Does anyone regard 'Never Say Never Again' as better than Bonds 1-24?

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  • Napoleon PluralNapoleon Plural LondonPosts: 10,484MI6 Agent
    Eh, when does that happen? Will look at youtube clip again.

    Bike fender flies up in one shot doesn't it? Looks very rickety.
    "This is where we leave you Mr Bond."

    Roger Moore 1927-2017
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    Also Bond stopping to take the time to put on his Helmet, before giving chase :))
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • ironponyironpony Posts: 57MI6 Agent
    I don't think that NSNA is near as bad as a lot make it out to be. I would say it's around #16 for me, or around there. Certainly not in the bottom five or anything.
  • welshguy34welshguy34 Posts: 219MI6 Agent
    It's about on the same level as Diamonds are Forever. I am not a fan of either, but Diamonds has more moments of brilliance.
  • WadsyWadsy Auckland, New ZealandPosts: 412MI6 Agent
    Interesting topic... LOL. I am responding to this as I do believe it is superior to one Bond film, and one only... Die Another Day.
    1. FYEO 2. OHMSS 3. LTK 4. FRWL 5. TLD 6. TSWLM 7. AVTAK 8. GF 9. MR 10. TB 11. OP 12. SF 13. DN 14. SP 15. LALD 16. GE 17. CR 18. YOLT 19. TWINE 20. TMWTGG 21. NTTD 22. TND 23. QOS 24. NSNA 25. DAD 26. DAF 27. CR '67

    1. Dalton 2. Moore 3. Connery 4. Lazenby 5. Craig 6. Brosnan
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    I prefer the Matt Helm and Derek Flint films
    Over NSNA :D
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • Matt SMatt S Oh Cult Voodoo ShopPosts: 6,616MI6 Agent
    Gymkata wrote:
    Can we all agree that the theme song is the worst of the lot? Seriously, every time someone cites the Madonna song as the worst, I send them a link to NSNA and they're shocked.

    Sorry, I can't agree on that. Even if it was worse, NSNA thankfully isn't part of "the lot".
    Visit my blog, Bond Suits
  • ChriscoopChriscoop Belize Posts: 10,458MI6 Agent
    SIR MILES.... Someones having a go at another way to die again! :o
    It was either that.....or the priesthood
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,924Chief of Staff
    Chriscoop wrote:
    SIR MILES.... Someones having a go at another way to die again! :o

    How very dare he :o
    He won’t last long here :v
    :))
    YNWA 97
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 4,140MI6 Agent
    question for those who know the McClory story and the development of the early Thunderball drafts:
    what is the behind-the-scenes history of the Fiona Volpe / Fatima Blush characters? they are the same character for all intents and purposes yet the name changes. Seems simple enough at first glance, Domino's surname keeps changing too.

    There is no such equivalent character in Fleming's book ... I remember a fellow agent here once persuasively arguing Fleming's Domino character was bifurcated into two characters in the original film, one good one bad. in the book Domino is a fiery tempered Italian, who like many Fleming females is a crazy, downright dangerous driver, and behaves much more impulsively than the more passive film character ... she is first introduced giving Bond a lift, mocking him as he tries to ingratiate himself, changing gears and driving much too fast through crowded market streets, then abandoning him in the parking lot of a resturant well outside of town where he has to call a cab. That does sound more like Fione Volpe than film-Domino to me!

    so, that seems simple too, yet... I know from Pearson's Fleming bio, in the very first prototypical draft, there was a character named Fatima Blush, but this was in an unrelated context (something to do with kidnapped film stars?). The name was not used in either the book nor the first film, nor was anything resembling that early plot.
    So, the question, for those who know the iterations of the proposed screenplay prior to Fleming writing his book: did this prototypical Fatima Blush evolve into Fiona Volpe, and Fleming just left her character out of the book?
    or was the character completely abandoned along with that original plot, and the name resurrected decades later to rename a completely different character?
  • ChriscoopChriscoop Belize Posts: 10,458MI6 Agent
    question for those who know the McClory story and the development of the early Thunderball drafts:
    what is the behind-the-scenes history of the Fiona Volpe / Fatima Blush characters? they are the same character for all intents and purposes yet the name changes. Seems simple enough at first glance, Domino's surname keeps changing too.

    There is no such equivalent character in Fleming's book ... I remember a fellow agent here once persuasively arguing Fleming's Domino character was bifurcated into two characters in the original film, one good one bad. in the book Domino is a fiery tempered Italian, who like many Fleming females is a crazy, downright dangerous driver, and behaves much more impulsively than the more passive film character ... she is first introduced giving Bond a lift, mocking him as he tries to ingratiate himself, changing gears and driving much too fast through crowded market streets, then abandoning him in the parking lot of a resturant well outside of town where he has to call a cab. That does sound more like Fione Volpe than film-Domino to me!

    so, that seems simple too, yet... I know from Pearson's Fleming bio, in the very first prototypical draft, there was a character named Fatima Blush, but this was in an unrelated context (something to do with kidnapped film stars?). The name was not used in either the book nor the first film, nor was anything resembling that early plot.
    So, the question, for those who know the iterations of the proposed screenplay prior to Fleming writing his book: did this prototypical Fatima Blush evolve into Fiona Volpe, and Fleming just left her character out of the book?
    or was the character completely abandoned along with that original plot, and the name resurrected decades later to rename a completely different character?
    This sounds like a choogle job to me.
    It was either that.....or the priesthood
  • ChriscoopChriscoop Belize Posts: 10,458MI6 Agent
    Gymkata wrote:
    Pistols at dawn, sir?

