Ironically for the only Bond girl to name a film, Octopussy has perhaps the least screen time of any Moore heroine. No matter. She is the dominant character, just like Dr. No and Goldfinger. We’ve had bad girls, and ultimately-good girls in league with the baddies, but Octopussy is the first female to run the whole show. For much of the film she holds power over Bond and Kamal. Eventually she must be rescued but, like Anya, this is a narrative necessity (to spark the final aeroplane battle), not an excuse for Bond to flex his hero-muscles or a result of her own incompetence. Afterward, Bond admits to his spotter that he did not try for a kill shot only because Trigger had been a woman. The spotter is obliged to include this fact in his report, but apologises for having to do so. Bond muses that even though 272 is safe, the mission will be considered a failure because he did not kill Trigger, and he hopes that M will strip him of his 00 number for it.

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. Earlier in Khan's palace and later in Octopussy's palace, Bond finds out that Orlov has been supplying Khan with priceless Soviet treasures, replacing them with replicas while Khan has been smuggling the real versions into the West via Octopussy's circus troupe. Orlov is planning to meet Khan at Karl-Marx-Stadt (Chemnitz) in East Germany, where the circus is scheduled to perform. Gobinda sends mercenaries to kill Bond, but he and Octopussy gain the upper hand when the assassins break into the palace. Bond learns from Q that Vijay has been killed by the goons.After being absent in For Your Eyes Only due to tax problems, John Barry returned to do his ninth Bond score. [26] Barry made frequent references to the "James Bond Theme" to reinforce Octopussy as the official Bond film, given that the 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. [25]

Two of the short stories were adapted for publication in comic-strip format, which were published daily in the Daily Express newspaper and syndicated worldwide. The Living Daylights ran from 12 September to 12 November 1966, adapted by Jim Lawrence and illustrated by Yaroslav Horak; the same pair also worked on Octopussy, which ran from 14 November 1966 to 27 May 1967. [29] The story lines for the strips were altered from the original Fleming version to ensure that they contained a glamorous reason for being Bond involved and to include Bond in action. [30] The strips were reprinted by Titan Books in 1988 [29] and then again in The James Bond Omnibus Vol. 2, published in 2011. [31] Octopussy (1983)The Secret Service learns that Maria Freudenstein, an employee known to be a double agent working for the Soviet Union, has just received a valuable item of jewelry crafted by Peter Carl Fabergé and is planning to auction it at Sotheby's. Bond suspects that the resident director of the KGB in London will attend the auction and underbid for the item, to drive the price up to the value needed to pay Maria for her services. Bond attends the auction, spots the man, and leaves to make arrangements for his expulsion from London as persona non grata. Crocodile Submersible; Bond sneaks onto Octopussy's island by driving a disguised boat that looks like an crocodile.

Never Say Never Again was partly filmed at Elstree Studios, just over 20 miles from Octopussy’s production base at Pinewood. The tabloids revelled in Connery vs. Moore. The Living Daylights : Here Bond’s mission is to facilitate the escape of a spy from East Berlin to West Berlin by taking care of a KGB sniper. In this story, the famous 007 would actually express his distaste at having to kill someone. The story would be part of the beginning scene in the movie adaption featuring Timothy Dalton as Bond. Well, we’re definitely not politically correct,” admits Glen. “We wouldn’t get away with a lot of the stuff we did now. We were of our time and reflected conventions of the time. In our films we tried to be up to date. But the woke age we’re living in now is going to ruin films if we’re not careful. You have to think twice before you do anything. You’re going to offend somebody somewhere, no matter what you do.” a b Barnes, Alan; Hearn, Marcus (2001). Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang!: the Unofficial James Bond Film Companion. Batsford Books. p.149. ISBN 978-0-7134-8182-2. Some time later, with the plan foiled, Khan has returned to his palace and prepares to flee. Bond and Octopussy also return separately to India. Bond arrives at Khan's palace just as Octopussy and her troops launch an assault on the grounds.But it wasn’t only Never Say Never Again that bothered Cubby. Fraser, writing in his memoir, recalled a tense moment when Moore was offered a cameo in a non-related thriller. “I think [Cubby] felt it would somehow tarnish the Bond image,” wrote Fraser. “Roger listened politely, and then said gently: ‘But Cubby, I’ve got to keep the cars filled up.’” Octopussy is often overlooked in favour of Roger’s other entries, such as Live and Let Die and The Spy Who Loved Me,” says Matthew Field, co-author of the comprehensive Bond history Some Kind of Hero. “However, Moore’s sixth movie has remained one of my favourites. Bond movies must be entertaining and Octopussy delivers on every level.” It seemed as though the plot was going to shift the motivations of the lead villain from craving world domination down to simply a jewel thief. To me, that was intriguing. Bringing the stories to a more realistic focus would have been compelling for this film. But instead we got a mess of a film. I'm just very tired of the use of nuclear weapon's for the lead villain. It's been used over and over again. Not every bad guy has nukes.

Canby, Vincent (10 June 1983). "Film: James Bond Meets 'Octopussy' ". The New York Times. p.C17. Archived from the original on 24 May 2015 . Retrieved 21 August 2007. Questions With Sybil Danning". Battle Royale With Cheese. 7 May 2012. Archived from the original on 15 May 2018 . Retrieved 7 May 2017. 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 [5] being suggested as a replacement and screen tests carried out with Michael Billington, Oliver Tobias, and American actor James Brolin. [6] 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. [9] It has been reported that Brolin had actually been hired and was on the point of moving to London to begin work on Octopussy, while Broccoli refused to dispute Tobias's public statements that he was about to be cast as Bond. [10] [6] Turner, Jon Lys (2016). The Visitors' Book: In Francis Bacon's Shadow: The Lives of Richard Chopping and Denis Wirth-Miller (Kindleed.). London: Constable. ISBN 978-1-47212-168-4. BEST (AND WORST) JAMES BOND MOVIES". E!. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012 . Retrieved 13 August 2007.Amongst these casting chronicles, a hat-tip must be given to Robert Brown’s portrayal of M. His authority, suggested by Rpger Moore who’d shared screen space with Brown during their Ivanhoe days, saw him gracefully shift from the naval brass of Admiral Hargreaves in cast of The Spy Who Loved Me to MI6’s top brass.