never say Never
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Never say never (Alternative title: James Bond 007 - Never say never) |
| Original title | Never say never again |
 | |
| Country of production |
United Kingdom , United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1983 |
| length | 128 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Irvin Kershner |
| script | Lorenzo Semple, Jr. |
| production | Jack Schwartzman |
| music | Michel Legrand |
| camera | Douglas Slocombe |
| cut | Ian Crafford |
| occupation | |
| |
Never Say Never , Also James Bond 007 - Never Say Never Again (Original Title: Never Say Never Again) is a James Bond film that was not produced by Eon Productions , but one last time with Sean Connery as Agent 007. It is a remake of the 1965 Bond film Fireball . The film started in German cinemas on January 20, 1984.
action
In a jungle base, Bond completed a simulated rescue operation as a training session, in which he failed because the kidnapped woman suddenly stabbed him. Thereupon he is sent by his new superior M, who doesn't think much of Bond, to a sanatorium to relax, where he is supposed to get rid of his “unbridled lifestyle”.
The criminal organization SPECTER, headed by Ernst Stavro Blofeld, plans to take control of two nuclear warheads under the code name “Tears of Allah” and to demand an annual ransom payment of 25% of the respective country's oil purchases. Blofeld himself is the commander in the background - responsible for operations at the front are No. 1 , Maximilian Largo, and No. 12 , Fatima Blush.
When he arrives at the sanatorium, Bond practices his own form of relaxation by eating caviar and foie gras that he has smuggled in , drinking vodka and having fun with his therapist. He happened to observe Fatima Blush, who is a nurse who is taking care of the recovery of Captain Jack Petachi of the US Air Force. In fact, she forces him to practice a “trick” at night, which she rewards with heroin. Bond observes this and is in turn discovered by Fatima, who sends a killer on his neck the following day, whom Bond can barely overpower.
Petachi was made addicted to heroin by SPECTER to make him compliant; his sister Domino is also under the influence of the organization. At the sanatorium, he is recovering from eye surgery in which an exact copy of the right eye of the President of the United States was placed in a corneal transplant. For example, he can fool the security system at a NATO base in Great Britain and have two dummy warheads replaced with real nuclear warheads. These are built into two cruise missiles , which Largo's team deflects during the subsequent test flight and lets them fall into the sea in a controlled manner. Underwater, Largo's men recover the cruise missiles and hide the warheads in two different places. Petachi is liquidated by Fatima Blush.
Reluctantly, M has to transfer the case to Bond. The only trace of the British secret service is that Petachi left the base without permission. Bond finds out that there is a connection between his disappearance, his own observations in the sanatorium and the disappearance of the nuclear warheads.
In Nassau , Bond gets in touch with the bumbling embassy attaché Nigel Small-Fawcett. While watching Largo's yacht , Bond meets Fatima Blush for the first time, who invites him to go on a diving excursion. During the trip to the diving area, the two of them have an erotic adventure below deck. Then Fatima tries to have it removed by sharks, but does not succeed. Her second attempt with an explosive charge under his hotel bed also fails, because Bond is amused at the time with a conquest in their room. He is bothered by a phone call from Small-Fawcett, who informs him that Largo's yacht has left for southern France.
In Nice , Bond receives support from MI6 agent Nicole and CIA agent Felix Leiter. He wants to get to this through Petachi's sister Domino, Largo's partner. Bond pretends to be a masseur on a wellness farm to get to know Domino. In the evening he meets her again at a charity ball hosted by Largo in Monte Carlo and introduces himself as James Bond. Largo intervenes and invites Bond to play “Domination”, a game about conquering countries that have to be hit with a laser beam on a screen. The loser is punished with electric shocks via the joysticks . Both progress into the game and it seems that Bond is losing, but in the decisive game he wins. He exchanged his prize money of US $ 267,000 for a dance with dominoes. While playing tango , he tells Domino that Largo let her brother work for him and then murdered him. Largo invites Bond to join his yacht for the next day.
Largo gives Fatima Blush one last chance to liquidate Bond. To challenge him, she murders Nicole in their villa just before Bond arrives there. Then she flees through the narrow streets of Nice in a Renault 5 Turbo , followed by Bond on a motorcycle specially prepared by Q. With the help of Largo's henchmen in other vehicles, she lures him into an ambush in a tunnel, but Bond manages to escape. He succeeds in following Fatima to the port in a warehouse, where they finally stand face to face and Fatima is about to finish off Bond. However, with the help of a fountain pen developed by Q, which can fire a small grenade, Bond blows up his opponent.
