Octopussy
Encyclopedia
Octopussy is the thirteenth entry in the James Bond series, and the sixth to star Roger Moore
as the fictional
MI6
agent James Bond
. The film's title is taken from a short story in Ian Fleming
's 1966 short story collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights
. However, the film's story is original though the film includes a portion inspired by the Fleming short story "The Property of a Lady" (included in 1967 & later editions of Octopussy and The Living Daylights), while the events of the short story "Octopussy" form a part of the title character's background and are recounted by her. In the film, Bond is assigned the task of following a general who is stealing jewels and relics from the Russian government. This leads him to a wealthy Afghan prince, Kamal Khan
, and his associate, Octopussy. Bond uncovers a plot to force disarmament in Europe with the use of a nuclear weapon.
Produced by Albert R. Broccoli
and Michael G. Wilson
, Octopussy was released in the same year as the non-Eon Bond film Never Say Never Again
. Written by George MacDonald Fraser
, Richard Maibaum
, and Michael G. Wilson
, the film was directed by John Glen.
, dressed as a circus clown
and carrying a fake Fabergé egg
. MI6 immediately suspects Soviet involvement, and sends James Bond—agent 007—to investigate after seeing the real egg appears at an auction in London
, ordering the agent to find out who the seller is. At the auction, Bond is able to swap the real egg with the fake, and outbids exiled Afghan prince, Kamal Khan
, forcing Khan to pay £500,000 for the fake egg. Bond follows Khan back to his palace
in Rajasthan
, India
, where Bond defeats Khan in a game of backgammon
, and escapes with his Indian colleague Vijay from Khan's bodyguard Gobinda's attempts to kill them. Bond is seduced by one of Khan's associates, Magda (Kristina Wayborn
), and notices she has a blue-ringed octopus
tattoo. Magda steals the real Fabergé egg while Gobinda captures Bond and takes him to Khan's palace. After the agent escapes his cell, Bond discovers Khan is working with the renegade Soviet General Orlov
, who is seeking to expand Soviet borders through Europe.
After escaping the palace, Bond infiltrates a floating palace in Udaipur
, India, and there finds its owner, Octopussy
, a wealthy woman who leads the Octopus cult which Magda is a part of. In Octopussy's palace, Bond finds out Orlov has been supplying Khan with priceless Soviet treasures, replacing them with replicas, while Khan has been smuggling the real versions into the West via Octopussy's circus troupe. Orlov is planning to meet Khan at Karl-Marx-Stadt
in East Germany, where the circus is scheduled to perform. After evading Khan's assassins, Bond goes to East Germany.
Bond infiltrates the circus, and finds that Orlov replaced the Soviet treasures with a nuclear warhead, primed to explode during the circus show at a US Air Force base in West Germany. The explosion would trigger Europe into seeking disarmament in the belief that the bomb was a US one that detonated by accident, leaving its borders open to Soviet invasion. Bond then uses Orlov's car - on which the jewellery is found - to invade the circus train, while Orlov himself is shot dead by GDR
guards while trying to cross the border. Bond kills the twin knife-throwers, Mischka and Grischka in revenge for 009's death, and after being forced to leave the train, commandeers a civilian's Alfa Romeo
to get to the Air Force base. At the base, Bond disguises himself as a clown to evade the West Germany police and attempts to convince Octopussy that Khan has betrayed her by showing her one of the treasures she was to be smuggling that he took from Orlov's car. Octopussy realises the double-cross and assists Bond in deactivating the warhead in time.
Bond and Octopussy return to India and launch an assault on Khan's palace. Khan and Gobinda flee the palace, capturing Octopussy in the process. Bond follows them as they attempt to escape on an aeroplane
and grabs the outside of the plane before it takes off and disables one of its engines. Gobinda dies after falling off the roof of the plane, and after Bond rescues Octopussy from Khan, the duo jump to a nearby cliff moments before the plane crashes into a mountain, killing Khan. While M
and General Gogol
discuss the return of the jewellery, Bond recuperates with Octopussy aboard her private boat in India.
collection of short stories Octopussy and The Living Daylights
. Hardly any of the plot of the short story "Octopussy" is used, however, with its events simply related by Bond as the family backstory for one of the main characters. The scene at Sotheby's
is, though, drawn from the short story "The Property of a Lady" (included in 1967 & later editions of the collection); while Kamal Khan's reaction following the backgammon game is taken from Fleming's novel Moonraker. Due to a non-Eon Bond film, Never Say Never Again
being released in 1983, Octopussy saw Roger Moore returning for the role, though he had showed interest in departing from James Bond after For Your Eyes Only.
Following For Your Eyes Only, Roger Moore had expressed a desire to stop playing James Bond. His original contract had been for three films, which was fulfilled with The Spy Who Loved Me. Subsequent films were negotiated on a film by film basis. Given his reluctance to return for Octopussy, the producers engaged in a semi-public quest for the next Bond, with names including Timothy Dalton
and James Brolin
being suggested. However, when the rival Never Say Never Again
was announced the producers re-contracted Moore in the belief that an established actor in the role would fare better against Sean Connery
. Brolin's three screentests were publicly released for the first time as a special feature named James Brolin: The Man Who Would Be Bond in the Octopussy Ultimate Edition DVD.
The producers were initially reluctant to feature Maud Adams again because her previous character was killed in The Man with the Golden Gun
. Sybil Danning
was announced in Prevue magazine as being Octopussy in 1982, but was never actually cast. Faye Dunaway
was deemed too expensive. Barbara Carrera
said she turned down the role to take a part in the competing Bond film Never Say Never Again
. In the book, "A Star is Found: Our Adventures Casting Some of Hollywood's Biggest Movies," casting director Jane Jenkins revealed that the Bond producers told her that they wanted an East Indian actress to play Octopussy, so she looked at the only two Indians in a then-predominately white Hollywood, Persis Khambatta
and Susie Coelho. Afterwards, she auditioned white actresses, like Barbara Parkins
, who she felt could pass for Indian. Finally, Cubby Broccoli announced to her that they would cast Swedish-born Maud Adams
, darken her hair, and change a few lines about how she was raised by an Indian family. A different plotline, with Adams' British father exposed as a traitor, was used instead. As for Adams, she asked to play Octopussy as a European woman and was granted this, but on the title character's name, she felt the producers "went too far".
