NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN (1983) // James Bond Review and Whisky Pairing
"Never Say Never Again" Plot
Spectre steals two nuclear weapons to extort money from the west.
Whiskey Lore Review
The penultimate Bond film in the rankings is a remake of Thunderball. The title comes from Connery's wife who alluded to the Bond actor's boast that he would "never" play James Bond again - he should have listened to his gut.
The film gets off to an awkward start with no gun barrel sequence, a dated theme, and Connery looking as long in the tooth as possible. And whereas Bond is in a health club firming up in Thunderball, his boss M is bashing him for getting old. Blofeld appears in this movie for the first time since Diamonds Are Forever, mainly because Kevin McClory owned the character (McClory had written a screenplay with Fleming and invented the character) and he refused to let EON Productions use No. 1 anymore. He and Largo are average at best in this film.
Best of the movie: When a Bond movie isn't great, at least you can hope for some nice filming locations. The Bahamas, Spain, and French Riviera are highlighted.
Memorable: While in the French Riviera, Bond is ushered into a truck while riding his motorcycle, but makes a daring escape by jumping his bike out of the back of the truck. For Battlestar Gallactica fans, you might remember the Cylon voice that is used for the shocking video war game sequence.
Where it goes wrong: Remaking a weak script and then using the refresh to beat down your star actor for being too old and then trying to make him sexy at the end when he wins the girl.
Paired Whisky: Benchmark Old No. 8 Kentucky Straight Bourbon
If you're wondering why I picked Benchmark 8 - its because Buffalo Trace mash bill 1 yield some fantastic spirits, from the distillery namesake to EH Taylor Small Batch, to George T. Stagg and Eagle Rare. Accepting James Bond (Sean Connery) in overalls is like choosing Benchmark when you could spend a little more and get something solid. I can't get past the rubber tire finish on this bourbon. I know they came up with a bunch of different versions, but it will always be rubber tire whiskey to me. I keep a bottle around to remind me to cherish good whiskey when I start taking it for granted. As for the excuse that the rest of the mash bill is on allocation - like the movie, I'd rather wait for something better.
Whiskey Lore Rank: #25 (Score 4.42) > Next Movie
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Go Back: 26
If Christopher Cross and Cher had a baby --- actually that would have been better than this. Putting Sergio Mendes and Herb Alpert together should have led to something decent, but it's just bad soft rock. Lani Hall tries, but it's just not Bond-worthy.
Maybe they thought they'd get something groovy like this (although this would have sounded extremely dated in 1983):