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The actually goofy scenes intended as comic relief (I hope) - the Indian dinner, the tiger, the Tarzan yell, the gorilla and clown costumes into which Bond slips into in a magically short time, Octopussy's girl troops in a hot-air balloon with Q - don't help either. Like most people at the time, I liked, and like, its almost direct competitor in the movie theatres - NTTD - a whole lot better (and I wouldn't compare the two except for their being almost contemporaries). For me, OP belongs down there along with AVTAK, and sometimes I even feel I enjoy the latter a bit more. Thanks, but no thanks.
The PTS is really cool, great stunt work (complete nonsense and nothing to do with the story but that’s fine). I like how immediately afterwards we’re put into this dark and even quite twisted scene involving 009 dressed as a clown trying to escape twin circus performer assassins. Obviously this will foreshadow things later for Bond, but it’s such a wonderfully Hitchcockian idea. One of the most haunting scenes in the series for me. Love the use of Fleming interwoven into the plot with the Faberge egg too.
We get a lot of supporting characters/villains in this one. Unlike FYEO and TLD they actually all stand on their own relatively well. Berkoff goes all in as Orlov (it’s just short of being hammy, and that’s great). I like Jourdan as Khan (comparatively subtle, but I like how he’s played in this ever so slimy way) and Bedi as Gobinda (underrated henchman). I find Vijay really likeable, and I think Octopussy herself is one of the most interesting Bond girls of the series.
The plot, while convoluted, does a good job at setting us up for the climax. It’s easy for a more ‘low key’ Bond story to have a disappointing third act (some would say this is the case with LALD and I certainly get that lack of stakes in FYEO and TMWTGG). OP opts for a straightforward but effective ‘ticking bomb’ climax, but I always feel the tension. Love Bond under pressure trying to get to the circus in time, having to take detours involving car chases, fighting on a train etc. Again, love the idea of him having to dress as a clown to try and warn everyone. It’s not played for laughs (actually it’s quite horrifying in its own way) and it’s one of these weird creative decisions which just works.
I have minor things I’m not so keen about with this film. Not entirely sold on the Tarzan yells or ‘sit’ moments (it all feels a bit outdated and random, and I suspect they were back then too). Penelope Smallbone is unnecessary. But otherwise it just works for me. It feels much more coherent and fun than FYEO, much more energetic and creative than AVTAK, and as much as I like TLD the characters feel much stronger in this one. Unlike NSNA it has spectacle and life to it. I always enjoy watching this one.
It's not my most favourite but there's little it does wrong.
I always love that 009 gets killed and the MI6 lads put all of their resources into pursuing the story behind the egg he's holding, just completely ignoring that he's dressed as a clown with a knife thrower's knife in his back! You don't think maybe the circus might be worth looking at, guys? :D
Quite logical indeed, I just never realised it since it is indeed not a very large station and, as you already mentioned, Chemnitz is a big city.
I still do get a big blast out of this one regardless, and this film is probably responsible for my huge interest in the Cold War and in the former German-German division.
Doesn’t M even say ‘we have absolutely nothing to go on’ as he shows Bond a photo of a dead 009 in a clown costume? 😂 Wild.
Probably for the best though. There’s something a bit more Bondian about auctions involving shadowy, mysterious bidders and a trip to exotic India rather than seeing Bond spend the first chunk of the film trying to infiltrate an East Berlin circus. But I guess it really depends on how it’s done.
It is still a fun enough watch though, in the guilty pleasure kind of way. There are some tense action scenes, such as the train sequence or the PTS and a bit of suspense in the bomb disarming scene, a cool auction scene. However the plot is very convoluted, the villains motivations are quite confusing to say the least, what exactly is this collaboration between Kamal Khan and General Orlov about? The film is about jewelry smuggling, but then suddenly there are nuclear warheads! It almost feels like they had ideas for two movies and couldn't decide which one to go with, so they just used both for the same film.