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In search of the bombs, Bond and Leiter also scrutinize Largo's yacht. Bond gets on board rather involuntarily, and Largo invites him to enjoy life on board. Too late he realizes that Domino has switched sides because she knows that Largo had her brother killed. Domino shows Bond a talisman, which Largo gave her as a token of love, which is also called "The Tears of Allah" and on which a card is written. Bond can broadcast a radio message that he is going to Palmyra in North Africa . There Largo puts him in a dungeon and lets Dominoes be offered for sale as a slave to local riders. Thanks to his watch, which can generate a laser beam, Bond is able to free himself from the chains and saves Domino on a horse from the castle. With it they jump over the cliffs into the sea and are rescued by Leiter and his people who have chased them with a submarine. From Largo, Bond learned that the first bomb in Washington, DC is located directly under the official residence of the President, where it can be found and defused.
Largo wants to place the second bomb under water at the "Tears of Allah", a hidden grotto off the Ethiopian coast. Bond notices that the map on Domino's talisman has the same outline as Largo's underwater location and that an embedded diamond marks the entrance. Together with Leiter, Bond goes to the grotto with rocket aircraft and attacks with some marines . Largo escapes with the nuclear warhead through an underwater tunnel and causes the grotto to collapse behind her with an explosion. Bond finds a second entrance through a well and chases Largo. An underwater battle ensues, in which Largo is finally killed by Domino with a harpoon, while Bond defuses the warhead.
At the end he is lying relaxed in Domino's arms in the pool when an intruder enters the property. It is Small-Fawcett who comes on behalf of the British government with a request that Bond should return, but he replies with a wink, "No, never again".
production
prehistory
The film was preceded by various legal disputes between the executive producer of the film, Kevin McClory , and the production company of the official Bond series, Eon Productions Ltd. Taliafilm, which was the Producers Sales Organization (PSO), was responsible for selling the worldwide distribution rights for Sag nie nie , and Warner Bros. acquired these for the USA and Constantin Film took over the theatrical distribution in Germany. The purchase of Orion Pictures by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer distribution rights came to this film in the hands of the distributors of the Eon Productions Ltd. produced series.
Since the film was not produced by the original bond makers around Albert R. Broccoli and EON Productions, their original logos and the soundtrack, including the James Bond theme and the action theme "007", were not allowed to be used. The beginning of the film is also completely atypical for a Bond film.
script
Never say never is based on the original book by Ian Fleming's Fireball , to which Kevin McClory held partial rights. In a legal dispute, he was given the opportunity to shoot a new version of Fireball , in which he had to stick to the original as closely as possible. However, some passages have been changed slightly. For example, Jack Petachi is killed by Fatima Blush in Sag Never Never , but Angelo as a double by François Derval von Largo himself in Fireball . In addition, the idea with the eye operation takes a different approach than in Feuerball , where Angelo underwent a full face operation in order to become François Derval. However, both versions do not agree with the novel, there the character is called Giuseppe Petachi and is simply bribed to work on the action. He is stabbed to death by one of Largo's henchmen while the atomic bombs are being recovered, so that there is one less confidante. There are many other adaptations to the zeitgeist, which led to Eon Productions trying to prevent the film from being released after shooting ended, arguing that the film did not adhere to the original as closely as it was due to the legal dispute was.
title
The idea for the title supposedly came from Sean Connery's wife. When Connery said to her after Diamond Fever that he would never play James Bond again, she is said to have replied "Never say never!"
In the final scene of the movie, reference is made to the title when Bond is asked when he will be returning to the secret service. He answers with “Never again.” And winks at the camera.
Film staff and cast
Sean Connery's contract stipulated that his approval was necessary for the selection of the director and the leading actors. Connery's first choice as a director was Richard Donner , but he declined. Then Irvin Kershner was signed.
Klaus Maria Brandauer was signed as Bond's opponent Maximilian Largo. Brandauer speaks the role in the original English language with a slightly German accent, and he also uses the word “Ja” several times instead of the English “Yes”, whereby Barbara Carrera once also responded to him with a “Ja? In the English version, he once said “nice conversation” to his guests, while the German soundtrack remains silent at the point.
