I remembered watching this movie for the first time in the small movie theater as a teenager in Holland. It was one of the best . No Bond has a special charm like him as he was in real life. RIP, Roger Moore.
I think the best „line“ in the movie is the dramatic score when 009 bumps into Mishka/Grishka... can’t think of any other scene in the entire franchise which shakes up viewers in such a way. Can you?
Edward McClucksky yes the twin brothers. I also like the „second“ scene when the remaining twin brother tries to kill Bond in the forest - such a brilliant combination of the camera view from behind (seeing Mishka pulling his knife right after he drops from the train top) and the music. But still can’t keep up with the darkness and tenseness of the scene with 009
The late great Sir Roger Moore will always be my all time favourite Bond and Octopussy is a great Bond film with strong villains. The scene with Moore sliding down the bannisters while firing an AK47 is just epic. Nice review!
Octopussy is vary underated. Take out the Tarzan scene and a few other unfunny jokes and it's an excellent bond film . Pre title was a 10. Villains were good. One of Moore's best performances as bond. Maud adams was playing a more complex character than most bond females. A thrilling adventure.
Just re watched it. Top 10 bond film and a tie in my opinion with TSWLM for best Moore film. One hell of a villain. A good plot with some of the one best liners. Also Moore has some great fights in this movie. Honestly the Tarzan sceen and zooming in on the girls boobs are the 2 real big sins of the movie.
I wish you mentioned the part where Q saves Octopussy's girls by dropping the hot air balloon on someone who was about to shoot them, then the girls start swarming him and showering him with kisses.
After For Your Eyes Only had hugely grown on me and remained my favourite Bond film for years, I saw Octopussy a few months later. And oh boy, let me tell you, this is just my new jem of this franchise! Octopussy is in my opinion not only Roger Moores' darkest Bond film. I'm proud to say that it's also at the very top of my list! Octopussy is BY. FAR. MY all-time favourite James Bond film! And there are many reasons for that! Roger Moore delivers an excellent performance! Despite being 56 years old he embodies Bond in such a perfect, cool, and funny way! And he's still in top form! The plot is brilliant and very realistic because there was the cold war back in 1983. The opening sequence is among the best in the franchise! John Barry composes amazing soundtracks again! We have great locations! India is such a cool location for a Bond film! I live in Switzerland but I am german. The film partly takes place in Karl-Marx Stadt which is Chemnitz nowadays. Moores' one liners are absolutely top notch and you can also laugh along with Q, which is great! The villains and the henchmen are awesome too! The knife throwing twins freaked me to death when I saw the film for the first time as well as the indian goons with the Yo Yo saw! Bond has to dodge very sharp objects here and this is a very dangerous mission for him, making the film extra more thrilling from A to Z! As long as I'm here I have to talk about the extraordinary stunts done on top of the train, on Kamals plane and in the Acrostar at the beginning. The continuity of the film is also pretty good! No Bond film has more humour, better humour, more stunts and better stunts! Octopussy is, as I said, lying at the very top of my James Bond film list! And there you have 2 Bond films IN A ROW that I proudly give a clear 10/10!
I'm with you, it's a brilliant film. LOVE it and it jacks me off how lazily many review it as a jokey silly film and take the clown disguise out of context. I'm now running my new channel The New James Bond Show With Krazy Kajeevie but at my former channel The James Bond Show With Krazy Kajeevie I gave Octopussy a very favourable review. I'll be re-reveiwing all the Bond films one by one (again) on my new current channel 😁 Krazy Kajeevie 😁🍸
I always loved the introduction scene of the Knife throwing Twins. 009 has no chance against them, he practically knows that he's gonna die going up against the 2. In my opinion, THIS is the perfect way to introduce Bond henchmen! Right from the get go, the film is telling the audience with a very tense and ruthless attack that these 2 are very, very dangerous people who don't like to be messed with. This was easily one of the best henchmen introductions in the series! And also one of the scariest, tense and most well-done moments in the series if you ask me...
I loved this film so much as a kid. The Roger Moore James Bond and the 3 Indiana Jones films were my heroes as a boy, along with the Michael Keaton Batman. Loved the music, the action, the unashamed masculinity of Bond, Jones and Batman characters, the romance, the music, the beautiful women, it was all brilliant fun and adventure.
Octopussy is a really fun film, and very underrated Bond film in my opinion. My second favorite Moore Bond, which blows Never Say Never Again out of the water. Even though Moore is really good in Octopussy, you can start to see that he's getting too old to play the part. Ideally Octopussy should have been Moore's last go around as Bond, because A View To A Kill was just painful to watch.
