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| OCTOPUSSY 1983 Director: John Glen Producer: Albert R. Broccoli Screenplay: George MacDonald Fraser, Richard Maibaum & Michael G. Wilson |
| The pre-title sequence here is great: Bond is in Cuba to destroy a new plane. He's caught planting a bomb, but escapes in an Acrostar mini jet, leading some heat-seeking missiles into the hangar where the Cuban plane is, and destryoing it. The film's plot concerns mad Russian General Orlov (Steven Berkoff) and his attempt to detonate a nuclear bomb in Western Germany, and blame it on the Americans. This will encourage the rest of Europe to disarm, and allow the Soviets to just walk in and take over. Orlov is also involved in a plot to auction fake Faberge eggs through Sotherby's. He does this through Kamal Khan, who works with Octopussy. Octopussy is the head of a cult of highly trained lycra jumpsuit-wearing beauties.Octopussy allies herself with Bond, because he allowed her father an honourable death some years before. This actually comes from the Ian Fleming short story, Octopussy, where the literary Bond goes to Jamaica. He confronts Major Dexter Smythe with the evidence he has collected. 007's interest in the case stems from Smythe's murder victim being Bond's childhood skiing instructor. The man had been like a father to him. The sequence at Sothebys' is taken from another short story in the same collection, called The Property Of A Lady. 007 goes to to teh auction to identify the local Soviet controller, who is paying an MI6 double-agent by forcing up the price of a Fanerge egg. The new M is introduced in this movie, in the form of Robert Brown. Miss Moneypenny has a young assistant, Penelope Smallbone, for Bond to flirt with, as both Roger Moore and Lois Maxwell are old by now. For some reason MI6 are using Q in a much more active role. He takes turns keeping surveillance on Octopussy's island with Vijay. Vijay is killed on his watch. It seems stupid to risk a genius like Q on such a simple assignment; most old people can't use video recorders let alone design gadgets for the SIS. There's a nice cheesy bit at the end, when Khan's hideout is stormed. 007 and Q, presumably both being too old to climb the walls, descend in a Union Jack hotair balloon. It is good to see General Gogol in a less comedic role, as he argues against Orlov's plans in the Praesidium. At one point Khan hires some mercenaries to kill Bond, one of whom has a cool yo-yo-like circular saw weapon, but otherwise Khan scores quite lowly as a vilain. He doesn't have a real base, and it's Octopussy who has the private army. The threat of nuclear war makes his villainy much more sinister though, and the climax is probably the best of any Bond movie, despite Roger Moore being dressed as a clown. Thankfully Moore's brand of humour only really rears it's ridiculous head during the fight and chase through the streets of Udaipur. |