Right, its time to continue my look at the James Bond films and this one jumps forward to the 1980s and the Roger Moore era and the film in question is the 1983 release, Octopussy. Now, I hated this film on my second to last viewing but having recently watched it again (as I tend to do for when I review films) I thought it was worth going into this one with maybe another perspective. But is it really a terrible film and do I still hate it???? Well let's find out....
And the usual spoiler warning is coming....
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
STORY
So the film begins with an MI6 agent, 009 (Andy Bradford) dressed as a clown, being pursued by two twins, Mischka and Grischka (David and Anthony Meyer) who are a sword throwing act. 009 has in his possession a Faberge egg which the twins are after but before 009 can escape, he is knifed in the back by one of the twins. And with his dying breath, 009 manages to stumble into the British Embassy with the egg and then collapses and dies.
Back in London, MI6 suspect that the Soviets may have been involved and M (Robert Brown) tells Bond (Moore) that the egg that 009 had in his possession was infact a fake and the real one is on auction at Sotheby's. M then orders Bond to go to the auction and find out the identity of the seller and at the auction, Bond bids on the egg against a rival bidder, Kamal Khan (Louis Jourdan) and he also manages to swap the real egg for the fake one as Kamal wins the auction.
Bond then follows Kamal to India and his palace in Rajasthan where Bond challenges Kamal to a game of backgammon and he wins but Kamal then sends his bodyguard, Gobinda (Kabir Bedi) to kill Bond. Bond manages to escape the palace with his MI6 Indian contact, Vijay (played by real life tennis player, Vijay Amritraj) and they retreat to a hideout where they meet Q (Desmond Llewellyn) who installs a listening device into the real egg. Bond then soon meets one of Kamal's associates, Magda (Kristina Wayborn) and spends the night with her and notices during their time together she has a tatoo of a octopussy on her back. Bond then allows Magda to steal the real egg as she leaves and is picked up by Kamal and Bond is then captured by Gobinda.
Bond placed in a cell, however soon manages to escape his cell and listens in on a conversation between Kamal and General Orlov (Steven Berkoff) a Russian general who is intent on expanding Soviet control into West central Europe. Bond then manages to escape from Kamal's place and infiltrates a floating palace in Udaipur and he finds the owner, Octopussy (Maud Adams) who is a wealthy businesswoman and an associate of Kamal's and she runs an Octopus cult of which Magda is also a member. And Bond learns in the palace that Orlov has been supplying Kamal with priceless Soviet treasures and replacing them with replicas while Kamal has smuggled the real versions into the west via Octopussy's circus troupe.
Bond however manages to get Octopussy on his side much to the displeasure of Kamal who attempts to have Bond killed but he manages to evade Kamal's henchmen and escapes the palace but he later finds that Vijay has also been killed by Kamal's men. Bond then learns that Orlov will meet with Kamal at Octopussy's next circus show which will be held in East Germany. Bond infiltrates the circus and discovers that Orlov has replaced the treasure with a nuclear warhead, which is primed to explode during the circus show at a US Air Force base in West Germany. Bond soon confronts Orlov as the general tells him that the explosion would trigger Europe into seeking disarmament in the believe that the bomb was a US one that detonated by accident, which would leave the borders open for the Soviets to attack.
And its from here that Bond must find a way to stop the warhead from going off at the circus and stopping Kamal and Orlov from carrying out their evil plans....
THOUGHTS
Well there isn't much doubt that Octopussy was about as daft and silly as the Bond series ever got as it is so full of cheesy moments that to an extent it is toward the film's detriment as the series really had become a parody of itself by this point. However that's not to say that Octopussy isn't enjoyable as its a film that dares to be so cheesy it actually almost manages to get away with it as it is still an entertaining film. And its plot even though it is also a bit daft is actually surprisingly not that bad and one of the more interesting ones of its time to be found in a Bond film.
Roger Moore had also intended to retire from the role after For Your Eyes Only and the role to be recast with future Bond, Timothy Dalton and James Brolin being considered for the parts with Brolin being a serious front runner for the part. However Octopussy would have direct competition with another Bond film that year in 1983, Never Say Never Again, which starred Sean Connery (but NSNA is not considered as part of the actual Bond series as it was not produced by the Eon company). So the producers decided that Moore should return to the role as an established actor in the role would be needed to compete against Connery so he returned.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: Spoilers are in this section!)
