Never Say Never Again
Because "Never Say Never Again" is not an Eon-produced film, it has not been included in a number of subsequent reviews. Norman Wilner of MSN said that 1967's "Casino Royale" and "Never Say Never Again" "exist outside the 'official' continuity, [and] are excluded from this list, just as they're absent from MGM's megabox. But take my word for it; they're both pretty awful". Retrospective reviews of the film remain positive. Rotten Tomatoes sampled 51 critics and judged 69% of the reviews as positive, with an average rating of 5.60/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "While the rehashed story feels rather uninspired and unnecessary, the return of both Sean Connery and a more understated Bond make "Never Say Never Again" a watchable retread." The score is still more positive than some of the Eon films, with Rotten Tomatoes ranking "Never Say Never Again" 16th among all Bond films in 2008. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating generally favourable reviews. "Empire" gives the film three of a possible five stars, observing that "Connery was perhaps wise to call it quits the first time round". IGN gave "Never Say Never Again" a score of 5 out of 10, claiming that the film "is more miss than hit". The review also thought that the film was "marred with too many clunky exposition scenes and not enough moments of Bond being Bond".