Join the Chickenman as he chops up and serves Octopussy, made to order. Thrasher finishes off the Moore era next.
After watching a series of consecutive Roger Moore Bond films, some things seem to stand out as routine (one even might go so far as to say mundane). At one point, just before bedding Octopussy's right hand woman who talks of scrap booking and collecting memories, he actually says, "Let's get on with making a few," in a way such that he might have well said, "Let's get this over with." And so goes the "relationships" Moore-Bond has with women. He doesn't seem to particularly enjoy them or their company; they are simply there. Thrasher's description of Moore as "upper crusty" from the outtakes of Podcast 4 seems to apply here: Bond uses one of Q's camera gadgets to zoom in on the cleavage of a woman in Q's lab. One can hardly imagine Connery-Bond doing such a juvenile act. Moore-Bond acts as though he has an upper-class upbringing but seems to lack any class. Very unlike Bond, in my abstract conception of him.
As well, other things that plague the Moore-Bond are clear and present. A criticism I've made in the past is that Moore-Bond should be dead several times over; that he isn't is less due to his survival skills than it is to incredible luck and incompetent enemies. He certainly gets captured often, sometimes more than once in the same movie. He does so in the very first scene in Octopussy, yet escapes with nonchalant ease. The reason they don't kill him on the spot could be because they want to uphold the rule of law and try him before executing him, but it seems like an unwarranted favor. When pinned to a door with throwing knives wielded by one of the pair that killed 009, he is able to avoid being stabbed because for some reason his enemy has to stab him by hand instead of by throwing the knife. Perhaps this could be explained by his wanting to get a more intimate revenge, but clearly blind luck is on Moore-Bond's side. Other events just make things silly. At one point, Moore-Bond needs to diffuse a nuclear bomb at a circus. The circus is on a U.S. military base and, being in a hurry, he blasts past security and goes to hide. In his hiding spot, which happens to be a trailer for the clowns, he commandeers a disguise. Besides the fact that seeing Bond in a clown costume is a bit off-putting, the fact that he took the time to put on makeup when there is a bomb about to go off seems like a very unwise decision. It doesn't seem like he was forced into this decision and the dramatic effect suffers.
There are, however, some positives to this installment in the series. The biggest one is that Q assumes a rather large role, actually participating in field operations (as well as being more of a ladies man than Moore-Bond). Also good was Kamal Khan's henchman, Gobinda, who resembles Odd Job in his strong, silent demeanor; seeming much more of a worthy adversary than Hugo Drax's Chang (though this image of him was somewhat ruined by the fact that he was defeated by an antenna). I also quite liked Bond's Indian sidekick, Vijay, but as Quarrel was in Dr. No,, he was apparently expendale and suffered a brutal death.
Overall, besides its silly title, Octopussy is one of the less memorable moments in the Bond franchise.
As well, other things that plague the Moore-Bond are clear and present. A criticism I've made in the past is that Moore-Bond should be dead several times over; that he isn't is less due to his survival skills than it is to incredible luck and incompetent enemies. He certainly gets captured often, sometimes more than once in the same movie. He does so in the very first scene in Octopussy, yet escapes with nonchalant ease. The reason they don't kill him on the spot could be because they want to uphold the rule of law and try him before executing him, but it seems like an unwarranted favor. When pinned to a door with throwing knives wielded by one of the pair that killed 009, he is able to avoid being stabbed because for some reason his enemy has to stab him by hand instead of by throwing the knife. Perhaps this could be explained by his wanting to get a more intimate revenge, but clearly blind luck is on Moore-Bond's side. Other events just make things silly. At one point, Moore-Bond needs to diffuse a nuclear bomb at a circus. The circus is on a U.S. military base and, being in a hurry, he blasts past security and goes to hide. In his hiding spot, which happens to be a trailer for the clowns, he commandeers a disguise. Besides the fact that seeing Bond in a clown costume is a bit off-putting, the fact that he took the time to put on makeup when there is a bomb about to go off seems like a very unwise decision. It doesn't seem like he was forced into this decision and the dramatic effect suffers.
There are, however, some positives to this installment in the series. The biggest one is that Q assumes a rather large role, actually participating in field operations (as well as being more of a ladies man than Moore-Bond). Also good was Kamal Khan's henchman, Gobinda, who resembles Odd Job in his strong, silent demeanor; seeming much more of a worthy adversary than Hugo Drax's Chang (though this image of him was somewhat ruined by the fact that he was defeated by an antenna). I also quite liked Bond's Indian sidekick, Vijay, but as Quarrel was in Dr. No,, he was apparently expendale and suffered a brutal death.
Overall, besides its silly title, Octopussy is one of the less memorable moments in the Bond franchise.
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