The official trailer for Never Say Never Again arrived in 1983, marketing Sean Connery's return to the Bond role twelve years after Diamonds Are Forever and outside the official EON Productions series. The film's title was a wry acknowledgement of Connery's famous declaration that he would never play Bond again, and the trailer capitalised on that knowing humour with considerable charm.
First Impressions
The trailer is immediately distinguished by Connery's evident enjoyment of his return: a relaxed performance that signals a star visibly comfortable revisiting his most iconic role on his own terms. The production values are high, and the footage suggests a film that takes its entertainment responsibilities seriously without taking itself too seriously.
What the Trailer Reveals
The trailer establishes a reworking of the Thunderball storyline, with SPECTRE again stealing nuclear warheads and Bond dispatched to recover them. Klaus Maria Brandauer's Largo is introduced as a villain of unusual psychological complexity, and Kim Basinger's Domino is glimpsed as one of the era's most glamorous Bond girls. The Bahamas and French Riviera locations give the footage a sun-drenched visual richness.
Music and Sound
Lani Hall's title song gives the trailer a distinctive sonic identity separate from the official Bond series, and the score reflects a production that understood the need to establish its own musical personality. The action sequences are accompanied by energetic and purposeful music, and the overall sound design points to a film of real production quality.
Most Memorable Moment
Connery's knowing smile in the trailer's opening moments is its most disarming element: a performer signalling complete awareness of the cultural weight of his reappearance. It is the moment that most effectively sells the film's central proposition, that Connery's Bond, even at fifty-three, remains the one audiences wanted to see.
Trailer Verdict
Never Say Never Again had no business being as good as it is, and this trailer captures that pleasant surprise in miniature. It is charming, confident, and shrewder than its unconventional origins might suggest. Connery carries it, as he always did, and the film behind it is a more than worthy send-off.