This is also reflected in the locations; Bond films often take advantage of multiple locations to feel more exotic and like a travel. It often works well, but not in Octopussy, I cannot think of more jarringly incompatible locations than India and East Berlin when it comes to having a consistent tone. It is such a weird shift when the film changes between these two locations. It doesn't help that a lot of the slapstick humor falls flat and takes me out of the film.
I also don't care for any of the characters, Maud Adams performs well, but her character is so passive and uninvolved with the plot. Kamal Khan is a poorly developed villain, but at least Louis Jourdan plays him like a joke, which makes him somewhat fun to watch. And I guess that is overall the film's saving grace, that it doesn't take itself too serious, but I don't think it excuses all the problems it otherwise has.
I consistently enjoy this entry, and I especially love the romance between Bond and Octopussy. This film would have been a perfect final adventure for Moore, sailing off into the sunset with Maud Adams.
@peter Would you deny Roger his shower session with a hot blonde and a spy robot? 😉
1. I cannot forgive the silly gags. They take me right out of the film. Roger is too old.
~ or ~
2. The silly gags last mere seconds and don't ruin an otherwise thrilling Bond adventure.
I have to admit I was in the first group for a long time. However, over time I've been able to forgive a few misplaced gags of (attempted) humor and see the fun of the greater film. It's suited perfectly for an aging Roger, the scale and style feels back up to par after the largely muted FYEO (and welcome return of Barry score!), the villains and supporting characters are quirky and memorable, the contrast between India and East Berlin is a fun ride, and there's a thrilling dose of espionage/actual spying throughout. It's as if they took the lighthearted elements from Spy/MR and blended it with the seriousness of FYEO to make a winning balance we hadn't seen since GF/TB/OHMSS. In that sense it feels like a return to form, which they will achieve again in TLD.
😂, two images I never have to see again, @DarthDimi 😂!!
Many here know how much I adore this film, but over the years a few more Bond films have edged slightly ahead of OP. In saying that, if I was placed in a situation where I could only take one Bond film with me, I think my hand would be reaching for OP.
For me, OP has everything I enjoy in a Bond film. Elements of Fleming, a taught thriller, a few laughs, great locations, superb action sequences and a great cast of interesting characters.
Obviously, it has its detractors (how that can be I never understand ;) ) but for the most part the downsides of the film appear to mostly be because of some poor humour.
The tarzan yell, telling the tiger to siiiiiitttt!! The gorilla suit and the clown suit. The latter I will argue to my last breath is a great scene. Not only is a clown suit the best disguise for getting into a circus ( do we really care how fast Bond was able to apply the makeup so quickly? It's a Bond film, we don't see him eat lunch, shower or go to the loo! ) but it's a scene that isn't played for laughs and has some of the best tension in the series. This is a serious clown and Sir Roger really does play it and sell it well. I don't think any other Bond actor could've pulled that scene off as well as Moore.
Save for a few indiscretions, OP IS a very good Bond film, that justifiably earns a top ten spot.
It's got a fantastic pts that's fast and exciting, the opening with OO9 hunted through the woods by Mishka and Grishka is haunting and Hitchcockian, the auction is straight from Fleming, the back gammon game rivals GF's golf match, we have a wonderful John Barry score that works so well. I think it's one of his best. Considering there was a rival film with Sean Connery the same year, the film makers wisely chose to use the Bond theme to full extent, to remind viewers which was the true Bond film. Something NSNA obviously couldn't take advantage of. The action is for my money some of the best of the series, and although we've seen it all before, it's quite inventive and certainly exciting. The villains are suitably evil and are all quite memorable as well.
Roger Moore though aging gives one of his best Bond performances. Like FYEO before it he plays Bond mostly seriously, bringing some fine dramatic scenes to the series.
Maud Adams is a welcome return to the films and has great chemistry with Moore.
Steven Berkoff hams it up fantastically as a rogue Russian General hell bent in starting World War 3, and Louis Jourdan is perfectly sinister as Kamal Khan.
