General Octopussy chat.

DieAnotherDay

Just want to get an idea of what you intellectual beings think on OP. it's always a strange one to rate for me because I thoroughly enjoy it whenever I watch it but it just seems very lacklustre and slightly immature when watched after FYEO....or even before AVTAK for that matter. It usually ranks around the middle of my list when I rate bonds....is this just the most mediocre Bond ever? Entertaining but daft. Does anyone rate it any higher on there list?

KKwheelchair

I would rank it top 10 myself

Thunderpussy

Top end of the middle ( If that makes sence ) )
A great romp, and a good story. Some terrific scenes
and Roger gives a great performance as Bond. -{

KKwheelchair

Thunderpussy wrote:

Top end of the middle ( If that makes sence ) )
A great romp, and a good story. Some terrific scenes
and Roger gives a great performance as Bond. -{

yeah I get what you mean around 13, 14, 15 that area for you

Thunderpussy

Yes that sounds about right.

Jarvio

3rd place for me. Bloody love it. But then again I am ill.

Always loved the clown defusing a bomb scene. Some people didn't like it, but I thought it was perfect, and proved to be highly tense even with a clown costume involved.

KKwheelchair

Jarvio wrote:

3rd place for me. Bloody love it. But then again I am ill.

Always loved the clown defusing a bomb scene. Some people didn't like it, but I thought it was perfect, and proved to be highly tense even with a clown costume involved.

Skyfall is the only non Moore in your top 5 it ruins the pattern that your top 5 was in

Jarvio

KKwheelchair wrote:

Jarvio wrote:

3rd place for me. Bloody love it. But then again I am ill.

Always loved the clown defusing a bomb scene. Some people didn't like it, but I thought it was perfect, and proved to be highly tense even with a clown costume involved.

Skyfall is the only non Moore in your top 5 it ruins the pattern that your top 5 was in

There doesn't have to be a pattern... they just happen to be the 5 bond films I enjoy the most

KKwheelchair

Yeah I have something similar I have 5 of the 6 bonds in my top 6

Jarvio

Yeah. From my list I seem to be a huge Roger fan, with 4 in my top 5, and 5 in my top 10. But on the other hand, my very bottom spot also happens to be a Roger Moore film...

Blackleiter

DieAnotherDay wrote:

Just want to get an idea of what you intellectual beings think on OP. it's always a strange one to rate for me because I thoroughly enjoy it whenever I watch it but it just seems very lacklustre and slightly immature when watched after FYEO....or even before AVTAK for that matter. It usually ranks around the middle of my list when I rate bonds....is this just the most mediocre Bond ever? Entertaining but daft. Does anyone rate it any higher on there list?

"Intellectual beings"? You sure you're in the right forum??? )

DieAnotherDay

Blackleiter wrote:

DieAnotherDay wrote:

Just want to get an idea of what you intellectual beings think on OP. it's always a strange one to rate for me because I thoroughly enjoy it whenever I watch it but it just seems very lacklustre and slightly immature when watched after FYEO....or even before AVTAK for that matter. It usually ranks around the middle of my list when I rate bonds....is this just the most mediocre Bond ever? Entertaining but daft. Does anyone rate it any higher on there list?

"Intellectual beings"? You sure you're in the right forum??? )

Just a little humour to get the discussion going

Firemass

DieAnotherDay wrote:

because I thoroughly enjoy it whenever I watch it but it just seems very lacklustre and slightly immature when watched after FYEO....or even before AVTAK for that matter.

Had to agree with you on LTK and I agree with you again here. I find Octopussy highly enjoyable but also someone juvenile sandwiched between the serious FYEO and AVATK. OP almost reminds me of a kids movie that adults can also enjoy. Whereas FYEO is more geared towards the adult Bond fan.

Still, there is enough Ian Fleming material mixed in with great action sequences to keep almost any Bond fan happy. OP hovers just outside my Top 10. Perhaps the tarzan yell has created a glass ceiling and it can't advance any higher.

AVTAK was a huge improvement...it managed to combine the serious tone of FYEO with the slick entertainment value of OP.

Brosnan_fan

Ahhhh... OP. :x

Well, it just happens to be my absolute favourite Bond film - EVER!

No. 1. -{

hehadlotsofguts

I'd give this film 10/10 for the following reasons;

[list=*]
[*]1. The jungle chase: If you forgive the Tarzan yell, it is a really entertaining set piece. The scene has some humourous moments "hiss off!" Bond is scared for his life as he is being hunted by Kamal and his men, but he still keeps his cool.

2. The bomb disarming scene: A really tense sequence. There is tense atmosphere as Bond is struggling to convince Octopussy that Kamal has double crossed her. Octopussy shoots the lock off the cannon showing the bomb ticking down with seconds to spare. Bond manages to diffuse the bomb saving the day once again.

3. Bond's interrogation of Orlov: A really good scene here as it is played straight by RM. The scene also shows RM's ruthless side as he spins around and shoots the German guard in the head.[/*]
[/list]

Higgins

I like the first hour of the movie but it gets a bit boring when the train is leaving to Karl Marx Stadt.

I never had a problem with the Tarzan yell (haters - remember that MGM wanted it) and the first hour had all ingredients for a phenomenal Bond movie.

I particularly enjoy the locations in India - always wanted to go to there one day and of course the Faberge/Kremlin story and the Seiko watch

hehadlotsofguts

My favourite scene in the film is the backgammon scene. Bond outwitting Kamal and beating him using his loaded dice.

Blackleiter

hehadlotsofguts wrote:

My favourite scene in the film is the backgammon scene. Bond outwitting Kamal and beating him using his loaded dice.

