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Octopussy

Catalog Number
M202738
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Primary Distributor (If not listed, select "OTHER")
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VHS | SP | Slipcase
131 mins (NTSC)
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Octopussy (1983)

Additional Information

Additional Information
Nobody does it better...thirteen times.

James Bond's all time action high.

This (13th) time around, 007 (once again played by Roger Moore) receives the usual call to come and visit M when another agent drops off a fake Faberge jeweled egg at the British embassy in East Berlin and is later killed at a traveling circus. Suspicions mount when the assistant manager of the circus Kamal (Louis Jourdan), outbids Bond for the real Faberge piece at Sotheby's. Bond follows Kamal to India where the super-spy thwarts many an ingenious attack and encounters the anti-heroine of the title (Maud Adams), an international smuggler who runs the circus as a cover for her illegal operations. It does not take long to figure out that Orlov (Steven Berkoff), a decidedly rank Russian general is planning to raise enough money with the fake Faberges to detonate a nuclear bomb in Europe and then defeat NATO forces once and for all in conventional warfare. John Glen returns again to handle directing duties, the second of five Bond films he lensed. ~

Octopussy (1983) is the thirteenth entry in the James Bond film 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, although the film's plot is original. It does, however, include a portion inspired by the Fleming short story "The Property of a Lady" (included in 1967 and 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.
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.

Octopussy's premiere took place at the Odeon Leicester Square 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.[13] The film earned slightly less than For Your Eyes Only, but still grossed $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.

The film has received mixed reviews. Some reviewers disliked Bond's clown costume,[14] gorilla outfit, and Tarzan yell during a jungle chase. One review claimed that it was long and confusing.[15] By contrast, Louis Jourdan's "suave" performance,[16] the elegance of the film locations in India, and the stunts on aircraft and the train were appreciated.[17] Jeffrey Westhoff at Rotten Tomatoes praised Roger Moore as being "sterling".[18] 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."[19] Entertainment Weekly chose Octopussy as the third worst Bond film,[20] while Norman Wilner of MSN chose it as the eighth worst,[21] and IGN chose it as the seventh worst.[22] The review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 43% rating.[23]
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. Entertainment Weekly ranked her as the best Bond girl of the Roger Moore James Bond films.[24] The film won the Golden Screen Award in Germany and the Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing

Release Date: June 10, 1983

Distrib: MGM/UA

Boxoffice: $67,893,619 2013: $173,505,900

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