Octopussy (1983)


 

Mission
A power hungry Soviet general plots to oust the American military forces from Europe by detonating a nuclear weapon in West Germany and laying the blame on the United States. To stop him, Bond forms an unlikely alliance with an international jewel smuggler – the mysterious and beautiful Octopussy.

Release Data
UK: 6th June 1983 (PG)
USA: 10th June 1983 (PG)
World Premiere: 6th June 1983 (Odeon Leicester Square, UK)
UK TV Premiere: 30th January 1988, ITV
US TV Premiere: 2nd February 1986, ABC

Running Time: 125 minutes
Classification: PG (UK), PG (US)
Budget: $27.5m
Worldwide Box Office: $183.7m
US Box Office: $67.9m
US Admissions: 21.5 million
UK Box Office: N/A

 
Cast & Characters
James Bond
Roger Moore
Octopussy
Maud Adams
Kamal Kahn
Louis Jourdan
Vijay
Vijay Amritraj
Magda
Kristina Wayborn
General Orlov
Steven Berkoff
Gobinda
Kabir Bedi
Mischka
David Meyer
Grischska
Anthony Meyer
General Gogol
Walter Gotell
Sir Frederick Gray
Geoffrey Keen
M
Robert Brown
Miss Moneypenny
Lois Maxwell
Q
Desmond Llewelyn
   

Production
Producers: Albert R. Broccoli
Director: John Glen
Screenplay: George MacDonald Fraser, Richard Maibaum, Michael G. Wilson
Composer: John Barry

Locations
Unidentified South American republic (with English road signs); Checkpoint Charlie, East Berlin, Germany; London, UK; Moscow, Russia; Udaipur, India; West Berlin, Germany; Feldstadt, Germany.

Pre-Credits Sequence
007 teams up with a female agent to infiltrate an air base and plant a bomb. Disguised as a high-ranking officer, Bond plants the device but comes face to face with ‘himself’. With the help of his ally and her good looks, 007 escapes in his Acro-star Mini Jet. However, the news of his escape soon causes more trouble and a heat-seeking missile is launched to shoot Bond out of the sky. He shakes it off by flying back thought the air base hanger and as the door closes the Acro-star slips thought but the missile doesn’t. Bond escapes, the job successful after all.

 

 

Title
The title is taken from a short story by Ian Fleming which was published after his death. "Octopussy" is the nickname of the lead female character, who was named after a pet Octopus by her father (we never learn her real name).

Cut Scenes & Alternate Versions
The opening aerial action featuring the Acro-star Mini Jet was originally much longer, but was cut to keep pace in the pre-titles sequence.

Filmed for the teaser trailer, but not used in the film, was a scene of Bond and Magda making love. This is followed by Bond uttering the line "What I do for England". This line is a variation of another line used by Bond in "You Only Live Twice" (1967) where 007 uttered the line "The things I do for England". It was first cut from "Thunderball" (1965).

ABC cut 30 seconds from this film for its 1986 network television premiere.

On some TV versions, certain sections of the title credit sequence have been blackened out to hide some of the more revealing bits of nudity.

Best Line
Vijay: “Is he still there?”
Q: “You must be joking. 007 on an island populated exclusively by women? We won’t see him ’til dawn.”

Best Mistake
At Octopussy’s palace, Bond and an opponent fall into the water and are immediately attacked by crocodiles. But earlier, Kamal’s men swam to the palace unmolested… a matter of taste, perhaps?

Distinguishing Feature
Maud Adams (Octopussy) also appeared in a main role (as Andrea Anders) in "The Man With The Golden Gun".

Vital Statistics
Conquests: 2
Martinis: 0
Kills: 14
"Bond, James Bond": 1

MI6 Rating

Fan Rating

As voted in MI6’s Fan Verdict poll

JAMES BOND WILL RETURN IN “FROM A VIEW TO A KILL"
(The "From" was later dropped from Fleming’s short story title)

DVD cover image courtesy Amazon Associates