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Octopussy

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Octopussy 1983 poster 6

Octopussy is a 1983 British spy film and the thirteenth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions; the sixth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by John Glen and the screenplay was written by George MacDonald Fraser, Richard Maibaum and Michael G. Wilson.

The film's title is taken from a short story in Ian Fleming's 1966 short story collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights, although the film's plot is mostly original. It does, however, contain a scene adapted from the Fleming short story "The Property of a Lady" (included in 1967 and later editions of Octopussy and The Living Daylights). The events of the short story "Octopussy" form part of the title character's background and are recounted by her in the film.

Octopussy was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson; it was released four months before the non-Eon Bond film Never Say Never Again. The film earned $187.5 million against its $27.5 million budget and received mixed reviews. Praise was directed towards the action sequences and locations, with the plot and humour being targeted for criticism; Maud Adams's portrayal of the title character also drew polarised responses.

Storyline[]

Plot[]

James Bond is assigned to solve the murder of agent 009, killed in East Germany clutching a fake Fabergé egg. The trail leads to India, where an enigmatic woman operates a smuggling ring under the cover of a travelling circus. However, her real motives prove to be far more sinister, and Bond uncovers a plot to blow up a US Air Force base in West Germany.

Genres[]

  • Action
  • Spy
  • Adventure
  • Thriller
  • Mystery

Motion Picture Rating[]

  • 13 (Argentina)
  • PG (Australia)
  • NRC (Australia) (original rating)
  • Livre (Brazil)
  • PG (Canada) (Manitoba/Ontario)
  • A (Canada) (Nova Scotia)
  • G (Canada) (Quebec)
  • PG (Canada) (TV rating)
  • 12 (Czechia) (Cinemax)
  • 15 (Denmark) (DVD and Blu-ray rating)
  • K-16 (Finland)
  • K-15/13 (Finland)
  • K-16/13 (Finland)
  • Tous publics (France)
  • II (Hong Kong)
  • 12 (Iceland)
  • UA (India)
  • PG (Ireland)
  • T (Italy)
  • G (Japan) (2015)
  • P13 (Malaysia)
  • B (Mexico) (original rating)
  • A (Mexico) (re-rating)
  • 12 (Norway) (recommended rating)
  • 16 (Norway) (1983, cinema rating)
  • 14 (Peru)
  • 16 (Poland) (self-applied)
  • M/12 (Portugal)
  • 12+ (Russia)
  • PG (Singapore)
  • PG (South Africa)
  • 15 (South Korea)
  • 13 (Spain) (Catalonia, TV rating)
  • A (Spain) (ICAA)
  • 15 (Sweden)
  • 7A (Turkey) (self-applied)
  • PG (UK)
  • PG (UK) (re-rating)
  • PG (UK) (1986, video rating)
  • PG (USA)
  • 12 (West Germany) (f)

Images[]

Cast and Crew[]

Director[]

  • John Glen

Writing Credits[]

  • George MacDonald Fraser (screen story by) and
  • Richard Maibaum (screen story by) and
  • Michael G. Wilson (screen story by)

Cast[]

