Never Say Never - Again -james Bond 007-
In a brilliant opening sequence, Bond wakes up in a bed with a beautiful woman, dreams of a past mission, and then stares at himself in the mirror, sighing at his reflection. Later, M (Edward Fox, replacing Bernard Lee) sarcastically notes that Bond failed the annual fitness test. Bond is sent to a “health farm” (Shrublands) run by a dubious Dr. Kovacs, where his massage is interrupted by an assassination attempt via a mechanical snake.
By the late 1970s, McClory decided to exercise that right. Simultaneously, Sean Connery—who had famously sworn he would “never again” play James Bond after the exhausting shoot of You Only Live Twice (1967) and the disastrous The Shaws of Kilbride fiasco—was offered a king’s ransom. The offer was a staggering $5 million (over $15 million today) plus a percentage of the gross, making him the highest-paid actor in Hollywood at the time. Never Say Never Again -James Bond 007-
The film is a time capsule of ego, legal absurdity, and creative risk. It is not a great Bond film. It is arguably not even a good Bond film by the standards of Goldfinger or Casino Royale . But it is a fascinating Bond film. In a brilliant opening sequence, Bond wakes up
The results were a statistical draw. Octopussy grossed $187.5 million worldwide. Never Say Never Again grossed $160 million. Given that the renegade film cost less to make and Connery took a massive upfront salary, it was considered a financial success. Critically, reception was mixed. Critics loved Connery’s charisma and the novel “aging hero” theme but decried the sluggish pacing and cheap-looking production design (the film feels more like a 70s TV movie than a lavish Bond epic). Kovacs, where his massage is interrupted by an
Look at the famous “Riding the Bomb” sequence in Dr. No ? Never Say Never Again reverses it. Bond is forced to ride a nuclear warhead on a test drive through a missile silo, but it’s not heroic; it’s terrifying. The camerawork is shaky, the lighting is harsh, and Connery’s face is a mask of genuine panic.
Connery, ever pragmatic, famously quipped: “I’d already said ‘never again’ so many times that my wife told me to shut up and take the money.” The title, Never Say Never Again , was a direct, self-deprecating jab at his own famous declaration. While EON was producing Octopussy with Roger Moore (a film that leaned into campy, circus-based action), Never Say Never Again went back to basics. It is, essentially, a modernized (for 1983) remake of Thunderball .
