The Strange History Of ‘Never Say Never Again’

Never Say Never Again is a James Bond film that stars Sean Connery as James Bond, a British MI6 agent with the designation 007 who dashes across the globe in a thrilling and seemingly never ending quest to save civilization from the craven schemes of supervillains bent on creating chaos, all the while enjoying dry martinis, bedding women of innumerable national origin, and sporting sharply tailed suits and tuxes.

In short, Never Say Never Again is a James Bond film.

But it isn’t a James Bond film.

Not officially.

That’s because Never Say Never Again was not produced by Eon Productions, the Cubby Broccoli-sired studio that’s delivered the vast majority of the Bond films you know and love—the result of a long-running agreement with Bond creator Ian Fleming (and subsequently Fleming’s estate).

So how, then, was Never Say Never Again made? The backstory is as complicated as a Bond film’s plot.

The key player was producer Kevin McClory, who developed the plot for what was to become Thunderball with Fleming as well as writer Jack Whittingham. The story was abandoned, but then novelized by Fleming, with no credit given to McClory or Whittingham.

McClory was successful in a subsequent copyright claim, and received two key items: production credit on the EON film adaptation of Thunderball, as well as the right to produce a different film of the story once ten years had elapsed.

The eventual result of all of that legalese? Never Say Never Again, essentially a Thunderball remake that officially sits outside of the James Bond canon.

But of course, it IS a Bond film. And it stars Sean Connery, who had vowed to ‘never again’ play Agent 007 following the 1971 release of the tepidly received Diamonds Are Forever. McClory, however, cunningly had included Connery as a consultant from the project’s beginnings, and was eventually able to lure Connery into the starring role.

So how, then, is the movie itself? The short answer: better than any movie twenty years in the making and starring a 52 year-old Bond (a fact the film has fun with) has any right to be.

It also provides a fascinating alternative to the Eon Bond films, which at the time were in the heart of the Roger Moore era. Perhaps it’s Connery’s swagger, but Never Say Never Again is very much a 60s film that happens to take place in 1983. At times, the cinematography produces a lush, classic Connery-era aesthetic. At other times, the combination of underwhelming 80s vehicles, dated hairstyles, and stilted dialogue is more reminiscent of contemporary TV shows The A-Team and Magnum, P.I. than 007 classics like Goldfinger or, yes, Thunderball.

That said, Connery is, as always, endlessly charming; the villainous one two-punch of Max Von Sydow and Klaus Maria Brandauer (as SPECTRE agents Blofeld and Maximillian Largo, respectively) is fabulously sinister with just the right touch of camp; and Kim Basinger’s character is compelling and gorgeous, if a bit underdeveloped.

Also intriguing? The movie was directed by Irvin Kershner, three years on from his director’s duties on The Empire Strikes Back.

Ultimately, Never Say Never Again is an anomaly, enjoyable and star-studded, but barred from official Bond-dom, fated to forever live in 007 limbo. (It also is expiring from Netflix on February 1, so watch it while you can!)

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