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Never Say Never Again, a review by Rich

Never Say Never Again



In this remake and updated version of the 1965 THUNDERBALL, James Bond (Sean Connery), who has been primarily teaching for the last few years, is quite happily yanked out of semiretirement to deal with the deadly SPECTRE organization's newest plan for the destruction of the planet. (The Bond story line mimics Connery's semiretirement from the role, which he had last played in 1971's DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER.) Agent Number 2, also known as Maximilian Largo (Klaus Maria Brandauer), has managed to steal two cruise missiles armed with nuclear warheads, and Agent Number 1, Blofeld (Max von Sydow), has threatened to explode them in areas with large populations if a huge, and almost impossible, ransom demand from the NATO countries is not met. The film features an excellent gaming battle between Largo and Bond, as well as stunning turns by Barbara Carrera and Kim Basinger. Technically not an offical Bond movie, NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN was released around the same time as OCTOPUSSY, starring Roger Moore.

Looks like a Bond, smells like a Bond, sounds like a Bond, but it isn't a Bond!
Despite the ingredients being similar, they could not quite replicate the winning formula that is 007. Connery does his best to pull the film through, Bassinger was a convincing Bond girl, and the sexy Barbara Carrera raised temperatures especially when dressed as a nurse with long leather boots. There were exotic locations, plenty of action and fights, and I am sure a fairly hefty budget.
But now the negatives and why it cannot be considered in the same breath as the 007 series. The theme tune is weak, the opening titles (minus the sexist girls) are run of the mill, M is a disaster with Edward Fox, Q is basically absent, lack of flirting with Moneypenny, 007's glib remarks lack the typical punch and cheesiness, the action is below par, the effects disappointed several times (notably the missile scenes), distinct lack of gadgets, and a different and inferior feel to the whole production compared to the mainstream Bonds.
Close - but no cigar
 


(From Riches Random Reviews on April 30th, 2009)

The Revenge of Frankenstein, a review by GSyren

Title	The Revenge of Frankenstein (5-035822-065130)
Director	Terence Fisher
Actors	Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews, Eunice Gayson, Michael Gwynn, John Welsh
Produced	1958 in United Kingdom
Runtime	86 minutes
Audio	English Dolby Digital Mono, German Dolby Digital Mono
Subtitles	Arabic, Danish, English, French, German, Finnish, Hindi, Norwegian, Swedish, Hebrew, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Czech, Turkish
Overview
My thoughts	The Curse of Frankenstein
My rating	4 out of 5

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on June 1st, 2013)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002)


1. The Beginning: Part I
The exiled warlord Keldor tells his forces that he has created a device that will destroy the "Mystic Wall" that keeps them out of Randor's kingdom. When they get to the Mystic Wall, they trigger the device but all it produces is a mere crack in the wall. Keldor's forces are confused, as they assumed that the device would break the wall completely, but Keldor explains that now they know where to strike. Inside the castle walls, Man-At-Arms receives a telepathic message from the Sorceress that the time has come.

2. The Beginning: Part II
Adam returns to Castle Grayskull upon witnessing the damage inflicted on the royal palace by Keldlor (now calling himself Skeletor due to his horrific appearance) and embraces his new destiny as He-Man, defender of Eternia.

3. The Beginning: Part III
He-Man and Skeletor duke it out for the first time, with many lives hanging in the balance... literally.

My Thoughts:
I bought this series at the suggestion of a friend. Never seeing an episode before. I have seen the original '80s version before... but not this one from 2002. It is pretty much the same storyline as the '80s version. But it has much better graphics. The first 3 episodes makes up the origin story of He-Man.  Now I can't remember if there even was an origin story to the '80s version... but if there was it couldn't have been done as well as this one. Making it 3 episodes it allowed them to really tell the story right. I thought I would have a hard time getting used to the new style of drawing this series... but I really had no problem at all with it. One thing that did bother me a little was everyone taking these over-exaggerated leaps into the air when they were in battle. But before I knew it I had gotten used to it as well. It really did make for more entertaining battle scenes. Over-all I really enjoyed it. Glad I have it added to my collection.

My Rating:

Review taken from another thread when I watched it recently.

(From Pete's Pilots on February 4th, 2010)