Octopussy is also the first movie to have Robert Brown as M, which was due to the death of Bernard Lee
in 1981. Desmond Llewelyn
would get a larger role as Q
in this film. One of Bond's allies was played by Vijay Amritraj
, who was a professional tennis player. His character not only shares the same first name, but he is also the tennis pro at Kamal Khan's club, and he uses his tennis racket as a weapon during the auto rickshaw
chase (accompanied by the sound of a tennis ball being hit and scenes of onlookers turning their heads left and right as if they are watching a tennis match).
There is a brief cameo appearance by Gary Russell
as a teenager in a car. Russell had been a popular child actor as "Dick" in the TV series The Famous Five
.
. Principal photography was done by Arthur Wooster and his second unit, who later filmed the knife-throwing scenes. Most of the film was shot in Udaipur
, India and the Monsoon Palace
was shot extensively in the film. In England the RAF Northolt
, RAF Upper Heyford
and RAF Oakley
were the main locations. The Karl-Marx-Stadt railways scenes were shot at the Nene Valley Railway
, near Peterborough
, while studio work was performed at the Pinewood Studios
and 007 Stage. Most of the crew as well as Roger Moore had diet problems while shooting in India.
The pre-title sequence has a scene where Bond flies a nimble homebuilt
Bede BD-5J aircraft through an open hangar. Hollywood stunt pilot and aerial coordinator J.W. "Corkey" Fornoff, who piloted the aircraft at more than 150 miles per hour, has said, "Today, few directors would consider such a stunt. They'd just whip it up in a computer lab." Having collapsible wings, the plane was shown hidden in a horse trailer; however, a dummy was used for this shot. Filming inside the hangar was achieved by attaching the aircraft to an old Jaguar
car by a steel pole with the roof torn off and driving along. The second unit were able to add enough obstacles including people and objects inside the hangar to hide the car and the pole and make it look as though Moore was flying inside the base. For the explosion after the mini jet escapes however, a miniature of the hangar was constructed and filmed up close. The exploding pieces of the hangar were in reality only four inches in length. A Mercedes-Benz saloon
car was stolen by Bond and used to chase the train — having had his tires shot out, Bond drove on the rails and entered the train. During filming, the car had intact tires in one scene so as to avoid any mishap.
Stunt co-ordinator Martin Grace suffered an injury while shooting the scene where Bond climbs down the train to catch Octopussy's attention. During the second day of filming, Grace – who was Roger Moore's stunt double for the scene – carried on doing the scene longer than he should have, due to a miscommunication with the second unit director, and the train entered a section of the track that the team had not properly surveyed. Shortly afterwards, a concrete pole fractured Grace's left leg. This affected morale in the camp for some time.
The bicyclist seen passing in the middle of a swordfight during the tuk tuk chase sequence was in fact a bystander who passed through the shot, oblivious to the filming; his intrusion was captured by two cameras and left in the final film as an unscheduled stunt. Cameraman Alan Hume's last scene was that of Octopussy's followers rowing. That day, little time was left and it was decided to film the sunset at the eleventh hour when Hume reacted, "Oh, just shoot the bloody thing!"
The Fabergé egg in the film is real; it was made in 1897 and is called the Coronation Egg
, although the egg in the film is named in the auction catalogue as "Property of a Lady", which is the name of one of Ian Fleming's short stories released in more recent editions of the collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights.
In a bit of diegesis
that "breaks the fourth wall
", Vijay signals his affiliation to MI6 by playing the James Bond Theme
on a recorder while Bond is disembarking from a boat in the harbour near the City Palace. Like his fictional counterpart, the real Vijay had a distinct fear of snakes and found difficulty holding the basket during filming.
The scene where Khan tries to cheat at backgammon is adapted from the Bond novel Moonraker, where Hugo Drax cheats at contract bridge
. The scene is also quite similar to the scene in Goldfinger
, where Bond defeats Goldfinger by using his lucky golf ball, which Oddjob crushes (just as Gobinda does with the dice). A line where Khan tells Bond to spend his money quickly is also a direct quotation from this novel (However, Drax addresses Bond as "Commander Bond" and Khan calls him "Mr. Bond").
, with the lyrics by Tim Rice
. The opening theme, "All Time High
" is sung by Rita Coolidge
, and is one of six musical themes in the James Bond series that do not refer to the film's title, the other five being Dr. No
(1962), "We Have All the Time in the World
" from On Her Majesty's Secret Service
(1969), "Nobody Does It Better
" from The Spy Who Loved Me
(1977) (although the song's lyrics do include the phrase, "the spy who loved me"), the song "You Know My Name
" from Casino Royale
(2006), and "Another Way to Die
" from Quantum of Solace (2008). "All Time High" spent four weeks at #1 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary singles chart and reached #36 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The soundtrack album was released in 1985 by A&M Records
, the compact disc version of was recalled due to a colour printing error which omitted the credits from the album cover making it a rare collector's item. In 1997, the soundtrack was re-issued by Rykodisc
, with the original soundtrack music and some film dialogue, on an Enhanced CD
version. The 2003 release, by EMI
, restored the original soundtrack music without dialogue.
on 6 June 1983 in the company of Prince Charles
and Diana, Princess of Wales
. Within five months of its premiere, it was released in 16 countries worldwide. The film earned slightly less than For Your Eyes Only
, but still grossing $187,500,000, with $67.8 million in the United States alone. It also performed slightly better than Never Say Never Again
, the non-Eon Bond remake of Thunderball
which came out a few months later.
