James Bond (Agent 007) must investigate the murder of a fellow agent who was clutching a priceless Fabergé egg at the time of his death. The trail leads to the mysterious Octopussy, whose traveling circus features a company of gorgeous, athletic women. Bond and Octopussy share a passionate attraction, but soon 007 discovers that the elegant Kamal Khan is working with a mad Russian officer to hurl mankind into World War III. As Bond tries to stop the nightmarish scheme, his exploits include a tense chase through the streets of India, a deadly brawl on top of a speeding train, and a treacherous mid-air knife fight on an airplane wing. (Synopsis from Hollywood.com)

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Damned Rodan's Album Review

Rating (out of 5):

Unlike the minimalist packaging of EMI soundtrack releases, Ryko put together an attractive booklet to accompany the Octopussy CD, featuring plenty of photos, reasonably informative liner notes, and a small foldout movie poster. In addition, the CD includes a few snippets of dialogue from the film and a few video extras, including the British movie trailer.

Octopussy is a mixed bag, to say the least, and upon my first viewing of the film in 1983, my immediate reaction was that it had just displaced Moonraker as the worst Bond flick of all time. After subsequent viewings, I eventually decided that the movie isn't as bad as all that, but without a doubt, there are low points aplenty, and the level to which they descend is abysmal indeed. From the asinine Tarzan yell as Bond swings on a vine; to his admonishing an attacking tiger to "SIT!"; to his disarming of a nuclear bomb while dressed as Bozo; to the farcical harem-cum-ninja raid on Kamal Khan's (Louis Jourdan) stronghold; to Bond's presumably hair-raising ride on the outside of Khan's airplane (which comes complete with fuselage handrails), where Khan orders his henchman Gorbinda (Kabir Bedi) to "go out and get him"; idiocy abounds. It's all the more disappointing considering the positive strides that director John Glen had taken with the mostly excellent For Your Eyes Only.

On the more appealing side, the film does offer some clever homages to the best of Bond. Rather than the traditional exchange of passwords as Bond meets his contact in India, a flute plays a few notes of the James Bond theme, which he appears to recognize. It's an amusing moment that reflects the more subtle humor for which the Bond films ought to be known. Kamal Khan himself proves to be a formidable enemy, played with style and obvious good humor by Louis Jourdan. His best line is after the destruction of what is supposed to be a fake Fabergé egg, but which is, in fact, the real thing. Seething with obviously restrained fury, Khan orders his minion to "Get Bond!" Short and sweet, but so convincing that for a moment we actually worry for our hero. Gorbinda, as a secondary villain, is wonderfully menacing, yet his presence is often undermined by the mediocrity of the script. The scene where he crushes Khan's (loaded) dice in his hand might have worked better if it hadn't been presented as a novelty. We've seen it all before, and done better. If Bond had quipped, "I saw a chap do that to a golf ball once," it might have at least been amusing.

The title song, "All Time High," sung by Rita Coolidge, is my least favorite Barry tune. That's not to say it's all that bad; it's not. But compared to his other romantic title themes, such as You Only Live Twice or Moonraker, its perfectly tepid. Rita Coolidge's range is limited in the first place, and her bland delivery (I suppose it was meant to be "sultry") hardly makes for a compelling introduction to the film; if the line "we're an all-time high" is supposed to build up our expectations, we're all the more let down by the foolish direction the film insists on taking.

The better part of the Barry score, however, is top-notch, with liberal usage of the Bond theme, such as in "Bond Look Alike" (the scoring for the pre-credits sequence) and "009 Gets the Knife and Gorbinda Attacks." The latter track is a superb piece with a rousing action theme, which is repeated numerous times during the film, including tracks 11 ("Yo-Yo Fight and Death of Vijay") and 13 ("The Palace Fight"). As in all his scores for Roger's Moore's films, Barry uses the orchestra for the traditional guitar verse in the Bond theme. It's well-done enough, reflecting Moore's "suave" approach to the role, in contrast to Connery's more rugged interpretation, but I certainly prefer the harder-edged sound of Vic Flick in action.

"That's My Little Octopussy"—a very silly title for a somehow not-so-silly line delivered by Magda (Kristina Wayborn, who is, incidentally, one of the hottest Bond girls ever to grace the screen)—consists of a typically lyrical rendition of the main theme, dominated by strings and woodwinds; its orchestration foreshadows the virtually identical arrangement of the soft instrumental version of A View to a Kill, Barry's penultimate Bond score. "Bond Meets Octopussy" extends the instrumental theme to a later moment in the film.

