So much average

Absolutely the worst movie.

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

After the last slow James Bond entry in 1981 ("For Your Eyes Only"), it was a pleasant surprise to find out that Agent 007 wasn't dying. Roger Moore in the Bond role in "Octopussy" comes back to life in grand style. This film has all of the trademark aspects of the Bond franchise, and then some. It has a new main playwright since the last outing. Usually there's one specific hair-raising scenario when Bond might fall to his death, become chopped liver, or float off into space. Here, Bond has three harrowing and nail biting escapades. The first is dodging a missile in a special jet plane made for him by Q's shop back at MI6 labs. The second is clinging to the side and then roof of a rail car on a fast moving train. And, the third is holding onto the top of a prop plane as the pilot tries to shake him off. In between these, Bond has some scrapes with assassins, other bad guys and is hunted and has encounters with tigers and crocodiles. This is one fast-paced thriller, and Bond returns to form, winning all of his fights but one. Of course, that one leads to his next escape. Bond gets some new gadgets from Q, besides the compact jet plane that doubles as a car. And, a double plot adds more intrigue and interest. Part of this story involves the Soviet Union, and a rebel general within the Soviet military who has a dastardly plan to cause a nuclear explosion in West Germany. Even though it's a far-out piece of the story, I enjoy the Bond thrillers more when they take place within the aspects of the Cold War. That was a very real time in the lives of people around the world after World War II and until 1990. This film has more unique and hair-raising scenes than usual, to the point that the plot bounces around a great deal. But, it is interesting and keeps one awake and glued to his or her seat. The story is set mostly in India and Germany, which at that time was divided into East and West. In a scene where M sends Bond into East Berlin, Bond goes from the American zone to East Berlin through Checkpoint Charlie. That probably was the most famous and well known of all the Berlin crossings during the Cold War. This film is somewhat different in that it doesn't have a woman agent as a nemesis to Bond. Instead, a network of women have been trained by the daughter of a former Secret Agent in physical skills as well as business and professional fields. Toward the end, Octopussy, played by Maud Adams, leads her ladies in a raid on the evil Kamal. It's a far-fetched battle, but it's a fun spectacle to see how it was staged. Louis Jordan plays Kamal. This is a very enjoyable Bond thriller with lots of action and far-out scenes. It's the best Bond played by Roger Moore, and one of the best of the entire series. Not only does it have trains, planes and automobiles, but it also has boats, horses, elephants, and a hot air balloon toward the end. There's much fun in this film. One very strange thing occurs in the opening scenario. Two armed guards are watching Bond in the back of a moving truck. When a woman agent distracts them, Bond hits releases on their chests and parachutes open and they float out of the truck. These were freefall chutes used in sky diving, not regular Army parachutes. But, even then, no one would ever be wearing a parachute until just before they boarded a plane for a jump. Here are some favorite lines from this film. Bond and an MI6 art expert attend an art auction in London at which an original Faberge egg from the Russian royalty is put on the auction block. Bond, "How much should it fetch?" Jim Fanning, "Oh, 250,000... 300,000 pounds. Anything more would be crazy."When Bond arrives in India, he finds his contact to be snake charmer. Vijay, "This was the wrong cover. I hate snakes." Vijay tells Bond that he plays cricket. Vijay, "As a matter of fact, I've got a part time job as a pro at Kamal's club." James Bond, "What have you learned so far?" Vijay, "Well, my backhand's improving."

Watching all 24 Bond films, some stand out more than others, and some just blend into the background. Octopussy, the 6th Roger Moore Bond film, just blends into the background. Just to get it out of the way, I'll just highlight the stupid moments Bond fans know: 56-year-old Moore as Bond dressed up as a clown, Bond fighting a bunch of bad guys through (offensive) stereotypical Indian displays like the sword in the mouth, and Bond yelling like Tarzan while swinging through the trees. Yeah, the goofiness of Moore's previous films just couldn't go away after For Your Eyes Only, which was supposed to be a more serious film, despite having a stupid beginning and ending. Besides that, there is nothing really horrendously bad about this film other than the stupid highlights I mentioned earlier; it's just not remarkable. The plot is that a Russian general who just wants power (Steven Berkoff, who was also a Russian bad guy in Rambo: First Blood Part II) hatches a secret plan that involves working with Kamal Khan and the vengeful Octopussy, who later switches sides to help Bond. The MacGuffin in this story is a piece of jewelry shaped like an egg that is recovered by another double-0 agent who is killed...and wears a clown suit. Oh boy. Bond goes to India to track down Kamal Khan, who buys a replica of the egg, unknowingly, and gets caught up in the Russian general's plot to blow up part of India. That is all I could remember from the plot because the film is not memorable in any way. Maude Adams' Octopussy (Really?) isn't as memorable a Bond girl as I thought she'd be; her character in The Man With the Golden Gun (1974) who gets killed stood out more and that was a smaller part. The main villain has one of the most basic archetypes ever in a movie and turns out to be so insignificant, he gets killed quite some time before Bond stops his scheme and the movie ends. Kamal Khan isn't an interesting bad guy either. Moore is alright here as Bond, but one trait of his that I always find annoying is that he knows EVERYTHING about the MacGuffins in his movies, whether it be the ATAC system in For Your Eyes Only or the egg jewelry in this film.I do like the concept of a whole battalion of sensual women fighters who serve Octopussy, but it ends up feeling like the numerous other battle scenes with large forces that have been in previous films.I guess my point here is that this film does nothing new or exciting for the Bond series at that point and is just another basic plot. I actually had trouble remembering some of the details right after I had finished it. If you're looking for high-quality Bond, you won't find it here.