OP deserves a top ten spot, and I think it's a reflection of how sometimes as a fan we can and do view the films of our beloved series differently over time. It appears right now; OP is having something of a resurgence in popularity. Generally it would appear further down the ranking and I for one am happy to see it in a much All time higher position.
I agree totally. Regarding the clown/ bomb diffusing scene, it does add that sense of the macabre to it ,to have him dressed that way, regardless, it is one of the few times I thought Bond wasn't actually going to succeed, so well does John Glen handle it. You do think though If Bond hadn't spent so much time perfecting his make up, he may have had time to spare! 😂
It's been a while since we discussed one of this Bond actor's entries, but we'll do so with our #9:
THUNDERBALL (1965)
Directed by Terence Young
"(...) I'm very proud of her."
Sean's 4th 007 outing received two silver medals, as well as two 5th places and seven rankings in the lower half of the top 10.
For five members it was no top 10 material, but it still remained in the top 15. Three of those were 11th places.
Not much to report at the other end of the spectrum. Only one bottom 5 was noted: a single 23rd place, also its lowest score.
One may get the impression sometimes that Bond's most aquatic adventure might not be as well liked as it used to, but, at least in this contest, TB has certainly more fans than detractors.
TB's total score was 134 points.
There's lots to enjoy and it's really well made, but I also get the feeling it's more of a missed opportunity than it should have been.
I genuinely remember watching this film for the first time when I was about 10 years old. I think it was the first time I'd ever questioned what exactly was going on in a Bond film. Generally in these films the audience has to be swept up in the ridiculousness and spectacle, especially during the PTS. Here, however, we begin the film with the weird concept of an enemy agent faking his own death and dressing as his own widow to attend this 'funeral' (why exactly he does this I have no idea, and 10 year old me always questioned this). We get a moment of shock as Bond punches Bouvar (little sustained tension, and I think it's that shock that always took me out of the film), a rather good fight scene, and then one of the lamest 'stunts' in the entire Bond series. It feels like a lot of the fun, pace, and humour of GF's PTS was sucked out of this one.
I think that's pretty much my feeling about TB as a whole. It's just not a very energetic, fun or even particularly well crafted film. The set up is so long and drawn out, and often it doesn't even involve Bond. The underwater scenes are technically accomplished but a bit boring. We never really feel things like Paula's death because the film is overstuffed with allies like Pinder - who is completely pointless - and Q once Bond gets to Nassau (why Pinder wasn't written out/amalgamated with Paula is anyone's guess. Also the Q scene in this film is the worst of the series with Bond acting like a child). Largo as a main villain is a bit lame. The ending seems to hinge around a random scientist having a change of heart and rescuing Domino (again, not much time is dedicated to actually seeing said character's change of heart, and I always felt this randomness in the actual film).
The final fight on the Volante is an absolute mess as well. I understand that it was down to Young simply not getting enough footage and Hunt having to use things like jump cuts and very fast editing. It must have been bad. Hunt was an excellent editor and has some great examples of it in this film (ie. how he cuts the scene where Bond reveals to Domino that her brother is dead. Connery actually isn't doing much acting, and it's the edit that does the heavy lifting). But I really don't like how this fight is edited.
Van Nutter is a forgettable Leiter. Connery's performance is a bit lacklustre at times, but it's great to have him. I like Auger as Domino though and I think Volpe is a cool henchwoman (love her death scene as well, and the chase through the street is actually very gripping). I think a major issue with this film is that there are too many minor characters, most of whom aren't very interesting.
There are individual scenes I really like - the initial SPECTRE meeting, the gambling scene between Largo and Bond. But like I said, it's just not a very fun film. It always used to surprise me that this was, up until SF, effectively the highest grossing Bond film. It probably says a lot about Bondmania at the time. But yeah, not really for me this one...
