This remake of 'Thunderball' sees Sean Connery return to the role that made him famous twelve years after his previous Bond film. There are some changes in this edition to update it from the sixties to the eighties; most notably rather than seizing control of a Vulcan bomber SPECTRE gets an agent, Jack Petachi, to switch the practice warheads in two cruise missiles to live nuclear weapons which SPECTRE member Maximilian Largo takes control of then attempts to blackmail the world. As chance would have it Bond was being treated as the same clinic as Petachi; this is the clue he needs to investigate the apparently clean Largo on a trail that leads from The Bahamas to the South of France to North Africa.

This might be an 'unofficial' Bond film but it is still pretty good and apart from missing famous James Bond Theme and opening you could be excused for thinking this was part of the official series. Connery managed well in the roll despite being rather old for an action hero; he might not be as tough as in his earlier films but he still has a screen presence. The film's real weakness is that it compares poorly with Thunderball and in some ways seems more dated than original despite being made nearly twenty years later... the video game sequence suffers particularly in this regard. Other flaws include a sound track that is just not-Bond and a villain who seems too petty for a member of SPECTRE. All Bond films feature a variety of attractive women and this one is no exception; most notable are Barbara Carrera who plays psychotic SPECTRE agent Fatima Blush and Kim Basinger who plays Domino; Petachi's sister and Largo's lover; the former is memorably for her over the top performance as she prepares to dispatch Bond but the latter is a fairly forgettable character.

Over all I'd say this is a decent film that certainly shouldn't be avoided by Bond purists; just don't expect anything as good as Thundball.

This is a terribly uninteresting movie and it's amazing that after a dozen year absence as Bond, Sean Connery would pick THIS picture for a comeback. They must have offered him TONS of $$--no other explanation makes sense. The biggest problem is that instead of creating a movie for Connery, they just chose to re-make one of Connery's previous Bond films! Why not something new instead of a second-rate remake of a film he already did?! Well, it turns out the studio could NOT get the rights to Bond, though, because of a loophole, they could legally re-make Thunderball! This is a rotten excuse to make the film.

Apart from the beautiful Kim Basinger, there is nothing about this movie that makes it better than the original (THUNDERBALL)--in fact, the original is so much better. Because of this, it seems like the makers of the film had contempt for the audience--they didn't even bother giving them something new! Particularly uninteresting is the character played by Barbara Carrera, though Klaus Maria Brandaur isn't much of a villain as well.

My biggest feeling is WHY--Why was this film made in the first place?!

As I have said before, I love James Bond, and the Sean Connery Bonds are some of my favourites of the franchise. Never Say Never Again is not the best Bond, but it was very solid on the whole and was a welcome return for the master of suavity and charisma Sean Connery. The plot is a tad bloated and lurches badly at times, but there is much to enjoy. Even after a twelve year absence, Connery is a great presence and provides a perfect balance of comedy and authenticity. The costumes, cinematography and scenery are suitably lavish, the set pieces and action are very well done and the music (score and theme song combined) is excellent. Max Von Sydow, Barbera Carrera and Klaus Maria Brandauer are wonderful to watch, as is Kim Bassinger, while the script is smart and arch. I especially loved Q's remark about gratuitous sex and violence. In conclusion, a solid Bond film, I was worried initially but I needn't be, the girls, locations and Connery were enough for me to enjoy it. 8/10 Bethany Cox