Octopussy (1983)

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Octopussy movie storyline. When Agent 009 turns up dead at the British Embassy in East Berlin holding a Russian Fabergé egg, 007 is called in to investigate. He soon finds out that the egg is being sought by a collector named Kamal Khan, who is in league with a psychopathic Soviet General, Orlov, who is hell-bent on Soviet domination despite reprimands from his superiors.

Orlov’s plan involves smuggling an atomic bomb onto a U.S. Air Force Base in West Germany, in the hopes of crippling the country and leaving it an easy target for Soviet conquest. Bond’s investigation of Khan leads him to India, where he meets a mysterious woman named “Octopussy”, who is connected to Khan. The bomb is smuggled aboard a circus train, and one of the men helping Kamal and Orlov is the man responsible for killing 009. Bond must race against time to stop the bomb from exploding and killing thousands, then running down Kamal Khan before he escapes.

Octopussy is a 1983 spy film and the thirteenth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, and 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 original. It does, however, include a scene 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 Soviet government. This leads him to a wealthy Afghan prince, Kamal Khan, and his associate, Octopussy, and the discovery of a plot to force disarmament in Western Europe with the use of a nuclear weapon.

Octopussy was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, and was released in the same year as 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, with praise being directed towards the action sequences and locations, and the plot and humour being targeted for criticism; Maud Adams’s portrayal of the title character also drew polarised responses.

The filming of Octopussy began on 10 August 1982 with the scene in which Bond arrives at Checkpoint Charlie. Principal photography was done by Arthur Wooster and his second unit, who later filmed the knife-throwing scenes. Much of the film was shot in Udaipur, India. 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.

After being absent in For Your Eyes Only due to tax problems, John Barry returned to do his ninth Bond score. Barry made frequent references to the James Bond Theme to reinforce Octopussy as the official Bond film, given that motif could not be featured in Never Say Never Again, and opted to include only subtle references to the music of India, avoiding instruments such as the sitar for feeling that authentic music “didn’t work dramatically”. He also wrote opening theme “All Time High” with lyricist Tim Rice. “All Time High”, sung by Rita Coolidge, is one of seven musical themes in the James Bond series whose song titles do not refer to the film’s title. “All Time High” spent four weeks at number one on the United States’ Adult Contemporary singles chart and reached number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The soundtrack album was released in 1985 by A&M Records; the compact disc version of this release was recalled due to a colour printing error which omitted the credits from the album cover, making it a rare collector’s item. In 1997, the soundtrack was re-issued by Rykodisc, with the original soundtrack music and some film dialogue, on an Enhanced CD version. The 2003 release, by EMI, restored the original soundtrack music without dialogue.

Directed by: John Glen
Starring: Roger Moore, Maud Adams, Louis Jourdan, Kristina Wayborn, Kabir Bedi, Steven Berkoff, David Meyer, Desmond Llewelyn, Robert Brown, Lois Maxwell, Michaela Clavell, Walter Gotell, Albert Moses
Screenplay by: George MacDonald Fraser, Richard Maibaum
Production Design by: Peter Lamont
Cinematography by: Alan Hume
Film Editing by: Peter Davies, Henry Richardson
Costume Design by: Emma Porteous
Set Decoration by: Jack Stephens
Art Direction by: John Fenner
Music by: John Barry
MPAA Rating: PG for adult situations, language, violence.
Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, United International Pictures
Release Date: June 6, 1983