Yeah I also think it's kind of bizarre that they saw how big a hit the DB5 was with everyone so for the follow up they gave him... an underwater camera. And a watch which is a geiger counter. It's all so boring. I guess the rebreather is nifty, but his gadgets are so dull. The baddies get all the good ones, as good as they are. And I just don't agree with showing kids the DB5 and not using it.
Largo is lame, you're right. I also say that Fiona should have been the main baddie.
Yeah good point, that is quite badly handled. It's a key moment which we're not really part of.
Another thing I often say: everyone loved Oddjob. So to follow that up, they give us... no one at all.
Vargas?
Yeah I suspect its gross probably tells us more about how people loved Goldfinger if anything.
Well, not quite my friend ;)
The bottom 5's are: 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 25th.
So 20th is just outside the bottom 5 and just inside the top 20 :)
It's a shame because this film hits the heights of being one of the greatest when it is good, but it simultaneously has pacing issues, juggles way too many minor characters and side plots at once, and winds up making no sense half the time, from Kutze randomly disappearing after saving the day to that whole fiasco involving Bond, Leiter, and the "you were just about to say 007" nonsense.
This film changed sides for me in subsequent years since my first watch of it in 2022, going up and down, but mostly down, it's a film I have a complicated relationship with, it's a bit boring to say the least, I may found FRWL slow, but it's never boring because there's thrill and some interesting moments here and there, but this film was just not that interesting for me.
It's a shame since the book is my favorite Bond book, I think this book, along with CR, FRWL and MR have the best and realistic plots in all of Fleming's books, and given that it originally came from a screenplay, I'm expecting it to be a great, a spectacle even, but I'm disappointed, because for all of the film's potential (great plot, screenplay, locations, characters) it was not realized.
Let's start with PTS, I think as a PTS on its own, it's great, like a mini Bond film with actions here and there, it's good, it's complete, it may not be connected to the plot, but compared to FYEO, at least it makes sense as an individual scene.
The reason for Bond to investigate in Bahamas also doesn't hold that much weight, just because Derval's sister was there, again the version of NSNA is better in this regard where Bond was given a more logical reason to go to Bahamas since he had found it out in the clinic way earlier.
The replacement of Domino's brother with a clone technically was silly and didn't makes sense, I don't get the purpose of it, the version of NSNA makes more sense by corrupting Derval with drugs, or much better, if he's really a bad guy as how it's written in the book, there's a moral study and conflict in there and therefore made Bond's investigation of Domino much more interesting because how would he felt about it? A sister of a man who's involved in a plot where he's an accomplice.
Speaking of Domino, she's a decent Bond Girl, she felt like a proper Bond Girl compared to Pussy Galore and more likeable. But I just wished we've got to see more of her complexity, the problem was the film played her more like just an eye candy in the majority of the film's scenes, her appearances were almost like that of Tiffany Case where she just mostly appeared in Bikinis or underwear, just to show that she's sexy, but forgot to build her character more, that's the problem, even in NSNA, they've failed to address this issue either, in the book, Domino is one of the great Bond Girls (yes, in my top five along with Tiffany Case, Vesper Lynd, Gala Brand, and Vivienne Michel), but the films failed to do her justice, Claudine Auger's acting also didn't helped and again, unnecessarily dubbed.
Bond was the main man again here, after just almost being a side character in Goldfinger, he had the most work, so that's a plus in this film.
The scenes with Largo, to say were tense, particularly when Bond arrived at his scenes, every scene of them, there's a tension and thrill, I can't help but to take my eyes and hold my pillow tight at some scenes due to tense, like "will Largo find out that it's Bond? Will they encounter at a bad situation?", And I also felt nervous when Bond was investigating at Palmyra, I'm quite afraid that Largo's henchman might surprise and knock him, thankfully, it didn't happened, so that's a plus.