Performance wise, well, Octopussy is a bit of a mixed bag but its certainly not all bad as there are some decent ones in there.
And to start off Roger Moore does pretty well once again in his role as the unflappable James Bond and he displays he usual mix of charm, glib one-liners and raised eyebrows although let's face it he was starting to get a bit too old to do the role at this stage as those wrinkles by then were really starting to show!
Regardless of that though you can tell Roger was having fun with this one and he still has some good moments in the film that include his first scene where he poses as a general at the start of a film as he plans on sabotaging a foreign army base. And in the scene, Bond dresses in a general's uniform along with a false moustache and his female aide, Bianca, gives Bond his ID tag that says "Luis Toro" on it and Bond says "Toro, sounds like a lot of bull!" and as he is captured and faces the real general, he says to him "Oh, so you're a Toro, too??!". And later on at the end of the opening sequence, Bond escapes from the base in his small plane and parks it at a small petrol station and he says to the attendant "Fill her up please!".
Then there is the scene where Bond and his Indian colleague, Vijay escape try to evade Kamal's henchmen and his chief bodyguard, Gobinda through the streets. And Bond asks for the money he won from his game of Backgammon with Kamal and Bond takes it and throws it into the street shouting "RUPEES!!!" and the bystanders all scramble for it! And Bond turns to Vijay and says "Easy come, easy go!".
Another amusing scene is when Bond flees into the jungle as Kamal makes his the subject of a hunt and Bond tries to avoid snakes, leeches and of course a big tiger! And in the scene when the tiger roars at Bond, he nervously lifts his finger and shouts "SIT!" and the surprisingly the tiger obeys and sits down! And Bond then narrowly escapes from the safari hunt as he wades into the river toward a tour boat and as the tourists help him aboard, a woman on the tour asks him "Are you with our group?" and Bond says "No, ma'am, I'm with the economy tour!".
Then we have one of Roger's more serious moments in the film where Bond confronts Orlov over his plan to set the warhead off at the US Air Force base. And in the scene Bond says to Orlov when they are on the circus train that has the warhead loaded on it "Now, why is that bomb on the train?!". And as Orlov asks who Bond is and as Bond tells him, Orlov says "You should be more concerned about getting out of here alive!". And Bond says angrily to him "I am more concerned about an atomic bomb exploding on a US Air Force base in West Germany! You surely can't be inviting a nuclear war? What happens when the US retaliates?!" and Orlov smugly says "Against whom?".
And Bond then realises Orlov's plan and says "My God... of course. Our early-warning system will rule out the bomb having come from Russia or anywhere else. Everyone will assume incorrectly... that it was a American bomb triggered accidentally. Europe and NATO will then insist on full nuclear disarmament... and leaving every border undefended for you and the Warsaw Pact to walk across at will! And I suppose it doesn't matter a damn to you that thousands of innocent people will be killed in this little "accident" of yours?!".
And last of all there is the scene where Bond is chased through the woods by the surviving twin of the two knife-throwers. And as Bond runs to a cabin, the twin pins Bond to the door with some knives and the twin then prepares to kill Bond with another as Bond notices the door handle next to him he grabs it. And the twin says to Bond "This is for my brother!" but Bond manages to open the door and the twin falls into the cabin and Bond takes one of the knives out the door and throws it into the twin's chest and he vengefully says "And that's for 009!".
Maud Adams next does pretty well in her second film in the series (as she appeared as a Bond girl in The Man With The Golden Gun) as she plays the eponymous part of Octopussy, the circus group leader who smuggles diamonds and is associated with Kamal Khan but ultimately falls for Bond.
