Octopussy - Operazione piovra

Out of all the Bondfilms with Roger Moore as 007, Octopussy is the one with the most Cold War aspects, and yes, what a great atmosphere I experienced when I saw the scenes in East-Germany, truly magnificent. If you are talking about those Cold War aspects you should not forget to mention Steven Berkoff his performance of an insane Soviet general with a hunger for power. Wonderful. The other villains are memorable as well: Louis Jourdan with style and sophistication; Kabir Bedi as one of those invincible henchmen and David Meyer & Tony Meyer are deadly twin brothers with an advanced skill in the trowing of daggers. As for the girls this one features two Swedish ladies: Maud Adams and Kristina Wayborn. Both of them are very strong and they have both some lovely scenes. Vijay Amritraj is Bond his ally in India: worth watching. This is also the first of four films to feature Robert Brown as Bond his superior M. John Barry is once again present with a truly wonderful soundtrack. The film is really amusing and has a great atmosphere. Despite the claim of many critics, Roger Moore is still in good shape. The only scene that disappointed me was the one where 007 is disguised in a circus clown, that will be painful for Bondfans, but the rest of the film is great. Do not skip this one.

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs.

Revisited it recently.

This is the thirteenth in the Bond series and the sixth to star Roger Moore as James Bond.

After the death of 009, Bond is assigned the task of following a general who is stealing jewels and relics from the Soviet government. The mission leads Bond to cross paths with an exiled prince n his associate, Octopussy and later Bond discovers a plot involving nuclear weapon.

The film has one of the best pre credits scene of an aerial chase.

For a change, Bond does a Tarzan stunt, dons a gorilla outfit n also of a clown.

There is a lovely train sequence and a lol scene of that of a car being run on tracks by Bond.

It has a jungle chase sequence involving elephants, tiger, leeches, spiders n crocodiles.

But the best is the climactic aeroplane sequence which is tension filled n well shot.

Bond's sliding on the rail of stairs n shooting villains is epic and he riding a horse n catching up an aeroplane is amazing. Both the scenes are copied by the Bollywood spy film Ek Tha Tiger but done in a good way by Salman Khan.

This film has some very weak villains but a mighty strong n loyal henchman known as Gobinda played by an Indian actor Kabir Bedi.

This time Bond faces knife throwing assassins, a deluded General Orlov, an exiled prince Khan, a strong henchman Gobinda with an intimidating glare that causes Bond to lose his appetite, lots of thugs, guards, hunters, Colonel Luis Toro n his soldiers n a very ruthless contract killer with a yo-yo saw.

This time Bond gets to cool off with a sultry Hispanic female agent played by Tina Hudson, another hottie Kristina Wayborn and once again Maud Adams.

This film is the only one with a Bond Girl whose name is used as the title of the film.

Also Maud Adams played Bond girl in two different films, The Man With the Golden Gun and this film.

Watch out for poor Q getting seduced by a bunch of females to which he replies, "later perhaps".

This is by far the best of the Roger Moore Bond films in my opinion. I may be prejudiced since "Octopussy" was the first Bond film I saw theatrically, but I absolutely loved it back then and it still holds up today. The plot is a fine blend of the serious stories of the early Connery films and the humorous touches of the Moore era. Add to that a smooth villain in Louis Jourdan, delicious over-the-top counterpoint from Steven Berkoff, a formidable henchman in Kabir Bedi, two exotic Bond girls in Maud Adams and Kristina Wayborn, beautiful location photography in the rich "travelogue" style (did India ever look as good as it does here?) and a great John Barry score and you can't go wrong with it at all. The tense buildup in the bomb countdown which has Bond donning clown makeup at one point is probably one of the most exciting in any Bond film.

Roger Moore hit his peak playing Bond in this film and the proof is how he seems so much better than Sean Connery does in the inferior "Never Say Never Again" that came out that same year. It's a pity that Moore didn't go out with this one, since "A View To A Kill" was so poor by comparison.

By all means rent this, watch it and have fun!

They didn't know what type of Bond film to make: an overblown action comedy best personified by Moonraker or a down to earth action thriller like they had done in For Your Eyes only, the previous picture. Solution: they gave the audience both! Result: this movie is very uneven. There are some great sequences: the teaser featuring the mini jet, the killing of 009, the auction, the backgammon game and subsequent chase scene, the fight in Octopussy's bedroom and the train sequence all come to mind. But there is just too much misplaced humor in between and the rest of the movie after Bond diffuses the bomb is unnecessary and somewhat silly. Moore really shows his age in this one too, as does Maude Adams. Stephen Berkoff is awful, but Louis Jordan is great. Christina Wayborn deserves top marks as well. While not a bad film, and certainly one of Moore's better outings, this could have been so much better. Some of the best Bond scenes ever are present here, but they are overwhelmed by the shear enormity of it all: the producers just tried to put all of the past elements into this movie to please every Bond fan. So while there is something for everyone and it is entertaining, Octopussy is ultimately a victim of it's own excesses.

This was where my live for the James Bond franchise began. What a great character to follow for decades to come!