Largo was an okay villain, Adolfo Celi was dubbed in the role, his scenes with Domino felt uncomfortable to me due to the age gap between the two, he looked old enough to be Domino's father, he's far from the Largo that Fleming described, that at some point, I think Klaus Maria Brandauer (from NSNA) nailed, and in terms of individual character, he's not that interesting or threatening, he's mainly a proto Stromberg, sure, while his scenes with Bond have some tense and danger feel to it because it's what the atmosphere provoked, but as a character itself, Largo is not just interesting as a Bond villain, he had no personality and very comical in that eyepatch (another stereotyped villain along with Blofeld, at least Pleasance's version), Klaus Maria Brandauer's version is the better Largo for me, in all aspects, in depicting him as Bond's evil mirror, menacing and more closer to Fleming's version or description of the character.
Fiona Volpe was also great, she's menacing, but still keeping her sexiness and coolness.
The killings of some characters were also creepy, also Barry's score helped to increase that creepiness when there's a surprise and when someone's going to be killed.
The editing, not a fan of it, there's some scenes where it's really slow, the sped up action scenes was laughable and weird, the underwater scenes, it's really long.
There are some foreshadowings in this film, which made the killing of some characters seemed predictable, the feeding of shark before the execution of a failed henchman in that same fashion, I predicted it like "yes, those sharks, they would fed him to a shark!".
Barry's score, while it heightened some tensions, but there's some scenes where the score wasn't necessary (the score in the Junkanoo scenes for examples, there's already a sound from the parade, yet the score was still playing, like it messed up), also it's a bit repetitive, like are they no other scores, particularly the 007 theme was played many times, also the score in the underwater action scenes towards the end I think should be more bombastic.
There are so many characters, and some repetitive scenes, like Bond going in and out of Palmyra for some investigations, he went there in the first half, went back there in the second half, and Bond in and out of Hotel, and there are so many unnecessary scenes going on in the film.
Of course, Connery's age here was getting obvious, or maybe it's his hairpiece? I don't know, but he aged a bit here, and the big elephant in the room which is full of underwater scenes.
Overall, it's a decent Bond film for me, it's a Bond film I have a love hate relationship with, I even think that NSNA improved on many aspects upon this one, for me, I'm fine with its placing in my rankings, I feel that it's ranked too highly in this game, but it's fine, for the people who were fans of this film, good for them.
And I will end it here from where I've started: for the fun I have while reading the book is where the boredom that I've felt while watching the film.
- Sir Sean in top form: elegant, witty, kick-ass
- SPECTRE scheming, including a huge meeting with unseen Blofeld and a minion disposal
- a gorgeous, charming Bond girl in Claudine Auger
- the best femme fatale of the series in Luciana Paluzzi (that motorbike scene ❤️)
- exotic locations, this is the ultimate holiday entry of the series
- fantastic gadgets: the DB5, the Jetpack, underwater breather and a Breitling
- eye-patched Largo with his pool of sharks
- a great John Barry score
- my favourite EON Leiter in Rik Van Nutter (favourite overall still goes to NSNA's Bernie Casey)
- one of the best title sequences
- underwater scubagear action, as well as a lot of nighttime sneaking around
- etc.
Number 6 on my list, and number 2 amongst the Connery Bonds.
I think it is about as quintessential as Goldfinger for the franchise, when it comes to feeling like James Bond. This is the one that really fleshes out SPECTRE as an evil organisation. It is slower paced than some of the other films, but I think in this case it is for the better. More than any other movie in the series it takes its time showing the villains’ plan in action, we see the preparation steps and them carrying out the theft of nuclear weapons. There are some conveniences in the plot, but the film is smart enough to explain it in a way that is just believable enough. Once the film hits Bahamas I feel like I am on holiday with gorgeous women, interesting villains, and Sean Connery as Bond, it is just great. The underwater scenes are slow but suspenseful, the movie is stylistic and beautiful to look at.
Only minus is the last 10 min of action on the ship that is sped up way too much, it looks silly. But I can easily forget that part.
The film has some of my favorite scenes in the series, such as the carnival scene, skeet shooting scene, casino scene, SPECTRE meeting, MI6 briefing, the underwater theft scene and the underwater battle.