What do you think of Siskel & Ebert's review of Never Say Never Again?

Even without having watched that Youtube video in its entirety so far, critics were far more friendly regarding NSNA than "conventional wisdom" amongst today's Bond fans might imply. RT has 75 % "fresh" rating among top critics.

Janet Maslin wrote in the NYT (http://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/07/movies/sean-connery-is-seasoned-james-bond.html):

ONE of the key questions of the current film season can now be answered: This is the better Bond, and by a wide margin. It's not a matter of casting - though Sean Connery makes a welcome return in ''Never Say Never Again,'' Roger Moore has certainly done nicely with the role - but rather one of creaks. Last summer's ''Octopussy'' reworked the same old Bond formula in all its anachronistic glory, with 007 winking his way through the usual intrigue, a figure of devilish charm and inexhaustible vigor. In ''Never Say Never Again,'' however, the material has been successfully updated. Here, time has caught up with Bond - and he's very much the better for wear.

I remember that Richard Schickel in TIME Magazine went just as bonkers about it, and so did the German critics of the time. There was apparently no dispute at all in that NSNA was considerably better than its direct competitor, OCTOPUSSY.

Maybe I have fonder feelings for NSNA than most because I saw (and enjoyed) it several times before ever seeing THUNDERBALL. I therefore never came to consider NSNA as some sort of blasphemy and was in fact quite underwhelmed by TB itself afterwards, though in many respects (say, the score and the complete absence of Rowan Atkinson) I may still consider TB a (slightly) better movie than its copy.


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Ceterum censeo OCTOPUSSY esse delendam.

I've always enjoyed NSNA and I always will.

What's not to like about two 007 films in one year?

ant-mac

Whether not it's better than OP is hard to say, they both have their pros and cons. I think NSNA is a lot better than TB though. NSNA is at least #17 on my ranking list, where as TB is #23. Largo and Domino are so much more boring and blah in TB, and they really bring the movie down for me.

Verily I say unto thee...I find NSNA to be abysmal and as I have said before looks like an amateur dramatic company's attempt to do their own home movie version of THUNDERBALL whilst on a group holiday to the Bahamas.The middle aged and slightly portly actor/manager bore a resemblance to Sean Connery so cast himself as Bond and so as not to upset his elderly mother wore the blue denim romper suit that she bought him for his birthday.Absolutely terrible film although better than the putrid QoS which of course all other movies are.

Absolutely terrible film although better than the putrid QoS which of course all other movies are.
QOS continues to be in the discussion, thanks to Huge/Baps

Voting Tory will cause your wife to have bigger breasts and increase your chances of owning a BMW M3

I wonder if QOS is gonna win the "most mentioned film of the month" thread for December.

NSNA is not as hated outside the Bond fandom. It's a Bond film with Sean Connery, and that's enough for some.

I don't particularly like NSNA, but I don't dislike it either. It's reasonably entertaining with a great villain and interesting story twist of an "older Bond". It's problems, however, rest in that it's rather bland in every other area, and brings little to nothing new to the table other than said story twist, which has now been done better in the vastly superior Skyfall.

The return of Connery, and the superb Klaus Maria Branduer aside, this film was poor. Low production values, murky cinematography and an awful score.

Not a patch on a good EON effort, which Octopussy was not. It still deservedly beat this film at the box office though.