295 replies to this topic

[O.H.M.S.S.]

Octopussy was a good Bond film, but I don't think it was one of the best. It had a good cast (Roger Moore, Louis Jourdan, Steven Berkoff, ...), a great John Barry soundtrack and exotic locations. But I was dissapointed when they made him yell like Tarzan and dress like a clown.

[DaveBond21]

But I was dissapointed when they made him yell like Tarzan and dress like a clown.

Yes, good point. I think it was a sign of the times. Also, what about the gorilla suit?? I don't think anyone likes the Tarzan yell.

[DaveBond21]

It had a good cast

Indeed. A good fun cast, although maybe too many villains, like TLD?

[Barry the Saint]

OP is a great Bond movie but i think TMWTGG is the most fun/feel good Bond film so far..

[Mr. Blofeld]

I still think Dalton should have been in it.

[Bondian]

Love it. A true 100% entertaining Bond.

[Turn]

I found this on an IMDB link on worst movie titles ever put together by the MSN site.

"Octopussy" (1983)
OK, we all get the thing about Bond films and winking, leering, in-the-know double entendre. But the penultimate Bond film featuring Roger Moore was completely out of hand. It doesn't even qualify as double entendre. It barely qualifies as single entendre. It's just p

[Skudor]

Funnily enough Octopussly does very little for me. Have always thought of it as a very bland Bond film.

[DaveBond21]

I always remember my Dad (who is not a movie lover by any means) saying how great the last 40 minutes were, with fights on a train, car chases, the palace fight and then on a plane.

[DaveBond21]

Love it. A true 100% entertaining Bond.

Leonard Maltin agrees when he says that it throws in everything but the kitchen sink for the sake of a good show.

[tdalton]

I'm watching the film right now, and I have to say that it's quite possibly the most underrated film in the franchise. It does what DAD tried to do, which is to combine some of the humorous elements that Roger Moore's other films were known for with some serious elements as well, and it does so brilliantly. Also, the scene with Bond and Orlov in the train car is one of the best scenes in the entire franchise.

[coco1997]

I agree very much, tdalton. "Octopussy" simply dosn't get the love it deserves. I love how serious and genuinely angry Moore seems in that train scene.

BOND: "And I suppose it doesn't matter a damn to you if thousands of innocent people are killed in that little accident of yours!"

[Bondian]

I always remember my Dad (who is not a movie lover by any means) saying how great the last 40 minutes were, with fights on a train, car chases, the palace fight and then on a plane.

I agree with your dad. It also features some very different locations which makes the film look 'busy'.

Love it. A true 100% entertaining Bond.

Leonard Maltin agrees when he says that it throws in everything but the kitchen sink for the sake of a good show.

[Judo chop]

When a female friend who is interested in seeing what all my fuss is about and asks me which one Bond movie they should start with*, my answer is always Octopussy. I do believe it is the most fun and approachable of the Bond films to a beginner. It contains all of the Bondian elements, a tremendous performance by Roger, gorgeous scenes, charismatic villains, some tension mixed with continuous action and requires no use of the brain for a straight forward rollick.

The tarzan yell bothers me not, but the gorilla suit drives me absolutely bananas

[tdalton]

When a female friend who is interested in seeing what all my fuss is about and asks me which one Bond movie they should start with*, my answer is always Octopussy. I do believe it is the most fun and approachable of the Bond films to a beginner. It contains all of the Bondian elements, a tremendous performance by Roger, gorgeous scenes, charismatic villains, some tension mixed with continuous action and requires no use of the brain for a straight forward rollick.

I agree with you on the idea that Octopussy is probably the film that would be a good introduction for somebody to the Bond franchise. It has the perfect blend of Roger Moore humor and serious elements, and is an infinitely more superior blend of those two elements than Die Another Day was. After watching it last night, I really think even more highly of this film than I previously did, and it may even be a Top 5 Bond film for me now. As good as For Your Eyes Only is, Octopussy may contain Roger Moore's best performance as Bond.

[coco1997]

tdalton, it's cool to find someone who loves that film as much as I do. The two Dalton flicks, Octopussy, OHMSS and Casino Royale are all in my top fives. When compared to the other four, Octopussy seems pretty different, but ultimately it wins out because it has a solid plot, exotic locations, and most of all, tons of fun.

[tdalton]

tdalton, it's cool to find someone who loves that film as much as I do. The two Dalton flicks, Octopussy, OHMSS and Casino Royale are all in my top fives. When compared to the other four, Octopussy seems pretty different, but ultimately it wins out because it has a solid plot, exotic locations, and most of all, tons of fun.

I think that after I watched the film last night that I'm definitely going to have to re-examine my top 5, as Octopussy is definitely warranting some serious attention for a spot there. I may have to go back and do another marathon of the films starting with Dr. No and finishing with Casino Royale in order to get a better idea, but the film has certainly improved each and every time I've watched it.

But, to address the title of the thread, while I do think that this is a fun film to watch, I also think that it has a great seriousness to the plot of the film as well. Of course, there are silly elements thrown in (as there are in virtually all of Roger Moore's outings as Bond, except for perhaps FYEO), but Moore also gets to do some great dramatic acting in this one as well, and he's absolutely fantastic at it. It really is a shame that he didn't do more serious work as Bond, because he's really quite good at doing that aspect of the character as well. His scene on the train with General Orlov is one of the best in the entire franchise, and his trying to convince the general at the circus is also great dramatic acting as well.

[00Twelve]

A good re-evaluation such as that is healthy for a Bond fan from time to time. Helps one maintain and improve their perspective.