  • Roger Moore - James Bond
  • Maud Adams - Octopussy
  • Louis Jourdan - Kamal Khan
  • Kristina Wayborn - Magda
  • Kabir Bedi - Gobinda
  • Steven Berkoff - Orlov
  • David Meyer - Twin One
  • Tony Meyer - Twin Two (as Anthony Meyer)
  • Desmond Llewelyn - Q
  • Robert Brown - M
  • Lois Maxwell - Miss Moneypenny
  • Michaela Clavell - Penelope Smallbone
  • Walter Gotell - Gogol
  • Vijay Amritraj - Vijay
  • Albert Moses - Sadruddin
  • Douglas Wilmer - Fanning
  • Andy Bradford - 009
  • Philip Voss - Auctioneer
  • Bruce Boa - U.S. General
  • Richard LeParmentier - U.S. Aide (as Richard Parmentier)
  • Paul Hardwick - Soviet Chairman
  • Suzanne Jerome - Gwendoline
  • Cherry Gillespie - Midge
  • Dermot Crowley - Kamp
  • Peter Porteous - Lenkin
  • Eva Reuber-Staier - Rublevitch (as Eva Rueber-Staier)
  • Jeremy Bulloch - Smithers (as Jeremy Bullock)
  • Tina Hudson - Bianca
  • William Derrick - Thug with Yo-yo
  • Stuart Saunders - Major Clive
  • Patrick Barr - British Ambassador
  • Gabor Vernon - Borchoi
  • Hugo Bower - Karl
  • Ken Norris - Colonel Toro
  • Tony Arjuna - Mufti
  • Gertan Klauber - Bubi
  • Brenda Cowling - Schatzi
  • David Grahame - Petrol Pump Attendant
  • Brian Coburn - South American V.I.P.
  • Michael Halphie - South American Officer
  • Mary Stavin - Octopussy Girl
  • Carolyn Seaward - Octopussy Girl
  • Carole Ashby - Octopussy Girl
  • Cheryl Anne - Octopussy Girl
  • Jani-Z - Octopussy Girl
  • Julie Martin - Octopussy Girl
  • Joni Flynn - Octopussy Girl
  • Julie Barth - Octopussy Girl
  • Kathy Davies - Octopussy Girl
  • Helene Hunt - Octopussy Girl
  • Gillian De Terville - Octopussy Girl
  • Safira Afzal - Octopussy Girl
  • Louise King - Octopussy Girl
  • Tina Robinson Hansen - Octopussy Girl (as Tina Robinson)
  • Alison Worth - Octopussy Girl
  • Janine Andrews - Octopussy Girl
  • Lynda Knight - Octopussy Girl
  • Suzanne Dando - Gymnast Supervisor
  • Teresa Craddock - Gymnast
  • Kirsten Harrison - Gymnast
  • Christine Cullers - Gymnast
  • Lisa Jackman - Gymnast
  • Jane Aldridge - Gymnast
  • Christine Gibson - Gymnast
  • Tracy Llewellyn - Gymnast
  • Ruth Flynn - Gymnast
  • Roberto Germains - Ringmaster
  • Richard Graydon - Francisco the Fearless
  • The Hassani Troupe - The Circus
  • The Flying Cherokees - The Circus
  • Carol Richter - The Circus
  • Josef Richter - The Circus
  • Vera Fossett - The Circus
  • Shirley Fossett - The Circus
  • Barrie Winship - The Circus
  • Ravinder Singh Reyett - Thug
  • Gurdial Sira - Thug
  • Michael Moor - Thug
  • Sven Surtees - Thug
  • Peter Edmund - Thug
  • Ray Charles - Thug
  • Talib Johnny - Thug

Other Cast (in alphabetical order)[]

