Monday, November 27, 2023

Sun Theatre Bondathon Film Festival

Last night I attended the 1983 James Bond film "Never Say Never Again" at the Sun Theatre in Yarraville with another Aussie Bond fan.  The cinema is currently screening all the James Bond films as part of a 'Bondathon' from November 30 to December 3. 




Yesterday afternoon they also screened the Climax TV episode of "Casino Royale" from 1954 starring Barry Nelson and the comedy spoof film of the same name from 1967.  My friend attended these screenings and commented to me they were much better than he remembered.  For me though, I was only interested in "NSNA".  I wanted to see it at a cinema again for the first time in 40 years.



And what did we both think of "NSNA" ?  Obviously some scenes involving computers are a bit dated, and the soundtrack in places isn't great, but overall we felt the film still holds up very well.  And Sean Connery in his last performance as Bond redeems himself from his "Diamond's Are Forever" sleep walk.

If last night was any indication I definitely recommend attending other films in the festival.  Plus there's this great passport the cinema is giving away to people which they'll stamp for each film attended from the Bond programme.



Just one thing though, be sure you know the way back from Yarraville to Melbourne with all the roadworks and detours currently occurring, otherwise you could end up visiting Coode Island on your journey home like I did !