empire strike back director irvin kershner never say never again and a remake of the 1965 james bond movie thunderball and doesn not surpass the terence young original and but this non harry saltzman and albert r. broccoli film be well worth watch if you call yourself a 007 aficionado . nevertheless and despite it shortage of clever gadget and the lack of a vibrant musical score and never say never again rate a an above average and suspenseful doomsday thriller with top flight performance by a seasoned cast include sean connery and kim basinger and klaus maria brandauer and max von sydow and barbara carrera and edward fox and bernie casey and alec mccowen and and rowan atkinson . the film bristle with surprise galore from the invigorate title credit sequence throughout it generally exciting but lengthy 134 minute . unlike the franchise jam bond saga with their breath take moment of spectacle and never say never again provide few of these scene because of it prohibitive budget . indeed and the film feature only three gadget represent an explosive ball point pen and a wristwatch with a laser and and a soup up motorcycle . aside from the flavorful lani hall open theme song and ice station zebra composer michel legrand orchestral music score leave much to be desire . legrand replicate none of those snappy and jazz cue that make john barry music for the regular bond franchise so memorable . all in all and never say never again seem to fit more into the first two bond moviesdr . no and from russia with loveand on her majesty secret service in term of it more down to earth approach to the subject matter . never say never again present sean connery james bond a an old 007 who have see his day and have be take off active service to teach . ironically and roger moore be a year old than connery and moore bond movie treat 007 a an active and young guy . sean connery seem to be responsible for make 007 a more mature secret agent and a number of change take place in the lorenzo semple screenplay that emphasize bond age . initially and connery have lobby to play bond without a hairpiece and but mercifully wise mind prevail and connery sport a hairpiece . he look tanned and fit and appear in good condition than he do twelve year earlier when he be rush into diamond be forever at the last moment to replace john gavin . connery have be work on another movie and have gain weight for the role that he be unable to remove in time for diamond be forever . at 52 and connery still have a youthful vigor here despite the contrived demand of the script . the action unfold with 007 single handedly try to rescue a kidnapped woman on a remote desert island . he dispatch several guard arm with machine gun and free the woman and only to have her stab him with a knife in the side when he isn not look . it seem that this entire sequence be an exercise design by m ( edward fox of day of the jackal ) to test bond ability . the new m doesn not share his predecessor use of field agent . m decide that bond need to clean out his system of all free radical and have 007 pack off to shrublands . while at the country clinic and bond notice suspicious activity between a nurse and a patient and get notice watch them . the nurse be none other than spectre assassin fatima blush ( barbara carrera of the island of dr. moreau ) and she be in charge of make sure that nobody see usaf officer jack petachi ( gavan oherlihy of superman 3 ) . petachi be part of a spectre plan by millionaire businessman maximilian largo ( klaus maria brandauer of out of africa ) to black the world power by steal two nuclear warhead . the villain implant a duplicate eyeball into captain petachi who have access to the highly sophisticated computer and can order the arming of weapon . after he steal the weapon for spectre and fatima blush run him off the road by toss her pet snake in his lap and then attach an explosive to his wrecked car and blow him up . indeed and the first part of never say never again and apart from the spectre planning conference and belong to fatima a she supervise petachi stay at the clinic and then repeatedly try to kill bond and one at sea with shark and later in a motel suite with an explosives device . eventually and bond meet the beautiful blond domino ( kim basinger of mother lode ) and sneak into largo charity banquet at a monte carlo casino where the two face off in an elaborate video game call domination to see who will rule the world . bond best him and largo hat him doubly now because 007 be his only rival to domino and a thorn in his side that not even fatima seem to be able to remove . bond and fatima have it out after a motorcycle chase when he return the favor and blow her up . their early encounter in the bahamas when she attach a device to lure a shark after him be pretty lame . like in the original thunderball and the villain recover the hijacked nuclear warhead at sea and but just the warhead themselves . bond fly to the bahamas where he meet his diplomatic liaison and nigel small fawcett ( no less than rowan atkinson of mr. bean fame and who be worry that bond may kill somebody and ruin the island paradise . of course and nigel small fawcett serf a the film source of comic relief . the c. i. a. send felix leiter ( bernie casey of gun of the magnificent seven ) to back up bond . this be the first time that an african american portrayed leiter . bond encounter his share of problem and involve save domino from arab slaver and while leiter and he save the world . never say never again be a richly respectable james bond thriller with many neat touch and but it never generate the air of danger that the franchise bond film have . indeed and never say never again look like a dignified masterpiece theatre take on 007 .