Thursday, February 9, 2017

80's Month Day 9: Octopussy


With over 20 James Bond films dating back to the the early 60's, there is always debate among Bond fans as to which movie is the best. One movie that no one ever seems to argue in favor of is 1983's Octopussy. Already in his mid-50's by this point Sir. Roger Moore was getting a bit old for the part of Britain's top secret agent. For reference; Sir Sean Connery was 41 when his last official Bond movie Diamonds are Forever was released in 1971.

The plot, in short, involves James Bond being assigned the task of following a Russian general who is stealing jewels and relics, most notably a Faberge egg. This ends up leading Bond to a wealthy Afghan prince named Kamal Khan, and his associate, a woman named Octopussy (played by Maud Adams) who owns a n island exclusively populated by beautiful women. Eventually James uncovers a plot to force disarmament in Europe with the use of a nuclear weapon and, as in all Bond films, 007 foils the evil plan and saves the day.

 The action scenes, for the most part, are average at best and unfortunately in this one James Bond doesn't even have a gun for the majority of the film. Even those signature 007 one-liners, which when done right can result is some of the most memorable Bond moments, make up virtually all of Roger Moore's dialogue in the film. The lines aren't clever and overall it's the whole thing isn't that well written. 
Two of James Bond's gadgets in the movie include a fountain pen filled with acid (the pen cap is also a hearing device) and a small airplane that fits inside of a horse trailer and apparently runs on regular gasoline. Neither one is one are the silliest gadget in a Bond film, but they're not particularly awesome either. That being said, this film also contains the crocodile shaped personal submarine, which is simply ridiculous.

Just look at it... Someone thought this was a good idea.

Overall, I don't think Octopussy is the worst Bond movie but, it's pretty close and definitely not one I  recommend. I give this one a 2 out of 5. 


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