  • Lewis Alexander - Man at Udaiper Hotel Bar (uncredited)
  • Alan Austen - Russian Soldier (uncredited)
  • R.J. Bell - German Man in Circus (uncredited)
  • Russell Brook - Soviet Solider (uncredited)
  • Ken Burns - East German Bodyguard (uncredited)
  • Ishaq Bux - Fakir (uncredited)
  • Rodney Cardiff - Auction Patron (uncredited)
  • Gary John Clarke - German border train passenger (uncredited)
  • Les Conrad - East German Policeman (uncredited)
  • Kenneth Coombs - American Serviceman (uncredited)
  • Barbie Denham - Russian Soldier (uncredited)
  • Sally Dewhurst - Circus Personnel (uncredited)
  • Otto Friese - Auction Patron (uncredited)
  • Ron Gregory - Passer-by outside Sotherby's (uncredited)
  • Sneh Gupta - Hotel Guide (uncredited)
  • Reg Harding - Fisherman in Boat (uncredited)
  • Mike Havord - Auction Patron (uncredited)
  • Mark Heap - Fire Juggler (uncredited)
  • Bill Hemmings - Auction Patron (uncredited)
  • Walter Henry - Aide (uncredited)
  • Jennifer Hill - Ambrassador's wife. (uncredited)
  • Nick Hobbs - South American Soldier (uncredited)
  • Lew Hooper - Doctor Octopussy (uncredited)
  • Gerry Judge - Auction Patron (uncredited)
  • Eric Kent - Soviet Board Member (uncredited)
  • Michael Leader - Auction Patron (uncredited)
  • Arnold Lee - Auction Patron (uncredited)
  • Aileen Lewis - Woman at Udaipur Hotel Bar (uncredited)
  • Eugene Lipinski - Head VOPO (uncredited)
  • Derek Lyons - US Air Force Base Officer (uncredited)
  • Jay McGrath - Auction Patron (uncredited)
  • Cathy Munroe - Circus Guest (uncredited)
  • Gerald Paris - Auction Patron (uncredited)
  • Ingrid Pitt - Galley Mistress (voice) (uncredited)
  • Charles Price - Soviet Security Council Member (uncredited)
  • Lenny Rabin - Bidder at Sotheby's (uncredited)
  • Reggae Ranjhe - Guard (uncredited)
  • Mike Reynell - Auction Patron (uncredited)
  • Rochelle Rose - Young Girl at Circus (uncredited)
  • Peter Ross-Murray - Soldier (uncredited)
  • Gary Russell - Boy Teen in Car (uncredited)
  • Gito Santana - Killer (uncredited)
  • Bunny Seaman - Auction Patron (uncredited)
  • Tina Simmons - German Women in Circus (uncredited)
  • John Simpkin - American Soldier (uncredited)
  • Michael Skyers - Fighter (uncredited)
  • Ramon St. Clair - Auction Patron (uncredited)
  • Nicola Stapleton - Little Girl at Circus (uncredited)
  • John Tatham - Passerby (uncredited)
  • John Triplett - Auction Patron (uncredited)
  • Michael G. Wilson - Soviet Security Council Member / Man on Tour Boat (uncredited)

Producers[]

  • Albert R. Broccoli (produced by)
  • Michael G. Wilson (executive producer)
  • Tom Pevsner (associate producer) (as Thomas Pevsner)

Details[]

Countries[]

  • UK
  • USA

Language[]

  • English
  • Italian

Release Dates[]

  • June 7, 1983 (UK)
  • June 10, 1983 (Canada)
  • June 10, 1983 (USA)
  • June 24, 1983 (South Africa)
  • July 1, 1983 (Hong Kong)
  • July 1, 1983 (Ireland)
  • July 2, 1983 (Japan)
  • July 7, 1983 (Netherlands)
  • July 23, 1983 (Sweden)
  • August 5, 1983 (Austria)
  • August 5, 1983 (Switzerland)
  • August 5, 1983 (West Germany)
  • August 12, 1983 (Finland)
  • August 15, 1983 (Denmark)
  • August 19, 1983 (Norway)
  • August 30, 1983 (Philippines) (Davao)
  • September 8, 1983 (Spain)
  • September 12, 1983 (Spain) (Barcelona)
  • September 15, 1983 (Belgium) (Gent)
  • September 15, 1983 (Brazil)
  • September 15, 1983 (Mexico)
  • September 15, 1983 (Peru)
  • October 5, 1983 (France)
  • October 6, 1983 (Uruguay)
  • October 27, 1983 (Colombia)
  • October 27, 1983 (Portugal)
  • November 9, 1983 (Italy)
  • November 24, 1983 (Australia)
  • November 24, 1983 (Greece)
  • July 29, 1984 (South Korea)
  • September 16, 1986 (Portugal) (Lisbon) (re-release)
  • January 1, 1987 (Turkey)
  • October 17, 2000 (Singapore) (DVD premiere)
  • March 1, 2010 (Czechia) (DVD premiere)
  • October 1, 2012 (United Arab Emirates) (DVD premiere)
  • March 8, 2013 (Poland) (DVD premiere)