"Arrival at the Land of Octopussy" evokes a dark, foreboding atmosphere, oddly featuring a line of percussion lifted almost note for note from "Hip's Trip" in The Man With the Golden Gun. Suspense continues to build in "Bond at the Monsoon Palace," a soft track that successfully maintains tension as Bond surreptitiously explores Kamal Khan's fortress.

Action themes round out the soundtrack, with "The Yo-Yo Fight and Death of Vijay," "The Chase Bomb Theme;" and "The Palace Fight." The latter is deservedly the longest cut on the album, dominated by the movie's signature action theme and the Bond theme itself. The ending version of "All Time High" is exactly the same as the opening title.

Despite its serious flaws, Octopussy became the second largest grossing Bond film in America and insured another film for Moore as Bond—his last, although by now not a few fans were saying "It's about time."

12/27/12 16:44:01

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Film Credits
Producer: Albert R. Broccoli
Associate Producer: Tom Pevsner
Executive Producer: Michael G. Wilson
Director: John Glen
Screenplay: George MacDonald Fraser, Richard Maibaum, Michael G. Wilson (based on stories by Ian Fleming)
Cinematography: Alan Hume
Film Editors: Peter Davies, Henry Richardson
Production Designer: Peter Lamont
Title Designer: Maurice Binder
Music: John Barry; Monty Norman (James Bond Theme); Tim Rice (Title Song Lyrics)
Title Song Sung by Rita Coolidge
Film Running Time: 131 minutes

Cast
James Bond: Roger Moore
Octopussy: Maud Adams
Kamal Khan: Louis Jourdan
Magda: Kristina Wayborn
Gorbinda: Kabir Bedi
Orlov: Steven Berkoff
Mischka: David Meyer
Grischka: Tony Meyer
M: Robert Brown
Q: Desmond Llewelyn
Moneypenny: Lois Maxwell
Penelope Smallbone: Michaela Clavell
General Anatol Gogol: Walter Gotell
Vijay: Vijay Amritraj
Sadruddin: Albert Moses
Sir Frederick Gray, Minister of Defence: Geoffrey Keen
009: Andy Bradford
Sotheby's Auctioneer: Philip Voss
U.S. General: Bruce Boa
U.S. Aide: Richard LeParmentier
Soviet Chairman: Paul Hardwick
Gwendoline: Suzanne Jerome
Midge: Cherry Gillespie
Kamp: Dermot Crowley
Lenkin, Forger: Peter Porteous
Rublevitch: Eva Reuber-Staier
Smithers: Jeremy Bulloch
Bianca: Tina Hudson
Thug with Yo-yo: William Derrick
Maj. Clive: Stuart Saunders
British Ambassador: Patrick Barr
Borchoi: Gabor Vernon
Karl: Hugo Bower
Col. Toro: Ken Norris
 

CD Tracks

1.  Main Title: All Time High (3:00) 2.  Bond Look Alike (3:00) 3.  Miss Penelope (0:30)* 4.  009 Gets the Knife and Gorbinda Attacks (3:06) 5.  That's My Little Octopussy (3:14) 6.  Arrival at the Island of Octopussy (3:24) 7.  Introducing Mr. Bond (0:09)*

8.  Bond at the Monsoon Palace (3:03)   9.  Bond Meets Octopussy (3:37) 10.  Poison Pen (0:35)* 11.  Yo Yo Fight and the Death of Vijay (3:45) 12.  The Chase Bomb Theme (1:55) 13.  The Palace Fight (4:35) 14.  End Title: All Time High (3:00)

*Sound clips from the film on the Ryko disc release.
 

Lyrics

All Time High
Lyrics by Tim Rice
Sung by Rita Coolidge

All I wanted was a sweet distraction for an hour or two.
Had no intention to do the things we've done.
Funny how it always goes with love, when you don't look, you find.
But then we're two of a kind, we move as one.

We're an all time high.
We'll change all that's gone before.
Doing so much more than falling in love.
On an all time high,
We'll take on the world and wait.
So hold on tight, let the flight begin.

I don't want to waste a waking moment; I don't want to sleep.
I'm in so strong and so deep, and so are you.
In my time I've said these words before, but now I realize
My heart was telling me lies. For you they're true.

We're an all time high.
We'll change all that's gone before.
Doing so much more than falling in love.
On an all time high,
We'll take on the world and wait.
So hold on tight, let the flight begin.

So hold on tight, let the flight begin.
We're an all time high.