I have so much respect for Roger Moore for keeping the character going for as long as he did and making it his own while most people in the media couldn’t get past comparing him unfavorably to Connery.
I actually liked Octopussy more than I did For your eyers only. It think it's the perfect balance of serious cold war spy thriller and bombastic and over the top sillyness.
Great review as always! I've always been amazed by the opening stunt of the plane flying through the hangar. There is an explanation on imdb about how it was attached to a pole which was attached to a Jaguar and ridden through the hangar. That certainly explains one shot from the inside. But the shots of it entering and exiting look like it was done for real. The quote from the stunt flyer, 'they'd never let us do that today..., they'd use a computer..' leads me to believe those two shots were the real deal!
I think Octopussy has been revalued as a Bond film. There are those who dismiss it as a bad Bond film but if you look beyond this - its quite a dark story. A mad Russian general and Afghan count want to precipitate World War III. And that climax as the train speeds through East/West Germany is exhilarating. The Bond I stick on to enjoy myself is Octopussy.
The Tarzan yodel got a big laugh in the cinema I saw it in. What always gets me in these reviews forty years after the fact is that the pre-video generation don't understand what an event it was to see a premiering movie back then. Being in a cinema, you got all the crowd based emotional uplift form the rest of the audience. The sense of humour was a bit less cynical back then and the yodel was pretty topical as most of the audience would have been watching the Ron Ely Tarzan TV series a few years earlier, there was a fairly popular Tarzan movie with Bo Derek in it a year or two earlier and Greystoke was in the making. I always saw the yodel as a nod to all the current Tarzan hype and Bond's humorous defiance of the villain.
Andy Rooney alluded to the same crowd experience in movies in one of his stints on 60 Minutes... but the Tarzan yell was a bit over the top, even for Moore's era. But that’s a good point about Tarzan hype at the time.
An American playing Bond would be weird. And I say that as an American myself. Adam West supposedly turned down the role because he felt Bond should always be played by a Brit.
I just have to say I've been watching some of your review videos with intense joy, highly entertaining, beautifully made & with a soupçon of humour... very nice, a bit like a Bond movie itself... anyway thank you and I'm just about to enjoy this one I'm sure.
"Octopussy" was pretty entertaining. I find this one more campy adventure than "Moonraker" which I didn't like, but this one is another classic 80's film. The India location is beautiful, the action scenes were good, and it's still a Bond adventure. As for Bond's age, it's not so bad. Moore does become an old man in this movie, but he still gets his charm to the 80's ladies, and he makes his Bond well done. I'm glad Maud Adams is back in this movie and her character, "Octopussy" was great and hot as well. Her version is more interesting than the last version which she did in "The Man With The Golden Gun." She's the exotic smuggler who kept her beautiful ladies in her one island, and sure you want the ladies to be on you. The villain is great, and he's a lot of fun for being an intelligent Prince with his evil charm, and his henchmen were dangerous hell, and he's more like an Indian Oddjob. As much it goes, it was a fun Bond film to enjoy.
The chemistry between Roger Moore and Maud Adams in this may have been the best ever between Bond and his leading lady. She was 38, elegant, mature and independent and that played perfectly with Moore's Bond. The scene in her villa where they talk about her father and then argue over principle is among the best in the entire series.
I agree with all your observations on Octopussy, a fun film. some of the comedy doesn't quite hit the mark but enough of it does mixed with some terrific action sequences. I'm also very happy to know it beat NSNA at the Box Office , well done Roger !
Gerry Mulligan i thought it was a good movie to and one Roger Moore’s best. It should have been Roger Moore’s last movie as Bond. Although there is some silly moments it does have some good action scenes and suspenseful moments as well.
Octopussy has held up much better than Never Say Never Again. And the movie COULD have been one of Moore's best if it wasn't for all the jaw-dropping embarrassing moments in the film. The infamous Tarzan scream, the gorilla costume, the clown outfit, the cringe inducing tennis gags with VJ, etc. It's really too bad because the plot is very good indeed, the villains are decent, and I think the soundtrack is one of the better ones as well.
19:07 Little fun fact: I know Berlin very well. I go there 4-5 times per year. This scene was shot in front of the Gedächniskirche on the Kurfürstendamm in Berlin. And a few seconds later, Bond and M end up at the Checkpoint Charlie. In the movie it looks like a real time drive. But in reality, Gedächniskirche and Checkpoint Charlie are quite far away from each other. It would be about a 20 minute drive and an hour walk between the 2 locations. Btw, Karl-Marx-Stadt is not in Berlin. Today it's actually Chemnitz.
