39 replies to this topic

[Qwerty]

And now on the CBn main page...

All Time High: 'Octopussy' Celebrates 25 Years

CBn Forum members on seeing Roger Moore's penultimate James Bond film for the first time

With the 25th anniversary of Octopussy this month in the US and UK, I thought it would be interesting to ask CBn members about the first time they saw Roger Moore's sixth James Bond film (something we did similarly last year for the anniversaries of The Spy Who Loved Me, The Living Daylights and Tomorrow Never Dies).

Where was it? Were you at the premiere? Was it your first Bond film? ...are just some of the questions to consider. If you can't remember your very first time in seeing the film, then perhaps your most memorable experience.

Members are encouraged to write a few paragraphs describing the event and your thoughts.

[Chula]

Saw it opening night in New York.

- place was packed
- could feel the sense of disappointment from audience when film ended (the crowd sure wasn't bouncing like after TSWLM or MOONRAKER)
- huge laugh from the crowd was towards the end when Khan tsk-tsked Octupussy with the line "Octopussy....Octopussy." All in the audience suddenly realized just how silly and funny the title of the film really was.
- Moore had the audience in the palm of his hands. If you saw Moore's Bonds in the theaters, you just always got a sense of that.

OCTOPUSSY was certainly not the best Bond movie-going experience. Rather sluggish and not very exciting movie. I have since gone on to love the film via repeated viewings at home, but in the theater it was part of the slow descent of Bond films.

Edited by Chula, 04 June 2008 - 06:02 PM.

[DR76]

I had a different experience with my first viewing of "OCTOPUSSY". I really enjoyed it a lot. I especially loved the action sequence in which Bond tried to stop the bomb from exploding on that Air Force base. But my biggest thrill came from the fight scene at Kamal Khan's palace. Happy 25th anniversary, "OCTOPUSSY"!

[crheath]

Saw it opening night in New York.

- place was packed
- could feel the sense of disappointment from audience when film ended (the crowd sure wasn't bouncing like after TSWLM or MOONRAKER)
- huge laugh from the crowd was towards the end when Khan tsk-tsked Octupussy with the line "Octopussy....Octopussy." All in the audience suddenly realized just how silly and funny the title of the film really was.
- Moore had the audience in the palm of his hands. If you saw Moore's Bonds in the theaters, you just always got a sense of that.

OCTOPUSSY was certainly not the best Bond movie-going experience. Rather sluggish and not very exciting movie. I have since gone on to love the film via repeated viewings at home, but in the theater it was part of the slow descent of Bond films.

Big disagreement here. I thought Octopussy was one of the best of the Moore series. It may have gotten silly at times, but in terms of just plain action, it was one of the fastest moving and exciting Bonds in years. I even remember Leonard Maltin's review on ET, "so much in this movie, it's almost dizzying." Gave it a 9 on his 1-10 scale. Not to mention it was the top grossing Bond film ever, until GE.

[dee-bee-five]

I was at the premiere at the Odeon, Leicester Square in London. It was the second Bond premiere I'd been to (after For Your Eyes Only). I'd collected my tickets from Cubby and Dana Broccoli at Eon's then-offices in South Audley Street in the afternoon (long story and one I'm not making up), so it was already a special day. The premiere itself did not disappoint as it was, up to that point, the most star-studded night of my life. I walked up the stairs to the circle just behind Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve and Liza Minnelli!

The film was extremely well-received and, as a previous poster has said, Roger Moore seemed absolutely at the top of his game. I loved it that night, and I've loved it ever since.

At that point, I hadn't learned that it's terribly naff to request autographs at such events (actually, I now feel it's naff to ask for autographs at any time, but that's because I work in the "business" and am cynical ). Still, it does mean that I have an Octopussy premiere ticket (complete with card tentacles) signed by Roger Moore and a premiere brochure signed by, amongst others, Lois Maxwell (with a sweet personal message), Desmond Llewelyn, and Liza with a "Z"...
I've often wondered what they might be worth.