Largo's assistant Fatima Blush is portrayed by Barbara Carrera. The Bond girl Domino Petachi, who allies with Bond, plays Kim Basinger.
The actors of the M , Edward Fox, and Ronald Pickup , who plays his assistant Elliott, have already stood together for The Jackal in front of the camera.
Bernie Casey plays the Felix Leiter. For the first time this figure is played by a colored man. In the 2006 version of “ Casino Royale ” this concept is repeated.
Alec McCowen plays the armorer Q, whose character and department is portrayed in this film in a completely different way than in previous official Bond films. In the film, this is justified by Q, who says that his salaries have been cut and that hardly any spare parts are being sent to him, "and if something comes, they go on strike!"
Pamela Salem appears in the role of Miss Moneypenny.
The well-known comedian Rowan Atkinson appears in a supporting role as Nigel Small-Fawcett , who 20 years later starred in the James Bond parody Johnny English .
Valerie Leon plays a small role known as the "Lady in Bahamas". She already appeared in The Spy Who Loved Me .
Filming
Filming began on September 27, 1982 and lasted until 1983. The film was shot in the Bahamas , France , England , Malta , Monaco , the USA (including Florida ) and Spain .
Gadgets
- Fountain pen 149 from Montblanc with Union Jack on the body and explosive missile
- Rolex wristwatch with laser beam cutting function
- Alleged shock-sensitive bomb in the form of his cigarette box
- Robust rocket-powered motorcycle
- One-man rocket-propelled aircraft, similar to a jet-pack system
Film music
The music for Sag Never Never was composed by the French composer Michel Legrand , who only had six to eight weeks for the soundtrack because he came to the project relatively late. The diversity of the soundtrack was praised, which has tango, jazz sounds and Caribbean rhythms. In addition to the title track Never Say Never Again , which was sung by Lani Hall , Legrand wrote another piece, Une Chanson D'Amour, with the vocals of Sophie Della. The soundtrack includes a total of 26 tracks.
Previously, the two songwriters Stephen Forsyth and Jim Ryan had already composed another song called Never Say Never Again as the theme song for the film and selected the soul singer Phyllis Hyman as the interpreter . She also sang the song, but Legrand prevented it from being published because he threatened to file a lawsuit on the grounds that he had the contractual rights to the title song. It wasn't until 2008 that this story became public and the song was published thirteen years after Hyman's death.
Soundtrack
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Tracks 1, 4, 7, 13 and 22 were not used in the film.
synchronization
The German dubbed version was made by Rainer Brandt Film in 1984. Rainer Brandt himself can be heard in a supporting role as a dominos dance teacher.
The scenes cut in the cinema were dubbed for the MGM / UA video release at Deutsche Synchron in 2001 - Traudel Haas and Jürgen Thormann were brought back into the studio, and Engelbert von Nordhausen replaced Connery's spokesman, GG Hoffmann, who had since passed away .
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| James Bond | Sean Connery |
Gert Günther Hoffmann , Engelbert von Nordhausen (New Scenes) |
| Ernst Stavro Blofeld | Max von Sydow | Wolfgang Kieling |
| Maximilian Largo | Klaus Maria Brandauer | Klaus Maria Brandauer |
| Fatima Blush | Barbara Carrera | Ursula Heyer |
| Domino Petachi | Kim Basinger | Traudel Haas |
| M. | Edward Fox | Jürgen Thormann |
| Miss Moneypenny | Pamela Salem |
Evelyn Maron , Karin Grüger (New Scenes) |
| Q | Alec McCowen | Heinz Theo branding |
| Felix Head | Bernie Casey | Edgar Ott |
| Nigel Small-Fawcett | Rowan Atkinson | Andreas Mannkopff |
| Jack Petachi | Gavan O'Herlihy | Norbert Langer |
| Nicole | Saskia Cohen Tanugi | Evelyn Marron |
premiere
Never Say Never premiered on October 6, 1983 in Los Angeles. On December 14th it celebrated its British premiere in London and on January 20, 1984 it was shown in German cinemas.
Aftermath
Financial success
Never Say Never was created on an estimated $ 36 million budget. It grossed about $ 160 million worldwide, including over $ 55 million in the United States.
This made Sag Never the fourth-highest-grossing commercial released film in 1983. However, it lagged behind the "official" Bond film Octopussy , which started almost at the same time and grossed around 27.5 million US dollars more worldwide.