Currently the film has received mixed reviews. Some reviewers disliked Bond's clown costume, gorilla outfit, and Tarzan yell during a jungle chase. One review claimed that it was long and confusing. By contrast, Louis Jourdan's "suave" performance, the elegance of the film locations in India, and the stunts on aircraft and the train were appreciated. Jeffrey Westhoff at Rotten Tomatoes
praised Roger Moore as being "sterling". Neal Gabler
and Jeffrey Lyons
at the TV-show Sneak Previews
praised the film and said "Octopussy delivers" and "The nice thing about Octopussy is that it's going back-to-basics, less gadgets, more hand-to-hand combat. It's more of an adventure movie in a more traditional sense and I like it for that". Danny Peary
wrote that Octopussy "has slow spots, little humour, and villains who aren’t nearly of the calibre of Dr. No, Goldfinger
, or Blofeld
. Also, the filmmakers make the mistake of demeaning Bond by having him swing through the trees and emitting a Tarzan cry and having him hide in a gorilla suit and later disguise himself as a clown (whom all the kids at the circus laugh at). It’s as if they’re trying to remind us that everything is tongue-in-cheek, but that makes little sense, for the film is much more serious than typical Bond outings – in fact, it recalls the tone of From Russia with Love." Entertainment Weekly chose Octopussy as the third worst Bond film, while Norman Wilner of MSN
chose it as the eighth worst, and IGN chose it as the seventh worst. The review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 47% rating.
Octopussy was nominated for an Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Award, with Maud Adams
nominated for the Saturn Award in the Best Fantasy Supporting Actress category. Chris Nashawaty also ranks her as the best Bond girl
of the Roger Moore James Bond films. The film won the Golden Screen Award in Germany and the Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing
.
in 1986, 30 seconds were cut. Meanwhile, in some TV versions, certain sections of the title credit sequence have been blackened out to obscure some of the more revealing bits of nudity.
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
as the fictional
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
MI6
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
agent James Bond
James Bond (character)
Royal Navy Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is a fictional character created by journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He is the main protagonist of the James Bond series of novels, films, comics and video games...
. The film's title is taken from a short story in Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
's 1966 short story collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights
Octopussy and The Living Daylights
Octopussy and The Living Daylights is the fourteenth and final James Bond book written by Ian Fleming in the Bond series...
. However, the film's story is original though the film includes a portion inspired by the Fleming short story "The Property of a Lady" (included in 1967 & later editions of Octopussy and The Living Daylights), while the events of the short story "Octopussy" form a part of the title character's background and are recounted by her. In the film, Bond is assigned the task of following a general who is stealing jewels and relics from the Russian government. This leads him to a wealthy Afghan prince, Kamal Khan
Kamal Khan
Kamal Khan is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond film Octopussy. He is portrayed by Louis Jourdan.Khan is a suave exiled Afghan prince living in India in the Monsoon Palace. He has a penchant for fine food and liquor, priceless jewels, "hunting" humans, and atomic...
, and his associate, Octopussy. Bond uncovers a plot to force disarmament in Europe with the use of a nuclear weapon.
Produced by Albert R. Broccoli
Albert R. Broccoli
Albert Romolo Broccoli, CBE , nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer, who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career, most of them in the United Kingdom, and often filmed at Pinewood Studios. Co-founder of Danjaq, LLC and EON Productions, Broccoli is most notable as the...
and Michael G. Wilson
Michael G. Wilson
Michael Gregg Wilson, OBE is the producer and screenwriter of many modern James Bond movies.-Background:Wilson was born in New York City, New York, the son of Dana and actor Lewis Wilson. His father was the first actor to play the DC Comics character Batman in live action, which he did in the...
, Octopussy was released in the same year as the non-Eon Bond film Never Say Never Again
Never Say Never Again
Never Say Never Again is a 1983 spy film based on the James Bond novel Thunderball, which was previously filmed in 1965 as Thunderball...
. Written by George MacDonald Fraser
George MacDonald Fraser
George MacDonald Fraser, OBE was an English-born author of Scottish descent, who wrote both historical novels and non-fiction books, as well as several screenplays.-Early life and military career:...
, Richard Maibaum
Richard Maibaum
Richard Maibaum was an American film producer, playwright and screenwriter best known for his adaptations of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels....
, and Michael G. Wilson
Michael G. Wilson
Michael Gregg Wilson, OBE is the producer and screenwriter of many modern James Bond movies.-Background:Wilson was born in New York City, New York, the son of Dana and actor Lewis Wilson. His father was the first actor to play the DC Comics character Batman in live action, which he did in the...
, the film was directed by John Glen.
Plot
British agent 009 is found dead at the British embassy in East BerlinEast Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
, dressed as a circus clown
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
and carrying a fake Fabergé egg
Fabergé egg
A Fabergé egg is any one of the thousands of jeweled eggs made by the House of Fabergé from 1885 to 1917. Most were miniature eggs that were popular gifts at Eastertide...
. MI6 immediately suspects Soviet involvement, and sends James Bond—agent 007—to investigate after seeing the real egg appears at an auction in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, ordering the agent to find out who the seller is. At the auction, Bond is able to swap the real egg with the fake, and outbids exiled Afghan prince, Kamal Khan
Kamal Khan
Kamal Khan is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond film Octopussy. He is portrayed by Louis Jourdan.Khan is a suave exiled Afghan prince living in India in the Monsoon Palace. He has a penchant for fine food and liquor, priceless jewels, "hunting" humans, and atomic...
, forcing Khan to pay £500,000 for the fake egg. Bond follows Khan back to his palace
Monsoon Palace
The Monsoon Palace, formerly known as the Sajjan Garh Palace, is a hilltop palatial residence in the city of Udaipur, Rajasthan in India, overlooking the lake Pichola. It is named as Sajjangarh after Maharana Sajjan Singh of the Mewar Dynasty, who built it in 1884. It offers a panoramic view of...
in Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, where Bond defeats Khan in a game of backgammon
Backgammon
Backgammon is one of the oldest board games for two players. The playing pieces are moved according to the roll of dice, and players win by removing all of their pieces from the board. There are many variants of backgammon, most of which share common traits...
, and escapes with his Indian colleague Vijay from Khan's bodyguard Gobinda's attempts to kill them. Bond is seduced by one of Khan's associates, Magda (Kristina Wayborn
Kristina Wayborn
Kristina Wayborn is a Swedish-born actress who worked mostly in the United Kingdom and in the United States.- Biography :...
