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CBn Reviews 'Octopussy'


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#1 Qwerty

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Posted 08 November 2005 - 06:25 AM

From CBn's main page...

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CBn Reviews 'Octopussy'
Forum members review the thirteenth James Bond film



#2 SecretAgentFan

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Posted 08 November 2005 - 07:50 AM

I

#3 K1Bond007

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Posted 08 November 2005 - 08:27 AM

Not to be negative here, but I would have liked to have seen a little wider range of reviews, only because I know Octopussy isn't that well recieved. Not that big of a deal and I guess it'll balance out next round when A View to a Kill comes up.

#4 Hitch

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Posted 08 November 2005 - 01:28 PM

I've always had a soft spot for Octopussy.

*thinks about rephrasing sentence, decides is too lazy*

It's fun. It's glamorous. It's a Saturday matinee type of movie. If you want grittiness in your Bond movies, look elsewhere. Descending via a swathe of silk? That's old-fashioned and unrealistic movie glamour straight out of a Douglas Fairbanks film. Shooting the pineapple off the banister? Bond racing to defuse a nuclear bomb and dressing as a clown to do so? Take a youngster to see it on the big screen and you'll have a Bond fan for life.

At times, it looks a bit rickety. But the action sequences are consistently entertaining and inventive. And Roger Moore's safari suit is so bad it's good. Cheesiness par excellence. :)

P.S. Qwerty - sign up Double-Oh Agent to review the rest, would you? :)

#5 Qwerty

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Posted 08 November 2005 - 06:18 PM

Not to be negative here, but I would have liked to have seen a little wider range of reviews, only because I know Octopussy isn't that well recieved. Not that big of a deal and I guess it'll balance out next round when A View to a Kill comes up.

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K1, I took all the substantial reviews of Octopussy reviewed in my Countdown threads - there were not many reviews for this film, and what you see up there is them.

#6 Qwerty

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Posted 08 November 2005 - 06:18 PM

P.S. Qwerty - sign up Double-Oh Agent to review the rest, would you? :)

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He already has. :)

Gotta love Octopussy.

#7 randyh

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Posted 10 November 2005 - 04:07 PM

:tup: Hey all. Octopussy is a better than average Bond movie. The best part of this movie can be summed up in two words, however: Ms. Magda. Wow. It maybe sad (for some) but it is true that this gal stole the show. She is one of the most exotic and erotic bond girls in the history of the series. She is a legend and I suspect there is a cult following out their (no pun intended).

The second highlight of this film is the double-0-climax. The chaos under the big top as the bomb ticks down to near zero and the mayheim blocks Bond from stopping it is one of the best emotional climax's of the whole bond series. The second climax, the dizzing fight on the twin-engine plane, is also edge of your seat action.

I do miss these great climax's. The GREAT double-climax here is the penultimate one. The Brosan-era ones were a lot more subtle.

#8 DLibrasnow

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Posted 10 November 2005 - 05:49 PM

I ranked it ion the bottom 5 of Bond movies when I reviewed it for Qwerty's countdown threads. Although its a Roger Moore Bond movie I think it went too far into fantasy territory.

#9 Tarl_Cabot

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Posted 10 November 2005 - 06:05 PM

ABC always promoted it as "the best Bond ever". :D

I missed it in theaters in '83 but I did catch NSNA. I like it but not as much as FYEO.Still good fun. :tup:

#10 Kingdom Come

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Posted 10 November 2005 - 06:12 PM

India and Alan Hume's cinematography make this film. As a storyline it is uninteresting and protracted, especially the scenes in and around the circus and build to the fight on the train. Better than average dialogue, Wayborn is classy and Jordan makes for a very appealing villian. As with A View To A Kill, Glen needed to be kept out of the edit suite. The pace is too slow and Lamont's sets look like an amateur theatre production. But the film is very atmospheric and frequently comes across as NOT a Bond film. ***

#11 Major Bloodnok

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Posted 12 November 2005 - 11:37 PM

India and Alan Hume's cinematography make this film. As a storyline it is uninteresting and protracted, especially the scenes in and around the circus and build to the fight on the train. Better than average dialogue, Wayborn is classy and Jordan makes for a very appealing villian.

