Octopussy

release year: 1983
genre: James Bond
viewing setting: home Bluray 1/27/19 and 12/21/12 and home laserdisc 1/18/00

synopsis: Bond gets involved in a plot to smuggle jewels and strengthen the Russian position in Europe.

impressions: It had a lot of intrigue and subplots, but it also had a lot of corny humor, and Moore was showing his age. Worse, the ending portion was little more than a showcase for a circusful of performers to help Bond catch the bad guys. This part ruined the rest of the movie for me. Notable: 009 killed at beginning, knife-throwing twins, evil Russian general, tennis pro Vijay Armitraj, silly Tarzan yell as Bond swings along vines in jungle, wanna-be badass with sawblade weapon, octopus, island of beautiful women, good plane-hanging-on scene near end.

acting: Moore favored the corny lines and actions here, mostly. Louis Jourdan did a good job as a snarky, upper-class villain. The big bearded guy who played his main henchman was menacing too. Maud Adams did a pretty good job as the head of an all-female semi-criminal organization.

chase scenes: 3 (3-wheeled buggy, safari, cop car chase in Germany)

mass fight at end: Octopussy's circus vs Kamal's guards

neat gadgets: tiny plane, bug-tracking watch, acid pen

confirmed Bond kills: 8

confirmed Bond seductions: 2

obnoxious female names: Octopussy

defining Bond moments:

while posing as an enemy officer, Bond chastizes some enlisted guy whose uniform is sloppy
drives plane up to gas pump
ogles women instead of paying attention to auction
basically makes Kamal spend an extra $200,000 on the Faberge egg for no real reason
uses government property as collateral to win himself $200,000 at the backgammon table
uses Q's camera to zoom in on girl's cleavage
plays mind games with Kamal and bodyguard
while hiding in a body bag, comes to life with a ghostly yell, scaring the hell out of the body bag loaders

quotable:

Bond: (to the officer he's impersonating, who just caught him) "Well, it's a small world! You're a Toro too."

Magda: "You have a very good memory for faces."

Bond: "And figures."

hotel lady: "If I can be of further assistance...anything at all."

Bond: "Oh, maybe later."

Kamal: "Mr. Bond is indeed a very rare breed...soon to become extinct!"

Vijay: "An island of beautiful women...no men allowed."

Bond: "Really...how chauvanistic. I'll have to pay a visit."

Kamal: "Mr. Bond...you have a nasty habit of surviving."

Bond: "You know what they say about the fittest."

Vijay: (watching Q scope out the island with binoculars) "Is he still there?"

Q: "You must be joking. 007 on an island populated exclusively by women? We won't see him until dawn."

final word: Mix of great intrigue, good action, and bad humor.

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