Octopussy
“Mr. Bond is a very rare breed, soon to be made extinct”
Louis Jourdan in Octopussy
The best word to describe Roger Moore’s sixth Bond
installment is entertaining. A major
element of the plot is the presence of a circus which serves as a metaphor to
the film. Seeing this film is as much
for a teen or adult is about as much fun as going to the circus for a child.
Octopussy was the first Bond film I saw. It is my favorite Roger Moore Bond film,
edging out the popular Moore favorite, The Spy Who Loved Me. I think The Spy Who Loved Me is also a lot
of fun, but it follows the director Lewis Gilbert template too closely (he also
directed You Only Live Twice, and Moonraker) and all three are variations of
the same film, with very straightforward plots.
Octopussy is a more breezy film and has a more unpredictable
structure. Since the film starts with
Bond investigating the smuggling of Faberge eggs and ends up in the middle of a
circus trying to stop a nuclear bomb from exploding, and is in various original
settings (an auction, a train transporting a circus, a tiger hunt, an island
full of women surrounded by reptiles, etc.) it is safe to say that it is hard
to accurately guess what is coming next.
It is somewhat fashionable nowadays (this is being written
in 2015, with Daniel Craig as the current Bond) to claim that Roger Moore was a
weak Bond because he injected more humor into the character. Although I like to see Bond as more of an
assassin, which is why I am drawn to Daniel Craig and Timothy Dalton, all six Bond
actors have their strengths. For Your
Eyes Only is seen as Moore’s best performance as Bond due to the moment in
which he kills Locke by kicking his car over the cliff. However I prefer his work here. In Octopussy, Moore is fully in command,
intelligent, resourceful in tight situations, desperate to stop the bomb from
going off, but never unhinged, romantic and a “man of principle”, as Octopussy
calls him. He does not mug for the
camera like in some of his other films (Moonraker and A View to a Kill
especially), and he suffers more physically in this film (note how he looks in
the hunting sequence, presumably based on The Most Dangerous Game, by Richard
Connell ). He does look a bit old for
the part (Moore was about 55 during filming) and has the normal physique of a
man that age but gives a very confident performance as Bond.
Highlights of Moore’s performance:
During the Sotheby’s auction Bond seems reckless in bidding for the egg but his intuition in sensing that Kamal needed to buy the egg shows that it was a calculated risk. Moore also uses very small gestures (calling the person with the egg on a tray to him, and then slightly shaking his head to say that he does not want it) pretending to be far more rich than he actually is.
In the casino scene Bond has a lot of fun in his first showdown with Kamal, playing it cool by using Kamal’s loaded dice against him.
In many of Bond’s action scenes he is quick-witted. Moore’s Bond does not project menace but if you go against him he will find a way to outmaneuver you and he can be dangerous if the situation calls for it. For example, in each scene in which Bond seems cornered by the knife throwing twins Bond, in the moment he is able to completely turn the situation around (knocking the cannon down on Mischka and using the latch on the cabin door on Grischka). Moore’s fierce delivery of his line “And that’s for 009” is quite believable.
The way in which Bond handles the woman in the telephone booth is true to Moore’s Bond. Connery, Dalton or Craig would have just pulled her out but Moore is more of gentleman and ultimately teaches her a lesson by stealing her car. Director John Glen frames this cleverly in one shot to change the point of view from Bond making a last attempt to enter the phone booth (and the woman rudely turning her back) to Bond noticing her car and moving off camera toward it to that of the woman (who both Bond and the audience are annoyed with now) realizing her car has been stolen.
Bond’s bemused reaction to Kamal Khan after Magda steals the egg acknowledges that Kamal has won this round but Bond is not going to show that he is shaken much by it. Right afterwards Bond appears to be moving much more urgently when Gobinda knocks him out from behind.
Moore throws a lot of punches in this film, strangely every one with his right hand.
Bond’s scene with Orlov on the train is suspenseful in which Bond cleverly works out the plot. I fully believe he is willing to kill Orlov and he shows no hesitation in shooting the soldier in the forehead and several of the other soldiers. Interestingly, in Octopussy, after Bond loses his gun in the chase scene in India, he switches from his normal Walter PPK to a Walther P5. In a View to a Kill, the next film, Bond again uses the PPK.
Moore’s intensity in the scene on the plane at the end sells the situation and almost makes it seem believable. As a contrast Moore’s mugging close up when pushed out of the plane in Moonraker removes a lot of the suspense from that sequence.
Things I liked in the film:
The pretitle sequence is amusing (a plot to blow up a jet in
Cuba) and has nothing to do with the plot
The link to Fleming’s short story, “Octopussy”, in which the
main character of that story is the film character’s father.
Maud Adams is a warm and authoritative presence as Octopussy
and has the best chemistry with Moore of all of his leading ladies. She is also far more age appropriate to Moore
than Carole Bouquet from For Your Eyes Only and Tanya Roberts in A View to a
Kill.
The scene in which Bond reveals himself to
Kamal Khan on Octopussy’s island to sort of stick it to him even though he
should remain hidden is dangerous but is very true to Bond’s character. I like how the three have a brief and
civilized conversation given how much the two men despise each other.