Edited by dee-bee-five, 04 June 2008 - 06:25 PM.

[ImTheMoneypenny]

I was fairly young, I remember now I saw it at the theatre. My parents always took us kids to see whatever movie they were seeing. I have to have been about 7 or so years old. It made quite the positive impression.

[DaveBond21]

I missed it in the cinema, as my parents took me and my friends to see Never Say Never Again at the cinema for my birthday.

I remember missing Octopussy on TV, even though my Dad was telling me how great the last 40 minutes were with chases on cars, trains and planes.

I think I finally saw it all the way through in 1991 on TV, and I loved it. The haunting stalking of a clown, all the creatures that 007 faces in the Indian jungle (elephants, snake, tiger, leech, spider, crocodile), killing the twins, fighting Gobinda on the plane, it's great entertainment.

Leonard Maltin gives it ***1/2 in his movie review book. The most he gives for a Bond film along with Dr No, FRWL, Goldfinger, OHMSS, DAF and TSWLM.

[dogmanstar]

I never saw it in the theater but saw it first on HBO. A bunch of my friends and I watched it over and over again when it came on cable because we were all big Bond fans but even moreso for my friends, a bunch of adolescent boys, we has seen "The Wild Geese," "The Dirty Dozen," "The Guns of Navarone," "Destination Tokyo" and so many others.

We loved Octopussy. It had everything 14 year old boys could want! And there was a sense that this film worked on the adult level, too. (We didn't understand much about Sotheby's or Faberge eggs . . . . but we thought they had something to do with adults.) And at this time of the Cold War, the East German locations seemed especially exotic to us.

[Turn]

Octopussy will always be a special Bond for me. It was the first film since I became a hardcore fan that I was somewhat able to follow during its production. It wasn't like today where you can follow blogs and have 10 different entertainment shows to watch it on. But I was a member of the American Bond fan club and they sent out quarterly newsletters that gave updates. Entertainment Tonight had occasional features on the set. And the most memorable was Starlog's Double Bond issue that came out in February of 1983 with behind the scenes pictures and information on OP and NSNA. I was ready.

Friday, June 10 1983 was a huge day. In my town, OP was being shown at a drive-in theater. I saw FYEO at one and it kind of lost something. Luckily, there was a cinema in the next town that was showing OP at a matinee. My mom and dad piled my brother and I into the car to see it as they knew how Bond obsessed I was at the time.

One of my favorite amusing memories was the Urbana Twin Cinema had two theaters and the theater manager must have been embarassed by the title as the marquee simply read "James Bond." Although this theater was older and mostly showed second-run features, it was just fine for OP. I loved the film from beginning to end and it remains one of my favorites.
It had the best blend of everything of that era. I don't recall anybody hooting any particular moment or how packed the hall was, just having a great time.

After the film, we went to a nearby bookstore where I got a couple of film magazines profiling OP, which I still have. It was a great day and one I will never forget.

I would go on to see OP again at the drive-in cinema, where I took a boom box to record the film on cassette tapes as you were able to listen to the sound in your car (I guess that made me an early film pirate) and twice more in a cinema in my town while my brother went to see Return of the Jedi again. I was 16 and just had my driver's license for a few months. When I saw FYEO at 14 I remembered thinking when I had my license I would go see a new Bond film every night. Not quite, but a lot.

And just as good back at that time was we still had NSNA yet to hit theaters. 1983 was possibly the best year ever to be a Bond fan.

[manfromjapan]

Octopussy was the first Bond film I ever saw at the cinema. I was only 10 going on 11. It blew my mind, and set in stone my love for the cinematic 007.