This film in particular stands out for me as possibly my favourite, the scenes of Bond clinging onto the train, the exotic Indian setting and humour, the opening sequence with the jet, the non PC humour, the knife throwing twins, the glamour of some of it, the pretty simple but useful gadgets, the soundtrack is thrilling and I don't think any guy would mind being in bed with Kristina Wayborn. The plot is actually quite dark with the cold war and the threat of a Sovie attack, it suddenly feels very relevant again now. Above all though it just takes me back ti a time when it was okay to to have some fun in these films. Bond doesn't spend his time moping around bars like he does in Skyfall and No Time To Die. I wanna tell Craig, you're James Bond! Cheer the hell up man! You look so bloody grouchy half the time in your movies.
I just found your great Bond review channel and I have to say you do a terrific, entertaining and interesting job on all of them. I´m a Bond fan too and I really enjoy your reviews. The time you take in editing them explaining the plot with your richly informative and funny comments makes it really fun to watch...keep up the good work!!
I liked Octopussy, I agreed with most of your comments and I always preferred bond to be more serious. Cubby Brocolli decided that Bond should be English thats why as good as Brolin was he still didnt get the part.
oh man, i love octopussy. john glen does a spectacular job, moore is great, berkhoff and jourdan are equally terrific, and i find the film to be very colourful and fun, despite it's obvious stupidity.
Not bad and at least more entertaining than FYEO, but the series was really struggling to have any relevance at this point. Roger is too old, they're treading water by bringing back a previous Bond Girl, the stuff with the jewelled egg is just silly, and 007 in the clown suit is without doubt a Jump The Shark moment for the franchise. Shoehorning in the indian tennis player and doing that "tennis eyes" joke was cringe, as was the Tarzan yell in the jungle. The henchman with the yo-yo contraption was ok.
One of the main things I love about your video series is the pointing out of continuity mistakes and movie mistakes. It always makes me laugh that you point these out & try to apply logic to them.
This was my first Bond movie seen in the movie theater. I was only seven. Love these videos. They really bring me back to when I first saw these movies. Thanks DBF!
Amazing! Must have been so cool to be alive during the time of the battle of the Bonds! Of course you might not have been old enough to be aware of that or to really know who Sean Connery was, but still though, you were there! ;)
Yeah, I remember seeing this film in a theater in Sugarland, Texas, which is long since gone-- in fact I think my daughter's softball field she played on is basically where the old theater used to be, strangely enough... I was only 12 at the time when I saw Octopussy there (and my daughter's about the same age now...) I don't remember much about the "battle of the Bonds". I know we saw both films, but I don't remember where or when we saw "NSNA"... I vaguely remember there being "some" talk on TV about the fact that there were going to be competing Bond films, but not a lot of details about the McClory/Broccoli thing... I know for awhile we were thinking "hmmm-- wonder if there's going to be TWO franchises cranking out Bond films every other year-- that could be interesting (but probably lead to "Bond burnout" fairly quickly) but of course that never happened, because basically NSNA was a mediocre remake of Thunderball, with NONE of the "60's cool factor" of the original T-ball. So McClory's Bond ended up being a "one shot wonder" and flopped and was soon forgotten as a weird "divergence" from the established Bond... It was cool at the time because basically every year there was a big blockbuster franchise film-- one year it would be "Bond" and the following year it would be a "Star Trek" film... that was kinda nice because you could count on ONE really great blockbuster film per year of one or the other... Course some were better than others, but in the pre-VCR and pre-internet and early video-game days, it was a much bigger deal than now... that schedule held for awhile which was nice-- completely by coincidence I'm sure but nice... by the time it ended, everybody had a VCR and tape rental places were on every corner it seemed and you could pretty much watch whatever you wanted whenever you wanted to go rent it (or watch the copy of it you recorded off TV or bootlegged by dubbing the rented tape with a second VCR) and then tape prices came down a few years later and you could just BUY the thing and have a better quality picture and sound anyway, so basically by then it didn't matter about the schedule anyway... What was that clip of the two guys playing Roger Moore and Sean Connery in the rest home-- where was that from?? Very funny and quite true-- Moore was 3 years older than Connery and Connery looked ridiculously old in NSNA... and Moore's age was showing by this point as well, though he was still believable. Connery somehow looked older and not as believable in NSNA, probably because of it being a remake of T-ball from '65... At any rate, it must have been great for them both-- people waving bushel baskets of money at them trying to outdo each other... despite their age and the fact that they were getting too old for the parts... but I'm genuinely surprised that they brought Roger Moore back for "AVTAK"... he was DEFINITELY looking too geriatric for Bond in that one... Later! OL J R :)
When Bond tells the Tiger to sit it is a reference to Britsh TV dog trainer Barbera Woodhouse for which the commnad 'Sit' said in that manner became one of her catchphrases. That whole mad minute when he's being hunted through the jungle is terrible and the film's gondola moment - however telling that snake to 'hiss off' was kind of amusing.
