DVD REVIEW: "THE SEAN CONNERY ...
Cinema Retro
By Lee Pfeiffer Fox continues to release "quadruple features" in DVD sets at outrageously low prices. The Sean Connery Collection consists of repackaged, previously released titles, but it's hard to resist getting four films for about $15. This collection consists of: - Shalako- Connery's first post-Bond film was this 1968 Western produced by Euan Lloyd in 1968 and co-starring a stellar cast including Brigitte Bardot, Honor Blackman, Stephen Boyd, Woody Strode and Jack Hawkins, among others. Based on a Louis L'Amour adventure novel, the film is fun in a goofy sort of way, beginning with the schlocky title theme song. Bardot looks like she stepped out of a Beverly Hills salon, even when blasting bad guys with a six-shooter. Connery, seemingly miscast in a Western as a guide for an ill-fated hunting party of European aristocrats, acquits himself well, largely by playing it all straight. The action is well handled by director Edward Dmytryk and the film boasts some memorable sequences. (Blackman's rape and torture at the hands of hostile Indians is almost too unbearable to watch). Producer Lloyd has always been a master of giving the audience more than their money's worth, and Shalako does just that.There are no bonus features for this title.
- Cuba- Richard Lester's 1979 film was a box-office and critical bomb, but I've never quite understood why. The movie is totally engrossing and presents Connery with a great role as a soldier of fortune who is hired in a vain attempt to prop up the Batista regime as Castro's revolutionaries move on Havana. Connery reunites with former lover Brooke Adams amidst the chaos and undergoes a change of heart to side with the rebels after seeing the abuses of the government. The film balances comedy with lively action sequences and feature stellar turns by an impressive supporting cast that includes Jack Weston, Hector Elizondo, Chris Sarandon and Denholm Elliott. The film's theatrical trailer is included.
- A Bridge Too Far- Another under-rated Connery title is
this ambitious 1977 WWII epic directed by Richard Attenborough and
based on Cornelius Ryan's bestseller. The intent was obviously emulate
the scope and success of The Longest Day by packing the film
with many major stars. In addition to Connery, there is Gene Hackman,
Robert Redford, Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Dirk Bogarde, James
Caan, Anthony Hopkins and many others. Despite the fact that this is
one of the best war films of the period, it under-performed at the
box-office possibly because it recreates a major Allied defeat:
Montgomery's ill-defined attempt to shorten the war via a major
parachute assault on occupied Holland. No one wants to revel in seeing
the good guys lose, which probably explains why the film never received
the acclaim it deserved. Still, it stands as a major achievement in the
genre and can be considered one of the last films that can be truly be
called an all-star epic.Although a 2-DVD special edition is available,
this set presents the bare bones version with only a trailer as a bonus
extra.
- Never Say Never Again- I'm pretty much alone in my defense of Never Say Never Again, the
1983 James Bond film that brought Sean Connery back to the role of 007
after a 12 year absence. Fox recently released the long-gestating
special DVD edition (which was originally made for MGM but inexplicably
remained unreleased for a couple of years) and has generously included it in this Connery collection. I've watched the movie
again for the first time in many years. The verdict: my opinion is
unchanged. This is not a gilt-edged Bond film by any means, and given
the promise that Connery's return in the role held, it falls far short
of what it should have or could have been. However, given the legal
minefields that producer Jack Schwartzman had to tiptoe through, it's
amazing a film of any merit emerged at all.As most Bond scholars are
aware, the project had a tortured history extending back to the 1950s
when Ian Fleming partnered with film producer Kevin McClory and writer
Jack Whittingham to create an original screenplay that they hoped would
introduce Bond to movie audiences. The project fell apart and years
later, Fleming appropriated key elements of the joint venture to form
the basis of his novel Thunderball. McClory and Whittingham
sued and the high profile lawsuit took its toll on the already ailing
Fleming. Ultimately, a settlement was made that saw both men credited
in future editions of the novel and McClory receiving screen rights to
the book. Fearing a competing series of Bond films, Eon producers Cubby
Broccoli and Harry Saltzman invited McClory to serve as producer on
their 1965 blockbuster screen version of Thunderball. In the
1970s, McClory announced he was exercising his rights to the book with
a feature film remake of the movie with a script titled Warhead that
was written by Len Deighton and Sean Connery.The Eon legal machine went
into damage control mode and stalled the project for years until
attorney Jack Schwartzman managed to cobble together a fragile plan to
bring the story to the screen with Connery returning as Bond for the
final time. The film was now titled Never Say Never Again and was also fraught with legal complications.
