It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
I don't know if Rampling would be a good fit for Octopussy. I would rather see her cast as a Bond girl with more dramatic heft, such as Tracy.
How would I have done Octopussy? Well, in my dream timeline, in 1983, David Warbeck is still Bond. So providing Octopussy is still made in 1983, Moore wouldn't have been Bond. But looking at the actual Octopussy film, if I made my version in 1983, I would probably keep the cast the same. Come to think of it, in said timeline, I haven't even used Octopussy, so my version could be completely different, as regards the cast.
Of course, in my own alternative timeline, this would be Lewis Collins second movie as 007... with possibly Diane Lane or Cybill Shepherd as Octopussy.
Again, this is your chance to say whatever you would have done differently with the film, so things like; plot changes, character additions or subtractions. Anything you like. People will be given the chance to give their responses within 7 DAYS from today (this may change so let me know if you want me to extend the time for longer) until the discussion moves on to the next James Bond film. This will run until we reach SPECTRE.
Looking forward to hearing what you guys think.
OOOOOWWWOOHHH sound when Mayday flips in on his back and gets on top of him.
She certainly got a happier ending in OP.
Agreed. The Moore/Miss Adams duo along with Timothy Dalton and Maryam d'Abo constitute my picks for the 2 most believable onscreen Bond/Bond couples. Sir Rog and Maud brought a strength and believability to the Bond/Octopussy pairing that may not have been in its original script but certainly existed in the finished product.
.Less of Stacy screaming.
.The fights are pretty mediocre so improve on that.
AVTAK is an underrated movie.
This.
And a very minor change, remove the taxi driver screaming: “Oh, my car, oh. My car. My car. Oh.” That’s just horrible dubbing.
I can handle the corny fire truck chase and Stacy's screaming, but I would do something about any scene at Stacy's house. They were all pretty lousy. The listless fight, the lack of set decoration, the quiche cooking...something better should have been done there.
I pity those for which AVTAK was their first introduction and viewing experience of 007 at the cinema. If you liked this bottom of the barrel tosh then I'm guessing you also think DAD is a great Bond movie too. Nothing can be fixed in this daft movie I'm afraid, other than a complete rewrite from top to bottom. It's like watching a revival TV special of John Steed and Simon Templar in their very last geriatric caper together with the worst member of Charlie's Angels tagging along for the ride. Christopher Walken is just too good for this half-baked nonsense. An actor of his calibre should really have been pitted against a young and virile Lewis Collins as 007 rather than grandpa Bond... and in a much better story. I also think this might have been a Bond first by which the Americans got to see this total stinker one whole month before us Brits. Thing was, I paid good money to go see this drivel on a Saturday night at the Odeon Leicester Square, but nothing will erase the displeasure of seeing grandpa Bond in bed with Grace Jones's Mayday. Absolutely nothing. The movie is a total misfire and can't be improved by minor tweaks made here and there. It needs a better story.
OK, OK, a few stray thoughts:
-Several people are too old here. Rog obviously, but Lois and even, bless him, Patrick.
-Saying that, MacNee is outstanding. More of him, please. His death adds to the stakes, yes, but I'd rather see that achieved some other way.
-I love Grace Jones, but she's just strange in this one. More weird than menacing.
-Sneaking up on someone in a blimp is the height of ridiculousness.
-Rog is too old in this one.
-As with every Bond film set there, the USA looks flat and dull in AVTAK. There must've been some way to make the American settings come to life a bit more.
-This might be related to the overall colour palette/cinematography, which feels rather grey and dull to me.
-I believe Rog is (and stay with me, here) too old.
-'California Girls' is out, immediately. The PTS is fine without it. The Iceberg sub is enough of a wink, if one is needed.
-There are several little pieces of hammy overacting in places: the Frenchman in the restaurant, the taxi driver, etc. Just one more take would've yielded tidier finished product.
-Similarly, there's some sloppy work with stunt doubles and even just stand-in (Gogol, for instance) that need one more brush-up.
-Stacy doesn't work for me, over much. The 'damsel in distress' is actually a tough line to walk, since the actress needs to keep our sympathy. Stacy doesn't do that effectively enough and I find myself not really caring about her fate.
-Finally, Rog does indeed look too old here.
Structurally it's fine, and there are some solid performances, but I can definitely imagine several fixes that would take it up a few points.
Yes, but how to do you really feel about the movie?
In fairness to Sir Rog I'm guessing that he had to have his mole removed for potentially cancerous reasons though his face had more character with it.
Some minor changes I'd make which might not make AVTAK a good Bond film but perhaps an improvement over the one that exists in reality:
Lose the California Girls "funny" musical interlude. It totally undermines an otherwise well-made PTS.
Allow Sir Godfrey Tibbett to live to the end and give his character more dignity.
Replace Chuck Lee with David Hedison as Felix Leiter but allow his character to live also.
Since Tibbett and Lee/Leiter would be allowed to live the script still needs a "sacrificial lamb"/victim character so have May Day bump off Stacy Sutton instead.
With Miss Sutton now gone or at least her screentime greatly reduced, the film would need a new main Bond girl so make Pola Ivanova the main heroine instead.
That's all for now. I came up with much more strenuous revisions to AVTAK many years back. If I can find them I'll post them later.
"call me James, it's 5 days till Alaska"
So you would make a whole other film entirely then.
I’m happy to say I’ve always enjoyed watching AVTAK. It’s not perfect, I get some of the criticism, but it’s certainly no bottom of the barrell for me.
Simple: don't make it. Skip ahead to Dalton in The Living Daylights. Perhaps if American audiences would have been more receptive to Dalton if he'd been introduced at an earlier date.
Well, @Jeffrey from the Netherlands, we can't all have taste.
I agree with all but this one.
It'll take him 5 days and all.