The Worst James Bond Movie Ever

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion: as for me, the worst James Bond movie ever made is the 1983 Never Say Never Again, a rogue production not fitting in (at all) with the "official" series.  The story wasn't even original, with the plot and characters from the 1965 blockbuster hit Thunderball shamelessly ripped off with the story flow very sporadic. But the most disappointing aspect of Never Say Never Again was the dismal performance of original Bond actor Sean Connery, after much fanfare was made about him returning to his old role. Connery appeared stone-faced and apathetic throughout the movie, as if he were just there on the set to clock in to work, put in the time, and pick up his paycheck.

This movie also has by far the worst scene in the entire James Bond series, an overly long, drawn out fight, almost seeming to be conducted in slow motion, between the aging Bond and one of the heavies.  What a sad, sad spectacle.

The one redeeming element of Never Say Never Again was the scintillatingly villainous performance of Barbara Carrera, who played a sadistic, sexy assassin working for the evil SPECTRE crime organization. But she was in the movie too little, sad to say, to salvage this monumental waste of the moviegoer's time.

It might be argued that the 1967 comedy/spoof Casino Royale was the worst James Bond movie, but it never had any pretensions to being anything other than a farcical vehicle to further showcase the comedic talent of Peter Sellers.  So generally speaking, that film doesn't get counted as being one of the James Bond movies.

And because of its independent nature apart from the other films in the series, some don't even count Never Say Never Again among the Bond collection.  But it's there, like it or not...although I challenge anyone to say that they liked it with a straight face (and not lying like a politician).

Perhaps accusing Never Say Never Again of being a rip-off of Thunderball is a bit unfair, though.  After reading up on it a bit, it seems that the whole Thunderball project was immersed in controversy and legal wrangling, with different parties claiming ownership over the story's rights.  So maybe I was pointing the "blame" finger at the wrong movie. Regardless, though, I thoroughly recommend Thunderball... and thoroughly DON'T recommend Never Say Never Again.