11 Things You Learn Rewatching Thunderball

1. Never Say Never Again Is Better

The original Thunderball novel was re-adapted for the screen in 1983, with Sean Connery reprising the Bond role 12 years after his last appearance, in a controversial non-Eon production that's not an official part of the Bond canon.

However, Never Say Never Again is actually a superior adaptation of the novel in most regards. For starters, Connery brings a certain aged weight to the role that he couldn't in Thunderball, while Klaus Maria Brandauer makes for an effortlessly superior Largo.

Even though it actually runs a little longer than Thunderball, pacy direction from Irvin Kershner, who was fresh off helming The Empire Strikes Back, makes it more consistently involving by toning down the underwater nonsense. No matter that it's an "illegitimate" Bond movie in the history books.

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