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Comments
Exactly. OP is generally a decent Bond film. But certain overt humour in the wrong place kills the tension and tone of otherwise serious plot points.
This is why seeing TLD at the cinema was such a breath of fresh air and felt like a new beginning for Bond movies. There was none of those silly moments to ruin the tension.
I think you might be reading the scene wrong. When Kamal mentions the time, Bond is so focused on the implications of what he's discovering that he for a moment forgets he's wearing a gorilla suit and instinctively glances at his wrist to clock the time, which will be important to know. Instantly realizing he is in fact wearing the gorilla suit, he immediately snaps to. Bond is fully serious in the scene, as Roger is throughout much of Octopussy in fact. The humor is intended fully for the audience and made all the more profound by how serious Bond is and how completely absurd the concept of the gorilla disguise is. It works brilliantly and is one of my favorite comedic moments of the entire series, perhaps rivaled only by the expressions on Khan's and Gobinda's faces when their engine fails to start the first time outside the circus. There is some dumb humor in Octopussy, yes, but there is brilliant humor as well.
I liked that moment too.
I think you might be on to something. I like overt humor in Bond films, but I find that my appreciation for OP has grown as I've realized how serious it can be at times. One thing I've noticed with Moore's Bond is that, while he can be the most campy by far, he can also play a very serious Bond as well. We see a few good examples of this in OP, but I think the best example is Bond's conversation with Scaramanga in TMWTGG at the dinner table;
Scaramanga; "To us, Mr Bond. We are the best."
Bond; "There's a useful four-letter word, and you're full of it. When l kill it's under specific orders of my government. And those l kill are themselves killers."
Scaramanga; "Come, come, Mr Bond. You disappoint me. You get as much fulfilment out of killing as l do. Admit it."
Bond; "l admit killing you would be a pleasure."
And this is from what could be conceivably called the campiest film in the series.
I would argue that the home invasion scene, replete with geriatric Bond cooking a quiche, performing household chores and blasting away some inept goons with rock salt makes far more narrative sense than Craig's Bond dragging M to his remote family estate so Silva and thirty henchmen can have a good, solid crack at him.
But he does risk his own life during the jungle chase, giving up his location because he just has to let out that Weissmuller yell.
I bet Roger s Bond watched a lot of Tarzan movies as a kid, and thought to himself "I can t believe it! I am finally living my childhood dream! What the hell, screw it..."
The only time I felt he may have been laying it on too thick (as I've mentioned many times before) is when he's initially chatting up Stacy in AVTAK, and I always have to pause and realize that he's Moore acting as Bond in disguise as the odious St. John Smythe, not just Moore as Bond.
Oh, and OP is a class act, all the way down to the watch thing. Near perfection imho. I just didn't like the comedy finale with all the Octopussy girls doing their circus act with buffoon Q.
Glad to see someone else gets it with Moore. Far too many Bond fans I know dismiss Moore as "not Fleming enough". As you said he absolutely nails any material, funny, gritty or anything inbetween.
That part I can't defend. I personally suspect that's just something Roger was doing on set for fun, they caught it on film, and the editor got clever. ;)
Not a fan of the girls in bikinis beating up thugs with paperweight blows either. But Roger's heroics smashing through the window is a high point and I find Q's "Maybe later" priceless.
Shame it's there because other than that and a few other stupid jokes, Octopussy is a great Bond film.
The Fraser-Wilson-Maibaum combo was pretty good.
I wonder if today's audiences would even get the Tarzan reference?
I'm pretty sure I'm right. The watch scene is an obvious in joke.
Agree with you on Jaws's comedic moments in Moonraker—and Spy for that matter. He's a character best used for his menace, like killing Fekkesh or coming after Manuela. The Moore era features much excellent material, bogged down at times by misguided and juvenile attempts at comedy.
Gorilla suit
Clown
Tarzan yell
But for me those don't spoil it because it's still such a stellar bond film
Not as good as qos though
Hahaha everybody asks me this I don't know why
15
24.Thunderball
23.Dr. No
22.Diamonds are Forever
21.Moonraker
20.The World is Not Enough
19.Die Another Day
18.The Man With The Golden Gun
17.A View to a Kill
16.Live and Let Die
15.You Only Live Twice
14.Skyfall
13.For Your Eyes Only
12.SPECTRE
11.License to Kill
10.Tomorrow Never Dies
9.Goldeneye
8.The Spy Who Loved Me
7.Octopussy
6.On Her Majesty's Secret Service
5.Quantum of Solace
4.The Living Daylights
3.Goldfinger
2.From Russia With Love
1.Casino Royale