{"id":52204,"date":"2020-10-12T17:12:46","date_gmt":"2020-10-13T00:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=52204"},"modified":"2021-01-23T00:37:00","modified_gmt":"2021-01-23T07:37:00","slug":"never-say-never-again-1983","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=52204","title":{"rendered":"Never Say Never Again (1983)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Good to see you, Mr. Bond. Things have been awfully dull around here.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Poster-201x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-52208\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Poster-201x300.png 201w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Poster-685x1024.png 685w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Poster-86x128.png 86w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Poster-181x270.png 181w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Poster.png 753w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWith support from his top agent Largo (Klaus Maria Brandauer), SPECTRE head Ernst Blofeld (Max von Sydow) puts the world in nuclear jeopardy by replacing two dummy warheads with live ones, and demanding ransom. When aging James Bond (Sean Connery) is sent from a health spa to investigate, he soon encounters and seduces both Largo&#8217;s psychopathic assistant (Barbara Carrera) and his mistress (Kim Basinger).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>James Bond Films<\/li>\n<li>Max von Sydow Films<\/li>\n<li>Nuclear Threat<\/li>\n<li>Sean Connery Films<\/li>\n<li>Spies<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that &#8220;it was great to see Sean Connery return as James Bond after a dozen years, during which time he insisted he&#8217;d <em>never<\/em> play the part again.&#8221; Notably, Connery &#8220;initiated this project itself&#8221; and &#8220;it was not part of the ongoing Roger Moore series being produced by Albert Broccoli&#8221;; a quick read through any of the reviews linked below &#8212; or <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Never_Say_Never_Again\">Wikipedia&#8217;s entry on the film<\/a> &#8212; will give a sufficient overview of why this ended up &#8220;not [as] new material, but a remake of Connery&#8217;s fourth Bond film, <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=51957\"><em>Thunderball<\/em><\/a>.&#8221; Peary points out that while &#8220;Bond&#8217;s a bit older,&#8221; &#8220;every woman he sees is attracted to him and he still can outwit the vilest of villains,&#8221; and he notes that Bond&#8217;s &#8220;pain game &#8216;Domination&#8217; [with Brandauer] is a highlight.&#8221; (I agree, though critical opinions are decidedly mixed on this.) He writes that a &#8220;very athletic Barbara Carrera (giving her best performance) as the cheerful assassin Fatima Blush and blonde Kim Basinger as Domino, Largo&#8217;s innocent girlfriend, make lasting impressions&#8221;: <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Basinger.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Basinger-1024x433.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"271\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-65295\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Basinger-1024x433.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Basinger-300x127.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Basinger-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Basinger-768x325.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Basinger-1536x650.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Basinger-604x256.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Basinger.png 1827w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; and argues that the &#8220;film is exotic&#8221; (which Bond flick isn&#8217;t?), &#8220;well acted, and stylishly directed by Irvin Kershner.&#8221; He posits that this &#8220;would be one of the best Bond films if the finale weren&#8217;t disappointing&#8221;, and in closing makes the following plea: &#8220;When will filmmakers realize that underwater fight scenes don&#8217;t work because viewers usually can&#8217;t tell the hero and villain apart and they know doubles are being used?&#8221; (Excellent points; I agree.) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Klaus Maria Brandauer as Largo<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Klaus-Maria.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Klaus-Maria-1024x435.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"272\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-52207\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Klaus-Maria-1024x435.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Klaus-Maria-300x128.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Klaus-Maria-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Klaus-Maria-768x326.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Klaus-Maria-604x257.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Klaus-Maria.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Barbara Carrera as Fatima<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Carrera.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Carrera-1024x435.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"272\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-52206\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Carrera-1024x435.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Carrera-300x128.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Carrera-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Carrera-768x326.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Carrera-604x257.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-Carrera.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The &#8220;World Domination&#8221; game<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-War-Games.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-War-Games-1024x435.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"272\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-52205\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-War-Games-1024x435.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-War-Games-300x128.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-War-Games-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-War-Games-768x326.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-War-Games-604x257.png 604w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Never-Say-Never-Again-War-Games.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though of course Bond fans (especially &#8220;Connery-as-Bond&#8221; fans) will want to check it out. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0086006\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.qnetwork.com\/review\/2183\">Q Network Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/reviews\/36794\/never-say-never-again\/\">DVD Talk Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s2876neve.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/sciencefiction\/never-say-never-again-1983.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Good to see you, Mr. Bond. Things have been awfully dull around here.&#8221; Synopsis: With support from his top agent Largo (Klaus Maria Brandauer), SPECTRE head Ernst Blofeld (Max von Sydow) puts the world in nuclear jeopardy by replacing two dummy warheads with live ones, and demanding ransom. When aging James Bond (Sean Connery) is sent from a health spa to investigate, he soon encounters and seduces both Largo&#8217;s psychopathic assistant (Barbara Carrera) and his mistress (Kim Basinger). Genres, Themes,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=52204\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52204"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65296,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52204\/revisions\/65296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}