Matt G's images during the banger discussion at 16:20 made me spittake. Massive props to his editing and humor for making an excellent podcast even excellent-er.
I used to listen to countdown to infinity in the car rather than watching it as there weren't any visuals per se, but the edits in this podcast earn it pride of place in the "watch properly without distraction" category. Well done Matt and everyone else!
My wife and I got married to John Barry’s instrumental version of All Time High and I named my firstborn Bianca. I never realized my own personal Octopussy connection. Also never realized was that the writers gave Moore the perfect opportunity to bow out at the end of this movie and spend his retirement years with Octopussy.
1. The opening clown sequence has stuck with me as a half memory for decades, and I’m glad I now know where the hell it came from. 2. Graham catching that they reverse the boat footage for the credits is the kind of pure gold that makes this podcast series so excellent.
When Bond commands "Sit-t" to the tiger it's a spoof reference to a very popular British TV programme of the time called Training Dogs the Woodhouse Way.
The TIGER scene - 'SIT!!' was a VERY WELL KNOWN phrase AT HE TIME - NOTE AT THE TIME! ! - By Dog trainer Barbara Woodhouse. Research required. AND BARE IN MIND WHEN THIS FILM WAS MADE!! ..once again NO mention of John Barrys excellent score - instead pathetic attempts as revaluing this movie from the getgo. I repeat - Eyes had THE SAME level of sillyness and dramatic action at the beginning you have chosen from the outset for some reason not to enjoy this movie. Your worst review yet and thats saying something.
If nothing else this series has given me so many film databases for cars, planes and snakes and I will always be grateful for that! (also this series is pretty fun too, keep up the amazing work!)
I haven't actually watched (or re-watched for that matter) a Bond film since Skyfall. I've been eagerly awaiting you getting to this episode, as it has always taken my #1 spot whenever I thought back to Bond films. Then again, I was a child when I watched these movies repeatedly on the TBS marathons. I firmly believe -- as it's the part that has always stuck with me -- the reason my kid brain put this at the top was 100% because of the razor-yo-yo.
About the German Geography: Bond and M fly to West Berlin and then Bond crosses over to East Berlin. Then Bond did the four hours or so journey from Berlin to Karl-Marx-Stadt/Chemnitz offscreen, where he watched the circus performance for the Soviet soldiers. The next day, the circus packs up everything on the train and leaves from Karl-Marx-Stadt in East Germany to Nuremberg in West Germany, using the real train border crossing point at Hof. The fictional Air Force base is named Feldstadt and there is a town named Feldstadt in Germany, but they are clearly completely separate places. Not the least because the real Feldstadt is in the very north of East Germany, while the American bases are all in the south of West Germany. And the Police cars chasing bond are all from the Nuremberg police service. Having lived in that area for many years, I always thought it's really neat that all the cars during the car chase have licensed plates from the districts that lie between Hof and Nuremberg.
Also as soon as Bond gets into East Germany his cover of being Charles Morton the furniture manufacturer from Leeds is never brought up or mentioned again. I don’t know, I thought it would’ve somehow come back up. It just seemed like a lot of unnecessary dialogue since nothing came of it.
I really thought you'd enjoy Octopussy more. I know that it's really silly in places but it's still a fun action romp, and Kamal Khan and Orlov are both excellent villains. Edit: some context for the "sit" line. At the time, there was a very famous dog trainer on the TV in the UK called Barbara Woodhouse. She was absolutely everywhere on TV in the UK. "SIT!" was something of a catchphrase at the time, she had a very specific way of saying it, which to be honest Moore doesnt quite pull off. However, this line would have got a massive laugh from British audiences in the 80s.
There’s a good movie in Octopussy somewhere beneath the needlessly convoluted plot and painful campiness. I thought they were fairly spot on with their takes. This film peaks at the pre title sequence.
I think this movie is actually severely underrated. I like the complexity of the plot, I love all of the villains, the action is great, the settings as beautiful as ever and the Bond girl finally is appropriate to Roger Moore's age.
Hands down my favorite Moore film. Top 5 in my list of Bond movies. The action is great. The locations are awesome and it has one of the best villains of any film.
@@dereklewis4321 It's not quite as high for me, but it only narrowly misses my top 10. What makes the film so great for me (aside from the action and locations) is not just the main villain, but the entire ensemble of villains. Gupta, the twins, the guy with the jojo saw. All of them are memorable and formidable.
I too actually love this movie. I suppose its a guilty pleasure. I just love the locations and the atmosphere and the villains are really great. I actually like the song especially the slow instrumental during the love scene with Octupussy and 007. The tiny plane in the pre credits sequence is awesome! I'm also very fond of VJ for some reason lol. Big fan of the train scene and Q was on top form here and got some lady action lol. Yes, its silly but I love it. Much prefer it to Never Say Never Agein and A View to a Kill.
@@andreworourke Oh yeah, the instrumental version of All Time high is romantic af! And I also love VJ. I think the reason why he's so likable is that he seems to be genuinely having fun on the mission with Bond.
I have been waiting for this review since the start of Rewatch. Not because I particularly enjoyed this film, but because it is the ONLY bond film that I had any recollection of seeing. I was 7 it was on cable. Here's what I remember: -clown and shiny egg -Pretty lady with her "her Little Octopussy" sleeps with bond ( 7 year old me also thought Magda and Octopussy were the same person) - Dude gets face hugged by an octopus That's it! That is the sum total of my Bond knowledge prior to this podcast and when shade started getting thrown at this one a few episodes ago I got even more excited about it. You guys are doing a great job and I love watching this podcast every week.!