I think my late father summed up the appeal of the film and Bond films in general. He said you pay a few pounds for your ticket, and for a few hours you forget about your everyday troubles. You get value for your money. You get taken on a trip to foreign locales, action, humour, beautiful women (but don't tell your Mom I said that!) etc etc. He is absolutely right. That's why I think I love the Bond films. When I watch any Bond film, I am not thinking about anything else. They hold my attention. I don't know if I can say that about other films or series. The Bond films have made me a harsh critic: I hate to be bored. And that's why the uncommonly boring parts of certain Bond films are cardinal sins for me.

Octopussy is very much a mixed bag of a film, but it is one of the most purely entertaining. It's underrated because there is alot of good in the film thast people pass over because of the sillier aspects of the production. That said, the humour and treatment of India does shoot the film in the foot at times.

My first and later impressions? The pre-credits scene is awesome. It's one of the most colourful Bonds. The plot is strong and feels Flemingian for the most part. Moore has his best chemistry with Maud 'Mud' Adams. It's one of the most action-packed. Eon put a lot of effort into making a visually and dramatically dynamic Bond picture, and they succedded for the most part. Hence the strong US box-office take.

Edited by manfromjapan, 05 June 2008 - 01:29 AM.

[Chula]

I would go on to see OP again at the drive-in cinema, where I took a boom box to record the film on cassette tapes as you were able to listen to the sound in your car (I guess that made me an early film pirate)

Hey, I did that for FOR YOUR EYES ONLY. Funny how we were taping just the audio of a movie compared to what is going on today in theaters. I guess we were the pioneers of ripping off the film industry.

I'm not sure how many here taped on a cassette the sound from a Bond movie at a drive-in; but I am sure there are many here who taped the sound of Bond films off the TV. I still have all those cassettes from all the Bond films. We were so easy to please back then. Now, if the color of a leaf in LIVE AND LET DIE is slightly off on a DVD, people go ape. WE LIVED ON AUDIO CASSETTE TAPES OF BOND FILMS! And we loved it.

[DaveBond21]

Octopussy will always be a special Bond for me. It was the first film since I became a hardcore fan that I was somewhat able to follow during its production. It wasn't like today where you can follow blogs and have 10 different entertainment shows to watch it on. But I was a member of the American Bond fan club and they sent out quarterly newsletters that gave updates. Entertainment Tonight had occasional features on the set. And the most memorable was Starlog's Double Bond issue that came out in February of 1983 with behind the scenes pictures and information on OP and NSNA. I was ready.

Friday, June 10 1983 was a huge day. In my town, OP was being shown at a drive-in theater. I saw FYEO at one and it kind of lost something. Luckily, there was a cinema in the next town that was showing OP at a matinee. My mom and dad piled my brother and I into the car to see it as they knew how Bond obsessed I was at the time.

One of my favorite amusing memories was the Urbana Twin Cinema had two theaters and the theater manager must have been embarassed by the title as the marquee simply read "James Bond." Although this theater was older and mostly showed second-run features, it was just fine for OP. I loved the film from beginning to end and it remains one of my favorites.
It had the best blend of everything of that era. I don't recall anybody hooting any particular moment or how packed the hall was, just having a great time.

After the film, we went to a nearby bookstore where I got a couple of film magazines profiling OP, which I still have. It was a great day and one I will never forget.

I would go on to see OP again at the drive-in cinema, where I took a boom box to record the film on cassette tapes as you were able to listen to the sound in your car (I guess that made me an early film pirate) and twice more in a cinema in my town while my brother went to see Return of the Jedi again. I was 16 and just had my driver's license for a few months. When I saw FYEO at 14 I remembered thinking when I had my license I would go see a new Bond film every night. Not quite, but a lot.

And just as good back at that time was we still had NSNA yet to hit theaters. 1983 was possibly the best year ever to be a Bond fan.

Great story, Turn...

[saint007]

I was 14 when I saw OCTOPUSSY at the movies. It was the
second 007 movie I had gone to see at the theater. i went with my
mom and dad on that first Friday night. I remember the place being
packed. from the pretitles to the end it was blast. This was during
all the Bond VS Bond stuff in the media. I remember the STARLOG
issue with Rog and Sean on the front.83 was a great year for a 007
fan!!