If I personally rank all the James Bond movies from best to worst, this "Octopussy" would end up somewhere in the middle section or even slightly higher; in the upper half of the list. By this I mean that it certainly isn't an extraordinary Bond-movie that blows you away like some of the oldest (like "Goldfinger" or "You Only Live Twice") and newest (like "Casino Royale" or "Skyfall") did, but that it's a more than entertaining entry in the franchise. The ingredients that I particularly like in this film are the strong feminist undertones, the presence of a couple of less flamboyant but ultra-menacing bad guys, the Indian setting as well as the eerie circus finale and a handful of impressively staged sensational action sequences. The plot is good old-fashioned and stereotypical "all-Reds-are-evil-bastards" guff again, with villainous Russian military men hooking up with nasty Eastern millionaires in order to nuke American/British targets like air force bases. To achieve this they use the international smuggling network of the irresistible Octopussy, like for instance her world-acclaimed traveling circus. For the first time in Bond- history, the name of a female character forms the title and there's quite a bit of girl- power in the film overall. 007 "only" sleeps with two women here (whereas, in other films, it can go up to four or five) and they're both strong and independent women that don't seem all too impressed by his lucky charms. Louis Jordan depicts a charismatic bad guy, and he has got one of those indestructible henchmen in the shape of Bollywood actor Kabir Bedi. I always determine my James Bond movies based on how appalling the enemies are, and apart from these two, there are a couple of more like the sadistic Russian general Orlov (Steven Berkoff) and eerie knife-throwing twin brothers. Naturally Desmond Llewelyn is present as "Q" and he provides 007 with a handful of lovely and imaginative toys, like a realistic crocodile diving suit. But here also the coolest gimmick belongs to the bad guys, as some of Bond's opponents use a freakishly nasty type of buzz saw on a wire to attack. There are chase sequences with hot air balloons, homemade miniature airplanes and traditional rickshaws through overcrowded Indian marketplace streets; good Bond stuff in other words

When it comes to consistency Roger Moore is out of luck as James Bond. During one film he is at his peak and then all of a sudden everything around him crumbles to the core. One of the weaker Bond entries in the canon, Octopussy is another troublesome film for Moore. Bond is tasked with uncovering a jewel smuggling operation after the untimely death of 009. His search leads him face to face with the wealthy Kamal Khan who owns his own luxurious palace in India.Strange for a Bond film, even the poor irredeemable ones; but Octopussy drags. Often. It's almost a challenge to complete the film in one sitting. That's because it rarely deviates from formula enough to provide solidly consistent thrills that fans crave from a 007 flick. It's ridiculous and dare I say it boring and I despise the use of the word. The unimagination of Octopussy extends to its Bond girl and villain. Maud Adams makes a reappearance as a Bond girl, this time in Octopussy, last time as Scaramanga's mistress in the painful The Man with The Golden Gun. It's a shame that she never appeared in a decent Bond film and it's not like there is a shortage. Adams hits all the previous beats and her attraction to Bond rings false frequently. Was Bond blind to overlook this? Or was he just thrilled to bed her? Either way 007 you are slipping. Octopussy only really wants Bond's attention so that she is kept safe from Kamal and his henchmen.Oh dear. We have not had an excellent villain since On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Kamal does not pose a threat to Bond so why should we fear him? Kamal is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to Bond villains.That makes it all the more curious as to why the secondary Bond villains and girls this time around work so well. Gobinda is a man to be frightened of, I just wish he was promoted; he could easily take care of Kamal after all.The secondary Bond girl Magda is intriguing; almost the sole high of the film. Moore and Kristina Wayborn actually display chemistry on screen so it was a smart move to have them share a few brief scenes together. The ending of Octopussy does succeed in shaking things up, well the last fifteen minutes or so. The second act set in a circus is excruciatingly tedious, bar a few well-constructed stunts; the whole fiasco goes on well beyond its welcome.Octopussy is another misstep for the franchise. While not as poorly constructed as The Man with the Golden Gun or as ludicrous and hard to buy into as Moonraker it is somehow a duller film than both. As Q says during the middle of the film "I haven't got time for your adolescent antics 007". Neither it seems have I.