Review of Octopussy (1983) by Minty F — 11 Feb 2008

Love it, people keep going on about Roger Moores age, yes he was an older gentleman compared to Sean Connerys 30 something roughness. What people have got to remember is that there is no point blaming Moore, he wasnt asking the producers 'Let me be Bond, let me be Bond' every time they made a new film nore was he naive about his age, he wanted to quit after Moonraker, fact is, producers kept asking him back, why? because he must have been doing something right as it was obviously popular at the time, try not to compare to the young dashingness of Brosnan/Craig. This film saved the franchise, originally, American actor James Brolin was going to be Bond, but producers heard that Connery was going to be in a rival Bond 'Never Say Never Again' (which I think is also a fine entry in Bond 80's mythology), so there was a dilema, they had to get a Bond of equal stardom and respectability, it could only have been Moore. If you were a Bond fan living in 1983 and there were two Bond films out and one said "Sean Connery as James Bond" and the other said "James Brolin as James Bond" which one would you go and see?...exactly. Roger Moore saved the day.

Secondly, people bag the campyness, the previous one, 'For Your Eyes Only' set a more realistic tone and Octopussy goes back to, not being too fantastical but more comic book style, but hey, its fun, the world was like that back then, movies were more simple, Bond films keep up with the times, so if you want a serious gritty thriller, watch Casino Royale, Octopussy is a product of its time, the 80's, besides Bond films do differ, there are action ones, fantasy ones, comical one, sci-fi ones, and of course the hard edge thrillers, but dont forget its the fantasy comic book element that made the Bond films popular in the first place, 007 became big from the fantasy of Goldfinger, not the realism of From Russia With Love, not that I have a problem with the realism of the serious Bonds. I find this Bond film all in the name of fun, kinda like a guilty pleasure, from the mini jet in the begining, to travelling in a hollow crocodille, the fight on the train, to venturing in the hot air balloon with the Union Jack to the exciting finally, the fight on the wing of the plane, all this plus lots of beautiful young ladies, and Moore Bond never even works up a sweat, true Bond excitment, nothing more, nothing less.