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Agreed on these points. Alan Hume surpassed himself. The scene that always makes me smile, for sooo many reasons, is Magda spinning down from the balcony post coitus. There's something in that sequence that reminds me, visually, of From Russia With Love. There's a real elegance to it.

John Barry's soundtrack is, IMHO, his best. Beautiful and energetic. He isn't ripping himself off at any point. In fact, his instrumental of "All Time High" ranks with Ennio Morricone's "Gabriel's Oboe," and from me that's saying a lot. I think they're both geniuses.

I enjoy the story in Octopussy as well. I think it holds together quite well and may even be the high water mark for the Maibaum/Wilson colaboration. It's got a couple klunkers, but it's Shakespeare compared to anything Purvis and Wade have churned out.

The women are wonderful too.

All in all, Octopussy may well be my favorite of the Moore entries. Even better than TSWLM.

Let the thrashing begin.

#12 Pam Bouvier

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Posted 13 November 2005 - 12:48 AM

Let's see...Moore did LALD, MWTGG, Moonraker, FYEO, Octopussy, AVTAK,TSWLM...

I really liked Octopussy. I was glad to see Maud Adams back, getting a chance to do a more interesting role than MWTGG (I doubt Octopussy would sit still for being slapped around, by anyone, in fact, he didn't in Octopussy). It kept my attention, I liked the dialog, the villians were great (yes Oluff was pretty funny to listen to). I enjoyed the setting (especially the East German train ride). Music was great (wonderful main theme).

I think it's a tie between Octopussy & FYEO, as far as my favorite Moore film.

#13 triviachamp

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Posted 13 November 2005 - 01:31 AM

The problem I had with Octopussy is that the plot is inane. Orlov is making copies of Romanov art treasures and selling the copies for money to pay Soviet agents. Apparently he is doing this against the wishes of the Politburo. Why do they oppose it?.
And why exactly doesn't Bond just go to Berlin to investigate? This sort of inane plotting also wrecked LALD for me. Basically the plot is an excuse for Bond to go to various locations even though he doesn't bother to figure out anything while there.
The big problem of this movie (and The Living Daylights as well) is they had to extrapolate an event from a short story into a typical Bond plot. Hence the inanity.

#14 Qwerty

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Posted 13 November 2005 - 04:25 AM

Let the thrashing begin.

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Oh, there are alot of Octopussy fans on CBn. :tup:

#15 Flash1087

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Posted 13 November 2005 - 09:03 AM

I have no idea if I like Octopussy or not. It's one of TWO Bond Films I've never watched.

The other one is Dr. No.

Yeah. I've never seen Dr. No.

#16 Qwerty

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Posted 13 November 2005 - 07:48 PM

Leave. Now. Go watch them now. They're a must. :tup:

#17 Major Bloodnok

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Posted 13 November 2005 - 08:03 PM

The problem I had with Octopussy is that the plot is inane. Orlov is making copies of Romanov art treasures and selling the copies for money to pay Soviet agents. Apparently he is doing this against the wishes of the Politburo. Why do they oppose it?.
And why exactly doesn't Bond just go to Berlin to investigate? This sort of inane plotting also wrecked LALD for me.  Basically the plot is an excuse for Bond to go to various locations even though he doesn't bother to figure out anything while there.
The big problem of this movie (and The Living Daylights as well) is they had to extrapolate an event from a short story into a typical Bond plot. Hence the inanity.

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Bond's job was to follow Kamal Kahn. He is the connection to the egg, which is a macguffin.

Orlov was selling the fake jewelry to finance an illegal opperation to blow up a nuclear bomb on the US Base. The Politburo would not have approved, as they did not approve of his plan to ride tanks into Western Europe.

I think th eplot holds together than many of the Bond stories. However, the level of reality is usually fairly low. The level of excitement is what needs to be high. There's usually contrivences- and thank heaven for them!