Your recollection sounds like mine. And was probably around the same age. Didn't see it in its entirety till later when Spike TV would do back to back Bond marathons
33:49 The James Bond Theme actually comes up in a diegetic manner one other time... sort of. In License to Kill, when Sanchez is firing his Uzi at Bond under the tanker, the sound of the bullets ricocheting is the James Bond Theme itself, I kid you not. Clip: ua-cam.com/video/ZlSE8NfWNpo/v-deo.html
A few years ago me an my roommate did a watch of all the movies and one thing we did was always watch the trailers on the dvd extras. We quickly learned to watch the trailers AFTER the films because trailer back than were certainly different and seemed to always spoil huge sections of the movie. The reason i bring this up here is a decent chunk of this movie feels like its trying to keep "octopussy's" identity a secret yet every trailer for the movie opens with Maud Adams staring directly into the camera and literally saying the words "I Am Octopussy"
Thank you for making this series! Before it, I had only watched Goldfinger, so thank you for making me care about a movie series I never thought I'd watch or care about. And I look forward to Mondays now because of this podcast. I appreciate the inclusion of plot details and production notes. Honestly, the worse the Bond movie, the more entertaining the podcast episode.
Sternly telling the tiger to "Sit!" was apparently a reference to the dog trainer Barbara Woodhouse, whose TV series advocating strict dog training was popular in the early 80s.
TANGENT IN THE COMMENTS: I watched Deep Star Six after it was mentioned in the "For your eyes only" episode, I was not expecting it to be as solid of a horror movie as it turned out to be. If you, like me, love old horror movies I highly recommend it
The U.S. general and his aide at the circus are both Star Wars alumni - Bruce Boa ("You're a good man Solo, I hate to lose you.") and Richard LeParmentier ("Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer's ways Lord Vader...").
I've actually been to Udaipur a couple of years ago and a large part of the local tourist industry is based around the fact that this was shot there, with guided tours to the main palace (the hotel in the movie) and the monsoon palace, a boat tour around the lake palace, daily screenings of the movie etc. They are very proud of it
I'm on a very similar journey as you, not sure i can wait until next Monday, I shall need to fashion a time machine out of a false horse arse and single seat fold up jet ...
Khan's comment about Bond needing to spend the money quickly is from the original 'Moonraker" novel. Drax tells Bond the same thing after Bond turns the tables on him while cheating at cards.
I felt like you guys were a little more Cinema Sins than Cinema Wins in this episode. My wife and I watched it tonight and had a laugh riot. This was a truly fun movie and even with flaws, better than most Sean Connery Bond films.
Very late on this I know - but I agree, it feels like they went into the film not wanting to like it, watched it with a negative mindset looking for faults (and ignoring parts of the plot that are clearly spelled out, then claim these things are never explained) and turning it into a hit piece with the UA-cam comments filling in all the blanks. It's a shame, because I both love this movie and love the podcast (hence me coming back to watch the UA-cam version many years after listening to it originally) and hearing the guys slam it for 2 hours wasn't pleasant.
You state that the airbase Bond tries to sabotage in the opening is "Central American looking". You should look further south. This is clearly intended to suggest Argentina. Reason 1) the Polo match - Argentina has a reputation as a polo playing nation. 2) This was released in 1983 - one year earlier Argentinian Air Force planes were bombing Royal Navy ships off the Falklands. MI-6 had a legitimate reason to be attacking Argentinian airbases. Of course they did not use Argentinian flags or military insignia because that would be gauche, but I and everyone else who saw this in 1983 assumed that this was set in Argentina.
On a related note to all the female commandos being conspicuously white, the "Argentinian/Central/South American" guards with the parachutes in the pre-titles are remarkably light skinned and blue eyed.
Kinda wish you'd called this episode "The Spy Who Punned Me", because the density of puns in this movie was off the charts. Anyway, I personally enjoyed this movie, though it is far from a favorite. I'd happily watch it again and enjoy it. There is a lot of dumb, silly stuff in it, I'll grant you, but I think I enjoyed it more than ya'll did. Also, I think I followed the plot a bit better while watching the movie? Though, I am now wondering whether or not 009 retrieved a fake egg instead of the real one... This has been yet another fun episode! Thanks for doing this series. :)
I think it is curious that the russian soldiers at 1:39:17 are carying Austrian Steyr AUGs. Russia never adopted those rifles, they were build in Standard NATO Caliber 5.56×45mm the Russians used 7,62×39mm and 5,45×39mm
I admit I haven't seen the movie myself, but it sounds to me like the diegetic playing of the Bond Theme, and particularly Bond reacting to it, might have been a sort of MI6 code-phrase to tip Bond off as to who his contact was? So in-universe the Bond Theme is just, like... the secret 007 MI6 contact code-tune?
Is it just me or Vijay awesome? I'd happily watch a spin-off movie about his adventures as a MI-6 I-division agent. I was really bummed when he got murked.
Me: Are zhey ever going to talk about my French homeboy, the actor who plays Kamal Khan? Graham Stark, at the 2:04:46 mark: Louis Jourdan! Me: Zut alors! It's about time!
The thing that sticks in my mind about this movie, more than anything else, is the buzzsaw yoyo. A weapon built for an extremely narrow range of situations? Yes. So stupid it comes back around to being awesome again? Also yes.
