Pros and Cons: Octopussy
Absolutely_Cart
NJ/NYC, United StatesPosts: 1,740MI6 Agent
The 13th film in the James Bond series and the 6th to feature Roger Moore. After the more serious For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy takes a shift back to the humor.
Pros:
* A mysterious and unique introduction
* The clever game of chasing for the real Faberge egg
* The auction scene and backgammon scene
* Some of the most creative action scenes in the series
* Plenty of hilarious comedic moments (campy done well)
* Octopussy, as an older, Bond woman
* Roger Moore disarming a bomb in a clown suit
* Lots of tension despite being a comedy film
* Kamal Khan is Bond's darker gentlemanly counterpart
* Unique post-detente plot
Cons:
* Is formulaic at times (the dinner scene for example)
* Moore is starting to get old
Overall Thoughts
Certainly an underrated gem. Secret agents dressing in clown suits chasing after a Faberge egg while terrorists are smuggling diamonds and want to bomb a circus. Lots of imagination. Moore was the perfect actor for the movie, balancing a gentlemanly grace with humor too. Despite a heaping amount of camp, the Cold War based story is one of the more intricate and realistic ones.
Pros:
* A mysterious and unique introduction
* The clever game of chasing for the real Faberge egg
* The auction scene and backgammon scene
* Some of the most creative action scenes in the series
* Plenty of hilarious comedic moments (campy done well)
* Octopussy, as an older, Bond woman
* Roger Moore disarming a bomb in a clown suit
* Lots of tension despite being a comedy film
* Kamal Khan is Bond's darker gentlemanly counterpart
* Unique post-detente plot
Cons:
* Is formulaic at times (the dinner scene for example)
* Moore is starting to get old
Overall Thoughts
Certainly an underrated gem. Secret agents dressing in clown suits chasing after a Faberge egg while terrorists are smuggling diamonds and want to bomb a circus. Lots of imagination. Moore was the perfect actor for the movie, balancing a gentlemanly grace with humor too. Despite a heaping amount of camp, the Cold War based story is one of the more intricate and realistic ones.
Comments
But yeah, a lot of fun to be had on this one. :007)
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
-Roger Moore is still doing well here
-A great cast of villains, all of them memorable
-Adams provides a great performance of Octopussy
-PTS is a classic
-Nice title song
-Vijay is a good character
-Q gets more screen time
-The train sequence
-The plane sequence
-The tense Bomb deactivation sequence
-The plot revolving around the circus
-Great car chase
-Unusual Tuk Tuk chase
-Sotheby's scene
Cons:
-Some dodgy back projection/blue screen
-Tarzan yell
-How did no one realise Khan was cheating at backgammon? He gets double six every time!
A fun Bond film, and generally a fun film. It has all the elements a Bond film needs. I think Octopussy is very underated, and I think it gets a lot of criticism because it's a Moore film which automatically makes it silly.
9.5/10
Both straight from Fleming's pages! (Property of a Lady and Moonraker)
To me this is the main drawback of the film.
I'm not crazy about this either, but I have to admit it was an appropriate disguise and a tense scene.
I get confused about which is the fake. Apparently, it's a moot point because at the end of the film they are taking about the Romanov Star and have forgotten about the egg completely.
The PTS is my favorite of the series. The 2nd half of the film is also great in this regard.
Hmmm. I suppose that is a bit unfair.
Does it?
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
AJB007 Favorite Film Rankings
Pros and Cons Compendium (50 Years)
The real question is how did he changed into that outfit in like 2 minutes?? And how did he fit into Mishka's tiny red and black outfit?
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
To be honest - what were you expecting.Bond adjusts his tie as he walks past the festering slums of India. Bond tucking into a vodka martini as beggar women assault him for pennies?
The Bond films tend to show the pretty side of life. They show photogenic side. We see the maharajahs palaces, large lakes, elephants etc. We do venture into a thieves den with the go-go gangsters ("we don't want to make enemies of the woman") but thats about it.
It was seeing Octopussy as a kid with the helicopter flying over the Taj Mahal that spurred me to see it. I backpacked round it in 2000. Went to Udaipur and had lunch at the lake palace and they had OP playing in the cafes at night.