I have to confess that I am looking forward anxiously to the review for "A View to a Kill" more so. I know that I stand with the small minority of Bond fans that dare to admit that they actually like that fun film, and it is paradoxically for me to say it too since I take both my Bond and my films very seriously, but I have to be truthful and admit that I somehow do like the final Moore film. I am anxious to see what will be said and how it will be treated within the hands of the mighty Bond reviewer, the DutchBondFan!
There's no shame in admitting to like a Bond film! I like some betters than others too, like any other Bond fan. Regardless of how I feel about the film, my goal with every episode is to simply share my opinion, inform and entertain people. I think it's great to have fans who see my new episode in their subscribtion box and actually get excited to sit down and enjoy themselves for half an hour, even if a film they like is not liked by me :) - Thanks for the compliments by the way! I'll start working on the AVTAK script soon!
Really enjoyed this film. It definitely deserved to win the competition of 1983. Forget Never say never again! It's just a basic remake of Thunderball but no where near better than it. Never say never again was no where near in good condition for competing with "Octopussy". And believe me DutchBondFan, any movie that has the word "Pussy" as a title, you know you're going to have a good time. (Sigh) I suppose I'm not getting any older either. lol. ^_^
Another great review! Although I personally find Octopussy one of the weaker installments, it's still very enjoyable to watch. It's paced nicely and has good action and characters. However, the Tarzan yell is second to the slide whistle in TMWTGG in regards to bad sound effects. Can't wait for your next review and also A View to a Kill!
This is one of my favorite 007 films because in this one the plot is dangerous with thousands of lives at stake, but was also extremely feasible. No hidden space stations or volcano based launch pads here. Here you have an unbalanced and overzealous Soviet General wanting to get NATO's nukes out of Europe by detonating one of their own smuggled in at a NATO airbase. The political tone fit well too. This was the Pre-Gorbachev 1980's and the Cold War had become anything but cold in Europe. It got even more ramped up when the Korean flight 007 (Yeah I know, how much more sadly ironic can that get) was shot down with a U.S. Congressman as one of the fatalities just a few months after this came out. If you would have said in 1983 that in less than 10 years the Berlin Wall and USSR would be gone, along with Eastern Europe becoming Democracies and Germany a united nation again, nobody would have believed that.
I am so pleased to see that there has been a mentioning here that Roger Moore was in-fact ready and prepared to have stepped down and away from the role of James Bond before "Octopussy" had begun filming, and that it was the rival Connery production that same year that had led to him to continuing. My dismay at the sight of so many comment sections filled with all of the complaints about Moore's age could lead to revisionist history and the thought that he was either not wishing or wanting to leave it which simply was not true (Pierce Brosnan upon the other hand I question). Roger Moore was a consummate professional and a beloved man that everyone loved to be around and work with; he was amongst the last of what we today could call a "classic" actor, an actor whom would do what was asked of him and do what was best for the team like we look upon the thespians of the 30's / 40's / 50's were when Hollywood had its studio system and never showed much malcontent publicly. I invite people to check out some interviews and the like that Moore has done and see if they too can generally perceive this sensibility from the man. I believe that this is partially why he was the de-facto ambassador to James Bond for the next couple decades after his retirement.
Very well said! Completely agree! (Welcome aboard by the way! Hope to see you around more often!) Feel free to message me on my Facebook fanpage if you ever want to have some chats on Bond! ~ DBF
Thank you very much for your offer and your enthusiasm for my thoughts upon this series, DutchBondFan! I feel a sense of sincere flattery that the one himself whom has been creating these comprehensive and intelligent reviews that I have been enjoying has invited me on-board. I shall certainly have to look for your fanpage the next time that I am logged onto Facebook and sign up. I do admit I enjoy discussion about the Bond franchise and about film in-general. Thank you!
