Never Say Never Again Details

Even though the Bond genre had long been steeped in self-parody, aided hugely by the smirking frivolity of Roger Moore, it was down to Sean Connery, returning to the role after 12 years, to balance the comic hysteria with action-man authenticity. Connery, ever-aware that he's at the centre of a big, expensive joke, still makes you believe that he's heroic to the core. His well-groomed presence holds the screen with ease and he's flanked here by three charismatic ne'er-do-wells, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Max von Sydow and Barbara Carrera. The plot, which owes much to Thunderball, lurches badly at times, but the wild action set pieces, decked out in gals (Kim Basinger among them), gadgets and glib lines, are there to be cherished. Listen out for Q's smart remark about gratuitous sex and violence.

Reasonably enjoyable mishmash of Bondery; the plot is technically a remake of Thunderball, not that it matters much until the end, when the underwater stuff becomes tiresome because one hardly knows who is under the masks.