Never Say Never Again
Sean Connery is James Bond 007
Never Say Never Again (1983)
Production
Budget
$36 000 000
Revenue
$55 432 841
Director
Scenario
Ian Fleming
Author
Composer
Producer
Jack Schwartzman
Actors
Sean Connery
James Bond
Klaus Maria Brandauer
Maximilian Largo
Max von Sydow
Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Barbara Carrera
Fatima Blush
Kim Basinger
Domino Petachi
Bernie Casey
Felix Leiter
Alec McCowen
Q 'Algy' Algernon
Short description
Never Say Never Again is a James Bond adventure in which the criminal organisation SPECTRE seizes two nuclear warheads and uses them as leverage for blackmail. James Bond, agent 007, is sent to stop the scheme, coming up against the organisation's operative Maximilian Largo. Kim Basinger plays Domino Petachi, who becomes an ally of Bond against Largo.
The film was directed by Irvin Kershner, whose earlier credits include Raid on Entebbe, Eyes of Laura Mars and The Empire Strikes Back; it arrived between that film and RoboCop 2. Sean Connery plays Bond, with Klaus Maria Brandauer as Largo, Max von Sydow as Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Barbara Carrera as Fatima Blush and Bernie Casey as Felix Leiter. Lorenzo Semple Jr. wrote the screenplay, and Jack Schwartzman produced. It was made for 36 million dollars and took about 160 million dollars worldwide.
On IMDb it holds 6.1 out of 10 from around 78,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.1 out of 10 from roughly 1,700 votes. A critics' rating of 5.6 out of 10 from 55 reviews places it slightly below those audience scores. It runs 134 minutes and combines action, adventure and thriller elements.
What's left behind the scenes
- A young Steven Seagal worked on the film as a martial arts instructor. While training Sean Connery for the film, he broke his wrist.
- This James Bond film is not considered part of the MGM film series about Agent 007. Kevin McClory, the producer and co-writer of "The Thunderball," won a lawsuit against the author of the James Bond novels, Ian Fleming, and gained the right to make his own film about the same hero.
- Remaining loyal to the MGM film series, composer John Barry refused to write music for this film.
- This is the only Bond film that does not feature the signature pre-credits sequence.
- The end credits express gratitude to a certain A.K. This refers to Adnan Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian arms dealer who allowed filming of the movie on board his luxurious yacht, the "Nabilla". Khashoggi later sold this vessel to billionaire Donald Trump, who renamed the yacht "Princess Trump". Currently, it belongs to a Saudi Arabian prince.
- In 1997, MGM Studios acquired the rights to the film "Never Say Never Again" from Talia Films for $15,000,000.
- "Never Say Never Again" is the last film in which Sean Connery played Bond on the big screen. However, in 2005, Connery voiced Agent 007 in the video game "James Bond 007: From Russia With Love", based on the film of the same name. The game's James Bond is an exact copy of Sean Connery in the famous film.
- The beauty with whom James Bond spent time while taking a break from saving the world is referred to in the film as the Lady from the Bahamas. She was played by Valerie Leon. Valerie Leon also appeared in the Bond film "The Spy Who Loved Me" (1977) as a hotel receptionist in Sardinia.
- Due to ongoing legal battles over the rights to Fleming's book, the film's director, Irvin Kershner, had to go to court between filming sessions.
- This was Rowan Atkinson's first film, in which he played a funny character named Nigel Small Fawcett. Atkinson later starred in the James Bond parody film "Johnny English" (2003).
- The name of the clinic where James Bond receives treatment is the same as in "Thunderball" – Shrublands.
- This was the first James Bond film in which Felix Leiter was African American.
- The trick with the horse jumping off a cliff caused protests from animal rights activists. Since then, special disclaimers have become common in films stating that no animals were harmed during filming.
- During the underwater fight in the Cave of Tears, the diver fighting Bond holds the knife blade down. In the next shot, the knife is already blade up, although it is clear that he did not have time to turn the knife around.
- When Bond is making love to Fatima Blush on the lower deck, her hairstyle changes. At the beginning and end of the scene, her hair is straight, but in the middle of the episode, her hair is curly.
- In the clinic, Jack Pitachy, who is forbidden to smoke, hides cigarettes and matches under the sheet when he hears Fatima Blush's footsteps approaching. The next day, when Bond searches the room, he finds the cigarettes and matches under the mattress.
- When Bond and Largo fight in the computer game, the movements of their joysticks do not correspond to what is happening on the screens in front of them.
- When James Bond flies to the south of France, we see a city and harbor. In the next frame, Felix Leiter appears against the backdrop of the inscription “Nice.” However, the harbor shown is actually Monaco.
- At the beginning of the film, Bond, while performing a training exercise, throws a grenade from the roof into a villa window. The grenade falls on a chess table and explodes, stunning the enemies. When Bond jumps into the same window using a rope, it becomes clear that he simply could not have thrown a grenade from the roof and hit the center of the room. The table is too far from the window.
- After the scene with the sharks, Fatima Blush notices Bond alive and well on the dock with his new girlfriend and their catch. Fatima is wearing a hat and dress. When, immediately afterwards, she attaches a bomb under Bond's bed in the hotel, assuming he will go to his room with his girlfriend, Fatima Blush is already wearing completely different clothes.
- When Fatima Blush is water skiing, we see that she actually has only one ski. As she speeds past Bond, she performs a swirl on one leg. But when Fatima reaches the shore and finds herself in the arms of agent 007, she has skis on both legs.
- When Bond and Domino jump on horseback into the ocean, Bond is wearing a jacket and boots. When he surfaces, Bond no longer has either his jacket or shoes.
- A collaboration between Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney. The track was written by the duo and released on McCartney's fifth solo album, “Pipes of Peace” (1983).
- The music video was filmed in the Santa Inez Valley (California).
- In the film, the yacht is named “Flying Saucer,” which is a translation of the yacht’s name from “Flash Gordon” – “Disco Volante.”
- When the project was first announced, the film was titled “James Bond on Her Majesty’s Secret Service” and Orson Welles was to play the main villain.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