    -{
    Pistols? You're more likely to get a flick knife in the back from Sir M :))
    It was either that.....or the priesthood
  • ChriscoopChriscoop Belize Posts: 10,458MI6 Agent
    :)) ajb mods are amongst the most highly skilled stealth assassins in the world, ........ they can make your ajb world go dark with just one finger......
    When you can drag them away from the moderators lounge and their pints and pork scratchings in the silencer and bra strap that is ;)
    Gymkata wrote:
    Chriscoop wrote:
    Gymkata wrote:
    Pistols at dawn, sir?

    -{
    Pistols? You're more likely to get a flick knife in the back from Sir M :))

    Good think I practice Toad Style Kung Fu, then. He'll just have to figure out my weak spot.
    It was either that.....or the priesthood
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,924Chief of Staff
    Gymkata wrote:
    Pistols at dawn, sir?

    -{

    Luckily for you, I don’t get up that early ;%
    YNWA 97
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,619MI6 Agent
    Gymkata wrote:
    Pistols at dawn, sir?

    -{

    Don't worry, dogs that bark don't bite :D
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy Behind you !Posts: 63,792MI6 Agent
    There'll be an argument now over who has the
    Biggest pistol :))
    "I've been informed that there ARE a couple of QAnon supporters who are fairly regular posters in AJB."
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 4,140MI6 Agent
    I am aware there is a whole book on the history of Thunderball called The Battle for Bond, by Robert Sellers, which includes early versions of the screenplay. I've never found a copy of this book. But, the 007 MAGAZINE website does include 5 pages of excerpts, including this:
    Famously it was Ernest Cuneo, Fleming’s American friend, who came up with the earliest storyline for what eventually became Thunderball. Fleming liked it but criticised the lack of a heroine for his hero to dally with romantically, so suggested a new character, a beautiful double agent under M’s control, her name – Fatima Blush. It’s from her that Bond learns details of the spy plot. In the underwater battle finale Fatima would be on the enemy side and Fleming wrote: “Her appearance in tight-fitting black rubber suiting will make the audiences swoon.” After the underwater skirmish, Fleming continued, “The curtain goes down as Bond and Fatima kiss through their snorkels. My imagination has slightly run riot over this last scene but you see the point.”

    After this memo neither the name nor the character of Fatima Blush reappeared in any of the subsequent treatments or screenplays relating to Thunderball, nor in the novel or the 1965 film. Fleming too never reused it. But it was too good a name to ignore and McClory resurrected it for the black widow SPECTRE assassin played by Barbara Carrera in Never Say Never Again in 1983, thus becoming one of the few bona-fide Fleming contributions in the film.
    http://www.007magazine.co.uk/battle_for_bond.htm
    so that does expand that tantalising hint from the Pearson book! over the next four pages, there is no clue where Fiona Volpe came from, but there are some very different things that could have happened to Domino (and Felix!)
    For those that really don't like NSNA, skip to the last page and see what Connery had to say about it during its production!
  • Unloved SeasonUnloved Season Denton, TexasPosts: 48MI6 Agent
    I enjoy it and would rank it over at least a couple of the EON films. Certainly over DAD though I'd consider it about equal to DAF. I might prefer it to DAF because it does at least have the plot of Thunderball going for it while DAF has a pretty weak story.
  • ChriscoopChriscoop Belize Posts: 10,458MI6 Agent
    Higgins wrote:
    Gymkata wrote:
    Pistols at dawn, sir?

    -{

    Don't worry, dogs that bark don't bite :D
    You should tell that to the thief I saw this morning being spectacularly taken down by a police German Shepherd, which was Barking it's nuts off just seconds before being released by its handler, covering 60 odd meters in a few seconds then sinking it's teeth into the person of no permanent address and who likes to travel around s leg and arse :)) I don't think he'd believe you.
    It was either that.....or the priesthood
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,924Chief of Staff
    Higgins wrote:
    Gymkata wrote:
    Pistols at dawn, sir?

    -{

    Don't worry, dogs that bark don't bite :D

    That’s a bit harsh on him :o :p
    YNWA 97
  • WadsyWadsy Auckland, New ZealandPosts: 412MI6 Agent
    edited January 2018
    In terms of PTS’s, I would have to rank it over Tomorrow Never Dies and Die Another Day as they're just boring (the former) and pathetic (the latter).

