Review of Octopussy (1983) by Josh H — 10 Jan 2016

British agent 009 is found dead at the British embassy in East Berlin, dressed as a circus clown and carrying a fake Fabergé egg. MI6 immediately suspects Soviet involvement and, after seeing the real egg appear at an auction in London, sends James Bond (Roger Moore) to investigate and find out the identity of the seller. At the auction, Bond is able to swap the real egg with the fake and engages in a bidding war with exiled Afghan prince Kamal Khan (Louis Jourdan), forcing Khan to pay £500,000 for the fake egg. Eventually Bond becomes suspicious when Kahn meets up with Russian General Orlov (Steven Berkoff). Bond soon finds out that Kahn's and Orlov's plan is to blow up a nuclear device in an American Air Force Base. Bond teams up with a circus group, which are headed by the beautiful Octopussy (Maud Adams), who is also a close friend of Kahn. Will Bond be able to prevent World War III before it begins?...

Danny Peary wrote that "Octopussy" "has slow spots, little humour, and villains who aren't nearly of the calibre of Dr. No, Goldfinger, or Blofeld. Also, the filmmakers make the mistake of demeaning Bond by having him swing through the trees and emitting a Tarzan cry and having him hide in a gorilla suit and later disguise himself as a clown (whom all the kids at the circus laugh at). It's as if they're trying to remind us that everything is tongue-in-cheek, but that makes little sense, for the film is much more serious than typical Bond outings - in fact, it recalls the tone of From Russia with Love." I think "Octopussy" is the Bond movie I have seen the least times and when finally re-seeing it the other week after many years I understand quite well why I haven´t seen it more times as this is by far the worst Roger Moore/Bond movie. Maybe even the worst Bond movie period. The storyline is not bad, settings in India and DDR during the Cold War are intriguing and there´s ok characters such as Octopussy. It shows so much potential, but after the opening sequence nothing works out. The cheese fest in terms of ridiculous scenes, stupid dialogue, having Bond swinging in the treetops emitting a Tarzan cry as said it just too much for me. The attempt to poke some fun at the series and character fails miserably. Plus the fact that Roger Moore looks old and not that interested in doing the 007 role anymore. And there´s so many poor studio backlot shots, poor general studio shots and too many scenes where you can clearly see the stuntman doing the action. Plus the title design is weak and so is the film's main title song "All Time High" sung by Rita Coolidge. It makes no mark at all. I have always liked "For Your Eyes Only", which is a solid Bond movie in my book, but this follow up is not handled well by John Glen. Released in the same year as the rival James Bond production "Never Say Never Again" (1983) which showcased the return of Sean Connery to the role. "Octopussy" made $187 million worldwide, "Never Say Never Again" $160 million. However, in my book both are very weak as Bond movies. Trivia: During casting, James Brolin was almost given the role of James Bond when at the last minute, Roger Moore agreed to play Bond again. Brolin's screen tests can be seen on the DVD. Moore had gone out of contract after Moonraker (1979), and had agreed to return to the role one more time in "For Your Eyes Only" (1981). The production went with Moore because this film would be competing with "Never Say Never Again" (1983) starring original and former James Bond actor and legend Sean Connery. The uncertainty in using an American actor in the role and having to introduce a new actor in going-up against Connery were the reasons.