Octopussy: Review By slysnide

With Roger Moore expressing his intentions to depart the Bond franchise, the producers went about publicly auditioning new actors for the role whom were screen-tested with other casted actors. James Brolin did three such tests with Vijay Amritraj who'd been cast as Bond's indian colleague in a story with barely any relation to Fleming's novel counterpart "Octop*ssy and the Living Daylights" (1966), though certain unused scenes from previously adapted books were written into the script which was written by Richard Maibaum, executive producer Michael G. Wilson, and screenwriter George MacDonald Fraser. But to determine the direction of the Cold War heavy story, the filmmakers needed to decide upon the titular character's nationality for a back story. Faye Dunaway was deemed too expensive; Barbara Carrera had taken a Bond girl role in a rival Bond film, and Cubby wanted to recast Maud Adams from "The Man With The Golden Gun" (1974), except dye her hair darker, and come up with a cheap backstory to explain her predicament. Casting endeavors for indian actresses didn't get far for the predominantly white Hollywood, so Adams was cast. In the end, Roger Moore agreed to return as James Bond, though he was concerned that he was getting too old for the role at fifty-five.

In his thirteenth adventure, James Bond (Roger Moore) must avenge the slain 009 (Andy Bradford) by investigating a jewelry smuggling operation organized by exiled Afghan Prince Kamal Khan (Louis Jordan) that may involve the madcap renegade Soviet General Orlov (Steven Berkoff) and a traveling circus lead by Ocotopus cult leader Octop*ssy (Maud Adams). But what possible nefarious plot could bring this odd trio together? Are they all in it together? To find out, Bond must infiltrate both Kamal Khan's palace in Rajasthan, India and Octop*ssy's secret island villa in Udaipur. To help he has an MI6 base for 'Q' (Desmond Llewelyn) nearby, as well as a local agent Vijay (Vijay Amritraj) who knows everything about the region.

Production began on 10 August 1982 at Checkpoint Charlie along the Berlin Wall where "007 WAS HERE" was spray painted on the brick wall. In England, three RAF bases stood in as primary locations, substituting for the Karl Marx-Stadt in Chemnitz, Germany where much of the climatic action took place. The Monsoon Palace in Rajasthan, India built in 1884 for Maharana Sajjan Singh stood in for Kamal Khan's palace, with extensive exterior filming there for the climax, and the homage to Richard Connell's short story "The Hounds of Zaroff" (1924), better known as "The Most Dangerous Game" which provided a fun sequence for the film, with Khan standing in for Zaroff, his bodyguard Gobina (Kabir Bedi) standing in for Igor, and Bond standing in for the prey. Interior shooting for the palace would take place in nearby Udaipur at the Shiv Niwas Palace & the Lake Palace Hotel, both in Lake Pichola, while the Lake Palace itself stood in for Octop*ssy's island villa. The film is still rerun frequently in Jodhpur to showcase the luxurious lifestyle vacationers can enjoy. Though for Bond, his visit was a bit more dangerous. The rickshaw chase was truly unique, and well choreographed with a random bicyclist zooming past during a sword fight without realizing a film shoot was occurring, and not bothered in the slightest about a seemingly dangerous duel in the middle of the road. But the shot still worked, and he's still clearly seen in the final cut. Roger Moore and much of the crew suffered food poisoning while on location here. However it was worth it as the location showcases the most exotic & luxurious locales for any Bond film up to that time, and certainly through till the 20th Bond film.

The Nene Valley Railway stood in for the Karl Marx-Stadt Railway for a major action sequence aboard Octop*ssy's circus train. Stunt Coordinator & Roger Moore stunt double Martin Grace fractured his leg when a miscommunication between him and second unit director Arthur Wooster prompted him to hit a metal pole along a portion of the track that wasn't surveyed as the shot went on too long. Needless to say, he was off the film, and morale was low. However, cinematographer Alan Hume captured excellent well timed shots here. However, the duel with the knife throwing twins Mischka (David Meyer) and Grischka (Tony Meyer) which took place just off the rails was a much easier sequence to shoot without stunt doubles. Meanwhile, a Mercedes-Benz saloon car without tires drove down the rails to catch the train, but in one shot the tires were intact to avoid mishaps. This could possibly be due to the unfortunate injury of Martin Grace reigning in more caution on location.

For the thrilling pre-credit sequence, RAF Northalt stood in for one the franchise's most daring stunts in which Bond finds himself forced to fly a garage project Bede BD-5J through a hangar on base. Hollywood stunt pilot and aerial coordinator J.W. Fornoff would fly the modified plane at 150 miles per hour--oh, but of course they didn't actually fly the plane through the hangar. Rather a dummy plane attached to a pole that was attached to a Jaguar was driven through it with enough clutter to hide the pole, but eagle eyed viewers can spot it--well, at least for the aerial shots outside the hangar. A model with collapsed wings stood in for the plane in the horse trailer. A miniature hangar only four feet wide was demolished for a spectacular shot.

While the film excelled in exotic locales, and properly balanced action & storytelling, Roger Moore's performance was notably under par when compared to Louis Jordan's suave performance as the suave prince. Ultimately, Jordan's performance was the best in the show, followed closely by the hilarity of the enraged Orlov who Steven Berkoff nailed on the head. Kabir Bedi made for an intimidating henchmen, both physically and by his eerie performance. So the acting rating goes to them mostly, but Roger just wasn't cutting it. Once again, his humor saves the role of the english gentlemen who's seemingly caught in over his head, which isn't good for Bond, but the rest balances out nicely. However, Maud Adams just wasn't that interesting. Rather a boring character, but luckily didn't get too much screen time over everyone else. Hence why I praise this film so much, for it's got a real 'adventure' feel to it with the right amount of character balance, absurdity, wit, and humor to make it a good installment in the franchise. Not to mention Q's extended involvement or the vast array of weapons employed by the villains, whom sport everything from throwing knives, to swords, kalishnakofps, and a bladed yo-yo of death. To add to it all, a real Faberge Egg is used, which served as an early maguffin in the film. It was made in 1897 and is called the 'Coronation Egg,' which was sold in 2004 by Sotheby's Auction House to Russian Conglomerate owner Viktor Vekselberg.

Despite the mixed reviews the film received, the $27,500,000 budget was recouped with $187,500,000. The return to a classic adventurous spirit with less emphasis on gadgets, and more emphasis on the fantasy and hand to hand combat was appreciated. It is for these reasons that I consider it to be among the best Bond films in the Moore Era. Despite that Roger Moore didn't exactly steal the show, and neither did Maud Adams, the storyline and its execution by director John Glen make up for it. Overall, it's a more than worthy addition to anyone's Bond collection.