), and notices she has a blue-ringed octopus
Blue-ringed octopus
The blue-ringed octopuses are three octopus species that live in tide pools in the Pacific Ocean, from Japan to Australia . They are currently recognized as one of the world's most venomous marine animals...
tattoo. Magda steals the real Fabergé egg while Gobinda captures Bond and takes him to Khan's palace. After the agent escapes his cell, Bond discovers Khan is working with the renegade Soviet General Orlov
General Orlov
General Orlov is a fictional character and major antagonist in the James Bond film Octopussy, played by Steven Berkoff. At first the audience is led to believe that Orlov is the main antagonist of the film. However, it is later revealed that his contact Kamal Khan is the real villain...
, who is seeking to expand Soviet borders through Europe.
After escaping the palace, Bond infiltrates a floating palace in Udaipur
Udaipur
Udaipur , also known as the City of Lakes, is a city, a Municipal Council and the administrative headquarters of the Udaipur district in the state of Rajasthan in western India. It is located southwest of the state capital, Jaipur, west of Kota, and northeast from Ahmedabad...
, India, and there finds its owner, Octopussy
Octopussy (character)
Octopussy is a fictional character in the James Bond film of the same name. She is played by the Swedish actress Maud Adams.-Biography:...
, a wealthy woman who leads the Octopus cult which Magda is a part of. In Octopussy's palace, Bond finds out Orlov has been supplying Khan with priceless Soviet treasures, replacing them with replicas, while Khan has been smuggling the real versions into the West via Octopussy's circus troupe. Orlov is planning to meet Khan at Karl-Marx-Stadt
Chemnitz
Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...
in East Germany, where the circus is scheduled to perform. After evading Khan's assassins, Bond goes to East Germany.
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
guards while trying to cross the border. Bond kills the twin knife-throwers, Mischka and Grischka in revenge for 009's death, and after being forced to leave the train, commandeers a civilian's Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Alfetta
Alfa Romeo GTV redirects here. For 916 series GTV see Alfa Romeo GTV & SpiderThe Alfa Romeo Alfetta is an Italian rear-wheel drive executive saloon car and fastback coupé produced from 1972 until 1987 by Alfa Romeo...
to get to the Air Force base. At the base, Bond disguises himself as a clown to evade the West Germany police and attempts to convince Octopussy that Khan has betrayed her by showing her one of the treasures she was to be smuggling that he took from Orlov's car. Octopussy realises the double-cross and assists Bond in deactivating the warhead in time.
Bond and Octopussy return to India and launch an assault on Khan's palace. Khan and Gobinda flee the palace, capturing Octopussy in the process. Bond follows them as they attempt to escape on an aeroplane
Beechcraft Model 18
The Beechcraft Model 18, or "Twin Beech", as it is better known, is a 6-11 seat, twin-engine, low-wing, conventional-gear aircraft that was manufactured by the Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas...
and grabs the outside of the plane before it takes off and disables one of its engines. Gobinda dies after falling off the roof of the plane, and after Bond rescues Octopussy from Khan, the duo jump to a nearby cliff moments before the plane crashes into a mountain, killing Khan. While M
M (James Bond)
M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, as well as the films in the Bond franchise. The head of MI6 and Bond's superior, M has been portrayed by three actors in the official Bond film series: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown and since 1995 by Judi Dench. Background =Ian Fleming...
and General Gogol
General Gogol
General Anatol Alexis Gogol is a fictional character in the James Bond films The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, and The Living Daylights. In the films, he is the head of the KGB. In his final appearance in The Living Daylights, he has transferred from...
discuss the return of the jewellery, Bond recuperates with Octopussy aboard her private boat in India.
Cast
- Roger MooreRoger MooreSir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
as James BondJames Bond (character)Royal Navy Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is a fictional character created by journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He is the main protagonist of the James Bond series of novels, films, comics and video games...
: A British agent who replaces 009 on a mission that takes him to India. - Maud AdamsMaud AdamsMaud Solveig Christina Wikström , known professionally as Maud Adams, is a Swedish actress, known for her roles as two different Bond girls: in The Man with the Golden Gun , and as the title character in Octopussy .-Early life:Adams was born Maud Solveig Christina Wikström in Luleå, Sweden, the...
as OctopussyOctopussy (character)Octopussy is a fictional character in the James Bond film of the same name. She is played by the Swedish actress Maud Adams.-Biography:...
: The title character, who is a jewel smuggler and wealthy businesswoman. - Louis Jourdan as Kamal KhanKamal KhanKamal Khan is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond film Octopussy. He is portrayed by Louis Jourdan.Khan is a suave exiled Afghan prince living in India in the Monsoon Palace. He has a penchant for fine food and liquor, priceless jewels, "hunting" humans, and atomic...
: An exiled Afghan prince and the film's main villain. - Kabir BediKabir BediKabir Bedi is an Indian television and film actor. His career has spanned three continents including India, the United States and many European countries in three mediums: film, television and theatre. He is noted for his role as Emperor Shah Jahan in Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story...
as Gobinda: Khan's bodyguard. - Steven BerkoffSteven BerkoffSteven Berkoff is an English actor, writer and director. Best known for his performance as General Orlov in the James Bond film Octopussy, he is typically cast in villanous roles, such as Lt...
as General OrlovGeneral OrlovGeneral Orlov is a fictional character and major antagonist in the James Bond film Octopussy, played by Steven Berkoff. At first the audience is led to believe that Orlov is the main antagonist of the film. However, it is later revealed that his contact Kamal Khan is the real villain...
: A Soviet general who works with Khan to bomb a U.S. airbase. - Kristina WaybornKristina WaybornKristina Wayborn is a Swedish-born actress who worked mostly in the United Kingdom and in the United States.- Biography :...
as MagdaMagda (James Bond)Magda is a fictional character in the James Bond film Octopussy. She is portrayed by Kristina Wayborn.-Film biography:Magda seems to be Octopussy's right hand and her most trusted partner in the cult she leads....
