Review of Octopussy (1983) by Derick K — 30 Mar 2013

"For Your Eyes Only" was a great and darker transition for Bond into the 80s. The next film "Octopussy" is a halfway 180 in tone as the movie is half campy and half serious. But thats never bothered me as I've always had something to enjoy from this film even though there are quite a few stupid and unnecessary campy moments in the movie especially the infamous "James Bond in a clown suit scene".

The movie is a combination of the short stories "Property of a Lady" and of course "Octopussy" with an original story. A 00 agent is killed while recovering a fake Fabergé egg. Bond is sent in to investigate which leads him to India where he comes up against exiled Afgan prince Kamal Khan played by Louis Jourdan, his associate the title character Octopussy played by Maud Adams (in her second and last Bond girl role) and a Russian general "General Orlov" played by Steven Berkoff who seeks power and conquest.

Roger Moore is great as always and even though that he was 55 when doing this film he still looked great even though he wanted to retire from the role. (Plus he never seemed to age much during his tenure) Louis Jourdan and Steven Berkoff are both great with Steven being very over the top and Louis very calm and calculating. Maud Adams is much better here than she was in "The Man With The Golden Gun" as she plays a much more mature Bond girl who starts out as a villain and jewel smuggler but then falls for Bond of course. Robert Brown replaces Bernard Lee as M and would ply the role up until 1989's "Licence to Kill" and he does a good job for the most part but isn't my favorite M.

The movie is very campy and feels more like an adventure film rather than spy thriller. Some memorable moments include a fight on the top of a moving train, the climax on board of a plane at high altitudes and much more with great old school stunt work and choreography. For what its worth its a lot of fun to watch.