[jaguar007]

The best Bond movie experience for me was the WOrld premeiere of GoldenEye, but seeing Octopussy rates up there. I was in High School at the time and my parents and I were on vacation in Nassau. We had missed re shoots of NSNA by 2 weeks. Being the Bond fan I was, I insisted that we go see Octopussy on opening day (my parents wanted to wait until we got back home, but they understood). Our taxi cab driver was telling us stories about the filming of NSNA that we just missed and how they blew up a room at the hotel right next to ours.

People in Nassau really get into the movies unlike Americans. My mom really remembers how the audience cheered for Bond during the movie.

[Simon]

Octopussy was for me probably the height of Bond interest and mania, if only inside my head.

If one gets a feeling of how a film will play out due to news reports (no internet in those days so just newspapers) it did seem very colourful, and so it was.

Stand out moment was the precredits where the noise of the plane engines thumped out and the speed of the aircraft was very evident. From that moment I was 'in' the movie and I never left it.

It never got any better since then as the ageing process created a bit of healthy distance which then turned to the cynicism of today.

[David_M]

- Moore had the audience in the palm of his hands. If you saw Moore's Bonds in the theaters, you just always got a sense of that.

Thank you! It's hard to explain that fact to folks who came to Bondage after Roger's tenure ended; he had a strictly old-school variety of screen presence that made watching his films in a crowded theater a very different experience from viewing them alone on a little box.

Octopussy premiered the day I graduated high school, so I tend to remember it. At the time I was living just outside Lynchburg, VA, home of Dr Jerry Falwell and the then-powerful "Moral Majority." Just two years earlier, skittish Lynchburg newspapers had run ads for FYEO with a pair of shorts drawn over the girl's skimpy underpants, so I couldn't resist taking delight in EON's return salvo: a film the very title title of which made people blush! Take that, you nervous Nellies: try advertising a movie without using the name!

I remember standing in line at the Pittman Plaza theater behind a group of Japanese tourists (or maybe exchange students). The appointed leader of the group stepped up to the box office and said, "Uh...five tickets for...OctoPUSSY!" At which point the entire crew erupted in a giggling fit.

I often wonder if those guys were disappointed with what they got, which was far from p

[ImTheMoneypenny]

[quote name='David_M' post='877110' date='5 June 2008 - 06:46'][quote]- Moore had the audience in the palm of his hands. If you saw Moore's Bonds in the theaters, you just always got a sense of that.[/quote]

Thank you! It's hard to explain that fact to folks who came to Bondage after Roger's tenure ended; he had a strictly old-school variety of screen presence that made watching his films in a crowded theater a very different experience from viewing them alone on a little box.

Octopussy premiered the day I graduated high school, so I tend to remember it. At the time I was living just outside Lynchburg, VA, home of Dr Jerry Falwell and the then-powerful "Moral Majority." Just two years earlier, skittish Lynchburg newspapers had run ads for FYEO with a pair of shorts drawn over the girl's skimpy underpants, so I couldn't resist taking delight in EON's return salvo: a film the very title title of which made people blush! Take that, you nervous Nellies: try advertising a movie without using the name!

I remember standing in line at the Pittman Plaza theater behind a group of Japanese tourists (or maybe exchange students). The appointed leader of the group stepped up to the box office and said, "Uh...five tickets for...OctoPUSSY!" At which point the entire crew erupted in a giggling fit.

I often wonder if those guys were disappointed with what they got, which was far from p

[ACE]

For my Mom ... who ... wanted Robert Wagner to be Bond

My mother too. She also thought Brosnan would be a good Bond when she watched Remmington Steele, a show I had little time for.

Shards of memory for Octopussy.

