cinemajesty Movie Review: "007: Octopussy" (1983)Producer Albert R. Broccoli (1909-1996) brings back the highly successful production team from predecessor "For Your Eyes Only" (1981). Director John Glen stays competent, yet is not able to retrieve any memorable "007" signature-making moments from another adapted short-story-based script written by Eon production's staff-writer Richard Maibaum (1909-1991) and executive producer Michael G. Wilson.Actress Maud Adams reprises another character in a "007" movie, after getting shot in "The Man With The Golden Gun" (1974), as the title-given jewlery trader "Octopussy", who gets mixed up with Russian General Orlov, portrayed by over-acting actor Steven Berkoff and another this time India-based gambling Bond nemesis the character of Kamal, performed by actor Louis Jourdan (1921-2015) in beat-delivering balance between hostility and elegance. Main character James Bond becomes an older less agile character with actor Roger Moore at age 55, who does not shy away to disguise himself as a made-up clown on an unattractive East German Republic circus location of the early 1980s, which downgrades "Bond 13" to an overlong, yet some decisive action-scenes-striking motion picture as "007" continuity-obeying car-, train- and newly added plane pursuits that keep the spectre's attention in favor for short-lived entertainment. Musical compositions retreat to a classic soundtrack by John Barry (1933-2011) after a more experimental score by Bill Conti in "For Your Eyes Only" (1981), who used the synthesizer to establish a periodic, nostalgic 1980s feeling that had been carried over at least visually to "Octopussy", which went to succeed with U.S. domestic audience by increasing moviegoers attendance at the box office of roundabout 24%.Nevertheless this Bond picture failed internationally with a major drop in revenue from $ 140 Million to $ 50 Million, which sets the stage for a newly-shaping producing duo at Eon Productions with Albert R. Broccoli joining forces with executive producer Michael G. Wilson to produce a daring $ 30 Million Dollar production of "A View To A Kill" in season 1984/1985 for a keeping-the-faith Bond portrayed by aging actor Roger Moore in another "007" summer release of 1985.© 2017 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

gavin6942 A fake Fabergé egg and a fellow agent's death lead James Bond to uncover an international jewel-smuggling operation, headed by the mysterious Octopussy, being used to disguise a nuclear attack on N.A.T.O. forces.There are many strange hings that happen in Bond films. The villains are often strange, with Jaws being the first obvious example. Here we have murdered clowns, sword-swallowers, a bed of nails... and a guy who has a yo-yo with a saw blade on the end. Not your typical spy versus spy action.There is, unfortunately, no single villain who stands out the way Jaws or Blofeld do. The problem is a rogue Russian general whose name is not very memorable and has nothing really unique about him. A good villain, to be sure, but Bond's other random antics are what really keep us going.

Coventry If I personally rank all the James Bond movies from best to worst, this "Octopussy" would end up somewhere in the middle section or even slightly higher; in the upper half of the list. By this I mean that it certainly isn't an extraordinary Bond-movie that blows you away like some of the oldest (like "Goldfinger" or "You Only Live Twice") and newest (like "Casino Royale" or "Skyfall") did, but that it's a more than entertaining entry in the franchise. The ingredients that I particularly like in this film are the strong feminist undertones, the presence of a couple of less flamboyant but ultra-menacing bad guys, the Indian setting as well as the eerie circus finale and a handful of impressively staged sensational action sequences. The plot is good old-fashioned and stereotypical "all-Reds-are-evil-bastards" guff again, with villainous Russian military men hooking up with nasty Eastern millionaires in order to nuke American/British targets like air force bases. To achieve this they use the international smuggling network of the irresistible Octopussy, like for instance her world-acclaimed traveling circus. For the first time in Bond- history, the name of a female character forms the title and there's quite a bit of girl- power in the film overall. 007 "only" sleeps with two women here (whereas, in other films, it can go up to four or five) and they're both strong and independent women that don't seem all too impressed by his lucky charms. Louis Jordan depicts a charismatic bad guy, and he has got one of those indestructible henchmen in the shape of Bollywood actor Kabir Bedi. I always determine my James Bond movies based on how appalling the enemies are, and apart from these two, there are a couple of more like the sadistic Russian general Orlov (Steven Berkoff) and eerie knife-throwing twin brothers. Naturally Desmond Llewelyn is present as "Q" and he provides 007 with a handful of lovely and imaginative toys, like a realistic crocodile diving suit. But here also the coolest gimmick belongs to the bad guys, as some of Bond's opponents use a freakishly nasty type of buzz saw on a wire to attack. There are chase sequences with hot air balloons, homemade miniature airplanes and traditional rickshaws through overcrowded Indian marketplace streets; good Bond stuff in other words

D' Francis A very underrated Bond film, in my eyes. Considering all of the films in the series which try to mix humor and frantic action together, Octopussy does it best.It's definitely a bizarre plot, beginning with a 00 agent found dead in a clown suit. Bond hunts down a Faberge egg, leading into a terrorist plot in the twixt of the Cold War. Moore's Bond finally gets a woman his age, with an older Maud Adams playing the "Bond girl" who has a degree of authority and likes to stay in charge of things. As the villain, Kamal Khan mirrors Moore's debonair Bond.There's of course plenty of creative unique action sequences all throughout, including a memorable circus scene of Bond saving the world in a clown suit, which may very well be my favorite scene in any Bond movie. Despite all the campy elements, it has one of the more believable plots in a Bond movie (no spacecraft that will destroy the world). Moore plays a Bond who is deeply concerned with the lives of innocent people in danger and, despite the gags, takes his mission seriously.Perhaps this movie is came too late in Moore's career as Bond, with 3-4 campy movies having been already done. But nonetheless, it's beautifully strange, it stands out and its a lot of fun.