8mm Forum: Never Say Never Again 1983

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Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on June 25, 2013, 06:52 AM:

NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN 1983
Starring Sean Connery, Kim ‘corr’ Basinger, Klaus Brandauer and Barbara Carerra

Well where to start… This particular film has quite a history attached to it as Sean Connery returned for the last time to play James Bond 007 mainly through a legal loophole. I can remember going to see this at my local cinema and was blown away by it and also Kim Basinger, particularly as I was only in my 20’s. Another point of interest was that when I left the cinema I then went to see Octopussy with Roger Moore as 007 which was also very enjoyable and surprising to see two 007 products ran at pretty much the same time although Sean was much more interesting in his Bond return role I found. The new Roger Moore and Sean Connery films were also reported and got to be known as 'battle of the Bonds' for obvious reasons. Max Von Sydow steps into the role as head of the dreaded SPECTRE and what a beastly chap he turns out to be in this remake of Thunderball. The story runs that Bond is out of shape so M proposes he goes to a spa to get himself back together effectively. 007 soon unearths a plot finding the two nuclear weapons are going to be snatched so he follows this up with some memorable action sequences, love scenes including and a sprinkling of comedy from our Rowan Atkinson. In the past a couple of the special effects have been criticised as being a bit fake looking, but I have to say that when watching the film on the big scope screen it looks pretty amazing and good enough for its day. The British all powerful censors had a field day with this film making a number cuts including the horse jump into the sea sequence which was deemed far to shocking for the UK audiences.

In 1983 Never Say Never Again could be seen in 70mm with 6 track sound and also 35mm film. The film cost something like $36,000,000 to make and a much bigger budget than Octopussy which is interesting. In 1987 Derann Films printed news that Bond would be back, this time on Super 8 Scope and would only be for sale in the U.K. Derann eventually released a 2 X 600ft edited version of the film which ran very well keeping the key scenes and the story intact which was some feat for a film over two hours long in the first place. The print quality was excellent with vibrant colour and a bench mark print. I’m guessing they toyed with a full feature release as well but perhaps licensing or sheer cost prohibited it who knows.

The music was composed by Michel Legrand and it flows through the film nicely once again for a 1980’s movie. Another little point of interest is that the CD sound track contains additional music cut from the film and it makes for a good play particularly in your home cinema as people arrive. Strangely the CD often sells for quite a price now being well out of print but it is worth keeping an eye open for.

This 2X600ft makes for a very enjoyable hour in sprawling scope particularly the motorcycle sequence and the gals spreading out across the screen on sunny sandy beaches no less.

So, Sean Connery came back for the last time as 007 James Bond although we should Never Say never Again should we.

Print A+ Sound A+
Price in 1987 was £125.99
Posting to you was £1.75

Rare lobby card

Infamous horse jump!

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on June 25, 2013, 08:10 AM:

Great review Lee. I disagree about the selection of Michel Legrand for the soundtrack. I thought it was aweful. But the film was good none the less. Kevin McLory and Jack Whittingham had quite a battle to get it made. And of course the title actually came from Sean's wife because he had said he would never play James Bond again. I believe he was originally to be creative consultant but change his mind when production started. It was a real bonus for us hard core Bond fans to have two 007 films out at the same time. I did prefer Connery's film over Moore's.

PatD [Smile]

Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on June 25, 2013, 02:58 PM:

Hi Pat and glad you liked my enthusiastic review. The soundtrack CD does have quite a following amongst collectors which perhaps contributes to its 30 bucks asking price in the US. Soundtrack collectors seem to regard it as a refreshing change from the usual Bond beat and the composer was of course best known for the Thomas Crown Affair work which probably secured him the job. I’m amongst the fans of the sound track and the CD is of the highest quality and recommended listening to accompany this super 8 release. Also look out for the collectable lobby cards which do look excellent in the foyer.
Five tracks on the CD were cut from the final edit of the film so worth getting for that alone.

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on June 25, 2013, 07:42 PM:

Hi Lee

I do have the ST CD . Being a 007 collector it was a must have. I missed out on a S8 copy of the film on one of the dealers pages last year. Just not as quick as 007!

As far as Connery...he stepped back into the role like he never left it.

PatD [Eek!]

Posted by Laksmi Breathwaite (Member # 2320) on June 25, 2013, 10:46 PM:

Where do I get one? But my favorite is THUNDERBALL! Hey Pat do have one some where?

Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on June 26, 2013, 03:12 AM:

It does come up for sale Pat certainly over here where the prints were supposed to be limited to. There have been a couple of prints sold this year but they do move quite quickly particularly if complete with original artwork boxes.

Laksmi. I always enjoy your pictures and enthusiasm for film.
Well done!

Posted by Graham Sinden (Member # 431) on July 15, 2013, 06:09 PM:

Excellent review Lee. This is one of my favourite cutdowns not least because its great to have James Bond on super 8 scope, but the Derann print is also excellent quality and very sharp. My only gripe is that it could have been edited a little better (but then editing is a personnel thing as we all have our own favourite scenes). I would have preferred a shorter clip of the computer game sequence and included the full opening sequence after the main titles. It would also have been good to include some of the fight sequence early on in the film as I think this is missing in the Derann cutdown. But like you say its difficult cutting out half the film, over an hour, to make the 2x600 and overall Derann have done a very good job and I love having Bond on super 8. As stated above, the film flows very well and most of the key scenes are in this cutdown.

One of my favourite lines in the film is when Bond saw his hotel room blown up he states that he made the right decision, about what she says, Bond then calmy says "Your place or mine"

My copy is Stereo. Not sure if Derann sold this in both Mono and Stereo like Gremlins?

Graham S

Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on July 20, 2013, 01:40 PM:

Wondered where you had got to young Mr Sinden.
I think Derann later offered it in Stereo as well but only mono early on if memory serves me right. It’s really nice to know this title also has a 70mm print link and I also soon found myself collecting NSNA lobby cards and the like. Quite an addictive film with an interesting production history and the last time Mr Connery played 007.

Posted by Graham Sinden (Member # 431) on July 21, 2013, 01:20 PM:

Just purchased the soundtrack CD off Amazon for that full NSNA experience [Smile]

Graham S

Posted by Robert Crewdson (Member # 3790) on July 21, 2013, 01:45 PM:

[ July 24, 2013, 12:31 PM: Message edited by: Robert Crewdson ]

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on July 21, 2013, 02:15 PM:

To be honest, I really enjoyed Geotge Lazenby in the role, his
OHMSS, had more than it's share of beauties, a great villain and
superb score.As much fun as you could have while keeping your
clothes on.

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on July 21, 2013, 03:08 PM:

I missed out on a copy of this on one of the vendors lists a few months ago for 75.00. You snooze, you loose! [Frown]

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on July 21, 2013, 06:41 PM:

Not to worry Pat, they always resurface again. I'll keep a weather
eye open for you in case it does.

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on July 21, 2013, 08:24 PM:

Thanks Hugh! Nice to know you got my back [Wink]

Posted by Brian Stearns (Member # 3792) on July 24, 2013, 12:19 AM:

Yeah, OHMSS is my favorite Bond story. I have a whole bunch of memorabilia from the show. Abc first showing on tv they edited it heavy into two nights. The opening sequence shows sky chase sequence a narrator impersonating Bond explains things.I have it on dvd OK quality. there must be a print floating around of that tv cut.

In my opinion it's the best James Bond story. I'm in the crowd which believes Thunderball is the best movie. Anyways it would have been interesting if Connery or Moore played Bond in the film.

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