Contemporary criticism
“Remake of the film 'Fireball', which stretches the usual material battles and lengthy genre clichés. Only in the first half hour was a varied, self-deprecating action adventure with which Sean Connery returned after a 12-year break from Bond. "
Later evaluation
In retrospect, say never never is seen by some as an average to below average James Bond film, which is also reflected in rankings in recent years. In 2012, all Bond films were rated by the readers of 007 Magazine , with Sag never finishing 22nd out of 24. The only worse off were Die Another Day and the 1967 parody Casino Royale . In a list also published in 2012 by Rolling Stone , Sag Never Never ranks 13th out of 24 James Bond films. In the special issue 50 years James Bond of the star from the same year the film is rated 3 stars out of 5 ( "strong").
Others
- The yacht, named Flying Saucer in the film, was owned by the arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi at the time of shooting and was named Nabila . In the end credits of the film, the filmmakers thank him with the words "Thanks AK" .
- The copy originally shown in Germany was missing two scenes. In the first one can see the deactivated double zero agent, how he informs himself about Largo after the events in the sanatorium. He is then picked up by Miss Moneypenny for a reactivation talk at M. The second takes place on the submarine on which Bond and Domino are after being rescued from the Arab camp by ladder, where the two are turtling in the shower. The scenes are easy to recognize in the television performances because Connery is not dubbed by his regular speaker at the time, Gert Günther Hoffmann , who died in 1997. Engelbert von Nordhausen took over for him . In addition, scenes without dialogue were cut for over a minute. These have been reinserted in a version reconstructed by ZDF.
- The film ran for the first time on German television on September 14, 1986 at 8:15 p.m. on ZDF.
Awards
- Barbara Carrera was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1984.
- The film was nominated in the categories “Best Fantasy Film” and “Best Special Effects” at the Saturn Awards .
- In 1984 the film received the golden screen .
literature
- Ian Fleming : James Bond, Never Say Never or Action Fireball. Novel . German by Willy Thaler . Scherz, Bern, Munich and Vienna 1999, 175 pages, ISBN 3-502-79222-4
- John Cork, Bruce Scivally: James Bond. The legend of 007 . Bern 2002, ISBN 3-502-15340-X
- Danny Morgenstern, Manfred Hobsch : James Bond XXL. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, ISBN 3-89602-545-7
Web links
- Never say never in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Never say never at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Never say never at Metacritic (English)
- Never say never in the online film database
- Never say never in the German dubbing index
- Sound carrier with the film music
- Comparison of the cut versions VHS Constantin - FSK 12 DVD , BBFC PG - FSK 12 from Sag nie nie at Schnittberichte.com
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for Never Say Never . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , February 2013 (PDF; test number: 54 360 V).
- ↑ Steve Swires: Producing Never Say Never Again . In: STARLOG . No. 71 , June 1983, p. 16-19, 69 ( online [accessed June 10, 2013]).
- ↑ Box office / Business for James Bond 007 - Never say never. IMDb , accessed June 9, 2013 .
- ↑ Original `Never Say Never Again` theme song uncovered. In: MI6 The Home of James Bond 007. mi6-hq.com, the Home of James Bond, April 22, 2008, accessed June 14, 2019 .
- ^ Connery's final Bond film tune sees the light of day after 25 years. In: Oneindia. One.in Digitech Media Pvt. Ltd., May 7, 2008, accessed June 14, 2019 .
- ↑ Never Say Never Again (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). Retrieved March 15, 2015 .
- ↑ Never say never in the German dubbing index ; Retrieved November 1, 2008
- ↑ Release Info. IMDb , accessed June 9, 2013 .
- ↑ Worldwide Boxoffice. In: worldwideboxoffice.com. Retrieved June 9, 2013 .
- ↑ Never say never. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ 007 MAGAZINE readers vote On Her Majesty's Secret Service as greatest ever Bond film! at: 007magazine.co.uk , accessed August 11, 2013.
- ↑ James Bond's Best and Worst: Peter Travers Ranks All 24 Movies on rollingstone.com (English), accessed on August 11, 2013
- ↑ A direct hit and a blowout: all Bond missions in maneuver criticism In: Stern-Edition 2/2012 50 years of James Bond , pp. 64–71.
- ↑ YEAR 1980 - 2000. Retrieved February 18, 2018 .