European Holiday 2025 - Monte-Carlo, Monaco

While staying in Nice we decided to take the short train ride to Monte-Carlo, Monaco.   The purpose wasn't to hunt for James Bond books, but rather to knock another country off our bucket list of places to visit.   Little did I know we'd find a movie location from a Bond film !

Our first stop was the Monte-Carlo Casino, a short walk from the train station.  As we entered the casino we were immediately struck by the glorious marble lobby with an F1 car parked at its centre.  The Monaco F1 Grand Prix took place on May 25, just a week earlier.  Many people, including myself, snapped photos of the amazing machine.  It was then I noticed a pattern in the marble floor which I recognised immediately...

The lobby was used for the dance sequence in "Never Say Never Again".  We were standing in the same room where Sean Connery, Kim Basinger and Klaus Maria Brandeur had once stood !

A little while later while walking toward the Royal Palace we noticed this magazine outside a shop. The magazine cover in the centre features an image of Daniel Craig as Bond in "No Time To Die".

I may have even found Moneypenny's Landrover from "Skyfall" 😀.

We visited several other locations in Monaco and did a fair bit of walking.  We even had lunch while sitting on the blue plastic seats in a temporary racetrack grandstand already partly disassembled.

If you're fortunate enough to be in Nice sometime in the future I highly recommend taking the 40 minute journey by train to Monaco, and spending the day there; just to witness how the other half live.  

Here's a few more photos from the day:

The rear of the Monte-Carlo Casino

Stairs inside the same casino.  I'd like to think these were the stairs Fatima Blush (Barbara Carrera) dances down in "Never Say Never Again" after being given permission to kill Bond, however I've done a Google search and sadly they're not.

A section of the Grand Prix track

A guard on duty at the Royal Palace

A port full of private vessels

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 !

Worst James Bond Soundtrack Ever

There are many who believe that the unofficial James Bond film "Never Say Never Again" has the worst soundtrack of any of the 007 films.  Even I wonder what the soundtrack would have sounded like had James Horner been involved instead of Michel Legrand.  However, unlike others, I really like Lani Hall's title song for this film.

If you weren't aware, Lani Hall wasn't first choice for the title song either.  Phyllis Hyman recorded another version for this film but it was rejected, and Michel's wife, Lani, recorded her's instead.

A few months ago I purchased a promotional poster for Lani's version of the title song.

Today a copy of this title song on 7 inch vinyl arrived in the mail.  I've been searching for a copy in this format for a while, but the prices always seemed too high.  Fortunately I found a seller in Austria selling a great copy at a reasonable price.

I already have this song on the soundtrack CD which I was planning to photograph and add to this post, but despite a 5 minute search it remains hidden somewhere in my "Bond Room".  Ok, it's not the best soundtrack ever, but in my opinion it does have some redeeming moments including a great title song.

James Bond Promotional Poster Arrives

Two days ago I posted about a pair of "No Time To Die" one-sheet posters released in 2021.  Today I received another Bond related poster... but this one is almost 40 years older.

I was a bit concerned when the poster cylinder arrived and one end of the rolled poster was exposed but fortunately (somehow) it was undamaged.

The poster measures approximately 61 x 91 cm (24 x 36 inches) in size.

The unofficial James Bond film "Never Say Never Again" was released in 1983 starring Sean Connery in his seventh and last performance as 007.  The film has proven to be divisive amongst Bond fans, especially over the film's soundtrack which includes the theme song by Lani Hall.  Personally I love this theme song however it could be because this film (and "Octopussy" starring Roger Moore also released in the same year) were my introduction to Bond at the cinema.

As an additional comment, last year I also recieved this Japanese film programme for the same 007 adventure.  

Being a less popular Bond film promotional items like these are still easily available for reasonable prices.  I wonder how long that will last though and if the film will ever be re-evaluated as others have.

"Never Say Never Again" Japanese Film Programme

Back in the 1980's my family used to spend two weeks every Summer camping at Wilsons Promontory National Park found at the southern-most point of Victoria here in Oz.  During the Summer of 1983/1984 I remember watching "Never Say Never Again" for the first time at the open-air cinema at "The Prom".  I disliked it simply because there was no gunbarrel opening nor the signature Bond theme.  But this is an "unofficial Bond film".

Over the years my view of "NSNA" has changed.  I know the film has its faults, especially the conclusion of the film with the gunfight scenes in the Tears of Allah cave and the underwater battle, but in my opinion Fatima Blush (Barbara Carrera) proves to be a worthy adversary and it's great to see Sean Connery return to his most famous role for the last time. (I even like the film's theme song !)

So I now consider this film a guilty pleasure of mine and I've been hunting for a reasonably priced original film programme... which I found online in Japan a couple of weeks ago.  Last Friday it arrived in the mail and I couldn't be happier.  Here's some photos from the programme:

And finally a thank you note from the seller:

Autographed Photo

I know there are a lot of James Bond fans out there who dislike the film "Never Say Never Again", however I personally enjoy it.  My only reservations are (1) the slow underwater ending (obviously "Thunderball" also suffers this same fate) and (2) the lack of the official James Bond theme music (however I do like the Lani Hall theme song).

So I was rapt the other day to purchase and then receive this photograph signed by Barbara Carrera.  Fatima Blush is definitely one of my favourite villians of all the Bond films and I especially like this shot with Kim Basinger and Sean Connery.

Finally, if you're reading this and your occupation is to authenticate autographs please don't tell me this signature is a fake.  I'd be very disappointed !