Also Known As[]

  • Octopussy (original title)
  • Octopussy (Argentina)
  • 007: Octopussy (Australia) (video title)
  • Octopussy (Australia)
  • Octopussy (UK)
  • Octopussy (USA)

Production[]

Writing[]

Despite financial problems at United Artists after the release of Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate, the studio greenlit another James Bond film to be produced and released in 1982. In March 1983, one month after the announcement, UA was purchased and merged into Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Michael G. Wilson, Richard Maibaum, and George MacDonald Fraser were hired to write a film based on short stories from Ian Fleming's posthumous collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights. Little 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, adapted from the short story "The Property of a Lady" (included in 1967 and later editions of the collection), while Kamal Khan's reaction following the backgammon game is taken from Fleming's novel Moonraker. After initially intending the film to be set in Japan, Fraser chose India as the setting because of his extensive research on the country for his novel Flashman.

Fraser was hired to work on an early draft of the script and he proposed that the story be set in India, as the series had not yet visited said country. The first draft was delivered shortly after the release of For Your Eyes Only, whose writers Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum went on to rework the script. They discarded his idea for the opening sequence, featuring a motorbike chase set at the Isle of Man TT, but still retained moments that producer Albert R. Broccoli had first criticized, where Bond dressed as a gorilla and later, a clown. The film was rewritten to focus on jewelry smuggling after a scandal in the Soviet Union involving General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev's son Yuri Brezhnev manipulating the Moscow State Circus to smuggle jewelry.

Casting[]

Following For Your Eyes Only, Roger Moore had expressed a desire to retire from the role of James Bond. His original contract had been for three films (Live and Let Die in 1973, The Man with the Golden Gun in 1974 and The Spy Who Loved Me in 1977) which was fulfilled. Moore's following two films (Moonraker in 1979 and For Your Eyes Only in 1981) 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 Timothy Dalton and Lewis Collins being suggested as a replacement and screen tests carried out with Michael Billington, Oliver Tobias, and American actor James Brolin. However, when rival Bond production Never Say Never Again was announced, the producers persuaded Moore to continue in the role as it was thought the established actor would fare better against former Bond Sean Connery. It has been reported that Brolin had been hired and was actually on the point of moving to London to begin work on Octopussy at the time, while Broccoli refused to dispute Tobias's public statements that he was about to be cast as Bond.

Sybil Danning was announced in Prevue magazine in 1982 as being Octopussy, but was never actually cast, later explaining that Albert R. Broccoli felt "her personality was too strong". Faye Dunaway was deemed too expensive. Barbara Carrera said she turned down the role in order to play Fatima Blush in the competing Bond film Never Say Never Again. Casting director Jane Jenkins revealed that the Bond producers told her that they wanted a South Asian actress to play Octopussy, so she looked at the only two Indians in predominantly white Hollywood, Persis Khambatta and Susie Coelho. Afterward, she auditioned white actresses, like Barbara Parkins and Kathleen Turner, who she felt could pass for Indian. Finally, Broccoli announced to her that they would cast Swedish-born Maud Adams, who had been a Bond girl in The Man with the Golden Gun, and had been recently used by Eon to screen test the potential Bonds. To acknowledge the nationality, Adams had her hair darkened, and a few lines were added about how she was raised by an Indian family. A different plotline, with Adams's British father exposed as a traitor, was used instead. The role of Magda went to another Swedish actress, Kristina Wayborn, who the producers first noticed playing Greta Garbo in the miniseries The Silent Lovers.

Octopussy is also the first film to feature Robert Brown as M, following the death of Bernard Lee in 1981. Brown was recommended by Moore, who had known him since both worked in the series Ivanhoe. Brown had previously played Admiral Hargreaves in The Spy Who Loved Me, six years earlier.