: Octopussy's and Khan's trusted subordinate. - Vijay AmritrajVijay AmritrajVijay Amritraj is a former Indian tennis player, sports commentator and actor.Amritraj was born in Chennai, India to Maggie Dhairyam and Robert Amritraj. He and his brothers, Anand Amritraj and Ashok Amritraj, were among the first Indians to play in top-flight international tour tennis...
as Vijay: Bond's ally in India. - David MeyerDavid MeyerDavid Meyer is an English actor. He is the twin of Anthony Meyer who has often appeared alongside him in film.Meyer is best known for appearing as a henchman in the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy as a circus performer with a talent for knife throwing alongside his twin. In the film the twins were...
& Anthony MeyerAnthony Meyer (actor)Anthony "Tony" Meyer is a retired English actor of the 1970s and 1980s. He is the twin of David Meyer who has often appeared alongside him in film....
as Mischka & Grischka: Khan's knife-throwing henchmen. - Desmond LlewelynDesmond LlewelynDesmond Wilkinson Llewelyn was a Welsh actor, famous for playing Q in 17 of the James Bond films between 1963 and 1999.-Early life:...
as QQ (James Bond)Q is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. Q , like M, is a job title rather than a name. He is the head of Q Branch , the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service...
: MI6's gadget designer. Llewelyn was disappointed because he was unable to travel to India since his scenes were filmed at Pinewood Studios. - Robert Brown as MM (James Bond)M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, as well as the films in the Bond franchise. The head of MI6 and Bond's superior, M has been portrayed by three actors in the official Bond film series: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown and since 1995 by Judi Dench. Background =Ian Fleming...
: Head of the British Secret Service. - Geoffrey KeenGeoffrey KeenGeoffrey Keen was an English actor who appeared in supporting roles in many famous films.-Early life:Keen was born in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England, the son of stage actor Malcolm Keen. He was educated at Bristol Grammar School. He then joined the Little Repertory Theatre in Bristol for whom...
as Fredrick Gray: Britain's Minister of Defence. - Walter GotellWalter GotellWalter Gotell was a German actor, known for his role as General Gogol, head of the KGB, in the James Bond film series.Gotell was born in Bonn, Germany; his family emigrated to the United Kingdom after the Nazis came to power...
as General Gogol: KGB leader working to stop Orlov. - Douglas WilmerDouglas Wilmer-Early life:Wilmer was born in London and educated at King's School, Canterbury and Stonyhurst College. He trained at RADA but was called up to the Army in World War II. Posted to an antitank battery in the Royal West African Frontier Force, he was invalided out after he acquired tuberculosis. He...
as Jim Fanning: MI6's operative with a knowledge of artefacts. - Lois MaxwellLois MaxwellLois Maxwell was a Canadian actress.Maxwell began her film career in the late 1940s, and won a Golden Globe Award for the New Actress of the Year for her performance in That Hagen Girl...
as Miss MoneypennyMiss MoneypennyJane Moneypenny, better known as Miss Moneypenny, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M, who is Bond's boss and head of the British Secret Service...
: M's secretary. - Michaela ClavellMichaela ClavellMichaela Clavell is an actress. She portrayed Penelope Smallbone in the James Bond movie Octopussy, and "Teacher" in the 1982 television adaptation of her father's short story "The Children's Story". She is the daughter of April Stride and author James Clavell.- External links :*...
as Penelope Smallbone: Moneypenny's assistant. - Andy Bradford as MI6 agent 009.
Production
The title 'Octopussy' comes from the Ian FlemingIan Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
collection of short stories Octopussy and The Living Daylights
Octopussy and The Living Daylights
Octopussy and The Living Daylights is the fourteenth and final James Bond book written by Ian Fleming in the Bond series...
. Hardly any of the plot of the short story "Octopussy" is used, however, with its events simply related by Bond as the family backstory for one of the main characters. The scene at Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
is, though, drawn from the short story "The Property of a Lady" (included in 1967 & later editions of the collection); while Kamal Khan's reaction following the backgammon game is taken from Fleming's novel Moonraker. Due to a non-Eon Bond film, Never Say Never Again
Never Say Never Again
Never Say Never Again is a 1983 spy film based on the James Bond novel Thunderball, which was previously filmed in 1965 as Thunderball...
being released in 1983, Octopussy saw Roger Moore returning for the role, though he had showed interest in departing from James Bond after For Your Eyes Only.
Casting
Timothy Dalton
Timothy Peter Dalton ) is a Welsh actor of film and television. He is known for portraying James Bond in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill , as well as Rhett Butler in the television miniseries Scarlett , an original sequel to Gone with the Wind...
and James Brolin
James Brolin
James Brolin is an American actor, producer and director, best known for his roles in soap operas, movies, sitcoms, and television. He is the father of actor Josh Brolin and husband of singer/actress Barbra Streisand.-Early life:...
being suggested. However, when the rival Never Say Never Again
Never Say Never Again
Never Say Never Again is a 1983 spy film based on the James Bond novel Thunderball, which was previously filmed in 1965 as Thunderball...
was announced the producers re-contracted Moore in the belief that an established actor in the role would fare better against Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
. Brolin's three screentests were publicly released for the first time as a special feature named James Brolin: The Man Who Would Be Bond in the Octopussy Ultimate Edition DVD.
The producers were initially reluctant to feature Maud Adams again because her previous character was killed in The Man with the Golden Gun
The Man with the Golden Gun (film)
The Man with the Golden Gun is the ninth spy film in the James Bond series and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond...
. Sybil Danning
Sybil Danning
Sybil Danning is an Austrian actress known for her many roles in B movies, science fiction films, and action films.-Early life:Danning was born in Ried im Innkreis, Austria as Sybille Johanna Danninger...
was announced in Prevue magazine as being Octopussy in 1982, but was never actually cast. Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway is an American actress.Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown...
was deemed too expensive. Barbara Carrera
Barbara Carrera
Barbara Carrera is a Nicaraguan-born American film and television actress as well as a former model. She is best known for her roles as Bond girl Fatima Blush in Never Say Never Again and as Angelica Nero on the soap opera Dallas.-Early life:Barbara Kingsbury was born in San Carlos, Río San Juan,...
said she turned down the role to take a part in the competing Bond film Never Say Never Again
Never Say Never Again
Never Say Never Again is a 1983 spy film based on the James Bond novel Thunderball, which was previously filmed in 1965 as Thunderball...
