This is a little delayed from December but celebrates the 40th anniversary of Never Say Never Again, which stands alone and outside the Eon Productions series of Bond films, but it does see the return of an older Sean Connery to the role of 007. Essentially it is the same story as the 1965 Thunderball, with a SPECTRE agent stealing two nuclear warheads and Bond having to find them before disaster occurs. It is a standalone film made by Kevin McClory after a long legal battle with Ian Fleming & Eon, but the settlement decreed it could only be the story originally defined by Thunderball. Of course it holds great interest for the return of Connery and although aged, he is well supported by Kim Basinger and Klaus Maria Brandeur, with Max Von Sydow as Blofeld, Edward Fox as M, Alec McCowen as Q, Pamela Salem as Moneypenny, and a strong supporting cast with Rowan Atkinson providing comic relief as Nigel Small-Fawcett, but the film is largely stolen by Barbara Carrera as Fatima Blush, who was nominated for a Golden Globe. Filmed in exotic sites as always in Bond films, locations included Malta; Villefrance-sur-Mer & Antibes & Menton & Beaulieu-sur-Mer & Cap Ferrat, Alpes Maritimes & Cote d’Azur, France; Ocala & Silver Springs, Florida, USA; Almeria, Andalucia, Spain; Nassau, New Providence Island, Grand Bahama Island & Rose Island, Bahamas; Monte Carlo, Monaco; Waddesdon, Bucks & Coddenham, Suffolk & Luton Hoo, Beds with internal scenes shot at Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Herts, England. Interesting trivia – Steven Seagal was the martial arts instructor on the film and one day he became so irritated with Connery that he broke his wrist, which Connery carried for a number of years as a minor pain. Bond drives a Bentley in this as in the books, in contrast with the Aston Martin DB5 gifted by Q in the film series.
Equaliser769
Chambro1970
