Octopussy

One of the best of the James Bond series

Forget the dour, bland rubbish of the Daniel Craig era - Octopussy is how a James Bond film should be! FUN! The franchise has always been over the top ever since we saw Sean Connery's James Bond wearing a strap on plastic seagull hat in the classic Goldfinger and Octopussy continues that absurdity only this time with Roger Moore.

So anyway, here 007 is on the trail of a smuggling ring whilst also trying to stop a crazed Russian general (Steven Berkoff in an amazing performance) from starting WWIII.

Beautiful looking film makes the most of the India. Some great stunt work - including a finale on top of a plane, John Barry providing a lush score, lashings of humour and a fair amou...

Roger Moore, Indiana Jones, India, Germany, Circuses, Russians, Trains, Time Bombs and Babes

Roger Moore's stint as James Bond lasted a whopping 12 years from 1973 to 1985. Moore started as Bond when he was 45 years old and ended when he was 57. The seven films he did are as follows:

LIVE AND LET DIE (1973), THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (1974), THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1977), MOONRAKER (1979), FOR YOUR EYES ONLY (1981), OCTOPUSSY (1983) and A VIEW TO A KILL (1985).

All seven were hugely popular at the box office, which explains why they kept making 'em every two years.

Many Bond fans curiously look down on Moore's stint, no doubt because there was a little too much silly humor in his films but, to me, the Moore entrees are t...

I don't mind Moore as Bond, he's certainly not my favorite, I'm not the biggest fan of the silliness, but he has some 007 films that would make my top 10 list and...

... this is NOT one of them.

In the only thing I want to write in this review is "It is so unbelievably bad." And not like Moonraker way to over-the-top even for a 007 film bad, but just absolutely horrible bad.

And Moore was clearly a bit too old to play 007 at this point. So he kind of looked like Grandpa 007. And that doesn't work too well for stunts (ask Liam Neeson), it sort of makes it unbelievable.

And then there is the plot that was a little too.... done before to be really good. It took elements from several other 007 films, strung them all together, and ho...

Maybe the last of the great 007 films. This one has it all. It has a big theatrical beginning with a clown running for his life from two knife throwing twins. Well, the clown isn't 007, so you know what happens to him. It's an excellent start for an excellent theatrical story. The "plot" is a bit strange. There's a sort of jewel that is really hiding something more important, and it involves a kill crazy Russian general and a classic villain played by Jordan. The wit is great in this one, and Jordan gets to eat up a lot of the lines, as does Moore. The scenery is great, the women are beautiful, the wit is charming, the action is outstanding. What's not to like? Well, the story could make a bit more sense, but the theatrics carry this one through.

This is my favourite Roger Moore outing as Ian Fleming's "007". A good, solid adventure story with Louis Jourdan as the ruthless, scheming "Kamal Khan" and Maud Adams as the equally ruthless, but far more glamorous "Octopussy" who are both involved in some seriously high-end jewel smuggling to fund a Soviet nuclear attack on NATO by the rogue Steven Berkoff (Gen. Orlov"). The action flows quickly and smoothly, with some fun cameos from a racket-wielding Vijay Amritraj and Albert Moses as a sort of lethal "Oddjob" in a turban. Sure, there are plenty of double-entendres but there is also a much better cohesion to the story than with many of the others, less crass innuendo - actually a decent thriller lurking underneath the traditional "James ...