So, in 1983 the MI-6 agent disguised as a clown crosses from East Berlin to West Berlin and, mortally wounded, makes it to the residence of the British Ambassador. In 1983 there was no British embassy in West Berlin. The capital of West Germany was in Bonn and the Ambassador lived there. The agent could have stayed in East Berlin as there was a British embassy there. Of course that embassy was under constant surveillance by the stasi and they would have stopped any clown approaching it.
Yeah, an embassy in West Berlin wouldn't make a lot of sense. The point of an embassy is keeping close diplomatic relations with the government of the country you're in, so you have to be where the politicians are. Which would be the capital and not West Berlin which was like an island deep inside East Germany. Maybe the movie meant the British Consulate in West Berlin?
Octopussy came out in theaters in 1983 as well as Superman III. It was a more simpler and more innocent time in life and in the world. I was thirteen years old back then. Looking back in retrospect that was the good old days and a very nostalgic, sentimental, happy go lucky, carefree- time, full of great adolescent memories. I wish I could back to those innocent days but with the knowledge and experiences and wisdom I have now !
Part of the reason Octopussy doesn't do anything at the circus, when Bond reveals himself as the clown, is that she thinks he's dead. Last time she saw him, he was being "eaten" by CrocoSub. So not only is she hesitant to expose her plan, she's in shock that Bond is still alive!
The plane stunt in the pre-title teaser has a noticeable technical flaw - when they cut to the plane when it is flying inside of the hangar you can see that it is being suspended on a white metal rod that has wheels at its base and it's being rolled across the floor of the hangar. I didn't notice it when I first saw the movie, but only after repeated viewings. Now I can't unsee it
The line "spend the money quickly Mr. Bond" is a reference to the book Moonraker. Hugo Drax says the same thing to Bond after Bond out cheated him in the bridge game at blades.
My dudes, you need to pick up a Flashman book, there are twelve of them and they're amazing. Your summary was reasonable but there's so much more to them.
As goofy as some of the Bond movies are, and whether they are one of my favorites or not, each one of your podcasts makes me want to watch that movie right now.
1:06:17 Sheep’s head is not steamed, but stuffed. I also was grossed out by the eyeball eating, but then realized it supposed to be a decorated boiled egg or something in-universe.
39:45 While the theme may be out of place in the scene, fun fact - the James Bond theme came out of song from a rejected musical co-written by Monty Norman Interview with Monty Norman on origins: ua-cam.com/video/85ma-snE7pw/v-deo.html The James Bond 'riff' itself is directly inspired from the musical style of the south asian subcontinent Full Song: ua-cam.com/video/ElFRXFKgGZo/v-deo.html
This podcast/video series might be my favorite thing LRR has ever done. And Matt G’s increasing level of visual gags and commentary as the series goes on is delightful! Now...let’s REALLY talk about Zorin and May Day...
Midge was played by Cherry Gillespie, a dancer who is well known to British TV audiences as a member of Pan's People and Legs & Co on Top of the Pops. These girls brightened up many people's Thursday evening during the 1970s.
Keep it up guys, I'm really enjoying this series... One thing to note though is that a lot of the "gags" in the film directly relate to stuff that was in popular culture at the time (As other people have already noted - Barbara Woodhouse etc). Looking forward to your View to a Kill podcast... which I think has an even sillier plot than this one, but some great theme music. Walken is great though.
The clown bit certainly is a striking image. I think this was the first Bond film I saw and for years the two things that stuck with me were the clown scene and the shooting of the bannister. Nothing else, really, until i saw it again last year as part of our slow burn family marathon. Keep up the good work, Moore fatigue is real!
One thing in the auction scene which I think was missed is that the guy bidding, Kamal Khan, is usually only there as a seller of things that aren't that valuable. This is why Bond is intrigued to see him suddenly bidding big after talking with the mysterious woman.
They almost got the Cyrillic right on the "Kremlin Art Repository" sign. It even makes a bit of grammatical sense. Now, they use the term "National", which I'm not sure would have been used in the Soviet Union, especially not related to something like the Kremlin, but yeah, they might have had a Russian speaker involved with the props.
George McDonald Fraser probably did the India stuff as he was an expert on the subject, his memoires of fighting there in WW2 are excellent (he also scripted the Michael York Musketeer movies). I've been to the Lake Palace at Udaipur and they play this movie every night in the surrounding guest houses. As for Bond and automatic weapons what about George and Roger using Sterlings in OHMSS and TSWLM? 2 things stand out now, the quality of stuntwork on the roof of the train and how similar this storyline is to Pierce Brosnan's The Fourth Protocol. I love the clown opening scene, it's very Avengers (but more of that next time...)
Since Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum worked on the script, I am going to assume they heavily altered Fraser's work. I can't believe anyone who spent any significant time in India would think Octopussy properly emulated anything about India beyond the superficial.
While watching along, I realized I couldn't remember what Roger Moore scenes were in what movie, to the point I went into "Octopussy " genuinely convinced I hadn't actually seen it and just cobbled it together in my mind from other movies. Took me a half hr into rewatch to find I had watched it only one year ago and completely mentally blocked it out (though I still think it's kinda fun/stupid).
Seriously? It’s the one in India & Berlin with the Faberge eggs, the circus, and Maud Adams. Not sure how you would not remember it. Unless you’re just a casual fan of Bond.
