From the infamous urine specimen fight onward, Never Say Never Again well, never, quite regains its footing. The gag feels oddly desperate for a Bond movie, especially one already fighting an uphill battle as an unofficial entry in the series. Yes, there’s a bit of dark humor in the detail that Lippe is ultimately killed by the shattered glass rather than the urine itself, but the scene still fells like it’s trying too hard when it really can’t afford to.

Regardless, from a financial success standpoint, Never Say Never Again wasn’t a total box office disaster, and going against its “official” counterpart of 1983, Octopussy, it underperformed by a relatively modest margin (once budget and box office are both considered). The bigger issue was always perception and the stigma of an unofficial movie. At the same time, the legally required recycling of the Thunderball plot also made the film feel creatively cornered. Scenes like this only reinforced the notion that it showed the lack of polish of an official entry.