The first actor to be cast in the film was Vijay Amritraj, a popular professional tennis player whom Broccoli met watching The Championships in Wimbledon. His character of Bond's ally in India was also named Vijay and used a tennis racket as a weapon. For the villains, Broccoli brought in his friend Louis Jourdan as Kamal Khan, while his daughter Barbara suggested Steven Berkoff for Orlov after having seen him perform his own play, Greek, in Los Angeles.

Filming[]

The filming of Octopussy began in West Berlin on 10 August 1982 with the scene in which Bond arrives at Checkpoint Charlie. Other locations from the city included Spandau Prison, the Brandenburg Gate, and Potsdamer Platz. Principal photography was done by Arthur Wooster and his second unit, who later filmed the knife-throwing scenes. Filming in India began on 12 September 1982 in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The Monsoon Palace served as the exterior of Kamal Khan's palace, while scenes set at Octopussy's palace were filmed at the Lake Palace and Jag Mandir, and Bond's hotel was the Shiv Niwas Palace. In England 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 in Peterborough, while studio work was performed at Pinewood Studios and the 007 Stage. Parts of the film were also shot in Hurricane Mesa, Hurricane-LaVerkin Bridge, and New Harmony in Utah. 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 co-ordinator J.W. "Corkey" Fornof, who piloted the aircraft at more than 150 miles per hour (240 km/h), 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 with a steel pole, driving with the roof removed. 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 (10 cm) long. Much later in the film, Bond steals a Mercedes-Benz saloon car at a depot defended by antagonist soldiers; as he tries to escape, he drives over barrier spikes which shred the vehicle's tyres and then manoeuvres his vehicle's bare wheels onto the rails to pursue Octopussy's circus train. During filming, the car had intact tyres in one scene so as to avoid any mishap.

Stunt coordinator 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 which the team had not properly surveyed. Shortly afterwards, a concrete pole fractured Grace's left leg. The cyclist seen passing in the middle of a sword fight during the baby taxi 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. 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.

The Fabergé egg in the film is based on a real one; made in 1897 and which was called the Coronation Egg. The egg in the film is listed in the auction catalogue as being "The 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 it difficult to hold the basket during filming.

Release and reception[]

Octopussy was the first Bond film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which had absorbed United Artists, the previous distributor of Eon Bond films. Octopussy premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square on 6 June 1983, with Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales in attendance. The film earned slightly less than For Your Eyes Only, but still grossed $187.5 million, with $67.8 million in the United States alone. It also performed better than Never Say Never Again, the non-Eon Bond remake of Thunderball which was released a few months later and gathered $55 million in North America. At the 11th Saturn Awards, Maud Adams was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. The film won the Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing. In Germany, it won the Golden Screen Award for selling over 3 million tickets.

Retrospective reviews[]

James Berardinelli claimed that the movie was long and confusing, and strongly criticised Steven Berkoff's performance, describing it as "offensively bad" and the worst performance of any Bond villain. A particular point of contention are comedic scenes where Bond is dressed in a clown costume, a gorilla outfit and doing a Tarzan yell during a jungle chase. As a result, it frequently ranks low in rankings of James Bond films, such as the ones by Entertainment Weekly, MSN, and IGN. C.J. Henderson reviewed Octopussy in The Space Gamer No. 65. Henderson commented that "there isn't a moment in the movie when we worry for the slightest instant that anything could happen to suave ol' James. Predictably, it doesn't. To kill Bond would be to lose the most bankable genre character ever brought to the movies." On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 43% based on 49 reviews with an average rating of 5.20/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Despite a couple of electrifying action sequences, Octopussy is a formulaic, anachronistic Bond outing."

By contrast, the elegance of the film locations in India, and the stunts on the aircraft and train were appreciated. GQ writer David Williams said Octopussy was "one of the best 'Bad Films' of the franchise", praising the entertaining characters but finding the silliness and Moore's advanced age problematic. 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 (who 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."