Yes, Roger Moore was a true gentleman. All of the Bond "girls/women" with whom he worked were very generous with their praise of him a person and co-worker when he died. Most had also said good things about him prior. That isn't the case with Connery who often comes across as bored or "not caring" in his films, plus has been accused of being arrogant by "the help".
You know, I watched this one about six or seven months ago and I gotta admit, it's very underated. It was also the first Bond my Dad brought home on Laser Disc. "He was my Indiana Jones growing up!" and Bam...hooked nearly 30 years later.
I can and I will! They just take a lot of freetime to produce everytime. But Im having way to much fun making these! Its a rewarding expierence too, with all these people enjoying these!
As always, I always learn several cool bits of information from your video's. I never heard James Brolin was almost the next Bond. It's interesting to hear what goes on behind the scenes, before movies even start production. Even more interesting, the little "Bond War" that went on, with the 2 movies, using both actors that year. I love those cool little planes Bond flies in the intro. They may feel like flying coffins while flying them I guess. Even with all the corny Tennis jokes, and the other cheesy scenes, ( and even the "yo-yo saw", wow) that are always in these early Bond films, it's all still entertaining I guess. The Tarzan scene went over the top though, I still can't believe they put that scene in...WTF!! Maude Adams was one of my favorite female characters, so it was cool to see her in another Bond film. once again, great job with all the side information, back stories, and comments through out. Keep up the great Bond Re-Caps!
That line was going to be cut from the film, but director John Glen was at a cinema and the trailer for Octopussy was shown with the line. The audience laughed, so he decided to put the line back into the final cut.
I love all these reviews you've done, it's like a walkthrough my childhood as I watched these films so many times!! Have you ever ordered them to show your favourite and least favourite?
Bond pointing his finger in the air at the tiger and saying "sitttt" was a referrence to a series of Barbara Woodhouse documentaries about training dogs.Her most well known catchphrase was telling the dog to "SITTTTTTT".
Richard Curtis And it gets so much hate.. shame.. It indeed has everything a fantastic Bond film needs! Death-defying stunts, dangerous henchmen, solid villain, great girl, amazing and realistic plot, humor, fantastic cinematography and exotic locations! I mean what could all these people possibly dislike Octopussy for all the time! It‘s an ALL-TIME HIGH to the franchise and also my favourite!
@@dereklewis4321 It gets the hate because of Roger Moores age but in this film he's in top form. In A view to a kill, he should have given the role to Timothy.
Wadsy But without considering Roger Moore‘s age, A View to a kill is actually a pretty good film too! Fantastic villains, great locations, great music and a decent plot
He was my hero growing up. He was so smooth, he was so cool under pressure, always has a good line ready, got all these exciting missions and beautiful women....
Once again an awesome review!! I absolutely love Roger Moore as Bond, with this at my personal top!! Cant wait for AVTAK, one of the most underrated bonds in my oponion!!!
Solid summary without too many notable comments, insights or jokes, which probably reflects this movie, which is solid and better than most of Moore's films but a step down from For Your Eyes Only. The pre-title scene is terrific, especially with the plane/mini-jet flying through hangar sideways as doors are closing. And the train battle -- though too similar and inferior to Connery's recent previous scene in "The Great Train Robbery" -- and the actual tension created near end at circus is good, but too many goofball stuff, and the villain and Octopussy herself are not anywhere close to among the best. Thanks again for all these recaps!
I'm glad Brolin wasn't cast, but this would've been a great film for a new Bond to start off in. I know John Glen said it was a great test, but Brolin just seems SO bad in those tests tbh. It's just bad acting, it feels so unnatural and forced. I've seen him in Lost City Raiders and he was pretty good, but he'd have been an awful Bond judging by those tests. If John Gavin did DAF, I could see him being a great American Bond(even though I think Bond should be British). Another great episode, man!
Just out of curiosity is this film located in India? I remember the Rambo film was filmed in Mexico I thought originally the film was in Vietnam but first blood 2 was filmed in Mexico.
It's weird but a lot of James Bond classic movies come on the BBC America channel. And I still watch it. I grew up as a child watching this series it may be outdated but I will always watch James Bond it's just one of those guy things. It's a fantasy everybody wants to be James Bond.
thanks for a top review and I agree with what you say. Octopussy is a fun Bond film to watch & still looks good to this day. Its one of Roger's best, like TSWLM and FYEO.