#18 Major Bloodnok

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Posted 13 November 2005 - 08:05 PM

I have no idea if I like Octopussy or not. It's one of TWO Bond Films I've never watched.

The other one is Dr. No.

Yeah. I've never seen Dr. No.

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Well, come on over! I'm watching Octopussy right now! I'll follow it with DR. NO. It's not like the Packer game will be worth watching...

#19 Qwerty

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Posted 17 November 2005 - 05:27 AM

[Moderator's Note: Poll added to this thread.]

#20 DLibrasnow

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Posted 16 January 2006 - 09:50 PM

After watching this movie over the weekend I've softened my position on this movie writing a largely positive review on Amazon. :tup:

#21 Streetworker

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Posted 16 January 2006 - 10:44 PM

Let the thrashing begin.

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Oh, there are alot of Octopussy fans on CBn. :tup:

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Indeed. I love Octopussy.

#22 Qwerty

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Posted 16 January 2006 - 11:09 PM

Let the thrashing begin.

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Oh, there are alot of Octopussy fans on CBn. :D

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Indeed. I love Octopussy.

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:tup:

#23 Scottlee

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Posted 18 January 2006 - 01:30 AM

I gave it a 9

7th best Bond film

#24 Qwerty

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Posted 03 May 2006 - 10:10 PM

A new review by DLibrasnow has been added to the CBn article.

#25 DLibrasnow

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Posted 05 May 2006 - 05:20 PM

Thanks Devin :D :tup:

#26 Qwerty

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Posted 05 May 2006 - 10:20 PM

No problem. :tup:

#27 Bond fan since March 2000

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Posted 29 March 2007 - 02:45 AM

Ok, so I'm reviewing all 21 Bond films & started with my least favorite & am working my way to #1! Enjoy!

#12 Octopussy, 1983

No, Octopussy is not a p

#28 coco1997

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Posted 29 March 2007 - 03:26 AM

You want to know what? I never liked Roger Moore until I sat down and watched Octopussy. I naively felt that the disgrace of "A View to a Kill" left a pox on Moore's entire tenure as Bond. Boy, what a naive mistake to make.

Moore is perfect here as Bond. He is what makes the film. I realized Octopussy was a great film during a twenty-film marathon over the course of several weekends. Though I loved "For Your Eyes Only," it was here that Moore's age became quite visible and distracting. I assumed that he would look worse and worse in his next two films. While I was correct, Moore nails his characters so well in Octopussy, his age is barely a point of contention. I truly feel that Moore is in his element as Bond here; the way he switches from light-hearted wittiness to dead-serious determination is seamless. Moore is probably the most likeable any Bond actor has ever been in this film, and it's a shame it wasn't his last one. It would have been a wonderful, typically Moore-like send-off for the seasoned actor.

Edited by coco1997, 29 March 2007 - 03:28 AM.


#29 Keir

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Posted 15 April 2007 - 01:46 PM

Can't understand the high regard this film has. It's certainly the least believable. I remember when I first watched it after a few years quite enjoying it, but tonight it was embarrassing watching it with my girlfriend. The scenes are geared towards laughs more than anything else and betrays the spirit of the earlier films. Certainly to have Ian Fleming's name associated with it is rather shameful. From Tazan calls to completely unbelievable escapes and without any sense of respecting the intelligence of the sudience, how a quarter of those polled voted it as the best is disturbing. As soon as one sees the look of terror on a double-0 in the opening scene one is eventually inclined to simply accept the prone and beaten body of another double-0 being comforted by a woman whom he had just saved after landing together. Berkoff is enjoyably over-the-top but that is par for the course here.
Very hard now to watch this era's films after having seen Casino Royale.
And how the hell did Bond get in and out of the Gorilla outfit the way he did, especially given the two seconds it took Gobinda to turn around?!?

Edited by Keir, 15 April 2007 - 01:52 PM.


#30 Mr_Wint

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Posted 15 April 2007 - 02:13 PM

I gave the film 8/10. It's a wonderful movie with a great atmosphere.

Perhaps this film has one of the best storylines ever created for a Bondfilm - Maibaum & Wilson did a fantastic job here.