Octopussy
Dir: John Glen
1983
***
Octopussy, the thirteenth Bond film of the franchise, takes it's name from one of the short stories contained in Ian Flemming's last Bond publication, Octopussy and The Living Daylights. Only the title is the same however, the original story, that was written from the viewpoint of the villain, was unfortunately rewritten. However, it does include elements of another story in the same collection titled The Property of a Lady. John Glen's previous film and Bond debut, For Your Eyes Only, was supposed to be the characters reintroduction into the thriller genre but for me Octopussy is were the franchise really gets the balance right, mainly thanks to its intense opening scene. John Glen wanted to focus more on the thrills and correct humour of the character, he got the thrills right but still struggled with the comic elements of the film. Although both he and Roger Moore manage to produce an utterly thrilling and intense scene with Bond dressed as a clown, the film could have done without Bond in a Gorilla suit making Tarzan noises. John Glen also wanted to do away with all the ridiculous gadgets but Octopussy sees an extended role for Desmond Llewelyn's Q and an underwater vessel disguised as an Alligator. I'm glad he came round to the conclusion that this is what the fans loved about the character and this was what Moore's Bond was all about. However, Moore himself had to be financially persuaded to return to the role after he declared he'd had enough of the character even though Timothy Dalton and James Brolin had been approached. It was felt that, with the impending release of the non-Eon Bond film Never Say Never Again (a remake of Thunderball, starring original Bond Sean Connery) they needed a Bond everyone recognised. 1983 turned out to be the year Bond took on Bond, it was Connery vs. Moore, although Connery wasn't really the Bond people remembered, Octopussy won the battle but made only a little more profit than the unofficial 007 release. Louis Jourdan played the villain, exiled Prince Kamal Khan, and although I loved his speaking voice, he was rather a dull baddie and his henchman, Gobinda (played by Kabir Bedi) was a little too simple. Indeed, the whole story was a little dull up until the last 20 minutes. What I liked best about Octopussy was the extended roles of both Q and Walter Gotell's General Gogol (Gotell's forth Bond film, third as Gogol). Both Q and Gogol became more integral to the story-lines after Octopussy, so I thank it for that at least. Steven Berkoff's General Orlov also deserves an honorable mention although his character doesn't have nearly enough screen time. Moore's penultimate performance as Bond is a relatively subdued affair, thankfully he got one last opportunity to really go for it in one of the most over the top and under appreciated Bonds of the series.