It's funny, I vividly remember All Time High, and I've looked forward to this song for quite a while, but it's Moonraker (the song) that I'm still drawing a complete blank on, despite having watched it two weeks ago
Agreed that's why I put Moonraker the song near dead last. It makes ZERO impression on me no matter how many times I listen to it. I seem to recall from behind the scenes articles/videos that they had a lot of problems with the song and threw it together at the last minute and totally wasted Shirley Bassey as a result I and all I remember of Moonraker the movie is the return of Jaws the little girl (with braces Mandela effect ftw) Space! Lasers! "A woman?!?' annoying line and of course "I believe he's attempting re-entry" and that's it. I put Moonraker the movie near last as well.
@@jcharpak For the most part, I can take Moonraker for what it is. The film is an enjoyable, campy Bond episode but there's no question that pales in comparison to it's predecessor.
So, funny story about 'Miss Smallbone' and her actress, Michaela Clavell. Yes, that Clavell - she's the daughter of the author James Clavell. She very recently got a third credit on her IMDb page besides the TV credit as "The New Teacher" and then Octopussy...she Executive Produced a new hulu/FX series based on her father's seminal novel "Shogun"...that airs it's first episode tomorrow! I'm guessing the acting roles were a whim of hers - she can say she was a 'Bond girl' - but never really needed the career; probably inherited her dad's books and has been managing them since?
About your question for setting up the cricus at the Airforce base: Usualy the building Crew come to a location about one month earlyer and start setting up. And most Circuses have more than one tent. So one Crew sets up the tent, than the Circus comes to the setup tent, makes it's Shows, during that time the second building Crew takes down the last location, bring's it to the next location and starts setting up again.
As soon as she says that her FATHER gave her that sexually inappropriate nickname, Bond rapidly moves away from her. Shockingly, even he has limits...temporarily.
This is the first movie where Roger Moore just looked so old to me. His head is just gigantic by this point. Something about british men aging seems to cause their heads to just...expand
Matt G's images during the banger discussion at 16:20 made me spittake. Massive props to his editing and humor for making an excellent podcast even excellent-er.
I used to listen to countdown to infinity in the car rather than watching it as there weren't any visuals per se, but the edits in this podcast earn it pride of place in the "watch properly without distraction" category. Well done Matt and everyone else!
Yup, I agree wholesomely.
My wife and I got married to John Barry’s instrumental version of All Time High and I named my firstborn Bianca. I never realized my own personal Octopussy connection. Also never realized was that the writers gave Moore the perfect opportunity to bow out at the end of this movie and spend his retirement years with Octopussy.
Until he decided to get it on with his granddaughter in San Francisco a few years later
1. The opening clown sequence has stuck with me as a half memory for decades, and I’m glad I now know where the hell it came from.
2. Graham catching that they reverse the boat footage for the credits is the kind of pure gold that makes this podcast series so excellent.
that "Poison pem" joke might explain why in Goldeneye Q says "Don't say it!" and Bond goes "the writings on the wall?"
I think it may go back to some classic English lit, but good catch
Along with the rest of him
You guys make Mondays awesome.
When Bond commands "Sit-t" to the tiger it's a spoof reference to a very popular British TV programme of the time called Training Dogs the Woodhouse Way.
Searching UA-cam for Barbara Woodhouse will give you all you need.
The TIGER scene - 'SIT!!' was a VERY WELL KNOWN phrase AT HE TIME - NOTE AT THE TIME! ! - By Dog trainer Barbara Woodhouse. Research required. AND BARE IN MIND WHEN THIS FILM WAS MADE!! ..once again NO mention of John Barrys excellent score - instead pathetic attempts as revaluing this movie from the getgo. I repeat - Eyes had THE SAME level of sillyness and dramatic action at the beginning you have chosen from the outset for some reason not to enjoy this movie. Your worst review yet and thats saying something.
Blimey.
@@bobbyballz5928 "Chosen from the outset"? You don't think it's possible that they simply genuinely didn't enjoy the movie?
@@bobbyballz5928 You need to relax. It's a fun and entertaining podcast, not some sort of definitive objective pronouncement on the movie.
Matt: I'm not convinced that the knot she tied would hold.
Graham: Probably knot, no.
>matt "they did one of those zoom racks"
>me LOL
>no one acknowledges the wordplay
"The horse butt is cute" - Matt Wiggins, 2020
If nothing else this series has given me so many film databases for cars, planes and snakes and I will always be grateful for that!
(also this series is pretty fun too, keep up the amazing work!)
I haven't actually watched (or re-watched for that matter) a Bond film since Skyfall. I've been eagerly awaiting you getting to this episode, as it has always taken my #1 spot whenever I thought back to Bond films. Then again, I was a child when I watched these movies repeatedly on the TBS marathons. I firmly believe -- as it's the part that has always stuck with me -- the reason my kid brain put this at the top was 100% because of the razor-yo-yo.
I want to see that guy fight the Master of the Flying Guillotine.
Gobinda crushing the dice is a callback to Oddjob crushing the golf ball in Goldfinger.
It's funny you mention Inspector Zenigata, because this is 100% a Lupin III plot that somehow ended up being a James Bond film instead.
All the train car segments feel very very Lupin
Suddenly I wanna see footage of this film with Lupin III music in the background.
I'd watch that
About the German Geography:
Bond and M fly to West Berlin and then Bond crosses over to East Berlin. Then Bond did the four hours or so journey from Berlin to Karl-Marx-Stadt/Chemnitz offscreen, where he watched the circus performance for the Soviet soldiers.
