Bond Review.
Title: A silly title that has a reason behind it but doesn't make it easier to accept.
Pre-Titles: Bond fails to plant a bomb in an aircraft hangar, but he escapes in his own aircraft and just about avoids a heat-seeking missile which does the job for him. This is another exciting opening to a Moore Bond film and it is always fun to see standalone action like this open the film. The stunt work in the plane is absolutely brilliant and its intense escape is one of the best parts of the film.
Theme Song: Rita Coolidge delivers one of the dullest themes of the series with 'All Time High'. It just moves along so slowly and neither the melody nor Coolidge's vocals are that good. In fact it sounds like something from a cheesy 1970's sitcom not a Bond film.
Plot: When a fellow agent is found dead holding a Faberge egg Bond is sent to track its progress and it leads him to Afghan prince Kamal Kahn. Bond soon discovers that Kahn and a Soviet general plan to blow up an American air base, which forces him to team up with the mysterious Octopussy. The story is well told and moves along fine, but some of it is quite illogical. The reasoning for Kahn wanting to harm the Americans is never made clear and Octopussy herself just comes out of nowhere to side with Bond. The film also drags the longer it goes on, everything is set-up effectively yet the final third with the circus goes on for too long.
James Bond: Roger Moore is starting to look too old for the role here. His suave personality and witty comments are still entertaining, but it's obviously not him in the action scenes and many of the romantic scenes are rather awkward. However he does just enough to keep things enjoyable.
Bond Girls: Maud Adams returns to the series as the title character and she is just okay. She certainly brings elegance to the role and does have a strong screen presence, but the role limply written and she doesn't contribute anything to the film. Kristina Wayborn is very good as Magda. She gets to show off her athleticism and get involved in the action scenes, she also handles her dialogue well and is an entertaining presence when she appears.
Villains: Louis Jourdan brings sophistication to Kahn and makes for a charming villain opposite Moore, but he isn't much of a threat. Sure he gets some fun lines and is classy, but his plan is flimsy and you get the feeling that Bond could defeat him easily. Steven Berkoff hams it up as disloyal soviet Orlov and it doesn't pay off. He delivers all his lines like a maniac and his expressions are laughable, he's never as threatening as he's meant to be. Kabir Bedi as Kahn's hulking henchman is simply a bore.
Support: Desmond Llewelyn is great once again as we see Q doing some field work here which is fun. Robert Brown plays M for the first time and he is very good, retaining the characters stern attitude.
Action: The action again ranges from nicely intense to absurd. A car chase through the streets of India is good fun and making use of their customs is a smart idea. The whole train sequence, though overlong, is enjoyable and well shot. While there is intensity to some parts, such as 009's death and Bond having to defuse a bomb, which is very effective. But the whole elephant stampede is ridiculous, seeing Bond make a tiger sit and doing a Tarzan yell is embarrassingly dumb. The climax on Kahn's plane is sluggish and not very exciting.
Score: John Barry returns and his score is very good. There are some different compositions that add a more tropical flavour to proceedings and at many points the score is fantastic as a backdrop to some of the more intense scenes.
Production Values: John Glen keeps his more low-key direction here and for the most part it works, however given the films locations and its broader tone it certain would have benefited from more visually impressive directing. The pacing and editing is a mixed bag as stated. The film starts off really well and keeps everything interesting or appropriately mysterious, but things really start to drag once we get to the bomb on the train and it never really recovers. Using India as a location was a good idea as it's always fun to see Bond in a new country and it takes a look at the Indian culture. The writing is hit and miss here. Some of the dialogue is fun and snappy, but other times it just feels silly. The more tongue-in-cheek parts don't work either, the scene with Bond in the jungle is borderline painful for how daft it is.
Conclusion: Octopussy is arguably Moore most laid-back and easy to enjoy film. Nothing that memorable happens and it does have many weak points, but it does have a classic adventure quality to it and it is pretty clear that it's simply trying to entertain which it manages to do. By this point Moore looks too old for the part, but he still makes it work. The villains aren't done very well, Octopussy herself is a bit of a bore and there are some annoyingly comic moments. For me it is just okay and on the whole is just isn't very memorable, yet if you take it for what it is then you may well enjoy it whilst it's taking place.