Character reviews[]

In 2006, Fandango ranked the character Octopussy as one of the top-10 Bond girls, and described her as "a powerful, impressive woman". Entertainment Weekly, however, ranked her as the 10th-worst Bond girl in one list in 2006 but as the best "babe" of the Roger Moore James Bond films in another list in 2008. A poll by Bond fans in 2008 elected Octopussy as the tenth-worst Bond Girl. Yahoo! Movies included the character in a 2012 list of the best Bond girl names, commenting: "This Bond girl moniker was so good, they named the film after her!"

Company Credits[]

Production Companies[]

Distributors[]

Technical Specs[]

Runtime[]

  • 131 mins

Color[]

  • Color

Sound Mix[]

  • 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)
  • Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints)
  • Dolby Surround 7.1

Aspect Ratio[]

  • 2.20:1 (70 mm prints)
  • 2.39:1
  • 4:3 (Pan & scan prints, along with the opening and closing credits in proper scope aspect ratio with black bars)

Trivia[]

  • The Fabergé egg which is stolen was made in 1898 and is entitled 'Lilies of the Valley', although its name not mentioned in the film. The egg contains a model of the imperial state coach.
  • Movie critics were beginning to comment on Roger Moore's age, as he was 54 years old at the time of filming, and many felt he was too old to play James Bond. He originally announced that he would retire, but returned one final time in 1985's A View to a Kill.
  • The title of the film comes from a short story in which Bond is assigned by the British Secret Service to apprehend an octopus-loving British officer who is implicated in a murder relating to an illegally obtained cache of Nazi gold. Bond gives the officer the option of committing suicide. The film makes direct reference to the events in the story by revealing that Octopussy's father was the villain of the short story.
  • At the end of the film, the credits announce that the next Bond film title as From a View to a Kill. This was later changed to A View to a Kill right before filming began. Octopussy is also the last Bond film to date to announce the title of the next film in the end credits.
  • This is the second Bond movie to feature Maud Adams. The producers were reluctant to feature her again because her previous character was killed in The Man with the Golden Gun. She also returned back in A View to a Kill. By this Maud Adams is the only actress that portrays a Bond Girl that can be seen in 3 movies.
  • This is also the first movie to feature Robert Brown as M. It is unknown as to whether Brown is supposed to be playing the same character as Bernard Lee (Sir Miles Messervy) or a different one (possibly a promoted Admiral Hargreaves from The Spy Who Loved Me), as the films did not establish until GoldenEye that 'M' is a title, something which Ian Fleming left ambiguous in the novels.
  • The pre-title sequence was originally to take place in Moonraker (along with the concept of twin knife-throwing assassins) over the Angel Falls, but this was shelved after the river-bed dried up.
  • Vijay Amritraj was a professional tennis player in real life. The movie makes a spoof of this fact by having Vijay fend off Kamal's henchmen with a tennis racquet, while the surrounding townspeople watch the conflict like a tennis match by repeatedly turning their heads left then right. At one point Vijay's character also jokes that he plays a little tennis.
  • Gary Russell, who plays one of the East Berlin teenagers in the car, was uncredited for his role.
  • Octopussy's palace is really the Lake Palace Hotel in Udaipur.
  • The locomotive used for the Octopussy circus is a former Danish States-railways Class S 740, returned to Denmark in the 1990s. This was the only time the train in question was taken out for out use during its time in the UK.
  • You Only Live Twice was one of two Eon productions, the other being Octopussy, to be released in the same year as a rival Bond film. Casino Royale was the other offering. While both films turned a healthy profit, Casino Royale was accused of lowering the takings of You Only Live Twice. Ironically, on the second occasion this happened, in 1983, Connery was in the lead role for the rival Bond film, Never Say Never Again.
  • Last Bond movie to reveal the name of the next Bond movie during the end credits, namely "From A View To A Kill," which later dropped the "from" out of the title.
  • Robert Brown appears as "M" for the first time, replacing Bernard Lee, who died between "Moonraker (1979)" (Lee's final appearance as M) and "For Your Eyes Only (1981)," which left M out entirely.
  • This movie was released four months before Never Say Never Again (1983). This was the second time that two James Bond movies were released in the same year. It previously occurred with Casino Royale (1967) and You Only Live Twice (1967).
  • The ending sequence with the Beech-18 aircraft was filmed in Utah, using an old rocket launch catapult. When the plane went over the edge, it was supposed to fly straight down, but instead, while full of explosives, turned right, and flew in a circle unaided over a busy freeway, before crashing harmlessly. The crash into the ground was re-filmed with a model.
  • The elephant hunt sequence had its origins in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974). Producer Harry Saltzman had wanted an elephant stampede in the movie, so Bond and Scaramanga could chase each other on elephant back. The rest of the creative team balked at the idea, but Saltzman went to see an elephant trainer. It turns out, that elephants need special shoes on their feet to protect them from rough surfaces when they work. A few months later, while filming in Thailand, producer Albert R. Broccoli got a call saying his elephant shoes were ready. Saltzman had ordered about twenty-six hundred pairs of them. The sequence did not end up being in "The Man with the Golden Gun", and the man who made the shoes did not get paid. As of 1990, EON Productions allegedly still owed him.
  • First James Bond movie to be released with the MGM lion logo at the beginning. MGM merged with United Artists in 1982, the year before the release of this movie, and this is the first Bond movie distributed by the new company, MGM/UA Distribution Company, Inc.
  • The main title song, "All Time High", sung by Rita Coolidge, made it to the Top 40 on the U.S. charts. There, it charted on July 2, 1983, and went to number thirty-six. But the song went to the number one spot on the U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary charts. A cover version of the song, performed by Pulp, can be heard on the David Arnold Bond song compilation album, "Shaken and Stirred: the David Arnold James Bond Project". Pulp once wrote a song for Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), which was not used for that movie.

