Actor: Roger Moore
US Release Date: 10 June 1983
US gross, $ [adjusted]:67,893,619 [109,860,224]
Worldwide gross, $ [adjusted]: 183,700,000 [297,249,191]
World Premier - 6th June 1983
Locations: Cuba, London, East and West Berlin, East Germany, West
Germany, Moscow, India.
Source for above info: The " mother " of all James Bond books - James Bond: The Legacy.
Happenstance
In the teaser, we see a clown running away from a pair of
knife-throwing twins. The clown is agent 009. The clown is
turned into a human pincushion by the knife throwers but still
manages to reach the British Headquarters where he crashes
the party (literally) and lays a priceless Faberge egg. Later
we see Bond going into Cuba into a military base where he is
captured, escapes with the help of a female consort and climbs
into a small jet plane called Acrostar. The plane measures 12
feet long, weighed only 450 lbs., and could reach speeds of
300 m.p.h. The speed does matter as latter a heat-seeking missile
chases Bond and plane. Needless to say, Bond
destroys the commies and lands safely at a gas station to
fuel up. Dull and non-exciting titles follow with "All Time
High" sung by Rita Coolidge.
This movie had one special agenda. To stop Bond. That's Kevin
McClory's James Bond. As when EON backed Roger Moore was
running through the jungles of India, McClory backed Sean
Connery was reliving the
Thunderball
days in Bahamas with the remake called
Never say never again
. Bond was facing his worst nemesis since George Lazenby.
Coincidence
Cut to a a mad Russian officer to hurl mankind into World War
III! It seems that by exploding a Nuke in a NATO base in West
Germany, the nutcase wants to eliminate any hindrance to the
charge of the oncoming commies. (Remember, this movie was made
when people were being shot for crossing over from East Germany
to West Germany).
Our Commander Bond is given the responsibility to investigate the
murder of 009 in the teaser. The trail leads to the mysterious
Octopussy (Maud Adams, back from the dead which she was in when
she played Andrea Anders, Scaramanga's girlfriend in
The Man With The Golden Gun
.).
Incidentally, Maud Adams is the only woman to appear as a Bond
Babe in two James Bond movies, as two different babes. But she
is not the only woman to star in more than one Bond movie. Lois
Maxwell was Moneypenny in 14 films. Martine Beswick was Zora, one
of the fighting gypsy girls, in
From Russia With Love
and returned as Paula in
Thunderball
. She was also a dancing silhouette in the title sequence of
Dr. No
. And how can one forget, Bond's initial celluloid conquests,
Eunice Gayson as Sylvia Trench in
Dr. No
and
From Russia With Love
.
Octopussy has a travelling circus, which has a load of curvaceous
babes. Reminiscent of Pussy Galore in
Goldfinger
, Octopussy (the best Double entrendre after Pussy Galore) runs
the circus as a cover for an elaborate smuggling scheme.
Octopussy's charms lead Bond to India, specifically Jodhpur. The
film was shot in authentic locales in India and reinforced the
belief that India is a land of Snake charmers and holy men. In
India, Bond meets the elegant Kamal Khan (Louis Jourdan) who is
working with the Russian officer who has flown over the cuckoo's
nest. To antagonize Kamal, Bond turns to one of his many talents,
gambling. And this time he wagers the priceless Faberge egg, into
which now he has put a transmitter, which sends its signals to
007's Mont Blanc fountain pen.
Bond: I think that this should be ample security, don't you?
Kamal: Play, Mr. Bond, you need a great deal of luck to get
out of this.
Bond: Oh luck, then I should use player's privilege and use
your lucky dice. It's all in the wrist.
Needless to say, Kamal Khan loses heavily and hence Magda
(Kristina Wayborn), a acrobat in Octopussy's circus, is sent
to seduce Bond in order to steal the Faberge egg. Bond's
watch monitors the tiny homing transmitter placed into the
imitation Faberge egg that he allows Magda to steal but not
before sleeping with her first. But, of course. Next Bond is
taken to Kamal Khan's palace where he meets the mandatory
henchman, Gobinda (Kabir Bedi). Later he is taken to a hunt.
Where the prey is Bond.
Here, Bond literally turns into a Tarzan, swinging vines and
ordering a tiger to "Sit". (The tiger does sit!!!) Bond escapes
from the royal hunt and climbs into a boat full of tourists.
Tourist: Are you with our group?
Bond: No Ma'am, I'm with the economy tour.
Enemy Action
Next stop, West Berlin, where Bond treats us to a great train
ride where the twin knife throwers we saw in the teaser chase him.
Later in West Berlin, Bond is chased by the German
police when he enters the NATO military base and then dressed
as a clown (yikes!!!), enters the circus tent and defuses the
Nuke, just in time. Bond saves the world again.
And to take care of the unfinished work in India, Bond returns
to a exciting fight in the royal palace of Kamal Khan and
later an mid-air fist fight on top of Kamal's plane with
Gobinda. As always, Bond finishes off the bad royalty and ends
up on a boat with Octopussy.
With its amazing stunts, scenic locales, and silly
humor (like the part where Bond in a ape suit tries to
check the time), Octopussy was much better entertainment
and a bigger Box Office success than the rival Bond
production,
Never say never again
.
And hence due to the resounding success of Octopussy, Roger
Moore did return for the last time in
A view to a kill
.
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