Title: A silly title that has a reason behind it but doesn't make it easier to accept.
Pre-Titles: Bond fails to plant a bomb in an aircraft hangar, but he escapes in his own aircraft and just about avoids a heat-seeking missile which does the job for him. This is another exciting opening to a Moore Bond film and it is always fun to see standalone action like this open the film. The stunt work in the plane is absolutely brilliant and its intense escape is one of the best parts of the film.
Theme Song: Rita Coolidge delivers one of the dullest themes of the series with 'All Time High'. It just moves along so slowly and neither the melody nor Coolidge's vocals are that good. In fact it sounds like something from a cheesy 1970's sitcom not a Bond film.
Plot: When a fellow agent is found dead holding a Faberge egg Bond is sent to track its progress and it leads him to Afghan prince Kamal Kahn. Bond soon discovers that Kahn and a Soviet general plan to blow up an American air base, which forces him to team up with the mysterious Octopussy. The story is well told and moves along fine, but some of it is quite illogical. The reasoning for Kahn wanting to harm the Americans is never made clear and Octopussy herself just comes out of nowhere to side with Bond. The film also drags the longer it goes on, everything is set-up effectively yet the final third with the circus goes on for too long.
James Bond: Roger Moore is starting to look too old for the role here. His suave personality and witty comments are still entertaining, but it's obviously not him in the action scenes and many of the romantic scenes are rather awkward. However he does just enough to keep things enjoyable.
Bond Girls: Maud Adams returns to the series as the title character and she is just okay. She certainly brings elegance to the role and does have a strong screen presence, but the role limply written and she doesn't contribute anything to the film. Kristina Wayborn is very good as Magda. She gets to show off her athleticism and get involved in the action scenes, she also handles her dialogue well and is an entertaining presence when she appears.
Villains: Louis Jourdan brings sophistication to Kahn and makes for a charming villain opposite Moore, but he isn't much of a threat. Sure he gets some fun lines and is classy, but his plan is flimsy and you get the feeling that Bond could defeat him easily. Steven Berkoff hams it up as disloyal soviet Orlov and it doesn't pay off. He delivers all his lines like a maniac and his expressions are laughable, he's never as threatening as he's meant to be. Kabir Bedi as Kahn's hulking henchman is simply a bore.
Support: Desmond Llewelyn is great once again as we see Q doing some field work here which is fun. Robert Brown plays M for the first time and he is very good, retaining the characters stern attitude.
Action: The action again ranges from nicely intense to absurd. A car chase through the streets of India is good fun and making use of their customs is a smart idea. The whole train sequence, though overlong, is enjoyable and well shot. While there is intensity to some parts, such as 009's death and Bond having to defuse a bomb, which is very effective. But the whole elephant stampede is ridiculous, seeing Bond make a tiger sit and doing a Tarzan yell is embarrassingly dumb. The climax on Kahn's plane is sluggish and not very exciting.
Score: John Barry returns and his score is very good. There are some different compositions that add a more tropical flavour to proceedings and at many points the score is fantastic as a backdrop to some of the more intense scenes.
Production Values: John Glen keeps his more low-key direction here and for the most part it works, however given the films locations and its broader tone it certain would have benefited from more visually impressive directing. The pacing and editing is a mixed bag as stated. The film starts off really well and keeps everything interesting or appropriately mysterious, but things really start to drag once we get to the bomb on the train and it never really recovers. Using India as a location was a good idea as it's always fun to see Bond in a new country and it takes a look at the Indian culture. The writing is hit and miss here. Some of the dialogue is fun and snappy, but other times it just feels silly. The more tongue-in-cheek parts don't work either, the scene with Bond in the jungle is borderline painful for how daft it is.
Conclusion: Octopussy is arguably Moore most laid-back and easy to enjoy film. Nothing that memorable happens and it does have many weak points, but it does have a classic adventure quality to it and it is pretty clear that it's simply trying to entertain which it manages to do. By this point Moore looks too old for the part, but he still makes it work. The villains aren't done very well, Octopussy herself is a bit of a bore and there are some annoyingly comic moments. For me it is just okay and on the whole is just isn't very memorable, yet if you take it for what it is then you may well enjoy it whilst it's taking place.