Directed by: Irvin Kershner
Starring: Sean Connery, Kim Basinger, Klaus Maria-Brandauer, Barbara Carrera, Rowan Atkinson, Max von Sydow, Bernie Casey
Sean Connery returned to the James Bond role for the first time in twelve years in Never Say Never Again, one of the superior Bond films which is technically not considered a "Bond" film because it wasn't produced by the Broccoli family, but it has Sean Connery as James Bond in his own inimitable style so that's enough for me. Never Say Never Again gives us a more human Bond and more human villains. This Bond has a way with words and women, but there's something grounded about him as well. Roger Moore had the most fun with double entendres and puns, Timothy Dalton gave us a leaner, no-nonsense Bond, Pierce Brosnan was suave personified, and Daniel Craig brought world weariness to the role, but Connery was something extra special.
In Never Say Never Again, Bond is brought out of retirement to thwart SPECTRE's latest plot to steal nuclear missiles and extort ransom money from the United Nations. Does it really matter? SPECTRE rarely ever succeeds at anything when it comes to James Bond, although if memory serves, they did manage to kill Bond's wife on his honeymoon in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Bond is sent to a resort to dry out and get fit for his latest missions, but SPECTRE learns of this and tries to off him there. This is the first and only time I've ever seen a henchman subdued in part by a vial of urine.
Once Bond is on the case, he travels to the Bahamas and then France to find out what he can about billionaire Maximillian Largo (Brandauer), who was hired by SPECTRE to steal the warheads and who has a sultry blonde girlfriend named Domino (Basinger), who is unaware of Largo's actions and even more unaware that Largo had her brother killed after he performed a task for SPECTRE. Also lurking is Fatima Blush (Carrera), an assassin who must first bed Bond before plotting to kill him, which Fatima does very, very willingly.
Never Say Never Again contains the standard amount of Bond action and romance, but it never strays into the ridiculous while remaining fun. It is good to see Sean Connery tackle the role once more, something at the time we never expected to see again.
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