The next day, the circus packs up everything on the train and leaves from Karl-Marx-Stadt in East Germany to Nuremberg in West Germany, using the real train border crossing point at Hof.
The fictional Air Force base is named Feldstadt and there is a town named Feldstadt in Germany, but they are clearly completely separate places. Not the least because the real Feldstadt is in the very north of East Germany, while the American bases are all in the south of West Germany. And the Police cars chasing bond are all from the Nuremberg police service.
Having lived in that area for many years, I always thought it's really neat that all the cars during the car chase have licensed plates from the districts that lie between Hof and Nuremberg.
Also as soon as Bond gets into East Germany his cover of being Charles Morton the furniture manufacturer from Leeds is never brought up or mentioned again. I don’t know, I thought it would’ve somehow come back up. It just seemed like a lot of unnecessary dialogue since nothing came of it.
So the film was German friendly.
But how does the pre-title sequence fit in? I mean 009 runing from the knife throwers with the Berlin wall in the background
@@erzherzogalbrecht8504 He stole the fake Faberge egg, and maybe knew what was going on.
@@putinscat1208 i mean it apears that he ran away at a setup in East Berlin
I really thought you'd enjoy Octopussy more. I know that it's really silly in places but it's still a fun action romp, and Kamal Khan and Orlov are both excellent villains. Edit: some context for the "sit" line. At the time, there was a very famous dog trainer on the TV in the UK called Barbara Woodhouse. She was absolutely everywhere on TV in the UK. "SIT!" was something of a catchphrase at the time, she had a very specific way of saying it, which to be honest Moore doesnt quite pull off. However, this line would have got a massive laugh from British audiences in the 80s.
Yeah I felt this movie embodies the Moore era which is silly without being too insulting.
He does use her hand gesture when he says sit
This is the first episode of this podcast to make me feel sad.
@@RecklessFables I love OP, but these two guys seem to just sneer their way through it.
There’s a good movie in Octopussy somewhere beneath the needlessly convoluted plot and painful campiness. I thought they were fairly spot on with their takes. This film peaks at the pre title sequence.
I think this movie is actually severely underrated. I like the complexity of the plot, I love all of the villains, the action is great, the settings as beautiful as ever and the Bond girl finally is appropriate to Roger Moore's age.
Hands down my favorite Moore film. Top 5 in my list of Bond movies. The action is great. The locations are awesome and it has one of the best villains of any film.
@@dereklewis4321 It's not quite as high for me, but it only narrowly misses my top 10. What makes the film so great for me (aside from the action and locations) is not just the main villain, but the entire ensemble of villains. Gupta, the twins, the guy with the jojo saw. All of them are memorable and formidable.
I too actually love this movie. I suppose its a guilty pleasure. I just love the locations and the atmosphere and the villains are really great. I actually like the song especially the slow instrumental during the love scene with Octupussy and 007. The tiny plane in the pre credits sequence is awesome! I'm also very fond of VJ for some reason lol. Big fan of the train scene and Q was on top form here and got some lady action lol.
Yes, its silly but I love it. Much prefer it to Never Say Never Agein and A View to a Kill.
@@andreworourke Oh yeah, the instrumental version of All Time high is romantic af! And I also love VJ. I think the reason why he's so likable is that he seems to be genuinely having fun on the mission with Bond.
I have been waiting for this review since the start of Rewatch. Not because I particularly enjoyed this film, but because it is the ONLY bond film that I had any recollection of seeing. I was 7 it was on cable. Here's what I remember: -clown and shiny egg
-Pretty lady with her "her Little Octopussy" sleeps with bond ( 7 year old me also thought Magda and Octopussy were the same person)
- Dude gets face hugged by an octopus
That's it! That is the sum total of my Bond knowledge prior to this podcast and when shade started getting thrown at this one a few episodes ago I got even more excited about it. You guys are doing a great job and I love watching this podcast every week.!
Your recollection sounds like mine. And was probably around the same age. Didn't see it in its entirety till later when Spike TV would do back to back Bond marathons
My sister was extra in Octopussy (she was a majorette in the circus) 🤩
Very cool
33:49 The James Bond Theme actually comes up in a diegetic manner one other time... sort of. In License to Kill, when Sanchez is firing his Uzi at Bond under the tanker, the sound of the bullets ricocheting is the James Bond Theme itself, I kid you not. Clip: ua-cam.com/video/ZlSE8NfWNpo/v-deo.html
That is very funny, thanks for sharing! It really does line up.
Shoutout again to Matt G's editing, who consistently makes me snort tea up my nose with the visual gags and excellent timing. Keep on rocking it!
OMG I love the octopus on the table with a cigar and drink.
I believe that's a blowpipe, and the artist who does these is probably crying.
Now that you say that yea I can see blow pipe there. I thought it was evil guy octopus with a drink and cigar.
@@nibblitman It is one of Moore's comically large cigars
A few years ago me an my roommate did a watch of all the movies and one thing we did was always watch the trailers on the dvd extras. We quickly learned to watch the trailers AFTER the films because trailer back than were certainly different and seemed to always spoil huge sections of the movie. The reason i bring this up here is a decent chunk of this movie feels like its trying to keep "octopussy's" identity a secret yet every trailer for the movie opens with Maud Adams staring directly into the camera and literally saying the words "I Am Octopussy"
"How is the ocean here?"
