Octopussy (Ultimate Edition) > Reviews > Bond in India.

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Outstanding
Soundtrack	Good

Advantages:	Digitally remastered film and audio .   Generally good script and special effects
Disadvantages:	Lack of new extra's and at time bad slapstick humour .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Octopussy is the 13th entry into the Bond series and see's Bond trying to stop a Russian general and an Indian Prince starting World War 3. This is also the penultimate film that Moore stars in as the lead character.

The Details.

Director:- John Glen
Main Cast:- Roger Moore (James Bond), Maud Adams (Octopussy), Louis Jordan (Kamal Khan), Kristina Wayborn (Magda), Kabir Ali (Gobinda), Steven Berkoff (General Orlov).
Certificate:- PG
Running Time:- 2 hours 5 minutes.

Disk 1 - The Film.

The film opens up with Bond bluffing his way on to an airbase and trying to sabotage a jet plane which is soon to be tested. However, his cover is blown and he is captured.

Bond escapes and starts to escape using a micro jet, which was hidden in an horse box. As he flies off, the military fires a missile at him, which he eventually eludes, while at the same time destroys the jet plane and the bad guys.

Cue opening sequence.

Bond returns to London and is briefed by M (now played by a new actor as Bernard Lee had passed away) about a jewellery smuggling issue that had been uncovered by 009, who was killed in West Germany. Bond is given a fake Faberge egg and sent to Southerbys to find out who is selling these Jewels, as it is suspected that it may be the Russian's trying to generate currency.

Bond finds out the Jewels are been passed through an exiled Afghan prince, Kamal Khan, who is working out of India. Bond switches the Original egg for the fake one and follows Kamal Khan to India.

After introducing himself to Khan in a rather dodgy game of Backgammon, Bond is chased through the streets by Godinda, who has been tasked to regain the original egg. Bond escapes and returns to his hotel where he meets Magda for the first time.

Magda gets the egg from Bond, who is clobbered by Gobinda and taken to Khan's fortress in the hills. Bond promptly escapes and follows Khan and Gobinda to a meeting with General Orlov who has other plans for the egg and all the other jewellery which Orlov and Khan have duplicated and are smuggling into the west.

Bond then meets Octopussy, who is the conduit which Khan is using to smuggle the jewellery. Using the circus that she owns, this is the method by which the jewels are smuggled.

Following a shipment, Bond finds out the Orlov and Khan have hatched a devious plan which will allow Russia to take over the world and for Khan to become very rich.

Its up to Bond and Octopussy to stop the plot and save the world.

Disk 2 - The Extra's.

As is usual with the second DVD, the extras are split into the usual 5 categories. These being:-

Declassified MI6 Vault.

This section contains 5 never seen before extra's that accompany the film. These are:-

James Bond In India. A 30 minute feature about the shooting of the scenes in India.

James Brolin and Maud Adams Screentest. The screentest between Maud Adams and James Brolin, the proposed new James Bond. The test is a scene shown in From Russia With Love.

James Brolin Intro. James Brolin talks about his test for the part of James Bond.

James Brolin Intro : Vijay. A test scene between the two when the meet in India.

Ken Burns On Set Movies. This is an interesting extra. A young lad at the time, Ken Burns applied for a position as an extra. In the end he shot lots of 16mm film which is presented here.

007 Mission Control.

Again this comprises of several categories highlighting parts of the film, from 007 to the locations and gadgets. Again, having watched the film, this did not really interest me.

Mission Dossier.

This section contains 5 extras. These are:-

Inside Octopussy. As usual, the best extra on the set. It goes to explain the making of the film, including a brief section on the casting of the title character. It also goes on to explain some of the problems in making the film.

Designing Bond - Peter Lamont. This extra details the career of designer Peter Lamont, from his humble beginnings all the way up to The World Is Not Enough.

"All Time High" Music Video. This is the pop video that accompanied the chart release of the Octopussy theme tune.

Storyboard Sequences - Taxi Chase. These storyboards show the planning of the taxi chase in India.

Storyboard Sequence - Bond Rescues Octopussy. Again another storyboard sequence detailing the finale of the film.

Ministry of Propaganda.

This section is a little lighter than usual as it only features 4 theatrical trailers.

Image Database.

Again this is the photo gallery of the film.

Conclusion.

This film, in my opinion, starts to show that Moore was moving towards the end of his tenure. The leading character is really starting to look old and tired.

The film itself was more grounded in the cold war mentality that ruled the world during the 1980's. No megalomaniac trying to conquer the world with poison orchids or stolen nuclear subs, but a rogue Russian general trying to start world war 3. As with the last movie, this is believable enough to make the movie real.

As I stated before, Moore was starting to look old and seeing as his contract was now on a film by film basis, it was clear that he didn't have many more films left. Indeed, if it was not for the fact that Connery was remaking Thunderball (Never Say Never Again), it was a very real possibility that a new actor would have been portraying the role of 007.

As with all the previous Roger Moore films, the lead actor brings in the usual confidence in the role. However, it is clear that he was slowing down with some of the action sequences being a bit slower than usual.

As to the leading lady, this is the second outing for Maud Adams. As before, she plays the role well and is confident in what she does. If anything, she is a little underused and could have done with some more screen time.

As to the protagonists, as there is two in this movie, both Berkoff and Jordan play there roles well. From the debonair and sophisticated way of Jordan, to the slightly insane Russian general that Berkoff play's, both roles are believable. Even when Berkoff's character has been shot, he still thinks he is doing the right thing.

As to the locations, this film, like all in the series takes us to far off places. The main location this time out being India. Some of the scenery in this film make me almost want to visit India.

The only criticism really is the at times cringe-worthy humour. I am afraid the Tarzan scene makes me shudder every time I see it, as well as the Barbara Woodhouse scene with the tiger. Thankfully these where the only ones.

The use of the micro jet in the opening credits give the film a wonderful opening. This was an idea originally to be used in Moonraker but was dropped. I am glad they brought it back in though as the sequence is stunning.

The DVD packaging itself is the usual black on gold arrangement with the title being recognisable on the shelf and using the Octopus tentacles on the O.