(There's a slight chance I'm taking this all too seriously. )

[tdalton]

A good re-evaluation such as that is healthy for a Bond fan from time to time. Helps one maintain and improve their perspective.

(There's a slight chance I'm taking this all too seriously. )

Agreed. It's always good to look back at the films because, sometimes, it gets to be very easy to criticize a film that one hasn't seen in a while, and then come to realize that maybe it's not that bad after all. I did that with TND a month or so ago, and I really think that it was a film in which Brosnan gave a very good performance as Bond, although some of the elements of the film around him were lacking a bit.

[DaveBond21]

A good re-evaluation such as that is healthy for a Bond fan from time to time. Helps one maintain and improve their perspective.

(There's a slight chance I'm taking this all too seriously. )

Agreed. It's always good to look back at the films because, sometimes, it gets to be very easy to criticize a film that one hasn't seen in a while, and then come to realize that maybe it's not that bad after all. I did that with TND a month or so ago, and I really think that it was a film in which Brosnan gave a very good performance as Bond, although some of the elements of the film around him were lacking a bit.

I've lost count of the number of times I've read a post by someone saying that they changed their mind about one of the movies simply by watching it again. It even happens to TWINE and DAD.

[Mr. Blofeld]

I've lost count of the number of times I've read a post by someone saying that they changed their mind about one of the movies simply by watching it again. It even happens to TWINE and DAD.

It doesn't just happen with Bond: I'm a Harry Potter fan, and I used to hate the film version of Prisoner of Azkaban -- so much that, when it came out on DVD, with all the fixings, I asked my mother to avoid it; the next year, I asked for Goblet of Fire as soon as it came out.

A funny thing happened, though; Midway through the year, I managed to catch POA again... and I enjoyed it. Subsequently, my opinion of GOF fell, and I hold it about the same place I do YOLT.

So, you see; it's all a matter of perspective.

[AngryPolarBear]

I like it, bust at the same time I hate some elements in it. It's important to include funny parts, but that doesn't mean they should be ridiculous.

The plot in it's self is well written and pretty serious, and maybe the best of the Roger Moore's films. But I do think it's a shame they departed to far from the tone of For Your Eyes Only. I don't like the over top PTS and the final conclusion, and some of the silly parts in India.

At the same time I just adore the gambling scene and the bit in Germany. I was actually surprised they managed to make the bomb sequence so intense when Moore is actually dressed up as a clown.

So Octopussy is decent, but some of the parts and elements feel unnecessary.

[sharpshooter]

Octopussy and A View to a Kill would have to be my least viewed Bond films. I prefer Octopussy over A View to a Kill, well I prefer any other Bond film against A View to a Kill.

[hilly]

I think Octopussy is a highly underrated Bond film. I think it's tarred by the "Wrinkly Roger" brush that also afflicts A View To A Kill, but there's still a lot going in Octopussy. The scope of it, from Germany to London to India and some incredible stunt work (eg the aerial and driving work, as well as the sequence on the train)are fairly awesome.
Roger Moore dressed in a clown suit defusing an atomic bomb at a circus. Described like that, it sounds ridiculous, but the acting,direction, editing and music make it a great scene.

Its true that there are camp elements to it.Louis Jourdan and Steven Berkoff ham it up shamelessly and I never really understood why it was really necessary for Octopussy's girls to wear so little when raiding Kamal's castle. Surely anybody mounting a raid on a heavily armed fortress would cover up a bit more. (Kissy Suzuki in YOLT has the same problem. Surely when she goes back to tell Tanaka about the whole fake volcano, rocket-swallowing thing, he could have found the poor girl something more practical to put on, given that he himself was in full ninja gear.)Similarly,some of the jokes are as old as the hills, Roger's stand-ins are painfully obvious at times and Maud Adams and Kristina Wayborne's performances shed splinters occasionally.

However these are minor quibbles. Octopussy IS a lot of fun. If only Roger had called it a day after that one....

[DaveBond21]

I never really understood why it was really necessary for Octopussy's girls to wear so little when raiding Kamal's castle

It works for me....

[Qwerty]

I never really understood why it was really necessary for Octopussy's girls to wear so little when raiding Kamal's castle. Surely anybody mounting a raid on a heavily armed fortress would cover up a bit more.

Well, the less clothing the better most likely for the ones putting up the act of "selling themselves" to the guards outside.

[quantumofsolace]

Octopussy is one of the best Moore films. The jungle sequence is a mistake but the rest is very good

[Renard]

I watched Octopussy with my girlfriend yesterday night. Haven't seen OP for a while! It's the most amusing bond flick ever IMO. It's very complex and varied, combinding different genres. Some russian military/east berlin scenes remind me of '80ies Michael Caine thrillers. I was suprised of the freshness and quality of emotional impacts while watching it by myself. My girlfriend was somehow fascinated, tough she knows this film very well without being a huge bond fan. It still works today, especially in times of media and consumption abundance. That's the magic of Bond films,..... as it should be!

[Qwerty]

The jungle sequence is a mistake but the rest is very good

What don't you like about that sequence, quantumofsolace?

I'll agree it has a few cringeworthy moments in it (the Tarzan yell), but the overall Most Dangerous Game idea seems to work pretty well, in my opinion.

[tdalton]

The jungle sequence is a mistake but the rest is very good

What don't you like about that sequence, quantumofsolace?

I'll agree it has a few cringeworthy moments in it (the Tarzan yell), but the overall Most Dangerous Game idea seems to work pretty well, in my opinion.

I like the concept behind the sequence, but I think that it could have done without the humours elements. I think that the Most Dangerous Game idea would work extremely well in a Daniel Craig Bond movie, without all of the humorous elements, of course.