"It looks kind of octopussy to me."
Thank you for making this series! Before it, I had only watched Goldfinger, so thank you for making me care about a movie series I never thought I'd watch or care about. And I look forward to Mondays now because of this podcast. I appreciate the inclusion of plot details and production notes. Honestly, the worse the Bond movie, the more entertaining the podcast episode.
Sternly telling the tiger to "Sit!" was apparently a reference to the dog trainer Barbara Woodhouse, whose TV series advocating strict dog training was popular in the early 80s.
TANGENT IN THE COMMENTS: I watched Deep Star Six after it was mentioned in the "For your eyes only" episode, I was not expecting it to be as solid of a horror movie as it turned out to be. If you, like me, love old horror movies I highly recommend it
The U.S. general and his aide at the circus are both Star Wars alumni - Bruce Boa ("You're a good man Solo, I hate to lose you.") and Richard LeParmentier ("Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer's ways Lord Vader...").
I thought I recognized them! Thanks for pointing them out!
I've actually been to Udaipur a couple of years ago and a large part of the local tourist industry is based around the fact that this was shot there, with guided tours to the main palace (the hotel in the movie) and the monsoon palace, a boat tour around the lake palace, daily screenings of the movie etc. They are very proud of it
I would absolutely do all of that
I hadn't caught a single one of these until 5days ago. Yesterday I finished NSNA and spent the subsequent 18 hours re-freshing youtube...
I'm on a very similar journey as you, not sure i can wait until next Monday, I shall need to fashion a time machine out of a false horse arse and single seat fold up jet ...
It’s definitely rough when you catch up to real time!
Khan's comment about Bond needing to spend the money quickly is from the original 'Moonraker" novel. Drax tells Bond the same thing after Bond turns the tables on him while cheating at cards.
I felt like you guys were a little more Cinema Sins than Cinema Wins in this episode. My wife and I watched it tonight and had a laugh riot. This was a truly fun movie and even with flaws, better than most Sean Connery Bond films.
Did Matt mention the return to classic suits/tuxes?
Very late on this I know - but I agree, it feels like they went into the film not wanting to like it, watched it with a negative mindset looking for faults (and ignoring parts of the plot that are clearly spelled out, then claim these things are never explained) and turning it into a hit piece with the UA-cam comments filling in all the blanks.
It's a shame, because I both love this movie and love the podcast (hence me coming back to watch the UA-cam version many years after listening to it originally) and hearing the guys slam it for 2 hours wasn't pleasant.
You state that the airbase Bond tries to sabotage in the opening is "Central American looking". You should look further south. This is clearly intended to suggest Argentina. Reason 1) the Polo match - Argentina has a reputation as a polo playing nation. 2) This was released in 1983 - one year earlier Argentinian Air Force planes were bombing Royal Navy ships off the Falklands. MI-6 had a legitimate reason to be attacking Argentinian airbases. Of course they did not use Argentinian flags or military insignia because that would be gauche, but I and everyone else who saw this in 1983 assumed that this was set in Argentina.
Blue and white flag with a gold emblem too
Thank you!!
On a related note to all the female commandos being conspicuously white, the "Argentinian/Central/South American" guards with the parachutes in the pre-titles are remarkably light skinned and blue eyed.
Absolutely. Not the first time these reviews have failed to consider what was going on at time of release. C’mon guys, step back and think.
@@NCR5309 lmao dude chill, sit back and enjoy the show
Kinda wish you'd called this episode "The Spy Who Punned Me", because the density of puns in this movie was off the charts.
Anyway, I personally enjoyed this movie, though it is far from a favorite. I'd happily watch it again and enjoy it. There is a lot of dumb, silly stuff in it, I'll grant you, but I think I enjoyed it more than ya'll did. Also, I think I followed the plot a bit better while watching the movie? Though, I am now wondering whether or not 009 retrieved a fake egg instead of the real one...
This has been yet another fun episode! Thanks for doing this series. :)
I agree. As I said in a separate comment, I think this movie is the low end of adequate Bond- but still adequate!
"and then we go back to veejay" *very distinct graham sigh*
I think it is curious that the russian soldiers at 1:39:17 are carying Austrian Steyr AUGs.
Russia never adopted those rifles, they were build in Standard NATO Caliber 5.56×45mm the Russians used 7,62×39mm and 5,45×39mm
I think at least half times the enemies have submachine guns they are WWII MP-40s
Top 5 for me.
Tons of fun.
I'm really glad you guys are doing this podcast, it means I get to be entertained by these movies without having to watch them
The only good part of Mondays: new Rewatch With Love episodes.
"[A poison letter] is a rude letter, typically sent anonymously." Oh, so the UA-cam comments? :P
I admit I haven't seen the movie myself, but it sounds to me like the diegetic playing of the Bond Theme, and particularly Bond reacting to it, might have been a sort of MI6 code-phrase to tip Bond off as to who his contact was? So in-universe the Bond Theme is just, like... the secret 007 MI6 contact code-tune?
Just chalk it up to breaking the fourth wall.
Is it just me or Vijay awesome? I'd happily watch a spin-off movie about his adventures as a MI-6 I-division agent. I was really bummed when he got murked.
Me: Are zhey ever going to talk about my French homeboy, the actor who plays Kamal Khan?
Graham Stark, at the 2:04:46 mark: Louis Jourdan!
Me: Zut alors! It's about time!
OMG the Bond reaction shots at 1:52:40! Top notch.