. In the book, "A Star is Found: Our Adventures Casting Some of Hollywood's Biggest Movies," casting director Jane Jenkins revealed that the Bond producers told her that they wanted an East Indian actress to play Octopussy, so she looked at the only two Indians in a then-predominately white Hollywood, Persis Khambatta
Persis Khambatta
Persis Khambatta was an Indian model, actress and author. She was best known for her role as Lieutenant Ilia in the 1979 feature film Star Trek: The Motion Picture.-Early Life:...
and Susie Coelho. Afterwards, she auditioned white actresses, like Barbara Parkins
Barbara Parkins
Barbara Parkins is a Canadian television and film actress.-Early life and rise to stardom:Parkins was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. At the age of sixteen, she and her mother moved to Los Angeles, where she enrolled at Hollywood High School and began to study acting, tap, ballet, and...
, who she felt could pass for Indian. Finally, Cubby Broccoli announced to her that they would cast Swedish-born Maud Adams
Maud Adams
Maud Solveig Christina Wikström , known professionally as Maud Adams, is a Swedish actress, known for her roles as two different Bond girls: in The Man with the Golden Gun , and as the title character in Octopussy .-Early life:Adams was born Maud Solveig Christina Wikström in Luleå, Sweden, the...
, darken her hair, and change a few lines about how she was raised by an Indian family. A different plotline, with Adams' British father exposed as a traitor, was used instead. As for Adams, she asked to play Octopussy as a European woman and was granted this, but on the title character's name, she felt the producers "went too far".
Octopussy is also the first movie to have Robert Brown as M, which was due to the death of Bernard Lee
Bernard Lee
John Bernard Lee was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven James Bond films.-Life and career:...
in 1981. Desmond Llewelyn
Desmond Llewelyn
Desmond Wilkinson Llewelyn was a Welsh actor, famous for playing Q in 17 of the James Bond films between 1963 and 1999.-Early life:...
would get a larger role as Q
Q (James Bond)
Q is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. Q , like M, is a job title rather than a name. He is the head of Q Branch , the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service...
in this film. One of Bond's allies was played by Vijay Amritraj
Vijay Amritraj
Vijay Amritraj is a former Indian tennis player, sports commentator and actor.Amritraj was born in Chennai, India to Maggie Dhairyam and Robert Amritraj. He and his brothers, Anand Amritraj and Ashok Amritraj, were among the first Indians to play in top-flight international tour tennis...
, who was a professional tennis player. His character not only shares the same first name, but he is also the tennis pro at Kamal Khan's club, and he uses his tennis racket as a weapon during the auto rickshaw
Auto rickshaw
An auto rickshaw or three-wheeler is a usually three-wheeled cabin cycle for private use and as a vehicle for hire. It is a motorized version of the traditional pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw...
chase (accompanied by the sound of a tennis ball being hit and scenes of onlookers turning their heads left and right as if they are watching a tennis match).
There is a brief cameo appearance by Gary Russell
Gary Russell
Gary James Russell is a freelance writer and former child actor. As a writer, he is best known for his work in connection with the television series Doctor Who and its spin-offs in other media...
as a teenager in a car. Russell had been a popular child actor as "Dick" in the TV series The Famous Five
The Famous Five (1970s TV series)
The Famous Five is a British television series based on the children's books of the same name by Enid Blyton. It was broadcast on ITV over two series in 1978 and 1979. It was produced by Southern Television in 26 half-hour episodes.- Production :...
.
Filming
The filming of Octopussy began on 10 August 1982 with the scene in which Bond arrives at Checkpoint CharlieCheckpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War....
. Principal photography was done by Arthur Wooster and his second unit, who later filmed the knife-throwing scenes. Most of the film was shot in Udaipur
Udaipur, Rajasthan
Udaipur , also known as the City of Lakes, is a city, a Municipal Council and the administrative headquarters of the Udaipur district in the state of Rajasthan in western India. It is located southwest of the state capital, Jaipur, west of Kota, and northeast from Ahmedabad...
, India and the Monsoon Palace
Monsoon Palace
The Monsoon Palace, formerly known as the Sajjan Garh Palace, is a hilltop palatial residence in the city of Udaipur, Rajasthan in India, overlooking the lake Pichola. It is named as Sajjangarh after Maharana Sajjan Singh of the Mewar Dynasty, who built it in 1884. It offers a panoramic view of...
was shot extensively in the film. In England the RAF Northolt
RAF Northolt
RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station situated in South Ruislip, east by northeast of Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. Approximately north of London Heathrow Airport, the station also handles a large number of private civil flights...
, RAF Upper Heyford
RAF Upper Heyford
RAF Upper Heyford was a Royal Air Force station located north-west of Bicester near the village of Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, England. The base was brought into use for flying in July 1918 by the Royal Flying Corps. During World War II it was used by many units of the RAF, mainly as a training...
and RAF Oakley
RAF Oakley
RAF Oakley was a World War II three-runway airfield between Oakley and Worminghall, Buckinghamshire. It was located in a flat, damp wooded area.-World War II usage:...
were the main locations. The Karl-Marx-Stadt railways scenes were shot at the Nene Valley Railway
Nene Valley Railway
The Nene Valley Railway is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is currently seven and a half miles in length...
, near Peterborough
Peterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
, while studio work was performed at the Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
and 007 Stage. Most of the crew as well as Roger Moore had diet problems while shooting in India.
Homebuilt aircraft
Also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, homebuilt aircraft are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch," from plans, or from assembly kits.-Overview:...