Cons - the tarzan yell
Pros - everything else
Not to mention how quickly he gets out of the gorilla suit.
Funny. I was about to add that as well.
Awesome!
As for the "stereotypical portrayal" I suspect Cart was referring to the Marketplace scenes with the sword swallower and bed of nails and those type of things.
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
I suspect your right. But the Bond films concentrate on the fantasy elements. No festering slums or people wanting to free you of your cash here.
But there are very nice places in India. Udaipur is one of them. Kept nice for tourists I suppose.
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
An amazing Soundtrack
Stunning Locations
A brilliant Set of Villains
The whole Train Sequence is very well done
Cons -
The Clown Scene
FYEO and OP, Moore gave his best performance as 007. -{ , can't think of
anything off hand, that annoys me about it.
OP would not have worked with another Actor
Woah, thank you for living my dream.
It's still on my list and I feel exactly the same when the helicopter takes off! {[]
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
I believe they still show it in some places there daily. Doesn't the Piz Gloria restaraunts also show the ski scenes from OHMSS?
They also serve 007 Burgers.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
AJB007 Favorite Film Rankings
Pros and Cons Compendium (50 Years)
I've been flicking through my pics of the lake palace. Even then it cost and arm and a leg to stay there. Its interesting and the colour has worn away from the building. But when you see the 'little octopussies' on the staircase it all makes sense. Or those elephant statuettes on the outside.
Of course according to it in 2015 Lake Pichola is subject to drought.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGAJUc6eiB0 The Taj Mahal
Why would an exiled Afghan prince be planting an nuclear bomb in East Germany ?
I feel like someone explained it to me once, but I forget. It seems like Khan was doing General Orlov's dirty work for him, but what's in it for Khan ?
"Khaaaaaaaaaaan!"
1. GE 2. MR 3. OP 4. TMWTGG 5. TSWLM 6. TND 7. TWINE 8.DN 9. GF 10. AVTAK
AJB007 Favorite Film Rankings
Pros and Cons Compendium (50 Years)
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
George McDonald Fraser?
The foliage in this movie looks beautiful on Blu-Ray
AJB007 Favorite Film Rankings
Pros and Cons Compendium (50 Years)
- The PTS - mysterious and intense - it comes across to me like something Fleming would
have written.
- The auction.
- Bond vs Soviets
- Circus cover to smuggle in bomb.
- Faberge eggs (Property of A Lady)
- Old fashioned stunt work - train fight, horse/plane chase, plane fight.
- Bond getting onto the train, confronting Orlov.
Cons:
- The whole "Octopussy" joke. It was a pet in a Bond short story and a Fleming
adolescent sex pun. I don't think he ever envisioned it as the title of a major
Bond film. I would have preferred that it had remained just the name of the pet
(and certainly not the name of Maud Adams character or circus). Most would
probably disagree, but I wished the film had been given a different title.
- The infamous Tarzan yell and the whole sit command with the Tiger as well as
the interchange with the tour boat. All done just for cheap laughs as typical
in the Moore films. However, as usual, it only undermines being able to take
the rest of the film with any amount of seriousness.
- Q scenes. Again, strickly put in for laughs (like the flaccid rope trick) - and
I still don't know why Q has to kit Bond in the field all the time or why the Service
would have hidden weapons research labs all around the globe (or how it could
afford them). Yes, I do want Q to kit out Bond, but I would prefer it done in
M's office or in the London labs. He would still get the same amount of screen time.
- Bond's wardrobe changes. Now's he's Superman? In a flash he's a clown or
out of a gorilla suit (without getting the attention of someone in the same room?).
- He tumbles off a moving train with the villain without being injured. EON's
SuperBond still lives!
- Bond/Q in the hot air balloon. Really? What is Q doing there? Why wouldn't
Bond have entered with the troupe on the ground?
- Theme song. Pretty tepid - would have been fine for the end credits, but
certainly too romantic for the main theme.
Summary. It's one of Moore's best entries. A clever, more complex plot involving
the Soviets, a circus, smuggling Russian jewels and a nuclear threat. Had it been written
with a more serious attitude like FYEO, had less farce and a better title, it would have
made a film I would watch more often and placed a few more notches up in my
favorites list.