And Adams has some good moments in the film but I will for quickness only mention two, first of all is the scene between Bond and Octopussy as Octopussy tells Bond she is about to leave for a business trip. And in the scene Octopussy says to Bond "I have to go on a business trip to Europe and I think you should say as I'll only be gone a week" and Bond says to her "Well, I can't guarantee I'll be here when you return". And Octopussy says "Oh, James we are two of a kind. There are vast rewards for a man of your talents willing to take risks" and Bond warns her "I'm not for hire" which angers Octopussy "A man of principle with a price on his head! Naturally you would do it for queen and country, I have no country, I have no price on my head! I don't have to apologise to you, a paid assassin, for what I am!". And Octopussy angrily walks out the room to next door and Bond follows her in and grabs her and kisses her and he says "You're right. We ARE two of a kind!" and well you know the rest from here!
And last of all there is the last scene of the film (SPOILER!!) where Octopussy and Bond are reunited together once Kamal has been done away with and in the scene Bond lies in a bed in a luxurious tent alongside Octopussy and his leg and his arm are in a sling. And Octopussy kisses him and says "I wish you weren't in such a weakened condition" and Bond suddenly releases himself from his traction, fully fit, he takes hold of her and does the usual Bond kiss (yep VERY cheesy end!).
Louis Jourdan does not too badly in his role as the main villain, Kamal Khan, the exiled Afghan prince who is working secretly with the corrupt Soviet General, Orlov, although he plays a bit cheesily and isn't really that menacing in the part.
Regardless though Jourdan still has one or two good moments worth mentioning and some glib one-liners such as the scene where just after Bond has escaped Khan's clutches, Khan says "Mr. Bond is indeed of a very rare breed... soon to be made extinct!".
Then there is the scene where Bond turns up again and Khan looks at him wearly and says "Mr Bond, you seem to have this nasty habit of surviving!" and Bond says to him "Well you know what they say about the fittest!".
And lastly there is the moment where Khan at the US Air Force base that he talks to a cheery American General, with Khan having by now planted the bomb at the base during the circus show. And Khan says to the General "General, excuse me. I have some traveling arrangements to make. Enjoy the show". And the general says "Thank you" and his aide says "I'm sure the general will get a big blast out of this" and Khan smiles and says "I know he won't be disappointed!".
Steven Berkoff on the other hand, despite being a fine actor in his own right, is a bit too hammy in his role as the villainous Russian, General Orlov who is determined to go to war the West and is in cahoots with Khan. Berkoff's performance is also not helped by his atrocious Russian accent which is right up there with John Malkovich's accent in the film Rounders (and that is saying something!).
Despite that Berkoff has some noteworthy moments that include his first scene where Orlov has a meeting with some Soviet officials that includes General Gogol (from The Spy Who Loved me). And in the scene Gogol says to the group "I believe I express the opinion of everyone present that adoption of NATO proposals does not compromise our defensive position". And Orlov protests by saying "General Gogol is presumptuous. He speaks for himself and others who cling to *timid*, outdated and unrealistic policies! Must I remind you, the committee, of our *overwhelming* superiority over NATO forces before we give it away?!".
And lastly there is the scene where Bond confronts Orlov onboard the circus train in Germany and Bond discovers Orlov's plan. And Bond says to Orlov "And I suppose it doesn't matter a damn to you that thousands of innocent people will be killed in this little "accident" of yours?!" and Orlov replies "Better than letting a handful of old men in Moscow bargain away our advantage in disarmament talks!".
And this is followed by the moment (SPOILER!) where Orlov is finally killed off as he runs after the train with the warhead on it but he is gunned down by German soldiers. And Orlov, who is clambering desparately on the ground is met by General Gogol who stands over him in disgust who says "A common thief. A disgrace to the uniform!". And Orlov with his dying breath says "Yes, but tomorrow, I shall be a hero of the Soviet Union" and then he dies.
Kristina Wayborn does OK as Magda, one of Octopussy's troupe who also seduces Bond in order to get the Faberge egg.
Wayborn does have one or two good moments aswell although there are also plenty of daft moments from her too such as the scene where Bond and Magda spend the night together and Bond spots Madga's tatoo and he asks her what it is and she says "That's my little Octopussy!". Yep of course it is!