Bede BD-5J aircraft through an open hangar. Hollywood stunt pilot and aerial coordinator J.W. "Corkey" Fornoff, who piloted the aircraft at more than 150 miles per hour, has said, "Today, few directors would consider such a stunt. They'd just whip it up in a computer lab." Having collapsible wings, the plane was shown hidden in a horse trailer; however, a dummy was used for this shot. Filming inside the hangar was achieved by attaching the aircraft to an old Jaguar
Jaguar
The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...
car by a steel pole with the roof torn off and driving along. The second unit were able to add enough obstacles including people and objects inside the hangar to hide the car and the pole and make it look as though Moore was flying inside the base. For the explosion after the mini jet escapes however, a miniature of the hangar was constructed and filmed up close. The exploding pieces of the hangar were in reality only four inches in length. A Mercedes-Benz saloon
Mercedes-Benz W108
The Mercedes-Benz W108 and W109 were luxury cars built by Mercedes-Benz from 1965 through 1972. The line was an update of the predecessor W111 and W112 fintail sedans. The cars were successful in West Germany and in export markets that included including North America and Southeast Asia...
car was stolen by Bond and used to chase the train — having had his tires shot out, Bond drove on the rails and entered the train. During filming, the car had intact tires in one scene so as to avoid any mishap.
The bicyclist seen passing in the middle of a swordfight during the tuk tuk chase sequence was in fact a bystander who passed through the shot, oblivious to the filming; his intrusion was captured by two cameras and left in the final film as an unscheduled stunt. Cameraman Alan Hume's last scene was that of Octopussy's followers rowing. That day, little time was left and it was decided to film the sunset at the eleventh hour when Hume reacted, "Oh, just shoot the bloody thing!"
The Fabergé egg in the film is real; it was made in 1897 and is called the Coronation Egg
Coronation (Fabergé egg)
The Imperial Coronation Egg is a jewelled Fabergé egg made under the supervision of the Russian jeweller Peter Carl Fabergé in 1897 by Fabergé ateliers, Mikhail Perkhin and Henrik Wigstrom. The egg was made to commemorate the 1896 Coronation of Czar Nicholas II...
, although the egg in the film is named in the auction catalogue as "Property of a Lady", which is the name of one of Ian Fleming's short stories released in more recent editions of the collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights.
In a bit of diegesis
Diegesis
Diegesis is a style of representation in fiction and is:# the world in which the situations and events narrated occur; and# telling, recounting, as opposed to showing, enacting.In diegesis the narrator tells the story...
that "breaks the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
", Vijay signals his affiliation to MI6 by playing the James Bond Theme
James Bond Theme
The "James Bond Theme" is the main signature theme of the James Bond films and has featured in every Eon Productions Bond film since Dr. No. The piece has been used as an accompanying fanfare to the gun barrel sequence in almost every James Bond film....
on a recorder while Bond is disembarking from a boat in the harbour near the City Palace. Like his fictional counterpart, the real Vijay had a distinct fear of snakes and found difficulty holding the basket during filming.
The scene where Khan tries to cheat at backgammon is adapted from the Bond novel Moonraker, where Hugo Drax cheats at contract bridge
Contract bridge
Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...
. The scene is also quite similar to the scene in Goldfinger
Goldfinger (film)
Goldfinger is the third spy film in the James Bond series and the third to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1964, it is based on the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. The film also stars Honor Blackman as Bond girl Pussy Galore and Gert Fröbe as the title...
, where Bond defeats Goldfinger by using his lucky golf ball, which Oddjob crushes (just as Gobinda does with the dice). A line where Khan tells Bond to spend his money quickly is also a direct quotation from this novel (However, Drax addresses Bond as "Commander Bond" and Khan calls him "Mr. Bond").
Music
The score was composed by John BarryJohn Barry (composer)
John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987...
, with the lyrics by Tim Rice
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...
. The opening theme, "All Time High
All Time High
"All Time High" is a 1983 single release by Rita Coolidge introduced as the theme song for the James Bond film Octopussy.-Background:"All Time High" marked the return of regular James Bond theme composer John Barry after his absence from the For Your Eyes Only soundtrack...
" is sung by Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American vocalist. During the 1970s and 1980s, she charted hits on Billboard's Pop, Country, Adult Contemporary and Jazz charts.-Career:...
, and is one of six musical themes in the James Bond series that do not refer to the film's title, the other five being Dr. No
Dr. No (film)
Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...
(1962), "We Have All the Time in the World
We Have All the Time in the World
"We Have All the Time in the World" is a James Bond theme and popular song sung by Louis Armstrong. Its music was composed by John Barry and the lyrics by Hal David. It is a secondary musical theme in 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the title theme being the instrumental "On...
" from On Her Majesty's Secret Service
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the sixth spy film in the James Bond series, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. Following the decision of Sean Connery to retire from the role after You Only Live Twice, Eon Productions selected an unknown actor and model, George Lazenby...
(1969), "Nobody Does It Better
Nobody Does It Better
"Nobody Does It Better" is a power ballad composed by Marvin Hamlisch with lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager. It was recorded by Carly Simon as the theme song for the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. It was the first Bond theme song to be titled differently from the name of the film, although...
" from The Spy Who Loved Me
The Spy Who Loved Me (film)
The Spy Who Loved Me is a spy film, the tenth film in the James Bond series, and the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional secret agent James Bond. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and the screenplay was written by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum...
(1977) (although the song's lyrics do include the phrase, "the spy who loved me"), the song "You Know My Name
You Know My Name
"You Know My Name," performed by Chris Cornell, is the theme song to the 2006 James Bond film, Casino Royale. Cornell wrote it jointly with David Arnold, the soundtrack's composer. The film producers went after Cornell because they wanted a strong male singer...
" from Casino Royale
Casino Royale (2006 film)
Casino Royale is the twenty-first film in the James Bond film series and the first to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond...
(2006), and "Another Way to Die
Another Way to Die
"Another Way to Die" is a song by American rock musician and singer Jack White and American R&B/soul singer Alicia Keys. Written and produced by White as the theme song to the 2008 James Bond film Quantum of Solace, it was released as a single in the United States on September 30, 2008 and in...
" from Quantum of Solace (2008). "All Time High" spent four weeks at #1 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary singles chart and reached #36 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The soundtrack album was released in 1985 by A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
, the compact disc version of was recalled due to a colour printing error which omitted the credits from the album cover making it a rare collector's item. In 1997, the soundtrack was re-issued by Rykodisc
Rykodisc
Rykodisc Records is an American record label. It is owned by Warner Music Group, operates as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.-Company history:...