Connections[]

Follows[]

Followed by[]

References[]

  • Goldfinger (1964)
  • Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
  • Superman (1978)
  • Alien (1979) - When the thugs attack Bond and Octopussy in her bedroom, her aquarium gets broken, and her pet octopus ends up hugging and attacking the face of a supine thug, in the style of the Facehugger in Alien.
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - Bond drives his car through an alcove in a crowded marketplace, covering his escape when the poster he drove through is replaced. Indy does the same with the truck carrying the Ark, except that the locals cover him by quickly erecting another kiosk.

Referenced in[]

  • Rita Coolidge: All Time High (1983) (Music Video) - Theme song music video for this James Bond movie.
  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
  • The World Is Not Enough (1999) - The helicopter saw is a vertically downwards motioning weapon like the yo-yo saw in this James Bond movie. Both are flying buzz-saws.
  • Rush Hour 2 (2001)
  • Die Another Day (2002) - The crocodile submarine and the AcroStar MiniJet are visible in the background in Q's station laboratory. Upping the stakes on a bet with the villain. Jinx's backward fall to escape, echoes Magda's exit from Bond's suite. Q's coil of "magic rope" being kept on the lowest shelf in the Q lab, along with the five-pointed knife.
  • Stormbreaker (2006) - Alex Rider's jellyfish scene is probably based on James Bond's octopus scene.
  • Skyfall (2012) - Bond battles henchmen on top of a moving train which passes through a tunnel while doing so.
  • Spectre (2015) - Octopus insignia & iconography e.g. SPECTRE ring of evil; Oberhauser name taken from Octopussy short story; Nehru collarless jacket of villain; James Bond wears a white tuxedo; Octopus tentacles behind silhouetted villain in opening title sequence resemble Octopussy's arms in many posters for the movie; Villain owns a Rolls Royce
  • No Time to Die (2021) - A portrait of the former M played by Robert Brown hangs in the MI6 office.

Spoofed in[]

  • Charlie's Angels (2000)
  • The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius: Operation: Rescue Jet Fusion (2003) (TV Episode) - A clapperboard reveals the title for a movie called, "Octomonkey".
  • Ultimate Spider-Man: For Your Eye Only (2012) (TV Episode) - "Spider-Man will return in Doctor Octopussy".
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