And lastly there is the moment during the circus show at the US Air Force base where Magda discreetly steals the American general's wallet and she sits next to him. And Magda says to him "How long would I get in the brig if I stole your wallet?" and the general says "About two years" and Magda says "That long? Well, in that case I better return it!" and she gives him the wallet back.
I will also quickly mention the real life twins, David and Anthony Meyer who play the knife throwing duo who work for Kamal and are part of Octopussy's travelling circus and they do a decent enough job in being threatening even if they aren't the most memorable of villains. Kabir Debi is also not too bad in his role as Gobinda, Kamal's bodyguard and his most memorable moment is when he crushes a pair of dice after Bond has won his game of backgammon, right infront of him to intimidate Bond (similar to Oddjob in Goldfinger of course with the golf ball).
Vijay Amritraj does quite well in his role as Vijay, Bond's MI6 contact in India and Amritraj himself was a well known tennis player back then and they keep making some in-jokes about his tennis. Vijay also of course does have some amusing but very cheesy moments such as when he does his bit as a snakecharmer and he plays a bit of the Bond theme as Bond walks by who stops and says "A catchy little tune!".
Then of course is the very cheesy scene when Vijay uses his Indian taxi to flee the Khan's palace but Khan's henchmen follow them. And Bond says to Vijay "Vijay, we've got company!" and Vijay says to Bond "No problem, this is a company car!" and he revs the engine and it speeds through the crowds with the front end lifting off the ground and driving on its backwheels. And to make things even more Edamy, Vijay produces a tennis racquet and some balls and starts hitting some of the henchmen with them and he quips "Game, set and match, James!". God!!
Walter Gotell also makes a welcome return as General Gogol, M's equivalent in the Soviet Union, who is thoroughly opposed to Orlov's plans although his role is still fairly minor he would return again to the series in A View To A Kill.
And I will also mention Desmond Lewellyn who has a bigger part in the film than usual as he helps out Bond in India.
And Des has some funny moments and good lines that include the scene when Bond is in Octopussy's palace and Q and Vijay wait for him outside and Vijay says "Is he still there?" and Q scoffs "You must be joking! Double-0 seven on an island populated exclusively by women? We won't see him till dawn!".
And then there is the moment where Q and Bond arrive back at Khan's palace near the end of the film in a hot air balloon, which sports a big Union Jack on the balloon itself. And Bond says to Q "I trust you can handle this contraption, Q?" and Q says "It goes by hot air" and Bond says jokingly "Oh, you can!".
And this is followed by Q's funniest line where during the seige on Khan's palace, Q uses the hot air balloon to knock out one of Khan's men as it pushes right into the henchman roughly, knocking him unconscious. And Octopussy's ladies are all very grateful to Q as they start to cuddle and kiss him and Q protests "Cut it out! We don't have time for that! Later perhaps!".
And last of all is Robert Brown as M, who replaced Bernard Lee in the role in For Your Eyes Only, after Lee died in 1981 and he does not too bad a job in the part even if he isn't as good as Lee was. And finally Lois Maxwell once again reprises her role as Moneypenny, although she really is starting to show her age! However Lois has an amusing moment early on in the film when Bond comes in and instead of Moneypenny sees an attractive young woman and Bond says to her "Moneypenny, you become more beautiful everyday!" and Moneypenny who stands behind him says "I'm over here!".
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
As for the director, John Glen returns to the directorial helm as he would for the remainder of the 80's Bond films and he does pretty good job overall with the film's action although it is something he would get better at presenting in Timothy Dalton's films.
But Glen still provides some good setpieces particularly the film's intro pre-credit scenes where Bond flies his Acrostar plane and he tries to evade a missile, which eventually takes out a large hanger filled with soldiers! And another good action setpiece is when Bond has the fight with Gobinda and the twins on the train as he clambers around the outside jumping between carriages and hanging on for dear life.
Glen also makes good use of the film's locations especially in India where most of the film was shot in Udaipur but the film also was shot in England for the Air Force base scenes and the opening pre-credits scene.
As for the music, John Barry provides another good score although it isn't one of his very best but it still does feature some good tracks which feature his usual trademark signature style of lush orchestrations. The theme song for the film "All Time High" sung by Rita Coolidge, however for me isn't one of better songs in the series and in fact its pretty bland and not that memorable as there are so many better ones out there.