Graham’s comment about Midge and Gwendoline actually broke me. We had to stop the video we were cry laughing so hard.
The thing that sticks in my mind about this movie, more than anything else, is the buzzsaw yoyo.
A weapon built for an extremely narrow range of situations? Yes.
So stupid it comes back around to being awesome again? Also yes.
Better than Odd Job's hat
I laughed for several minutes straight at the question as to why Gwendoline does not simply eat Midge.
works on several levels
bobby ballz as do Midge and Gwendoline.
Perhaps they are saving it for sweeps.
So, in 1983 the MI-6 agent disguised as a clown crosses from East Berlin to West Berlin and, mortally wounded, makes it to the residence of the British Ambassador. In 1983 there was no British embassy in West Berlin. The capital of West Germany was in Bonn and the Ambassador lived there. The agent could have stayed in East Berlin as there was a British embassy there. Of course that embassy was under constant surveillance by the stasi and they would have stopped any clown approaching it.
Yeah, an embassy in West Berlin wouldn't make a lot of sense. The point of an embassy is keeping close diplomatic relations with the government of the country you're in, so you have to be where the politicians are. Which would be the capital and not West Berlin which was like an island deep inside East Germany.
Maybe the movie meant the British Consulate in West Berlin?
I love the idea that British Agents are taught a standard clown costume that they are able to put together in a dressing room in a moment.
2:00 John Glen directed the last several? FYEO is several movies now!?
Octopussy came out in theaters in 1983 as well as Superman III. It was a more simpler and more innocent time in life and in the world. I was thirteen years old back then. Looking back in retrospect that was the good old days and a very nostalgic, sentimental, happy go lucky, carefree- time, full of great adolescent memories. I wish I could back to those innocent days but with the knowledge and experiences and wisdom I have now !
Hell yeah never watched a bond movie in my life but I love this podcast
Part of the reason Octopussy doesn't do anything at the circus, when Bond reveals himself as the clown, is that she thinks he's dead. Last time she saw him, he was being "eaten" by CrocoSub. So not only is she hesitant to expose her plan, she's in shock that Bond is still alive!
I'm so glad these episodes are back online!
wow, Casino Royale 67 just keeps coming back. (like the boat)
The plane stunt in the pre-title teaser has a noticeable technical flaw - when they cut to the plane when it is flying inside of the hangar you can see that it is being suspended on a white metal rod that has wheels at its base and it's being rolled across the floor of the hangar. I didn't notice it when I first saw the movie, but only after repeated viewings. Now I can't unsee it
Killer editorial comments again. Keep it up!
The line "spend the money quickly Mr. Bond" is a reference to the book Moonraker. Hugo Drax says the same thing to Bond after Bond out cheated him in the bridge game at blades.
My dudes, you need to pick up a Flashman book, there are twelve of them and they're amazing. Your summary was reasonable but there's so much more to them.
The way you talk about the snake charmer whistling the Bond theme is hilarious
I honestly could only remember two things about this movie:
1. The justification for the title was weak.
2. That _stupid_ fuckin' buzzsaw yo-yo thing.
Man if it was Jaws who fell off the plane he would’ve lived
Right?!?! This guy was robbed!
I had to look up the henchladies red suits, because of the smiley faces. I thought it couldn't have been that bad.
It was that bad.
I specifically looked for this comment because I needed to know but had no desire to actually see what was under that emoji
Wow. That looks so uncomfortable. Does Octopussy have a rule that her guards can't wear underwear?
The lupin III reference made me super happy lol
As goofy as some of the Bond movies are, and whether they are one of my favorites or not, each one of your podcasts makes me want to watch that movie right now.
1:06:17
Sheep’s head is not steamed, but stuffed. I also was grossed out by the eyeball eating, but then realized it supposed to be a decorated boiled egg or something in-universe.
And so with one more film gen 4 will begin. Thanks for this great show gang!💙
Am I the only one disappointed that it wasn't the yo-yo saw by Matt's elbow?
This movie is the reason why throwing knives were my favorite weapon in GoldenEye.
Bonus _Royal Flash_ podcast when?
It's true, you almost never see Alligator and Crocodile in the same room....
39:45
While the theme may be out of place in the scene, fun fact - the James Bond theme came out of song from a rejected musical co-written by Monty Norman
Interview with Monty Norman on origins:
ua-cam.com/video/85ma-snE7pw/v-deo.html
The James Bond 'riff' itself is directly inspired from the musical style of the south asian subcontinent
Full Song: ua-cam.com/video/ElFRXFKgGZo/v-deo.html
I'm with Graham, the "Company Car" crack was easily my favourite part of this movie.
This podcast/video series might be my favorite thing LRR has ever done. And Matt G’s increasing level of visual gags and commentary as the series goes on is delightful!
Now...let’s REALLY talk about Zorin and May Day...
Midge was played by Cherry Gillespie, a dancer who is well known to British TV audiences as a member of Pan's People and Legs & Co on Top of the Pops. These girls brightened up many people's Thursday evening during the 1970s.
You forgot "This should keep you in curry for weeks".
I haven't watched these movies in ages. I am really enjoying this 😊
Don't worry, James Brolin got to be a secret agent in Pee Wee's Big Adventure.
👍 I just noted the same thing and found your post afterwards .
Editing gags are brilliant as ever XD
Nice callback to the Always Sunny joke from last week.
