Never Say Never Again (Collector's Edition) [Import]

I kinow this film has not received the acclaim of other Bond films but for the life of me I don't know why not. So what if the story is borrowed from a previous film...Dirty Harry, You Got Mail, etc were all variations on a theme.

No, this was the return of the TRUE James Bond, the one and only Sean Connery. Here he is older yet wiser, not as foolhardy but still daring, and though his libido must have subsided a tad, he is still the ladies man. Kim was great as the bad guy's gal pal. Equally good was the villian himself, not as totally outlandish as some of the previous ones. Several scenes stand out....

The Tango (fantastic and it was reprised with the...) Arab auction. (What a great opportunity for Bond to make a - pardon the pun - dashing entry). Then there was the game for the world and who can forget the over the top performance by Barbara Carrerra as the sexy Fatima Blush. Where DO they come up with these names? Good plot, good characterization and good ending.

This movie was not just a throwback to the less comic iteration of James Bond, but this movie also brought Sean Connery back into the role that he held for so long. Kim Bassinger and Max von Sydow join the cast as James Bond, with the help of Felix Leiter from the CIA, fight to stop SPECTRE from extorting billions from the world governments by threatening detonation of a nuclear device.

The movie is filled with double meanings. For instance, M believes that James is overweight and too old to keep up as an agent. This parallels how some felt that Connery was past his days as the well known spy. There are other little quotes, as well as a wink, to let you know that this was all intentional. For James Bond, and Sean Connery, fans, this is like an added treat.

I do wish there were more of von Sydow in the movie, but the movie does well focusing on Connery. The movie is also a little dated with the video games, like Centipede, that are shown in the casino.

I would still recommend watching this film.

1.) Sean Connery's back in the role to which most people best associate him (would "Trainspotting" REALLY have been as good without the dialogue between Renton and Sick Boy in the park during the air rifle scene?)
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2.) Film and special effects technology finally had finally caught up with the series by the time this movie was made. As cool as Sean Connery was back in the shagadelic '60's, baby, the special effects in his movies were really second-rate. They may have been a step up from the Godzilla movies of the era, but not by much. The action in this movie seems to take place in real time rather than in a special effets lab.
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3.) The supporting cast are awesome...former Blaxploitation superstar Bernie Casey may be the best CIA Operative Felix Leiter there's ever been; Rowan Atkinson ("Mr. Bean", to most of us Americans) is good as the hopelessly up-tight Nigel Small-Fawcett, and does anyone really need to be told just how hot Kim Basinger and Barbara Carrera are as a "Bond Girl" double-barrelled blast?
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4.) THE PRICE!!! With all the other MGM/UA Bond films weighing in at [price](or more), only Ted Turner himself can afford to own them. This admitted re-make of "Thunderball" is not the best Bond movie out there...IMHO that distinction goes to "For Your Eyes Only" (sue me, I'm a hockey fan and I grew up during the Roger Moore years)...but for the price alone this is worth owning. True, the classic "James Bond Theme" is missing, and it is a bit tacky seeing the jet-setters in tuxedoes and evening gowns playing "Centipede" instead of baccarrat (sp?), but this DVD is the James Bond film anyone can own...and regardless of what shortcomings other reviewers have attributed this effort, none of them fall on Sean Connery's (ample-as-ever) shoulders; give it a shot (with a Walther PPK or a union jack fountain pen)!