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Octopussy (1983) Review

Octopussy has had many criticisms leveled at it since it slipped into cinema's in 1983. One complaint is that there are simply too many villains - is the crazed Gen. Orlov the main villain or the suave Kamal Khan? Another objection postulates that its choice of India as a location sends Bond into a pure fantasy land with a depiction of tribal princes, mysterious islands populated entirely of impossibly beautiful women and bungling local thugs. Still more point to its inappropriate rather juvenile schoolboy humor, from Bond's Tarzan yell to our heroes ogling over a young woman secretary's bust as a reason why the movie fails.
These objections are perfectly legitimate, but one has to feel that the movies detractors were missing the point. Bond is a fantasy figure who in the past has battled armies inside bases hidden inside hollowed out volcano's (in 1967's YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE) and shot into space to save the world from poisoned orchids globes (in 1979's MOONRAKER). Bond belongs in the fantasy realm and the over-the-top formula is perfectly suited and indeed complimented by the India depicted here.
In addition the villains are similarly over-the-top and the movie audience is treated to two wonderful performances. Who can forget the fantastic performance of Steven Berkoff as Orlov in the Kremlin meeting room - "Never, the West is decadent" Orlov states as he struts around one of Peter Lamont's amazing sets.
The humor is also perfectly suited to the Roger Moore portrayal of Bond and in fact the adventures had become so fantastical at this point that it was necessary for Moore to not take events too seriously. The only truly embarrassing scene is the one in Q's workshop where Bond focuses a camera in on a woman's bust. But other scenes referred to pop culture of the 1900s, such as Bond doing his Barbara Wodehouse impersonation telling a tiger to "sit-t-t" and swinging through the vines like Johnny Weismuller in an old Tarzan picture. Neither is particularly intrusive and both elicited belly laughs from the audience I saw the movie with. Similarly the complaint that Bond ends up in a clown suit at the end should be taken in context, he is undercover at a circus, a clown outfit is in fact the perfect disguise.
The movie starts with one of the most famous action sequences of the 1980s. Captured trying to destroy a spy plane in Latin America 007 escapes by using the worlds smallest jet even flying it through a hanger as the doors close. In fact the jet, called an Acrostar, actually exists and had been originally planned for use in 1979's MOONRAKER, it deserves its place in the Bond movie's pantheon of gadgets alongside the mini helicopter Little Nellie from 1967. Rolling up to a gas station at the end of the sequence Bond delivers my favorite line in the movie, smiling to the undoubtedly amazed attendant and asking him to Fill her up please."
Of course this scene has nothing to do with the movie as a whole but it's a nice little mini-adventure to start things off with and set the tone for the rest of the movie. Following the erotic main titles, in which designer Maurice Binder makes full use of lasers and gorgeous women, we are plunged headlong into the main plot with two assassins chasing a British agent in full clown make-up (shades of what is to come later) as he attempts to get a fake Faberge egg to the British embassy.
Understandably a little miffed at the death of their agent and curious as to the reason why he was carrying a fake egg the British send Bond to observe the auction of the real egg at Sotheby's. Here is one of my favorite scenes, there are no explosions, no meglomaniacal speeches from super villains and no incredible sets but merely Bond testing the determination of Khan in a standoff which reaches its final conclusion thousands of miles away over a game of backgammon. Here we see shades of Goldfinger cheating at golf in the 1964 movie except this time its loaded dice on the backgammon table.
Special mention must go to the very alluring Maud Adams who holds the distinction of being the only actress to play two leading roles in the EON Bond series (Ursula Andress played two, the first in DR. NO and the second in the non-Eon 1967 spoof CASINO ROYALE). Adams is a stunning Scandinavian beauty and plays the title role with a sense of both amusement and conviction. In fact in what is an interesting tip of the hat to the short story from which the movie gets its title, the plot of Bond tracking down a traitor serves as the backstory to Adam's characters father.
The plot for what its worth involves jewelry smuggling and nuclear brinkmanship, but that's really not what is important here, that merely serves as a canvas on which to stage fun set pieces and a generous selection of stunt action sequences.
What we have here is a fun action adventure movie, just don't go in expecting anything serious. If you approach this movie with the right frame of mind you might find this entry in the James Bond canon to be one of the series most entertaining - for entertainment's sake.
The DVD also features a scene specific commentary from Director John Glen. It can be a little dry at times and it might be better waiting for the upcoming remastered DVD releases that will feature a commentary by Bond actor himself Roger Moore.

Octopussy (1983) Overview

In search of the killer of a fellow secret agent 007 travels to india & meets octopussy the lovely directress of a huge international business empire.Studio: Tcfhe/mgmRelease Date: 09/04/2007Starring: Roger Moore Louis JourdanRun time: 131 minutesRating: Pg

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