Octopussy (1983)
IT’S DIFFICULT TO TRUST FILM REVIEWS THESE DAYS
They’re usually put out there by shills who are bought and paid for… Or they’re plants direct from the studio… Or they’re simply published by lily-livered hacks too scared of being black-listed by the corporations that own the studios… But BRONSON GREEN gives it to you straight !
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Octopussy - Overlong with some clumsy moments and diminishing returns as it moves along but never sells us short, is cast very, very well, and somehow retains some of the Connery era spirit while piling on everything we like about Roger Moore. Columbo alumni Jourdan is suitably suave and slimy (though his ethnicity is a mystery!), and though the pre-credit sequence does not top Goldfinger it comes terribly close with 6 or 7 excellent elements contributing smoothly before Rita Coolidge’s unique and unforgettable song whisks us off our feet. Plus points for the action, top Bond girls, Berkoff’s turn, the Faberge egg plot, gritty Indian locales and imposing henchman played by charismatic Bedi. 7.15/10