My Top 5 (Non-Bond) Films Starring Sean Connery (that I still enjoy watching today):
Outland
Rising Sun
Russia House
The Hunt For Red October
The Man Who Would Be King
Thunderball was the first movie soundtrack LP that I ever purchased.
“I’m just going to use my thumb...”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fECb8IuNKjw
“The Hill” and “The Offence” are great ones, too, if you haven’t seen them.
It’s unfortunate he dropped out of the Bond franchise to do the lamentable “Shalako” (which I found simply boring, and have only watched once - despite its attempt to bring together Connery and Bardot for what was hoped would be a hit movie, which it wasn’t). That George Lazenby as a newcomer could do a superb job in his single outing as Bond is testament to how great a screenplay “On His Majesty’s Secret Service” was. Imagine Connery’s Bond crying over his dead wife. That would’ve been something.
Conversely, his return for “Diamonds Are Forever” was subpar. It’s astonishing that he was only 40 during filming, and looked demonstrably far older, tired and out of shape (contrast that with his return in “Never Say Never Again” a dozen years later, where he looked healthier, more alert and fitter).