Octopussy (1983)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

John Glen

Writers:

George MacDonald Fraser (screen story and screenplay) and
Richard Maibaum (screen story and screenplay) ...

Release Date:

10 June 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

Nobody does it better...thirteen times.

Plot:

A fake Fabergé egg and a fellow agent's death leads James Bond to uncovering an international jewel smuggling operation, headed by the mysterious Octopussy, being used to disguise a nuclear attack on NATO forces.

Plot Keywords:

Egg | Agent | Circus | British | Bomb

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Mon. July 20

12:00 PM

USA

Cast

Roger Moore	...	James Bond
Maud Adams	...	Octopussy
Louis Jourdan	...	Kamal Khan
Kristina Wayborn	...	Magda
Kabir Bedi	...	Gobinda
Steven Berkoff	...	General Orlov
David Meyer	...	Twin One
Tony Meyer	...	Twin Two (also as Anthony Meyer)
Desmond Llewelyn	...	Q
Robert Brown	...	M
Lois Maxwell	...	Miss Moneypenny
Michaela Clavell	...	Penelope Smallbone
Walter Gotell	...	General Anatol Gogol
Vijay Amritraj	...	Vijay
Albert Moses	...	Sadruddin

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | Russian | German | Spanish

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Ireland:PG | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Iceland:12 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1983) | Peru:14 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG (Certificate #27025) | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | Brazil:Livre

Filming Locations:

Agra Fort, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

Company:

Danjaq

Trivia:

The black and white Octopus signia was a symbol of SPECTRE, the criminal spy organization seen in other James Bond movies. However, in both the short story and movie Octopussy (1983) it has no connection to either story. Even if the producers had wanted to resurrect the Octopus symbol for this movie, the legal settlement with Kevin McClory gave him all the rights to the use of SPECTRE and as such the black-and-white octopus signia could not have been used in this movie. The type of octopus seen on the Octopussy girls' bodies was different: it was a blue ringed octopus. In the movie, this symbol was a sign of an old secret order of female bandits and smugglers.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Bond blows the tires out on the military transport, one of the guards flies out of the truck into the hay bales, yet when the transport is fully at rest, the guard is back in the truck.

Quotes:

[first lines]
James Bond: You didn't tell me there was going to be this much security.
Bianca: They moved the flight up to this afternoon.
James Bond: Well, we're going to have to go ahead as planned anyway.
[Bianca hands an ID badge with the name 'Luis Toro' to Bond]
James Bond: Toro. Sounds like a load of bull.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Men Behind the Mayhem: The Special Effects of James Bond (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

All Time High

Roger Moore's Best Bond Film

This is by far the best of the Roger Moore Bond films in my opinion. I may be prejudiced since "Octopussy" was the first Bond film I saw theatrically, but I absolutely loved it back then and it still holds up today. The plot is a fine blend of the serious stories of the early Connery films and the humorous touches of the Moore era. Add to that a smooth villain in Louis Jourdan, delicious over-the-top counterpoint from Steven Berkoff, a formidable henchman in Kabir Bedi, two exotic Bond girls in Maud Adams and Kristina Wayborn, beautiful location photography in the rich "travelogue" style (did India ever look as good as it does here?) and a great John Barry score and you can't go wrong with it at all. The tense buildup in the bomb countdown which has Bond donning clown makeup at one point is probably one of the most exciting in any Bond film.

Roger Moore hit his peak playing Bond in this film and the proof is how he seems so much better than Sean Connery does in the inferior "Never Say Never Again" that came out that same year. It's a pity that Moore didn't go out with this one, since "A View To A Kill" was so poor by comparison.

By all means rent this, watch it and have fun!