    I dislike the Diamonds Are Forever and Quantum Of Solace themes as well, but I'd still give it the edge of NSNA. The rest of the bond themes, besides the other unofficial bonds I enjoy.
    1. FYEO 2. OHMSS 3. LTK 4. FRWL 5. TLD 6. TSWLM 7. AVTAK 8. GF 9. MR 10. TB 11. OP 12. SF 13. DN 14. SP 15. LALD 16. GE 17. CR 18. YOLT 19. TWINE 20. TMWTGG 21. NTTD 22. TND 23. QOS 24. NSNA 25. DAD 26. DAF 27. CR '67

    1. Dalton 2. Moore 3. Connery 4. Lazenby 5. Craig 6. Brosnan
  • HigginsHiggins GermanyPosts: 16,619MI6 Agent
    Back then, I thought that the 007 mesh at the beginning and the title song where the best bits on NSNA, even better than OP ;%
    President of the 'Misty Eyes Club'.

    Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
  • ChriscoopChriscoop Belize Posts: 10,458MI6 Agent
    Each to their own, but I find it just plays like a spoof film, I just don't get on with it at all, I keep expecting leslie nielson to pop up in a brown suit!
    It was either that.....or the priesthood
  • Matt SMatt S Oh Cult Voodoo ShopPosts: 6,616MI6 Agent
    Chriscoop wrote:
    Each to their own, but I find it just plays like a spoof film, I just don't get on with it at all, I keep expecting leslie nielson to pop up in a brown suit!

    Rowan Atkinson popping up makes up for the lack of Nielsen! I agree that is plays like a spoof. I find that the gags take me out of the story more than in any of Moore's films.
    Visit my blog, Bond Suits
  • ChriscoopChriscoop Belize Posts: 10,458MI6 Agent
    Matt S wrote:
    Chriscoop wrote:
    Each to their own, but I find it just plays like a spoof film, I just don't get on with it at all, I keep expecting leslie nielson to pop up in a brown suit!

    Rowan Atkinson popping up makes up for the lack of Nielsen! I agree that is plays like a spoof. I find that the gags take me out of the story more than in any of Moore's films.
    Much much more than in Sir Rogers films, Connery attempting such a script really doesn't work at all well for me, as I've said before Connery just seems to be going through the motions just to get a swipe in at Cubby.
    It was either that.....or the priesthood
  • Sir MilesSir Miles The Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,924Chief of Staff
    Apologies to all for our potty mouth imposter...I’ve removed some posts to try and get us back on track -{
    YNWA 97
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 38,078Chief of Staff
    It appears I missed all the fun! :))
  • BarbelBarbel ScotlandPosts: 38,078Chief of Staff
    Chriscoop wrote:
    question for those who know the McClory story and the development of the early Thunderball drafts:
    what is the behind-the-scenes history of the Fiona Volpe / Fatima Blush characters? they are the same character for all intents and purposes yet the name changes. Seems simple enough at first glance, Domino's surname keeps changing too.

    There is no such equivalent character in Fleming's book ... I remember a fellow agent here once persuasively arguing Fleming's Domino character was bifurcated into two characters in the original film, one good one bad. in the book Domino is a fiery tempered Italian, who like many Fleming females is a crazy, downright dangerous driver, and behaves much more impulsively than the more passive film character ... she is first introduced giving Bond a lift, mocking him as he tries to ingratiate himself, changing gears and driving much too fast through crowded market streets, then abandoning him in the parking lot of a resturant well outside of town where he has to call a cab. That does sound more like Fione Volpe than film-Domino to me!

    so, that seems simple too, yet... I know from Pearson's Fleming bio, in the very first prototypical draft, there was a character named Fatima Blush, but this was in an unrelated context (something to do with kidnapped film stars?). The name was not used in either the book nor the first film, nor was anything resembling that early plot.
    So, the question, for those who know the iterations of the proposed screenplay prior to Fleming writing his book: did this prototypical Fatima Blush evolve into Fiona Volpe, and Fleming just left her character out of the book?
    or was the character completely abandoned along with that original plot, and the name resurrected decades later to rename a completely different character?

    This sounds like a choogle job to me.

    Sorry for the delayed reply, but I've been resting & recuperating.

    Richard Maibaum's the one behind Fiona Volpe, either during his unfilmed screenplay for the version of TB that would have preceded DN or the one that actually got made. (Trying to trace characters through the different versions of that story under its many titles and by many different writers is a whole study in itself! Most of the characters change names- Domino becomes Gaby in one version, for example- then change back again.)
    Therefore, Fiona is an Eon character and McClory & co could not use her for NSNA- but they could use the name "Fatima Blush" since that name pre-dated Eon's involvement.
  • caractacus pottscaractacus potts Orbital communicator, level 10Posts: 4,140MI6 Agent
    thanks Barbel
    welcome back from your Secret Mission
  • ChriscoopChriscoop Belize Posts: 10,458MI6 Agent
    Isn't he good :007)
    It was either that.....or the priesthood
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