, with the original soundtrack music and some film dialogue, on an Enhanced CD
Enhanced CD
Enhanced CD, also known as CD Extra and CD Plus, is a certification mark of the Recording Industry Association of America for various technologies that combine audio and computer data for use in both Compact Disc and CD-ROM players....
version. The 2003 release, by EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, restored the original soundtrack music without dialogue.
Release and reception
Octopussys premiere took place at the Odeon Leicester SquareOdeon Leicester Square
The Odeon Leicester Square is a cinema which occupies the centre of the eastern side of Leicester Square, London, dominating the square with its huge black polished granite facade and high tower displaying its name. Blue neon outlines the exterior of the building at night. It was built to be the...
on 6 June 1983 in the company of Prince Charles
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
and Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
. Within five months of its premiere, it was released in 16 countries worldwide. The film earned slightly less than For Your Eyes Only
For Your Eyes Only (film)
For Your Eyes Only is the twelfth spy film in the James Bond series and the fifth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It marked the directorial debut of John Glen, who had worked as editor and second unit director in three other Bond films. The screenplay by Richard Maibaum...
, but still grossing $187,500,000, with $67.8 million in the United States alone. It also performed slightly better than Never Say Never Again
Never Say Never Again
Never Say Never Again is a 1983 spy film based on the James Bond novel Thunderball, which was previously filmed in 1965 as Thunderball...
, the non-Eon Bond remake of Thunderball
Thunderball (film)
Thunderball is the fourth spy film in the James Bond series starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original screenplay by Jack Whittingham...
which came out a few months later.
Currently the film has received mixed reviews. Some reviewers disliked Bond's clown costume, gorilla outfit, and Tarzan yell during a jungle chase. One review claimed that it was long and confusing. By contrast, Louis Jourdan's "suave" performance, the elegance of the film locations in India, and the stunts on aircraft and the train were appreciated. Jeffrey Westhoff at Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
praised Roger Moore as being "sterling". Neal Gabler
Neal Gabler
Neal Gabler is a professor, journalist, author, film critic and political commentator.He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Michigan and holds advanced degrees in film and American culture.-Journalist:...
and Jeffrey Lyons
Jeffrey Lyons (television critic)
Jeffrey Lyons is an American television and film critic.-Life and career:Lyons was born in New York City, one of the four sons of Sylvia and Leonard Lyons...
at the TV-show Sneak Previews
Sneak Previews
Sneak Previews was an American film review show, running for over two decades on Public Broadcasting Service . It was created by WTTW, a PBS affiliate in Chicago, Illinois. It premiered on September 4, 1975 as a monthly local-only show called Opening Soon at a Theater Near You, and was renamed in...
praised the film and said "Octopussy delivers" and "The nice thing about Octopussy is that it's going back-to-basics, less gadgets, more hand-to-hand combat. It's more of an adventure movie in a more traditional sense and I like it for that". Danny Peary
Danny Peary
Danny Peary is an American film critic and sports writer. He has written many books on cinema and sports-related topics.-Biography:...
wrote that Octopussy "has slow spots, little humour, and villains who aren’t nearly of the calibre of Dr. No, Goldfinger
Auric Goldfinger
Auric Goldfinger is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond film and novel Goldfinger. His first name, Auric, is an adjective meaning of gold...
, or Blofeld
Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a fictional character and a supervillain from the James Bond series of novels and films, who was created by Ian Fleming and Kevin McClory. An evil genius with aspirations of world domination, he is the archenemy of the British Secret Service agent James Bond and is arguably...
. Also, the filmmakers make the mistake of demeaning Bond by having him swing through the trees and emitting a Tarzan cry and having him hide in a gorilla suit and later disguise himself as a clown (whom all the kids at the circus laugh at). It’s as if they’re trying to remind us that everything is tongue-in-cheek, but that makes little sense, for the film is much more serious than typical Bond outings – in fact, it recalls the tone of From Russia with Love." Entertainment Weekly chose Octopussy as the third worst Bond film, while Norman Wilner of MSN
MSN
MSN is a collection of Internet sites and services provided by Microsoft. The Microsoft Network debuted as an online service and Internet service provider on August 24, 1995, to coincide with the release of the Windows 95 operating system.The range of services offered by MSN has changed since its...
chose it as the eighth worst, and IGN chose it as the seventh worst. The review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 47% rating.
Octopussy was nominated for an Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Award, with Maud Adams
Maud Adams
Maud Solveig Christina Wikström , known professionally as Maud Adams, is a Swedish actress, known for her roles as two different Bond girls: in The Man with the Golden Gun , and as the title character in Octopussy .-Early life:Adams was born Maud Solveig Christina Wikström in Luleå, Sweden, the...
nominated for the Saturn Award in the Best Fantasy Supporting Actress category. Chris Nashawaty also ranks her as the best Bond girl
Bond girl
A Bond girl is a character or actress portraying a love interest, of James Bond in a film, novel, or video game. They occasionally have names that are double entendres or puns, such as "Pussy Galore", "Plenty O'Toole", "Xenia Onatopp", or "Holly Goodhead"...
of the Roger Moore James Bond films. The film won the Golden Screen Award in Germany and the Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing
Motion Picture Sound Editors
Founded in 1953, Motion Picture Sound Editors is an honorary society of motion picture sound editors. The society's goals are to educate others about and increase the recognition of the sound editors, show the artistic merit of the soundtracks, and improve the professional relationship of its...
.
Broadcast television versions
When Octopussy made its American broadcast network television debut on ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in 1986, 30 seconds were cut. Meanwhile, in some TV versions, certain sections of the title credit sequence have been blackened out to obscure some of the more revealing bits of nudity.
See also
- Differences between James Bond novels and filmsDifferences between James Bond novels and filmsThe James Bond novels, written by English author, journalist and World War II intelligence officer Ian Fleming, and the later James Bond films, often differ in tone and detail, a trend which increased with each new movie production. The James Bond novels, written mainly in the 1950s and early...
- List of James Bond henchmen