Never say never again DVD Re=Release ?
Denzil2222
Posts: 77MI6 Agent
When will Never say never again next be re=released on DVD ?
Denzil2222
Posts: 77MI6 Agent
Comments
It was reissued on Blu Ray in the last few years. No extras though.
There's a lot of ditched material that could be used, a lot ended up on the editing suite, but it's a labour of love and Mikey and Babs have no love for it.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Bond: “I must be dreaming.”
considering SPECTRE is what they did when they finally gained control of McClory's rights, and SPECTRE also recycles elements of Thunderball, they cant be dissing Never Say Never Again without inviting close scrutiny as to how successfully they themselves ended up using those same intellectual properties
Not a particular fan of the wasted opportunity that was Spectre, but it's merely mediocre whereas NSNA is truly terrible. Terrible score, cheap looking and crass.
I don't think it's relevant whether NSNA is better or worse than Spectre. Spectre is part of the series, NSNA is part of McClory's legacy, and that's good enough for me to ignore it. Shame we can't eradicate his name from Thunderball.
That's not really fair, much of Thunderball wouldn't be what it is without McClory.
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
They said bad things about you. I wasn't standing for that B-)
www.justgiving.com/inMemoryOfLewisCollins
www.helpforheroes.org.uk
I think that you are right. However I could be more fondly disposed to it if it was a lot better, but it would need to be a lot better...
Fleming tried that and look where it got him. If he had been a little less arrogant and willing to give credit to his collaborators, none of the mess involving McClory and Whittingham would have happened. Bond fans tend to overlook Fleming's culpability.
To remove McClory from the equation will produce a butterfly effect. Like him, hate him, not only was he was so integrally involved in the development of Thunderball, he had a direct role in the genesis of the cinematic version of James Bond. He was to the EON James Bond series as Hitler was to NASA.
Indeed...
Roger Moore 1927-2017
You're usually a very reasonable person, but can you explain why you think NSNA is better than OP? I recently watched the unofficial version of NSNA with the music replaced by tracks from EON Bond films and it wasn't any better.
GM is more than capable of speaking for himself, but I would assume that a past his best Connery trumps Sir Roger even in a substandard outing.
A Bond film is far more than the actor playing Bond. For instance, most people here would rank The Spy Who Loved Me above Diamonds Are Forever.
Yeah, I can't agree that NSNA comes anywhere close to OP. Out of the Moore films, I would only rate it higher than TMWTGG.
I agree, but for me even though DAF is poor even a glimmer of the Connery presence over compensates (he's not my favourite Bond BTW) Completly understand that others more well disposed to Roger as Bond would see it very differently.
Yes, a big part of it is that Sean Connery is in the film. His Bond will always trump Moore's for me, even though I like Moore. What's even better is that Connery plays the part with an acknowledgement to aging, something the Moore films never did, with the possible exception of recognizing how young Holly was in FYEO. Bond is still tough but more relaxed, if a bit less self-assure. As with James T. Kirk the year before, I found the acknowledgement of middle age refreshing.
But I find NSNA a better film for a variety of other reasons:
1) The production is very much in the vein of a 1960s film, which I find superior to the 80s ones in terms of scope, locations, and cinematography. The lush and beautiful Bahamas in particular is eminently more interesting to me than dusty and muddy India, for instance. That's not a slam against the country but how OP chose to film it. It seems like India is always shown the same way in western films -- hot, damp, and decaying or grown over.
2). Klaus Maria Brandauer's Largo is far more interesting than Louis Jourdan's Khan. Even though I already know the plot, Largo is unstable and unpredictable, and Brandauer imbues him with that energy. Jourdan, who's a likeable actor, plays Khan like a joyless heavy. That worked when he played Dracula -- probably my favorite version of the character -- but just seems uninspired here.
3). While NSNA is another version of TB, OP is a thinly reworked GF -- rich guy with a mute Asian thug (literally) of a henchmen bent on using a weapon of mass destruction to increase his power with a woman of means who could as easily be an enemy as an ally. Instead of the Red Chinese and North Koreans helping out, he's got the Russians. But GF had both a lavish production and a sense of panache. OP often seems like a typical tired 80s film.
4) Speaking of henchpeople, Barbara Carerra is far more interesting than Gobinda, and her reinterpretation of Fiona Volpe as Fatima Blush gives her the same sense of danger but in an equally creative way. And though he is in the film far too briefly, Max Von Sydow's Blofeld is among the best onscreen interpretations and a throwback to the ironic "Father Christmas" sense that got Jan Werich cast in YOLT. And I actually like Edward Fox's version of M more watchable than Robert Brown's. I like Bernie Casey as Leiter.
5). Irwin Kershner's direction was more inspired than John Glen's. You can see it in the camera sets ups, as well as the use of lighting and shadow. Again, it approximates, within the limitations of the 1980s, what the 60s films did. OP has the same flat look as any of the 80s films.
I could go on, but rather than do that, I'll point out some of the problems with NSNA:
1) Bad soundtrack. There's no doubt that Michel LeGrand, who is capable of epic, action-oriented scores (Ice Station Zebra, for instance) turns in perhaps the most bland and unlistenable of any Bond film score, and that includes the 1967 version of CR. Replacing Phyllis Hyman's excellent but perhaps too EON Bondian title song with the atrocious Lani Hall warbling was a big mistake:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBvDSbFdgic
At the same time, I don't find "All Time High" among John Barry's best title songs, though is incidental music is good.
2) Rowan Atkinson. Yes, comic relief is part and parcel to an otherwise "serious" escapist film, but he just makes the movie campy when it's unnecessary. Perhaps this is because Lorenzo Semple helped write the screenplay. But at the same time, the concept is no stupider than the Tarzan yell or "Sit!" in OP.
3) Stunts. The opening sequence is pretty good, as is the motorcycle chase, which is probably the highlight of the film in terms of action. The commando attack on Largo was a throwback to the 60s films and something we just don't see anymore in Bond, but it could have been longer and more exciting. Still, the only sequence in OP that seems better is the minijet bit at the beginning, which unfortunately is marred by some obvious scaffolding for the jet and dodgy rear projection.
4) The limitations of being an unofficial Bond film. It was obvious that the filmmakers had to tread very carefully to avoid anything that might lead to further legal action. For instance, missing are the gun barrel, Bond theme, and various visual trademarks that include having to make MI:6 headquarters look different, Bond drive something other than an Aston Martin or Lotus, and throwbacks to the 1965 film (eyepatch for Largo; Blush driving a Mustang; jet pack, though here they used those goofy rocket platforms). This meant an obviously different visual and aural aesthetic for the very things that distinguish a Bond film I'm rather surprised they got as much of a feel for a Bond film as they did.
5) Kim Basinger. Much has been made about the limitations of her acting. I don't find her particularly appealing, but then I don't think Maude Adams is a master thespian either.
So, for me, NSNA is the better of the two films. I might not have felt the same way if, say, NSNA had been released with FYEO. But in many ways, it's a lot more of a Bond film than OP, which other than being an official production, seemed a less interesting entry into the series.
The years. A very poor outing, infact I've never been able to watch it all the way through without skipping
Entire scenes.
I know some like Barbara Carerra but IMHO she sooooooooooooooooo over acts, she may as well be in
A Pantomime. Brandauer also seems to think it's panto season . Neither of them is trying for a nuanced
Performance.
Give me Octopussy any day ! -{ Louis Jourdan can express so much from a simple raised eyebrow, than
All the over the top hysterics of Brandauer. Sometimes less is more.
Yet all have so many different opinions. Usually you are correct about most things Gassy Man ...
.... Odd you can be so wrong with this !