FADE IN ON:
Early 1983, my parents were moving house and prospective buyers visiting the property always got a cup of tea at the end of their tour. Strangely, I was called to meet one prospective buyer once. He was a costumier for the new Bond. He told me excitedly about the circus finale and Bond dressing up as a clown.

I groaned.

See, in the previous year, I'd popped my Fleming cherry and was now oh so serious about Bond. FYEO had been a treat for me (on second viewing) and now I thought, more Moore shenanigans.

CUT TO
A relative of mine had a key role in a Steven Spielberg film being prepped at the time. His family had been on the Octopussy set and he told me all about it, how it was being shot in India and Germany and featured a big battle in a palace! I was incredulous at how he knew so much but he did!

CUT TO:
A BBC 2 show called Entertainment USA hosted by (now convicted kiddie fiddler) Jonathan King. Suddenly, one episode ended with the trailer for Octopussy with that beautiful tentacular O that the late great Maurice Binder created.

CUT TO:
6th June 1983 - Dundundun Daaah - it really was the longest day! The premiere of Octopussy was being televised way past my bedtime. However, the shores of Bond had already been shelled with the Roger Moore-hosted 21 Years Of Bond and I had negotiated a waiver to stay up late. Crowds screamed for Princess Diana outside, while inside the hot Odeon auditorium, incompetent interviews took place. An overtanned Roger Moore denying having eye surgery to an overtanned Judith Chalmers and Kabir Bedi defending his role in Ashanti after being told it was crap by a tactless Chris Kelly!

OK, my appetite was whetted but I had to wait until August when the film played at my local suburban cinema. One of the first things said visitors from Moscow did was see Octopussy at the Odeon Leicester Square, the world's most expensive cinema in the heart of town. My parents would not make a special trip there just to see a film! Oy vey! I was taunted with a two month wait until August 1983 when the film crawled its way to my local, suburban Granada cinema.

August and everything after. I queued with my family probably the first Saturday it was on locally. Sure I was eager, but somehow my excitement was leavened the image of Moore as a clown. However, I was blown away by the film. A taut Cold War spy thriller (with a plot borrowed from General Sir John Hackett which in turn was borrowed by Frederick Forsyth for The Fourth Protocol) with gorgeous women (on whom a sari is the most perfect gift-wrapping!), beautiful, exotic locations, big villainy, thrilling earthy action, a clever adaptation of Fleming's short stories The Property Of A Lady and Octopussy, some fantastic action, fun, gadgets and one-liners. Oh, and that slide down the bannister to the James Bond theme still sends me!

I left the cinema on an all time high.

Summer 1983 was the Battle of the Bonds. 007 fever was everywhere. The king across the water, Sir Sean was returning and I thought Bond could never get bigger than this.

Ever.

Wow, 25 years...

Indeed, kid. Indeed!

[Chula]

- Moore had the audience in the palm of his hands. If you saw Moore's Bonds in the theaters, you just always got a sense of that.

Thank you! It's hard to explain that fact to folks who came to Bondage after Roger's tenure ended; he had a strictly old-school variety of screen presence that made watching his films in a crowded theater a very different experience from viewing them alone on a little box.

Yes, you put it well. "Old-school screen presence" was what Roger Moore sure had. He had us all in the palm of his hands. Whatever he did on the screen, we were with him. Charm, I suppose it is. And to see his Bond films in the theater was really special. We sure were with him on his adventures. He glady took us along for the ride and we gladly went. And, yes, I suppose for newer fans who never experienced a Moore film in the theaters, it is hard to explain. Roger Moore sure had a way with an audience in a movie theater. A Moore Bond film truly was a different Bond experience in the theater.

[BoogieBond]

Charisma ? and Screen Presence ? Yeah Rog has a bit of that IMO.
As mentioned by others, he seemed to played Bond as a straight up hero, more or less. Wheres the Rog appreciation thread I might put my tuppence in

I gotta say that after MR and FYEO, I felt a little down after watching Octopussy in the theatres. But's its still a good old fashioned action packed Bond adventure, with all the gadgets girls and locations, and credit to it for that.

