Why Did They Refilm James Bond Thunderball Never Say Never Again

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• When two American nuclear warheads are stolen by SPECTRE agent Maximilian Largo (Klaus Maria Brandauer) and an exhorbitant ransom demanded (or he will detonate them in unnamed cities), M (Edward Fox) reactivates MI6's 00 agents and sends 007 James Bond (Sean Connery) to Nassau to make contact with Largo's lover Domino Petachi (Kim Basinger), sister of Jack Petachi (Gavan O'Herlihy), the American Air Force pilot who is suspected of being involved with the theft. Edit

• Never Say Never Again is an "unofficial" remake of Thunderball (1965) (1965), which was based on Ian Fleming's 1961 novel of the same name. The novel was adapted for this movie by screenwriters Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, and Lorenzo Semple, Jr. The title of the movie comes from a reference to Connery's insistence back in 1971 that he would never play Bond again. Edit

• Never Say Never Again is sung by American singer Lani Hall. Edit

• No. That's a literal interpretation of Largo's phrase "right under the president's feet in Washington, D.C." Largo could just have easily said, "right under the president's nose in Washington, D.C." It's hyperbole; the bomb was probably in the back of an abandoned car, sitting in an empty warehouse, etc. Edit

• No. is in no way associated with this film. There's an extra in the video game room of the casino scene that looks marginally like him (hence the confusion), but upon close examination it's clearly not him. Furthermore, Dalton's appearance in such an insignificant role would not make sense at this point, since he was an established and successful actor on stage and film since the 1960s (hence he wouldn't be doing background work), and having him appear as a Bond in-joke would make little sense: Never Say Never Again was released in 1983, at which time Dalton had no association with the franchise whatsoever and wouldn't play Bond for the first time until four years later, in (1987). (Dalton had been approached about replacing Connery in On Her Majesty's Secret Service but turned the role down as he believed he was too young. However, few filmgoers would have been aware of this fact in 1983.) Edit

• Yes, this could be considered the final film of the entire series even though there were more made after this one and still more to come. It is even stated in the film that he is older now and the 00s are obsolete. At the end of the film it's stated that he has retired from MI6. They want him back, but he says, "Never again", to which Domino asks, "Never?": an obvious play on the title, but also an in-joke as Connery stated that he would never play Bond again after You Only Live Twice but returned for Diamonds Are Forever. It suggests the possibility of a sequel, but also gives the series an ending. Edit

• Bond uses his laser watch to break the shackles and escape the tower room in which Largo had him imprisoned. He steals a horse and saves Domino from being sold as a slave to some rugged-looking Arabs. Bond and Domino escape by leaping into the ocean where CIA operative Felix Leiter (Bernie Casey) fishes them out and takes them to a submarine. Bond informs Felix that he's learned that one of the two bombs is hidden in Washington, so Felix alerts Washington and the bomb is located and defused. Bond realizes that the design on the Tears of Allah necklace match the outline of the island where Largo has parked his ship, the Flying Saucer. Bond figures that the diamond on the pendant marks the location of the second bomb, so he and Felix land on the island as indicated, don SCUBA gear, and go looking for the cave in which the bomb has been hidden. The cave leads to a large chamber filled with stone statues and other artifacts. As Bond goes deeper into the cave, Felix goes to get help. While the good guys fight the bad guys, Bond goes after Largo, who is attempting to escape underwater with the warhead. Felix radios for a helicopter which takes Bond to the surface of the island and drops him into an "oasis", which leads him straight to Largo and the bomb. After a short fight with Largo, Bond attempts to disarm the bomb. Just as Largo raises his gun to shoot Bond, Domino appears out of nowhere and shoots Largo with a speargun. In the final scenes, Bond and Domino are relaxing in a pool when Nigel Small-Fawcett (Rowan Atkinson) from the English consulate shows up with an urgent message from M, begging Bond to return to MI6 because he fears for the civilized world. "Never again," replies Bond. Edit

• Scenes shot but then cut include: (1) An extended version of Fatima Blush's arrival at SPECTRE's bank headquarters; the longer music cue ("Fatima - Bad Lady") can be heard on the soundtrack album, (2) Blofeld dispatching a SPECTRE agent (played by Marsha Hunt) at the first meeting. (She's the black woman wearing yellow and disappears between shots. Note Fatima's heavy breathing, as she may have thought she was the one to die. Hunt's character may have been killed by the poisonous claws of Blofeld's cat), (3) Bond killing one of the sharks with a harpoon (allegedly cut by the censor), (4) Fatima asking the desk clerk at the hotel when Bond will be back; when she is told "Five o'clock", she replies, "Dead at five," and (5) Bond and Domino leaving the Tears of Allah after Largo's death in Largo's helicopter. Blofeld appears on the helicopter's TV and tries to talk to Largo but is scratched by his cat's poisonous claws. Bond throws the monitor out of the helicopter and we see Blofeld's screaming face as it falls towards the sea. Edit

• Yes, it can be found in the trivia section for this movie and Sean Connery's trivia page: Connery stated in an interview that he was taking martial arts lessons and, in the process, angered the instructor who in turn broke his wrist. Connery stayed with the wrist broken for a number of years thinking it was only a minor pain. The instructor was Steven Seagal. Edit

• Due to the UK's strict policy with regard to animal violence one scene showing a horse falling into the ocean was cut. Edit

The FAQ items below may give away important plot points.

• The movie opens with Bond in London where he and M (Edward Fox) are viewing a tape of a training maneuver in some undisclosed Latin American country. Because Bond ended up being "killed", M sends him to a health clinic near London in order to have the "free radicals" removed from his system -- the alcohol he drinks, the rich, unhealthy foods he eats and a "strict regimen of diet and exercise" as M puts it. When SPECTRE steals two cruise missiles bearing live nuclear warheads, M recalls 007 and sends him to the Bahamas to make contact with Domino Petachi who lives on a yacht with Maximilian Largo. When Bond gets word that their yacht has set sail for Nice, France, he flies there and finally makes contact with Domino. When Bond attempts to board the yacht in order to search for the warheads, he becomes trapped and taken to Palmyra, Largo's villa in North Africa. After securing the second warhead, Bond returns to the Bahamas with Domino. Edit

• SPECTRE hijack two cruise missiles-after swapping the dummy warheads they were supposed to carry for live nuclear warheads-and blackmails NATO into paying them a ransom of $25 billion, or one quarter of NATO countries' annual expenditures on oil. One bomb has been targeted at a city in the United States, probably to distract the Americans and tie up their enormous resources. The other bomb will be used on the real target, the oil fields of the Middle East. Edit

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Source: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0086006/faq

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