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Comments
I mean, in DAF at least the diamonds are useful.
I’m personally glad we never got M’s death or a Blofeld return, but the idea of Khan maybe running a small independent state and going to war with Octopussy could have been cool, and isn’t a million miles away from what’s there already.
That's a good point. I always thought it was weaved rather well into the story personally (I know some people complain/become a bit confused when Orlov smashes the egg, but it's one of those things that I get the sense people have only brought up long after they've watched the film. Again, there's so much more driving the film at that point).
OP is also in it for the money, but beyond the smuggling, she is not corrupt like Khan, who simply doesn't care about human life.
If any character lacks development in this film, it's Gobinda.
OP handles its multiple villains much better than TLD.
So how would you have preferred the egg to have been used in the film out of curiosity? Or perhaps what alternatives to the story would you have preferred?
I disagree. Unlike, say, the disappearing microchips in AVTAK, the eggs (and eventually, the Romanoff star) recur just enough in the story.
OP excels with its momentum in Act II (all the train stuff, not incidentally, driven by the jewelry that we recall from the Berlin opening) at a point where most Bond stories start to run out of steam. Tip of the tentacle, indeed.
I don't know. Octopussy, the character, was there. Give her something to do.
This is why I think not making her the primary villain of the story is a missed opportunity. The character's initial appeal is that she is a mysterious and competent mastermind who gives orders to everyone. From the moment her affiliation is known, she loses all mystery, all competence and ceases to have anything to do.
I think there was definitely a story to develop around this character that would be grateful to Bond for sparing her father the humiliation of a trial, attempting to recruit him, while having a hatred towards Britain and seeking to take her revenge.
However, I disagree about the Fabergé eggs, as I think they were a great way into the plot. In a way, they are representative of the problem with Octopussy herself since they lose interest the moment the mystery surrounding Octopussy ceases and the plot begins to revolve around the duo of villains, relegating Octopussy (and the eggs) to the background.
Anyway, even if the script had decided to introduce her a bit earlier, even if just through other characters mentioning her, I think the eggs would still be needed to get things going.
In itself, it's not that far from what Le Chiffre was, but there's definitively something to do with a female antagonist who funds and serves as a banker for other criminals. Casino Royale was more focused on Le Chiffre's downfall, while a future movie could see this banker at the top of her or his game.
I can just imagine a producer's note on that being something along the lines of 'replace the gold with faberge eggs' just because they're smaller, more tangible objects than a heap of gold, and you can do stuff like have Q hide the microphone in there. Plus you wouldn't have that amazing shot of 009 crashing through the glass and the egg rolling out of his hand. Otherwise I like it.
Apparently, at one point, speaking of criminal bankers, Goldfinger played again by Gert Frobe was considered to appear in OP. In an early Richard Maibaum script. I don’t think the Goldfinger Twin idea was a missed opportunity for this Bond adventure.
If I recall correctly, according to "Some Kind Of Hero", the book by Matthew Field and Ajay Chowdhury, Goldfinger was indeed making a cameo in one of George MacDonald Fraser's drafts. And I agree with you that the Goldfinger Twin idea was definitely not a missed opportunity, for this adventure or for DAF.
It does feel quite neat to directly tie Smythe into the macguffin, be that gold or egg; I like it too.
Yeah fair enough, I suppose the eggs themselves aren't an issue, just the fact that Smythe should be in with the MacGuffin. I think that's really the film's biggest missed opportunity.
I mean the fake gold bar sold at the auction could have the Q stuff in it, but then the fake and real complexity arises again, something I completely missed out on my story summary. Nevertheless, having Smythe's more direct involvement in the plot does make the MacGuffin work better as its importance is felt through one of the characters, who owns it.
Moore didn't really do personal missions, though, except for a moment here or there.
It's all about timing.
Had OP been written after Die Hard just a few years later, and had OP retained more or less the same plot, I could see the personal Smythe angle being dialed way up. I easily could see this as a Dalton film, although you'd lose the Adams/Moore chemistry.
On balance, I'm glad we got what we did.
It's quite interesting that they touched on the Smythe plot but left the Oberhauser personal connection to Bond well alone (for Spectre to do many years later). I guess it's an extra complication the film doesn't need, but I think it would have suited Roger's Bond- when we see him sensitive about Tracy etc. it certainly feels he could have gone there successfully.
My mistake.
Reflecting on these posts I do think the missed opportunity was Octopussy. She is mysterious and exotic. We don't meet her until well into the movie. They keep her face from us so prolong the mystery. Then....she becomes nothing or at least not a driver of the plot and yet the movie is named after her. I think having her be on the side of the devil a little longer might have been a good idea to give her more to do. She's set up as a smart and ruthless woman and yet Kamal and Orlov seemed to have her snowed.
All that being said I am not sure the Adams could have played it as a heavy. I would think they would need an actress with more villainy in her. Like Barbara Carrera perhaps? LOL! I kid but they would possibly need another actress in the role of Octopussy.
That’s a really good point, I hadn’t really noticed that. There’s so much emphasis placed on her and yet you’re right, she doesn’t actually have all that much importance.
It might have been nice if she were really central to the whole thing, holding the real power, with Kamal and Bond on either side competing for her favour and trying to get her to be on their side. A bit more of a mysterious figure, perhaps an exotic crime boss who also carries out philanthropic work: neither good nor bad.
An actress who wasn't considered but who could have been a great Octopussy, if the character was the main villain of the movie, would have been Charlotte Rampling.
I'm baffled to see anybody thinking the eggs are wrong. For me it's like complaining the Maltese Falcon doesn't really lead anywhere in a novel that has its name as its title.
In a way, that Octopussy is revealed as one of the good guys is a sort of plot twist. Up until a certain point you'd be lead to believe she is at least could be the main antagonist, or at least an important one.