The special edition DVD is a relatively ligbhtweight affair and one
wishes MGM (which financed the project) had allocated more resources
for this look at how the movie was made. Regardless of what you think
of the end result, the story behind it is fascinating.The creative team
behind this DVD is Bond scholar Steven J. Rubin and Steve Mitchell. I
tell you this because the major studios now deny documentary makers
even the dignity of having credits that mention their names on their
own films. Given the obviously slim budget they were afforded, Rubin
and Mitchell did a good job of tracking down some key talent, primarily
director Irvin Kershner, original screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr and
co-star Barbara Carrera. Major "no shows" are Connery (no surprise),
Kim Basinger (does she really have that many other things occupying her
nowadays?), and Klaus Maria Brandauer, who played the villain Largo.
The DVD itself was probably subject to legal paranoia, as virtually any
talk about the original lawsuit still sparks controversy. Until his
death in 2006, McClory (who received an executive producer credit on NSNA
primarily for simply owning the rights) constantly battled to get new
Bond projects off the ground before finally suffering a complete defeat
at the hands of Eon's legal team. Thus, this special edition only goes
into the barest details of the legal battle for Bond, when it actually
cries out for a fuller evaluation of the larger-than-life personalities
involved. Nevertheless, as this is the most neglected of all Bond films (aside from the 1967 spoof version of Casino Royale),
Rubin and Mitchell have done an impressive job of shedding light on
what was obviously a nightmarish production. The DVD affords several
mini documentaries that are unusually candid. Lorenzo Semple Jr. admits
he was fired from the film because Kershner didn't like his script. Two
uncredited screenwriters who came up with much of the storyline are
also interviewed. However, the most scathingly honest comments come
from Kershner, whose audio conversation with Steven J. Rubin is as
illuminating as it is interesting. Kershner was enthused about working
with Connery again, as the two men had teamed for A Fine Madness in
1966.
Kershner counters press accounts of the day that said Connery was
moody and temperamental during filming. In fact, Kershner says Connery
was, by and large, a pleasure to work with. However, Kershner does
unload about all the elements of the movie he found unsatisfying. The
fate of the film was
somewhat mixed. Originally planned to go into release opposite Eon's
Roger Moore starrer Octopussy in the summer of 1983, the
Connery project required re-shooting on the climax, which delayed its
release until the fall. The "fixed" climax is still the weakest part of
the film. Unlike the superbly staged, massive scuba battle in Thunderball, it's
a watered-down mano-a-mano battle between between Bond and Largo that
is so murkily photographed that you can't tell who is doing what to
who. One can only flinch at what the "problem" version was if this was
what emerged.There are other flaws in the film as well, including
Edward Fox's channeling of Herbert Lom from the Pink Panther series in
an overly-comical performance as M. The inclusion of Rowan Atkinson as
a bumbling agent is also out-of-place. Michel Legrand's musical score,
one of the most criticized elements of the film, is mediocre at best,
though the title song seems better over the years, as the Eon title
tracks have deteriorated. Despite these flaws, there is much to
recommend in the film. Connery's take as a world-weary, older and more
cynical Bond is a joy to watch. Brandauer makes for an outstanding,
highly charismatic villain. (The video game between he and Bond is one
of the film's highlights.) Kim Basinger makes for a terrific Domino and
Barbara Carerra steals the show as the black widow SPECTRE agent,
Fatima Blush - a character that seemed to pave the way for Xenia
Onatopp in GoldenEye. The motorcycle chase is well staged with
a spectacular climax (even if it cries out for the official Bond theme)
and Valerie Leon is a show-stopper as a bikini-clad beauty who
literally fishes Bond from the drink and then beds him in one of the
film's most amusing scenes. There are plenty of reasons to bemoan the fact that NSNA doesn't measure up to the legacy of Thunderball, but
the passing of the years has diminished that disappointment and the
film stands as an entertaining entry in the Bond canon, even though it
succeeds mostly in parts rather than a whole. CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE SEAN CONNERY COLLECTION FROM AMAZON.
|
|