Never Say Never Again
With a title based on the anecdote about Connery signing off of Diamonds Are Forever with the words "Never Again", we have this non-EON Bond, which only came about because of disputed co-authorship of Thunderball - and it's a retread of that particular movie.
This works for me better than the Moore movies of the same era for a number of reasons. Firstly, whilst they are the same age, the 53 year old Connery still looks in good shape (we have numerous shots of his torso to prove it), and is credible as the ageing spy. You can kind of see why women still fancy him. The story has a little more pizzaz than Moore's recent entries before this, and is directed efficiently by Irving Kershner. Kim Bassinger is sexy, but a little too young looking to really suit Connery's persona. M is as mad as a brush as played by Edward Fox, and I do like the Q in this one (here not called Q, but 'Algernon') - they play him as a typical English build-things-in-your-garden-shed practical engineer, and he's nothing but pleased to see Bond. Part of the story is the 00-section have been disbanded, but the emergency means M has to reactivate them, and in Algy's words, "Good to see you Mr. Bond. Things've been awfully dull 'round here. I hope we're going to see some gratuitous sex and violence in this one!"
I like the villains too, the new Largo is played by Klaus Maria Brandauer as a more complex villain than usual, and also Blofeld is nicely underplayed by Max Von Sydow. This Blofeld is a million miles from Doctor Evil, and is more like Moriarty. This is counteracted by a rather good villainess "Fatima Blush", who is deliberately pantomime and fun.
There's some decent set pieces - such as Bond fighting a huge henchman in a health spa (who comically appears to be dispatched by Bond's urine sample, for a brief moment anyway), and a chase involving Bond on a motorbike.
Okay, it wasn't perfect, but after watching several Moores, and feeling less and less interested, it was good to see Connery back.
And you know what, I think I realise why, for me, Connery is the best Bond. I like him. I like watching him. I get why women go for him, other than because the scripts say they should. He has great charisma and charm in the Bond suit. Not many stars can bring that. Off the top of my head, it's maybe Connery and Burt Reynolds that can do that from this era. I can't think of one from this era who can.
Okay it's not perfect, but it's engaging and fun. And Connery helps that an awful lot.
Oh and I prefer it to Thunderball
68/100