Synopsis:
After nearly outbidding an Afghan prince (Louis Jourdan) during the auction sale of a Faberge egg, James Bond (Roger Moore) tracks Jourdan and his companion (Kristina Wayborn) to India, where he meets a female jewelry smuggler named Octopussy (Maud Adams) who is unaware that Jourdan and his accomplice — a Soviet general (Steven Berkoff) — are working with twin circus knife throwers (Tony and David Meyer) to start an intentional nuclear “accident”.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

• Carnivals and Circuses
• James Bond Films
• Louis Jourdan Films
• Nuclear Threat
• Spies
• Strong Females

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary writes that this loose adaptation of “two Ian Fleming short stories, ‘Octopussy’ and ‘The Property of a Lady'” has “slow spots, little humor, and villains who aren’t nearly of the caliber of Dr. No, Goldfinger, or Blofeld” — and he points out it makes “the mistake of demeaning Bond by having him swing through the trees… emitting a Tarzan cry and having him hide in a gorilla suit and later disguise himself as a clown.”

Despite his complaints, however, Peary refers to this as “a fairly entertaining picture,” with a “sturdy performance by Moore” and “several exciting action sequences” — including Bond[‘s stunt double] surviving a truly miraculous number of near-death situations on the top of moving circus trains:

and some enjoyable girl-power when Octopussy’s red-clad posse show off their ninja moves. Meanwhile, Adams’ character is a worthy, relatively sympathetic lead female, not someone Bond needs to bring over to his side, and a powerful (albeit corrupt) businesswoman.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

• Maud Adams as Octopussy
  
• Fine cinematography
  
• Vibrant location shooting
  

Must See?
No, though it’s worth a one-time look.

Links:

• IMDb entry
• NY Times Original Review
• Spinning Image Review
• Combustible Celluloid Review
• Moria Review
• FilmSite Review