FLAWS
Right getting onto the flaws....yep Octopussy is by no means perfect.
And to start I think for me the problem with the film is that it is at times just TOO cheesy and it sees Bond make as drastic a departure from Fleming's original depiction of the spy as you could possibly get! And the film has so many daft moments such as Vijay playing a bit of the Bond theme infront of James Bond, its almost like he is breaking the fourth wall but even at that its pretty ridiculous!
Then let's not forget there is the bloody awful inclusion of that Tarzan cry when we see Bond swining from tree to tree in the jungle as he tries to evade being hunted by Khan. It just is really cringeworthy and that's pretty all you can say about it!
It also features some other stupid stuff aswell such as Bond infiltrating Octopussy's palace by using a small boat that is in the shape of a crocodile! I mean for God's sake! Is that the best they could come up with???!! It really shows at that time the series is taking the piss out of itself quite royally and any credibility that was there in the Moore films has by now totally gone out of the window! And let's not forget the Union Jack hot air balloon! I just dispair, really.
You also have to ask just how could Bond be able to get out of his disguise as a gorilla in the scene when he is onboard the circus train, so quickly without being noticed?! Not only that, Bond later on as he runs into the Air Force base to stop the bomb going on, finds the time to change into a clown outfit and apply all his make-up in a timely fashion! Yep its all pretty preposterous.
And then we have the scene where Bond rides Gogol's car on the railway tracks, now I have two problems with this scene: one, its a bit too convenient to imagine that this car would have the exact same width dimensions as a train that its wheels could possibly drive on a train track in the first place! And two: when Bond drives the car at one point he flips it onto its side and the soldiers shoot the underside of the car, and at this point you have to ask: How come the car DID NOT BLOW UP????! It is frankly absurd to put it politely, as that car really should have gone up in smoke! Ah well, but he is Bond after all.
I also felt that Khan is a pretty unconvincing villain and he wasn't really that menacing either and there were times were Louis Jourdan was just hamming it up to ludicrous levels. His character also plays second fiddle to Octopussy as she is basically just his boss although he does essentially kidnap her at the end and take her with him.
And this is a rather stupid thing in itself. Why does Khan need to take Octopussy with him at this point??? I mean Khan could have made a cleaner getaway if he had chosen NOT to take Octopussy with him! All it does is just serve as a plot Ex-Machina so that Bond would need to be put in a position so he would have to rescue her and that's about it.
And THIS also brings to mind the absolutely preposterous scene where Bond manages to climb onto the outside of Khan's plane just before it takes off and when it is in flight, Bond somehow clings onto the top of the plane for dear life without falling off to his death. Now if you believe that is possible then obviously you are a real diddy with no common sense but again, hey it is James Bond and how are you supposed to kill him off??? Apart from well shoot him of course but none of these megalomaniacal villains wanted to make it that easy!
Anyways that's me done with the flaws.
SUM UP
So to sum up, Octopussy is a very cheesy, corny and ridiculously preposterous Bond film, which at times has you cringing at just how daft it all is.
Yet somehow it is also very enjoyable too as the film dares to be so stupid and daft that it almost get's away with it as I mentioned earlier. And if you look at the film's plot its not that bad a one either as it echoes the Soviet/US tensions of the Cold War from that era. The film's action is also not bad either and features some good setpieces and Roger Moore enjoys some good chemistry with Maud Adams who is far more effective in her role her than The Man with the Golden Gun although it really has to be said that Roger is starting to look for too old for the part.
In fact Rog really should have ended his tenure in the role right here instead of going on to do the massively underwhelming pile of mediocrity that was A View To A Kill, a film that even Roger himself didn't like and its easy to see why (and nope I won't be reviewing it).
So to finish, Octopussy is good fun and about as daft as the series got but if you are willing to forgive it that then you might still enjoy it and no I no longer hate this film which is probably the most surprising thing for me about it!
And that's it for now and I will be back sometime soon with my next Bond review, which will be Pierce Brosnan's debut, Goldeneye.
Till then its bye for now!
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