Great scene! -{

Firemass

I'm still puzzled why Orlov smashed the real jeweled egg only moments after being glad that it was recovered.

The Faberge egg was such a central element to the story and suddenly it gets destroyed needlessly?

Why did he think it was a fake? What happened to the fake egg?

Halcon

Blackleiter wrote:

hehadlotsofguts wrote:

My favourite scene in the film is the backgammon scene. Bond outwitting Kamal and beating him using his loaded dice.

Great scene! -{

Bond, without looking at the dice he's just rolled, " Fancy that... double sixes...it's in the wrist..."

or something like that, one of the best Bond scenes!

Firemass

There's a great little review of Octopussy in Entertainment Weekly: 50 Years of James Bond

"One of the most woefully underappreciated Bond films, Octopussy is a classic cloak-and-dagger nail-biter about a scheme by a rouge Russian general to detonate a nuke on an American military base in Germany. ALong the way, Bond faces plenty of diversions: an assassin with a yo-yo buzz saw, Louis Jourdan's backgammon-cheating heavy Kamal Khan, Maud Adams as the thinking man's Bond girl with a squad of female acrobat warriors in skintight red spandex catsuits, and a nifty switcheroo with a Faberege egg"

B+

- Chris Nashawaty and Christian Blauvelt
An Obsessive Fan's Guide to All 22 Films in the 007 Saga
Entertainment Weekly

always shaken

Blackleiter wrote:

hehadlotsofguts wrote:

My favourite scene in the film is the backgammon scene. Bond outwitting Kamal and beating him using his loaded dice.

Great scene! -{

Doesnt the henchman crush the dice in his hands
like Goldfingers golf ball scene ?

hehadlotsofguts

always shaken wrote:

Blackleiter wrote:

hehadlotsofguts wrote:

My favourite scene in the film is the backgammon scene. Bond outwitting Kamal and beating him using his loaded dice.

Great scene! -{

Doesnt the henchman crush the dice in his hands
like Goldfingers golf ball scene ?

Yes he does. i thought it was a nice touch

DANSE COMMANDER

Yes, I agree with the OP that it's a very hard one to rate, really. Though I really like it, it is a indeed a tad daft, especially after the sublime FYEO.

chrisisall

OP is awesome.
In many ways it's Moore's most perfect Bond IMO.
Bigger than LALD, TMWTGG & FYEO.
As much fun as TSWLM, but with a more serious story (+ John Barry music).
Bond girl not a screechy 20-something like in AVTAK.
The dopey bits aren't NEARLY as bad as in MR.
Tina Hudson is the hottest PTS girl ever.

This movie gets better with each viewing.

Colonel Shatner

Octopussy is a bit overwritten and convoluted like GoldenEye, but I've grown to quite like again and find them tons of fun, with lots of wacky ideas (mixed in with more genuinely serious stuff).

chrisisall

Colonel Shatner wrote:

Octopussy is a bit overwritten and convoluted like GoldenEye, but I've grown to quite like again and find them tons of fun, with lots of wacky ideas (mixed in with more genuinely serious stuff).

I feel like I *should* like TSWLM better... but the serious parts of OP (GE as well) genuinely excite me whilst TSWLM is just too comic-book for me to really care on that level. Plus: I really love Moore's performance in OP- by that time he had absolutely nothing to prove, and seemed his most charming & relaxed.
Oh, and Barry.

Of those two, OP & TSWLM, which is your fave, Shat?

Colonel Shatner

I moderately prefer TSWLM to OP, which had a similar effect on me as a small kid like a certain other movie that came out in same year as TSWLM (clue - the other movie also has George Roubicek playing a smartly uniformed minor bad guy).

Manxman

To me, Octopussy is a stone cold classic — my third favourite Bond film of all time. On paper, its juxtapositions of the frivolous and the deadly serious shouldn't work, but they do.

For example, the tuk-tuk chase, where the bystanders turn their heads like tennis spectators in an in-joke at Vijay Armitraj's background, is one of the few really hilarious sight gags in a Bond film. Further, the warmth and naïveté Armitraj brings to his character makes his brutal murder all the more shocking — one of the most genuinely horrifying and moving death scenes in the series.

In the same way, Steven Berkoff playing General Orlov as a barking madman should come across as ridiculous, but the character is actually frightening, thanks to Roger Moore and Walter Gotell's wonderful acting — both convey the impression of being completely stunned at the extent of his fanaticism and lunacy.

Finally, the much-maligned clown costume is utilised to heighten the most intense countdown scene in the movies' history — thanks to Moore's bravura performance, I find this much more nerve-wracking than than the similar denouements in Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice.

There are also plenty of deft touches that really bring the characters alive: for instance, Kamal Khan and Gobinda's momentary terror when their car refuses to start after arming the bomb, and the latter's reaction of disbelief when instructed to climb outside the aeroplane.

In short, Octopussy is a riot of colour and fun, frequently very exciting, and loving in its homages to classic Indian cinema (particularly the fight atop the train). It's a pity that one-dimensional villains, predictable set-pieces and lazy plot twists would re-emerge with a vengeance in A View To A Kill.

UltimateTruth

I really like Kamal's henchman. Probably my favorite henchman in the series. He looks very intimidating, and the turban with the well tailored suit is a great outfit. Love the dice crushing, and also the part where Roger, just to be a smarta$$, asks him "I don't suppose you would be interested in a nightcap ?"

chrisisall

Manxman wrote:

To me, Octopussy is a stone cold classic —
a riot of colour and fun, frequently very exciting

That says it for me. What more can you ask?