James Bond is sent to investigate after a fellow “00” agent is found dead with a priceless Indian Fabergé egg. Bond follows the mystery and uncovers a smuggling scandal and a Russian General who wants to provoke a new World War.
Cast of Octopussy
Octopussy Ratings & Reviews
- Mister ArnMay 24, 2025The name of this film is the best thing it has going for it.
- 匚卂尺ㄥJanuary 28, 2025🦑━╤デ╦︻ "James Bond Will Return in Octopussy," read the tag at the end of For Your Eyes Only. Not knowing my Fleming at the time, I remember saying, "Is that a joke?" But by the time Octopussy was released in the summer of 1983, I was a big Bond fan with high expectations for the 13th James Bond film. I'll never forget that, after the movie on the way out of the theater, a young girl spontaneously shouted to anyone within earshot, "Great flick!" Had I been as inebriated as she was, I might have yelled the same thing because I just love Octopussy. In fact, I think it's one of the most underrated Bond films. James Bond Goes to India. And why shouldn't he? It's not often pointed out that Octopussy was as much a reaction to the success of Raiders of the Lost Ark as Moonraker was to the success Star Wars. Some bash these films for this, saying Bond films should always lead and never follow. I say [no]. For me, genre mixing in the James Bond films is not a sin and can result in a gre!at film. Okay, I too cringe at the Tarzan yell and the "Sit-taaa!," but how about that killer pre-titles sequence with the AcroStar mini-jet? It's certainly one of the best pre-titles sequences of the series. And what about the action on the circus train? the Sotheby's auction? the helicopter gliding past the Taj Mahal to a very evocative John Barry score? Bond's backgammon game with Kamal Kahn is definitely one of the better casino face-offs. Magda spiraling off Bond's balcony by her slowly unraveling silk dress is, to quote a recently deceased news baron, "Delicious." And how about that no-nonsense, no-quip, high-speed, balls-to-the walls car chase on the autobahn? Great flick! Then there are the moments of wonderful detail. The hitchhiking Bond getting snubbed by a carload of obnoxious teenagers. Kamal's car not turning over on the first try as he and Globina try to escape their own ticking nuke. Magda's hairdryer interfering with Bond's earpiece gadget. And letÕs not forge!t the woman beating Bond to the pay phone as he rushes to prevent Armageddon. Yes, Connery's Bond would just yank that chatty woman from the phone booth and call in the marines. But Moore's Bond is not powered by his masculinity, he's powered by his Englishness. He could never do something so rude! So instead, he steals her car. I remember that getting a big hand in the theater. And as for Roger Moore; hey, I don't dismiss Roger Moore the way some old thinkers do. I even like Moonraker -- a lot! Octopussy is one of Moore's best performances as Bond. He has that old pro's grace about him that Connery had in Diamonds Are Forever and NSNA. (It's interesting that Moore didn't have this quality in his next film, A View to a Kill. Maybe it's hard to relax around Grace Jones?) So there you go. It was true in the summer of 1983, and it's still true today: Octopussy is a great flick!
