bond movies, but this movie should become a textbook case of how NOT to do a remake!
 Scrapes by on Connery's charisma alone November 6, 2007
Mr. Stephen Kennedy (Doha, Qatar)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
At a time when Roger was playing Bland, James Bland... the prospect of an unofficial Bond movie enticing Sean Connery to return to the role was mouthwateringly tantalizing. And at the time it came out in 1983, the competition was one of Moore's weakest efforts, Octopussy, making the Bond versus Bond clash seem one sided in this movies favour. Never Say Never Again has a larger budget, stronger cast and is based on an Ian Fleming story.
Alas, the end result turns out to be not much better than a parody of the earlier Bonds, and despite a strong cast the script is so clunky and obvious that the wit and panache of Bond is missing. Worse, the music is anachronistic and dated. Of course, for legal reasons, they could not use John Barry's timeless themes, but all the more reason one would have thought to spend more time getting the score just right for the tone of the movie. Perhaps the most serious crime of all.. it is more than a bit dull. You find yourself waiting for an action scene to come along, then when one comes along, you wish they would get it over with. Aside from an effective bike-chasing-car scene, no other action scene resonates after the credits have rolled.
It's not all bad.. Kim Basinger is a lithe and lovely Bond girl, and Klaus Maria Brandauer is a deliciously quirky villain. A few scenes hold up - the dance scene when Bond tells Domino her brother is dead, the fistfight at Shrublands with Pat Roach (from Auf Wiedersehen pet), and at least we don't have the dreadful speeded up boat scene from the otherwise far superior original, `Thunderball'.
Finally, with the `official' Bond movies so well digitally remastered and sound remixed, the very poor quality of the sound mix and blemished print are all the more obvious. Sound is very boomy and with no surround mix - speech is muffled, and I had to turn up the volume much higher than usual to hear any detail. Aside from one trailer, there are no extras.
The worst of Moore's Bond outings can still be enjoyed, even when the grin is mixed with a groan... here though, the grin has become a fixed grimace, and the pleasures are few and far between. Connery's charisma pulls us through without feeling obliged to give up half way through - but the temptation is never far away. Worth watching only for nostalgia's sake, to see Connery's Bond swansong.
a genuinely medicore re-make (with the same bond!) September 18, 2007
Robert J. Crawford (Balmette Talloires, France)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am sure that there was some bizarre legal reason why they had to re-use the plot of Thunderball -even with the same names - for Connery's return. While I grew up on Connery's Bond and think he is by far the best (just like 60s rock is the best!!), it is beyond me why they couldn't come up with something more original for his swan song. Roger Moore just could NEVER measure up to Connery, who is a wonderful actor, believable yet under-stated, and always adding creative detail. Unfortunately, this is so tightly scripted and directed that little of Connery's creativity comes through. The result is a plodding re-hash, really exactly the same story, just updated with suitably nubile younger women. (Bassinger and Carrera are indeed wonderful and alluring, and Connery isn't awful, but he alks through this rather indifferently). It is just that I had hoped for much much more.
When Sean Connery said "Never Again" to playing 007, he should have meant it! August 9, 2007
Denzel Lockheart (Edmonton, Canada)
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
I remember being a very big 007 fan at the time I saw this. I was actually quite young when I saw this and I had a copy of it on tape. I must say I liked it, but that was because I was 9. I just went back and recently watched this movie again, and now I see the reason of the criticism (sp?) for this movie. It really is that bad. Here is my reason for hating this movie:
1. The action scenes were a joke. Camera shots too long, looks like they were edited together in 5 minutes, and lame vehicle choice for the chase scenes. The music was a joke too, instead of music to fit the mood we get Elevator jazz music! WTF!
2. This is basically a Thunderball remake, and a pretty pointless one too. There are very big changes (the burst button being on the dashboard of the bike instead of the handle WTF?), and no reason for them.
3. This was NOT the 007 I knew! This was not the smooth-talkin', flirty Bond that we got in the old and new movies! He wasn't the smart Bond who would do things his own way in Life-or-Death situations, he'd just do the old cliched escapes.
4. The dialogue is cringe-inducingly bad! Example:
Fatima: You're still wet!
007: Yes, but my Martini's still dry.
5. The music! HORRIBLE! We'd get that cliche'd DA DA DAAAAAAA music in suspenseful scenes, and some elevator jazz music in action scenes.
6. The acting was unintentionally hilarious. Kim Basinger's wooden performance had me laughing at times, and Sean Connery stinks the role BIG TIME. Rowan Atkinson sucks too, he is a funny actor, but there's one place he dosen't belong: In a 007 movie.
7. The sets look bad, the NSNA looks like it's been around for 100 years, and the whole movie looks like it was made on a budget of $20. But that's completely understandable, much of the film's budget was spent on getting Sean Connery back.
That's me done. I can't understand why I liked this film, it sucked. Please avoid this.
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