Never Say Never Again

Never Say Never Again is a 1983 spy film directed by Irvin Kershner. The film is based on the 1961 James Bond novel Thunderball by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original story by Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, and Fleming. The novel had been previously adapted in a 1965 film of the same name. Never Say Never Again was not produced by Eon Productions, but by Jack Schwartzman's Taliafilm. The film was executive produced by Kevin McClory, one of the original writers of the Thunderball storyline. McClory retained the filming rights of the novel following a long legal battle dating from the 1960s.

An aging James Bond (Sean Connery) makes an uncharacteristic mistake during a routine training mission, leading M (Edward Fox) to believe that the legendary British Intelligence spy is now past his prime. M indefinitely suspends Bond from active duty. However, when SPECTRE member Fatima Bush (Barbara Carrera) and her fellow terrorists successfully steal two nuclear missiles from the U.S. military, M must reinstate Bond, as he is the only agent who can beat SPECTRE at their own game of espionage.

Victims

• Count Lippe - Impaled after James Bond threw his urine sample in his face causing him to fall into a shelf which had glass that stabbed him in the back.
• Jack Petachi - Killed when Fatima Blush threw a snake in his car causing him to crash and blow up.
• Shark - Crushed by James Bond with a pole.
• Fish - Caught by James Bond off-screen, body seen.
• Nicole - Drowned by Fatima Blush off-screen.
• Three Unnamed SPECTRE Henchmen - Killed in a car crash caused by James Bond and Fatima Blush.
• Fatima Blush - Shot in the stomach by James Bond with a "pen-missile," which then exploded inside her body, leaving only her high heels, parts of her leather pants, and belt and a cloud of smoke.
• Nine Unnamed People - Died of unknown causes off-screen, bodies seen.
• Unnamed SPECTRE Henchman - Thrown out of the castle by James Bond.
• Unnamed SPECTRE Henchman - Thrown out of the castle by James Bond.
• Horse - Drowned after falling into the water.
• Eight Unnamed SPECTRE Henchmen - Blown up by soldiers.
• Three Unnamed SPECTRE Henchmen - Shot by Felix Leiter.
• Unnamed SPECTRE Henchman - Burned to death by Felix Leiter after he threw a grenade at him.
• Four Unnamed SPECTRE Henchmen - Shot by soldiers.
• Two Unnamed SPECTRE Henchmen - Blown up by soldiers.
• Maximiliano Largo - Shot by Domino Petachi with a harpoon gun.

Deaths

• Total - 40
  • 37 Humans
    • 35 Men
    • 2 Women
  • 3 Animals
    • 1 Horse
    • 1 Fish
    • 1 Shark

Kill Counts

1. James Bond - 9 (Alive)
2. Fatima Blush - 5 (Deceased)
3. Felix Leiter - 4 (Alive)
4. Domino Petachi - 1 (Alive)

Notes

• Fatima Blush is an assassin but it does not say how many people she has killed.

Trivia

• There are at least seven deleted scenes that have not been made available for public viewing in any of the DVD editions. In an interview with Bobbie Wygant two months after the film's release, Kim Basinger said, "We actually shot two and a half more films, I bet, with all the footage we shot."
• Scenes were cut involving Fatima Blush in order to get the PG rating.
• Most of Max von Sydow's scenes were deleted from the theatrical cut of this movie. Marsha A. Hunt and Brenda Cowling had their roles deleted entirely.
• A young Steven Seagal was the movie's martial arts instructor. One day, he got so angered by Sean Connery during a training session that he broke his wrist. Connery went along with that injury for a number of years, thinking it was just a minor pain.