@@Yora21 right from the start with the banger discussion call back with the stills from never say never "WRITE IT!"
Keep it up guys, I'm really enjoying this series... One thing to note though is that a lot of the "gags" in the film directly relate to stuff that was in popular culture at the time (As other people have already noted - Barbara Woodhouse etc). Looking forward to your View to a Kill podcast... which I think has an even sillier plot than this one, but some great theme music. Walken is great though.
The clown bit certainly is a striking image. I think this was the first Bond film I saw and for years the two things that stuck with me were the clown scene and the shooting of the bannister. Nothing else, really, until i saw it again last year as part of our slow burn family marathon.
Keep up the good work, Moore fatigue is real!
First one of these I've been able to listen to and really enjoyed it. As a Brit, Bond movies were a staple of my childhood.
19:08 Thank you, Matt in editing. :D
One thing in the auction scene which I think was missed is that the guy bidding, Kamal Khan, is usually only there as a seller of things that aren't that valuable. This is why Bond is intrigued to see him suddenly bidding big after talking with the mysterious woman.
They almost got the Cyrillic right on the "Kremlin Art Repository" sign. It even makes a bit of grammatical sense. Now, they use the term "National", which I'm not sure would have been used in the Soviet Union, especially not related to something like the Kremlin, but yeah, they might have had a Russian speaker involved with the props.
George McDonald Fraser probably did the India stuff as he was an expert on the subject, his memoires of fighting there in WW2 are excellent (he also scripted the Michael York Musketeer movies). I've been to the Lake Palace at Udaipur and they play this movie every night in the surrounding guest houses. As for Bond and automatic weapons what about George and Roger using Sterlings in OHMSS and TSWLM? 2 things stand out now, the quality of stuntwork on the roof of the train and how similar this storyline is to Pierce Brosnan's The Fourth Protocol. I love the clown opening scene, it's very Avengers (but more of that next time...)
Since Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum worked on the script, I am going to assume they heavily altered Fraser's work. I can't believe anyone who spent any significant time in India would think Octopussy properly emulated anything about India beyond the superficial.
I thought the jewelry in the cylinder was payment for Kamahl Khan, since he is a collector.
I just realize that the blue ring octopus has the cigar and neat bourbon of Roger Moore's James Bond. 😂
Oh no! The outline of a vulva! Quick, cover it up!
While watching along, I realized I couldn't remember what Roger Moore scenes were in what movie, to the point I went into "Octopussy " genuinely convinced I hadn't actually seen it and just cobbled it together in my mind from other movies. Took me a half hr into rewatch to find I had watched it only one year ago and completely mentally blocked it out (though I still think it's kinda fun/stupid).
Seriously? It’s the one in India & Berlin with the Faberge eggs, the circus, and Maud Adams. Not sure how you would not remember it. Unless you’re just a casual fan of Bond.
I think the third act in Germany is a hoot -- love the train fights and the final fight on the plane.
It's funny, I vividly remember All Time High, and I've looked forward to this song for quite a while, but it's Moonraker (the song) that I'm still drawing a complete blank on, despite having watched it two weeks ago
Phyllis Hyman's Never Say Never Again easily beats both songs.
Agreed that's why I put Moonraker the song near dead last. It makes ZERO impression on me no matter how many times I listen to it. I seem to recall from behind the scenes articles/videos that they had a lot of problems with the song and threw it together at the last minute and totally wasted Shirley Bassey as a result I and all I remember of Moonraker the movie is the return of Jaws the little girl (with braces Mandela effect ftw) Space! Lasers! "A woman?!?' annoying line and of course "I believe he's attempting re-entry" and that's it. I put Moonraker the movie near last as well.
@@jcharpak For the most part, I can take Moonraker for what it is. The film is an enjoyable, campy Bond episode but there's no question that pales in comparison to it's predecessor.
So, funny story about 'Miss Smallbone' and her actress, Michaela Clavell. Yes, that Clavell - she's the daughter of the author James Clavell. She very recently got a third credit on her IMDb page besides the TV credit as "The New Teacher" and then Octopussy...she Executive Produced a new hulu/FX series based on her father's seminal novel "Shogun"...that airs it's first episode tomorrow!
I'm guessing the acting roles were a whim of hers - she can say she was a 'Bond girl' - but never really needed the career; probably inherited her dad's books and has been managing them since?
Not to mention her role as "The New Teacher" was for a TV adaptation of _"The Children's Story"_ , another work of her father's!
and now in 2022 look at how fine this plot aged
love the never say never again chat .this one be awesome.
moore no1 bond
About your question for setting up the cricus at the Airforce base:
Usualy the building Crew come to a location about one month earlyer and start setting up.
And most Circuses have more than one tent.
So one Crew sets up the tent, than the Circus comes to the setup tent, makes it's Shows, during that time the second building Crew takes down the last location, bring's it to the next location and starts setting up again.
As soon as she says that her FATHER gave her that sexually inappropriate nickname, Bond rapidly moves away from her. Shockingly, even he has limits...temporarily.
First time watching this movie I would have agreed with your rankings but its a movie that grows on you the more you watch it.
Guys, in 1983 (@28:02) it was still the Soviet Union, of which Russia was the dominant country. Carry on.
I remember so little and yet so much of this film, it's bizarre
This is the first movie where Roger Moore just looked so old to me. His head is just gigantic by this point. Something about british men aging seems to cause their heads to just...expand
2:13:16 Synchronicity was The Police's final album, released in 1983!