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1983, Color
Aspect Ratio:
2.35:1/16x9
Dolby Digital Stereo
Surround
2 Hr 13 min, Rated
PG-13
Staring Sean
Connery, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Max Von Sydow, Barbara Carrera, and Kim
Basinger.
Directed by Irvin
Kershner. Based on
an original story by Kevin McClory.
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0 |
5 |
| Entertainment: |
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| Video Quality: |
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| Audio: |
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| Extras: |
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| Violence: |
mild |
| Sex: |
mild |
| Language: |
no |
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Essentially a remake of "Thunderball", NSNA is not recognized by
EON as an official film.
SPECTRE has
managed to steal two nuclear warheads and is threatening the world with them. 007 is
on the case in the Bahamas where he meets SPECTRE heavy Largo, his kept woman Domino, and
the devious Fatima Blush. With the help of his old pall Felix Letier, Bond recovers
the warhead and saves the day.
After a
lengthy legal battle, Kevin McClory secured the rights to do a remake of the phenomenal
"Thunderball". 007 fans, myself included, can only speculate as to why he didn't leave
well enough alone, or as to what motivated Sean Connery to be a part of it.
"Never Say Never Again" presents an aging Bond pulled out of
retirement, a part befitting Connery at the time. In this story, Domino's brother is
a heroin addict, bought by SPECTRE to help steal the bombs. Though there are some
other more subtle deviations, the rest plays out much the same as "Thunderball". The
most strict Bond fans regard it today as a "B" action movie but in retrospect,
when seeing it in the theater as a young man, I was oblivious to the 'legal' issue and
rather enjoyed it, despite the lack of familiar Bond music.
The film does have its
problems. The musical score is poor, and pacing is erratic. Sometimes the story
whips by at break neck speed, at others it plods along. The film does have a couple of
redeeming values worth mentioning. Foremost is Barbara Carrera who turns in a wild
performance as Fatima Blush. She steals the scene whenever she's in it.
Also a positive is the motorcycle chase. Unlike other sections in the film, it is an
excellent bit of action. Its only fault is the lack of bystanders and extras that
give a scene 'life'.
The very first DVDs released
for this movie were missing a scene in the middle of the film. The title has since been remastered to include the footage.
The visual quality of the DVD is an almost distracting mix of
quality. Blacks are mostly deep but at times washed out. Similar inconsistencies
are noted for color, depth, detail, and sharpness. The print used for the master is
likely to be blamed in part. Most portions are in pristine condition, while select few are
terribly scratched. The soundtrack exhibits similar inconsistencies as it
goes from articulate to smeared. Artifacts like hiss and distortion are noted, but
only occasionally. On the whole, it presents an integrated, ambient
soundfield,
lacking sorely in dynamics.
The only
extras are a trailer and the booklet.
"Never Say
Never Again" is not included in any of the gift set volumes but is available for purchase
separately.
Bond's Drink of choice: A Simple Vodka Martini:
- 2 1/4 oz. vodka
- 1/2 oz. dry vermouth
- A lemon peel
The ingredients come together in a shaker (stainless
steel), with a handful of ice. Shake (of course) until the drink is cold. Some
consider eight shakes to be 'correct'.
Strain into martini glass (a.k.a. cocktail glass) and
enjoy.
Though variations are almost limitless, common ones
include replacing the vodka with a 3:1 combination of regular vodka and a citrus variety
of vodka or gin, keeping the ratio of vodka(s) to vermouth at around 4:1.
Bond's Casino Game of choice
There are some discrepancies here when it comes to what is
thought of as Bonds Casino game of choice. Most quote Baccarat as being
the game (in Goldeneye, the Zenya character refers to it as one of their
shared passions) but as the bellow sample rules show, in Baccarat no place
"chooses" to draw a card as Bond appears to do in several of the movies.
There is a variation on Baccarat called Chemin-de-fer (as mentioned by Bond
himself in Dr.No) where players do have some latitude of choice, but rules for
that game were hard to find (we'll update this page if we ever come across a
credible source).
Sample Baccarat game rules:
Interestingly, though the movies and real life casinos
give the game an air of sophistication, it is actually very simple with little strategy
beyond choosing how much to bet and on whom (player or bank).
Each player gets a turn handling the 'shoe', the box
containing 8 decks of shuffled cards. There is no advantage to handling the
shoe, and it is really an ambiance inducing formality, but you must bet the bank when you have
it. Any player can pass the shoe of they prefer.
Each table has 15 seats for players and is manned by
three dealers, two to handle the money, and the third, the caller, manages the cards
(with that cool looking paddle). The caller runs the game by its strict rules.
Two hands of two cards are dealt, the 'player' hand and
the 'bank' hand. A third card may be drawn according to the rules below. The
hand with the highest value at the end wins. Face cards are worth 10,
while all other
cards are taken at their respective number value, the ace being 1. Hands can only
have a value of 1 to 9, as any value of 10 gets dropped. Examples:
A hand with a jack
and a 4 has a value of 4. A hand with a 9 and a 5, though totaling 14, has a value
of 4. A 5 and a 4 has a value of 9, and so on.
The player hand is played first. If the first two
cards yield a value of 8 or 9, it is called a 'natural' and the hand stays. If the
first two cards total 6 or 7, the hand also stays. With a value of 5 or less, a
third final card is drawn for the player hand.
The bank hand is then played. With a value of 7
or greater in the first two cards, the bank hand stands. If the first two cards
total 0, 1, or 2, the bank must draw its third and final card. If the value of
the first two cards is 3 through 6, the value of the player's third card determines
whether the bank stands or draws its third and final card as per the following:
| Value of 2 card bank hand |
Draw if player's third card
is: |
Stand if player's third card
is: |
| 3 |
1 through 7 or 9 through 10 |
8 |
| 4 |
2 through 8 |
1 or 8 through 10 |
| 5 |
4 through 7 |
1 through 3 or 8 through 10 |
| 6 |
6 or 7 |
1 through 5 or 8 through 10 |
If that seems complex, don't give it a thought.
The caller handles the whole thing. Again, all you have to do is decide whether you
are betting on the player or the bank, and how much. Winning bets are paid
1:1. The house keeps 5% of winning bets made on the bank. This
"vigorish" is
not paid each hand, but tracked by the dealers and is usually collected when the shoe is
depleted. If the play ends with the same value in both hands, it is a tie and all
money is returned. It is possible to bet on a tie, and it pays 8:1, but
this is a very
long shot.
