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duduherb53
Reviews
Never Say Never Again (1983)
Some good set pieces, but rather soporific in between
The history of the lead up to this movie is quite interesting, and documented well in the book 'Battle for Bond'. Basically, after a series of complicated lawsuits writer/producer Kevin McClory was given the right to remake 'Thunderball', the core story of which he had originally co-written, only for Ian Fleming to unduly get sole credit as author. Or something along those lines.
So, thus became 'Never Say Never Again', a sort of 'parallel universe' Bond to the Cubby Broccoli official films and ostensibly a remake of 'Thunderball'.
After reading the book documenting the film's complicated and lengthy gestation i was quite eager to see it and more so, i really wanted to like it, if nothing else because it sounded so novel to have Connery back in a completely independent Bond production, at the time of Roger Moore's indomitable reign. Not that i've got anything against old Rodge mind, but the idea of these two kings of the Bond dynasty going 'head to head' must have been quite exciting way back in the halcyon days of 1983.
So, did i like it? well inevitably the answer is yes and no. The production values are definitely equal to an official Bond of the era but somehow it all hangs together rather tenuously with a lot of laboured and irritatingly slow plot development along the way. Nothing like the tightly knitted action of something like Moonraker, which despite it's over the top-ness is still a rollicking good watch.
It's not all bad though, there are some really rather good 'set pieces' in true Bond style that were pretty exciting to watch such as the excellent Motorbike chase, underwater battle with seemingly real sharks and an imaginative duel on a unique video game. All these are very well filmed and effective but when the nuts and bolts of the story resume it does become a tad dull.
A decent climax probably could have turned it around but as it goes, the film just veers on the verge of tedium with a bland showdown in a distinctly arbitrary setting (a subterranean cavern which looks like it was left over from a different film entirely in my opinion). Also, here be a prime example that no matter how suspenseful an underwater fight may seem on paper, once on screen it can just come across as spectacularly slow and boring!
I said i found the concept of this movie something of a novelty, and it is OK if treated just as that, but like most novelties it soon wears off.
So, worth a watch for curiosity's sake if nothing else. I think the bottom line is that unfortunately the presence of Sean Connery alone is just not enough to distract from what is a very average film. Personally i'd rather spend my bank holiday afternoon in the company of something like A View to A Kill.
Betty's Bunch (1990)
Superior children's drama
I remember this being shown on channel 4 twice in the early 90's('90 and '94 at a guess)and it was one of those programmes that has stayed with me to this day.Like a lot of other Australian kids programmes from that era,Betty's Bunch benefited from good production values and excellent writing,making it stand out from many of the live action children's dramas made in the UK at the time,which were often very studio bound and predictable. As a young kid i found it very gritty and exciting-it had much more of an 'adult' feel to it and was often more like an episode of Casualty or The Bill than just a kids series;there was a real sense of danger to all the situations that the characters got into,and the villains were actually quite malicious,rather than silly caricatures.I never felt that way about any other kids TV of the time and would love to see it again to relive some great childhood memories-if anyone out there has it on video then please get in touch!