Kristina Wayborn is refreshing as the secondary love
interest. She is tall, athletic, very
sexy and proves to be quite capable in a fight.
Unlike most of her counterparts she survives the film. I think much of her role may have been cut
since it is never clear why she is living at Kamal’s Monsoon Palace but is
Octopussy’s second in command (perhaps she is spying on Kamal for
Octopussy-which would explain why she does not let Khan know that Bond has
escaped)
It is not for many but I think the title song “All Time High” by Rita
Coolidge is a nice tune.
Octopussy is cleverly set up to be the head villainess early
on. Like with Blofeld in the earlier
films, the audience does not see her face until Bond does. Two other elements that support this
impression is that Kamal answers to her and that the title of the film is
Octopussy, much as Dr No and Goldfinger were named after their villains.
The sequence in the woods with 009 escaping with the Faberge
Egg is a thrilling chase.
John Barry’s score is one of his best and makes a lot of use
of the Bond theme,
perhaps to distinguish itself from the other non-cannon Bond film put that
year, more to come later. The romantic
theme and the new action medley are highlights.
The late Louis Jordan as Kamal
Khan, the first Bond villain I knew. He
is elegant, dangerous, ruthless and very calculating. Kamal’s French pronunciation of “Octopussy”
is unique.
The fight
with the three killers in Octopussy’s bedroom is exciting and the lead up to it
is suspenseful. When I first saw this I
had no idea how Bond was going to get out of it until the drop of water fell on
Bond’s face. Moore’s quick eye reaction
is perfectly timed to the editing. The
blocking and some of the moves in the fight are also well choreographed and the
action score matches it.
Kabir Bedi is effective as Khan’s henchman, Gobinda, who is much less cartoonish than Jaws and Oddjob.
The entire train sequence is gripping.
Vijay Armitraj is an amusing ally.
The final battle, the attack Kamal’s Monsoon Palace is well
structured. For one thing it is fun to
see Octopussy’s beautiful acrobats first silently taking out and then openly
battling Kamal’s goons. Bond’s entrance
(and Q’s unexpected presence) by hot air balloon is original (along with their
“hot air” exchange). It is refreshing
that this takes place after the main threat (the bomb) has been ended. Here they are simply trying to catch the bad
guy and Octopussy has a personal score to settle with Kamal.
The plane scene, however implausible, (I doubt any human
could hang on to a plane in the air for any length of time) is suspenseful and
makes good use of the limited available space for Bond and Gobinda to have
their last battle. Although much care is
taken to show Bond always holding on to something, Gobinda is not holding to
anything while sliding down the stop trying to stab Bond.
Things I do not like:
When starting the circus on the base in West Germany did
anyone notice that the knife throwing twins are absent since they both died that
morning?
The base commander ignoring Bond’s pleas about the bomb seem
a bit unrealistic but he does eventually come around.
Maud Adams has almost no dialogue in the film from the point
where Bond falls out of the window and she thinks he is dead, until the scene
in the circus. Given Octopussy is the
title character of the film and she already does not enter the film until after
the first act, her presence in the film is minimal.
Why does Octopussy continue to work with Kamal after the
thugs invaded her home? She would know
that Kamal sent them after Bond. Maybe
Octopussy is planning to cut Kamal loose after completing the German smuggling
job but it if that is the case there should be a scene explaining this.
Pairing Moneypenny with a younger secretary is tasteless, an
idea wisely dropped from the next film.
When The Living Daylights came out a few years it was a much better idea
to simply recast the part.
The “sit” line to the tiger is silly. Bond believably fends off all the other
threats in this sequence so to have him escape the biggest one of all with a
gag lets all the air of out a suspenseful situation. While it is believable that a tiger would be
in the jungle there was plenty of danger without its appearance. If Bond had a devised a better way to
escaping the tiger, such as spotting a trap and then luring the tiger into it,
or sending it after the men hunting him then it would have been worth its appearance. However it takes longer the read the
paragraph than to watch the entirety of the tiger scene, and to his credit
Moore does sell the “sit line”.
The Indian crowd’s reaction to the use of the tennis racquet
during the chase scene in the marketplace is nonsensical.
Placing the camera on the woman’s cleavage in the Q lab
scene is crass. The actress
does not even get a close up but her breasts do.
Never Say Never Again, the Sean Connery starring remake of
Thunderball was made at the same time and originally scheduled for release
about a week apart from Octopussy, though it later was moved to a few months
later. Due to this there was a lot of
pressure for Octopussy to deliver the goods.
Oddly enough Never Say Never Again was the first Sean Connery Bond film
I saw a few months later. I immediately preferred Connery’s Bond but thought Octopussy was a much better film. Never Say Never Again has a few good moments
and most of the key performances are strong (except for Kim Basinger’s Domino),
but is too long, not very well edited, and the jazz score by Michel Legrand
does not match the action on screen at all.
In conclusion, Octopussy is a good time at the movies. The film has elegance, interesting locations,
beautiful women, good performances, humor, an inspired John Barry score, and is
guided by director John Glen’s sure hand.
I think even people who are not fans of James Bond would enjoy this
film. ****
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