[mattjoes]

I first watched Octopussy sometime during the late nineties, when I was no more than ten years old. At the time, my father had been renting the Moore films for me. He wasn't a big Bond fan, though, and didn't remember which film came first, so I got to watch them out of order. Needless to say, I was able to deduce the proper order as I got around to watching the films.
However, as the credits of For Your Eyes Only rolled through the TV screen, I was certain that A View to a Kill would be the upcoming Bond film announced at the end. You can imagine my surprise when another title showed up on the screen.

Octopussy? I had never heard of it.

English not being my first language, I had always found these single-word Bond titles intriguing, and I was able to find out from my father that the film took place in India. I was very excited about the movie and asked dad to rent it. He said he would on Friday. I had to wait a whole week to see it!
When Friday finally came, I put the tape in the VCR and had a terrific time. Even though the plot went way over my head, I still loved the film, with its exotic locations and breathtaking action. It was just great to see Roger Moore as 007 one more time, and he remains, to this day, my favourite Bond.
The film holds up for me as well; it is among the ones I watch the most. The scenes that stand out for me are 009's death, the auction at Sotheby's, the whole part involving the train and the race to stop the nuclear bomb, and Bond rescuing Octopussy.

Even though I didn't have to wait for too long to see it, I can think of very few films that I anticipated as much as Octopussy. Only very recently have I been as excited about a film, and, boy, was Indy 4 a disappointment.

[col_007]

I think i first saw Octopussy during the 00-heaven ITV bond marathon in 1999 i loved it the first time i saw it. Its a decent Bond film with plenty of action and adventure what more could you asked from a James Bond film

Edited by col_007, 05 June 2008 - 08:30 PM.

[DaveBond21]

I think i first saw Octopussy during the 00-heaven ITV bond marathon in 1999 i loved it the first time i saw it. Its a decent Bond film with plenty of action and adventure what more could you asked from a James Bond film

1999 was a great Bond year, with the Bond marathon on ITV, followed by the TV premiere of Tomorrow Never Dies and the release of TWINE.

[honour]

What I remember about Octopussy:OK, I didn't see it until years afterwards.

But I had a reason:At the time,John Taylor(from Duran Duran)was dating Janine Andrews,who has a small(and I do mean small)part in OP(she's in the auction scene.)

Several Duran Duran fans I knew refused to watch the movie for just that reason, and being jealous of their girfriends as I was back them,I refused to watch OP too and only saw it a few years after the fact,when I wasn't as much of a fan and wasn't jealous of their girlfriends.

[hilly]

Octopussy was the first film I rented when our family got its first ever VHS player. I'd somehow missed it when it was on at the cinema, so was pretty desperate to see it (the gap between cinema release and video release was 12 months+ in the mid eighties). I managed to get the house to myself for an afternoon and watched it.

When the film had had its premiere, I was on a family holiday in Greece. I can remember reading a so-so review in the paper, but, when I finally saw it, I thought the film was fantastic and it whetted my appetite for the next one...which,alas, turned out to be A View To A Kill...

Once we'd got a VHS player, I began diligently taping and keeping Bond films when they were shown on ITV. The premiere of a Bond film was a big tv event in the 70s and 80s, and when Octopussy was first shown, around 1988,it was quite a big thing.I can remember watching it repeatedly (and sadly,I still do, although the original tape has long since departed this world!)

Its still one of those Bond films that I think is sorely under-rated.Maybe I'll dig out the dvd this weekend....

