Octopussy - Filmhantering

MASTER PLAN: detonate a nuclear bomb at a U.S.Air Force Base, as part of a radical Soviet agenda. This 6th Bonder with Moore has a couple of similarities to the previous "For Your Eyes Only," suggesting a 'been there, done that' tone throughout. There are no really memorable villains or set-pieces, but it does progress at a fairly good clip while you're watching, even if it does bog down in a few spots during the middle half. The teaser exemplifies those thrilling pre-credits sequences which have really nothing to do with the rest of the film. Yet, even the filmmakers seem to acknowledge Moore's advancing years here, since he needs help from a female agent and utilizes another mini-flier gadget to successfully deliver a knockout explosion. It goes along fine until the very end of the teaser, when Moore grins like a, eh, clown, and there's a freeze-frame; these later Bonders with Moore always tended to throw in this foolish smirking to offset the straight action, for some damnable reason (see also the reference to Tarzan and other examples below). The song over the credits is by Rita Coolidge, a rather tepid piece (of course, it's not named Octopussy, which might have been interesting). Moore here appears to be in a similar position to Connery when he was in his final official Bonder "Diamonds Are Forever" - obviously past his prime, but not quite ready to call it quits (Connery did return for the non-canon "Never Say Never Again" this same year). This also has the first interpretation by actor Brown of M, quite similar to Bernard Lee's from most of the previous Bonders, though Lee was, again, more memorable. Moneypenny appears briefly with a new assistant, Ms.Smallbone; she was probably meant to replace Moneypenny in the future, but this didn't pan out. Q has more screen time, as is usual with these later Bonders, even becoming actively involved in the action at one point, though it's presented as a joke.

Bond's mission involves smuggling and those famous Faberge Eggs from the Russian aristocracy of a past century. He actually takes over a mission from agent 009, who is killed early in the story. The first half of the mission takes him to New Delhi and the strongly-exotic Indian locations. The main femme fatale of the title doesn't appear until an hour into the story, played by Adams of "The Man With the Golden Gun" fame. She makes a good fit for the seasoned Bond, but, as with everything else, the filmmakers seemed unable to come up with new twists, including actresses. There's a central action piece where Bond is the object of a hunt and encounters virtually every deadly animal in the region within the span of a few minutes, an expansion of the usual 'deadly animal' scene. But, it comes across as a gimmick and not as an exciting chase, with an inappropriate Tarzan yell to further ridicule the whole concept. A lot of the action also involves a circus, knife throwing by a couple of deadly twins, and an island of women (hoo-hah, just what Bond needs). The smuggling conspiracy is revealed as just a sideline to a crazed Soviet General's plot to expand Soviet control far beyond East Berlin - ah, yes, still the good old days of the Cold War (and some over-acting by actor Berkoff). As the main villain, veteran star Jourdan is suitably classy yet slimy, but somewhat over-the-hill (like Bond), and reminds me of his similar villain in the campy "Swamp Thing"(82). Bedi, as his brawny henchman, does better, with an imposing presence. These two have their best moment when Jourdan orders Bedi to go get Bond outside an airplane. Moore, in his mid-fifties then, still did OK with the tough-guy stuff, but his scenes with thirtyish ladies were a tough sell. The final chasing in Berlin and in the circus is suspenseful, undone a bit when Bond dresses up as a clown; then, the final aerial combat is pretty exciting, but it all ends on another groan-inducing wink from Bond on a boat. Moore would return one more time in "A View to a Kill." Bond:6 Villains:6 Femme Fatales:7 Henchmen:7 Fights:7 Stunts/Chases:8 Gadgets:6 Auto:6 Locations:8 Pace:7 overall:7-

Director:	John Glen
Producer:	Albert R. Broccoli
Writer:	Ian Fleming,George MacDonald Fraser

Seen it:	Ja
Nr of disks/tapes:	1
Storage device:	Divx 4