[MarkA]

I saw Octopussy twice in one day for my sins. On 6th June 1983. World Premier Day. I saw it in the morning at the Press Show and then in the evening at the Premier at the Odeon Leicester Square. I disliked it when I first saw it, and I dislike now. In fact along with a AVTAK and NSNA I consider it the worst Bond. Boy was it difficult to sit through the second time.
As an aside I don't consider it naff to collect autographs at Premiers. Those people are there to promote the film and are in the Public eye. For the privilage of having such a well paid job and adulation I don't think there is anything wrong with signing a few autographs. If they don't want to, then they shouldn't show up. Now it's a little bit different if you interrupt them when they are out in a private capacity, like for instance a restaurant. In fact I slightly bemoan the business of charging for autographs. Even though with the presence of ebay I understand why.

[dee-bee-five]

As an aside I don't consider it naff to collect autographs at Premiers. Those people are there to promote the film and are in the Public eye. For the privilage of having such a well paid job and adulation I don't think there is anything wrong with signing a few autographs. If they don't want to, then they shouldn't show up.

I take a different view. I've come to the conclusion that asking for autographs is something one really ought to grow out of. I recognise that celebrity is a noose that no-one is forced to put their heads into, but, even so, don't you think it's a little naff to go up to someone at a premiere that one has attended and ask for his/her autograph? (I accept that if you're one of the Heat-reading chavs standing in the rain outside in Leicester Square, the rules are possibly a little different). And while you are quite right to say that successful actors are well-paid, there are lots of other professions you can say that about. I don't see queues of fat women in cheap tee-shirts waiting outside hospitals to get the autograph of top surgeons, or giggling girls waiting mob-handed outside the High Court to ask a successful QC to autograph their buttocks. So I'm not sure your assertion that it's okay to ask actors for autographs because they're well-paid entirely holds water.

But I'm older, hopefully wiser and certainly more cynical about the world, and, as I admitted earlier, there was a time many years ago when I was as guilty as the next fan of shamelessly asking old Rog et al for a scribble of biro on any bit of paper I could find. I like to think my behaviour is much more acceptable at events such as the Octopussy premiere now (apart from getting p*ssed and snorting coke in the toilets, naturally )

Edited by dee-bee-five, 06 June 2008 - 09:21 AM.

[Simon]

Some good stories here - has quite taken me back to the early 80's. I was even doing a paper round then for, I-daren't-say-how-a-week, and every morning I would flick through all the papers to get the latest info.

Was a superb time.

As for autographs, I have to say I find a very distateful pastime. I know it goes, is likely to continue going on and those entering the industry know they are likely to be exposed to it, but it just seems all so very naff, and invasion-of-privacy related. Also, I find it a bit immature.

I must admit to falling foul of this when I attended the TLD premiere, but I was (still) young then and unknowing.

[col_007]

I think i first saw Octopussy during the 00-heaven ITV bond marathon in 1999 i loved it the first time i saw it. Its a decent Bond film with plenty of action and adventure what more could you asked from a James Bond film

1999 was a great Bond year, with the Bond marathon on ITV, followed by the TV premiere of Tomorrow Never Dies and the release of TWINE.

that was what got me in to Bond i have loved it ever since

[MarkA]

I accept that if you're one of the Heat-reading chavs standing in the rain outside in Leicester Square, the rules are possibly a little different

What an incredibly elitist thing to say. Just because you are in the industry does it make you above these people that stand in the rain.

I must admit to falling foul of this when I attended the TLD premiere, but I was (still) young then and unknowing.

Well I am considerably older than you and I stand by what I said. Only in this incredible cynical age can the habit of collecting autographs from Stars be considered naff. As long as you are polite and pick your moment I still find absolutely nothing wrong with it.

I have some terrific memories of collecting my autographs. Chatting to Terence Young about the Train fight in FRWL. John Barry saying how he used a synthesizer to put some whelly in the
Bond theme in TLD. Bob Simmons giving me his business card. So many I could have missed if I had not approached them, and everyone to a man (or woman) courteous and polite.

I am sorry we can disagree by all means but your attitude to people who do (and there are many on this site) is so patronizing.