The Battle of the Bonds (1983)

 

In 1983, Bond fans were not only going to be treated to one but two Bond movies, a chain of events occurred that got Sean Connery to return to the role that he made famous while at the same time Roger Moore would film his sixth Bond movie, both films were to be released in the summer of 1983 going up against one another. With the surprise announcement of Connery returning, EON was determined to have Moore return for another film. After "For Your Eyes Only", Moore hinted that he was ready to leave the role. Timothy Dalton and Michael Billington were considered to play Bond while American actor James Brolin did a screentest for "Octopussy", and came close to winning the role after the screentest was successful, however EON felt that Moore would do better in a box office battle with Connery than a new actor taking over the role. So Moore came back, the stage was set and two Bond films in the summer of '83 going up against one another, however that didn't happen because "Never Say Never Again" was pushed to October of '83 so "Octopussy" ended up having the summer all to it's self.

"Octopussy" is another Moore-type Bond film, a lot of action, exotic locations and some over the top humour and it's a pretty good movie. The film has a great Pre-title sequence with Bond piloting a mini-jet, it's a fun opening with some nice kinetic action and amazing stunt along with a typical Moore punchline at the end, the film starts with the death of 009 which starts a fast moving story with a, Faberge egg, a palace in India, a safari manhunt, women circus performers ,a train chase, a nuclear bomb at an army base and 007 in a clown costume. Fortunately the film moves at such a brisk pace, it doesn't give you too much of a chance to scrutinize the plot as soon as you start to another entertaining scene comes along to grab your attention. The cast is all good, Maud Adams returns to the Bond franchise nine years after her appearance in "The Man with the Golden Gun", not something that happens too often, this time she's playing the title character Octopussy, to his credit Moore started feeling embarrassed about the age gaps between himself and his leading ladies, being 55 at the time of the movies release, Adams, who was 38 at the time of the film's release is more age appropriate for Moore so them getting together is more believable, plus Adams is capable of being conveying the character's intelligence, strive and maturity, qualities that are essential to the part. Louis Jordan does the proper charming Bond villain role as Kamal Khan, he has a cool menace about him, the one scene where he dines on a stuffed sheep's head is fun, it reminds of a scene from "Temple of Doom" that come out a year later. Khan's henchman, Gobinda is intimidating but never really delivers on his buildup, the secondary villain, General Orlof is an added bonus with irrational madness. Vijay is a likeable ally, he is played by the real life tennis pro Vijay Amritraj, the tennis racket is an inside joke in scene and Q gets more screen time than his usual brief appearances at the beginning of the films. The action is all top-notch, the chase in India is entertaining, the Safari hunt at the beginning is suspenseful, Bond looks he's in trouble, but it quickly goes from some cheesy jokes and it dilutes the tension, humour is subjective in Moore's Bond films, you either love it or hate it, I never mined the light-mood some of the jokes give to his films, it when it gets overwhelming and kills the momentum of the scene and doesn't sit too well, for some instance, Bond disguised as a gorilla and dressed up as clown kills the mood for me, but it's all subjective. No matter how impractical it is, I still like the yo-yo saw and naturally they needed a death by octopus. Towards the end, the climax keeps coming, the train chase has some impressive stunts, and it nicely put together, the race for the bomb has it's nice fair share of tension and the final battle at the palace and the fight on the plane are all satisfying sequences. Overall "Octopussy" is a pretty good film and I enjoy watching it every time it's on the telly.

A few months later, "Never Say Never Again" was released, now there a random chain of events that occurred to allow Sean Connery return to the Bond role, a lot of random luck that made this happen or maybe bad luck. It all started back in 1957, Ian Fleming collaberated on screenplay with Jack Whittingham and Kevin McClory to make a Bond film. The film never happened and the screenplay was forgotten, until Fleming used the screenplay for the 9th Bond novel "Thunderball" in 1961, without crediting Whittingham and McClory, the two sued and received damages along with being credited for future versions of the novel. Because of this lawsuit, the film which was initially going to be the first movie was push back to 1965 to which McClory was given a producing credit for the adapatation and retained the rights which allowed him to remake the film after10 years had elapsed, however this was delayed after a few lawsuits with EON and the film was announced in 1982, at first George Lazenby was considered to play Bond, the logic being the he was the most likely former Bond actor to agree, however it was revealed that Connery might be interested. Since leaving the Bond role behind, Connery's film career had been sporadic at best, he did some good and bad films but didn't maintain the same or greater box office that he had with his 007 films, by the early 80s, his status needed some polishing and suiting up in the text again sounded like a good idea. Irvin Kershner who directed "The Empire Strikes Back" signed on to direct, the original title was to have been "James Bond of the Secret Service", however it felt too similar to "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", so the eventual title came from a response from Connery's wife, after "Diamonds are Forever", he vowed to never play Bond again.

The film gets some negative attention from the hardcore Bond fans, but I enjoy it, as Connery is a favorite Bond of mine. In the film Connery play an older more vulnerable Bond. His boss M (played by Edward Fox) doesn't hold him in high regard and suggests that he takes some time off in a plush health spa. During his time her  Bond uncovers a strange plot and the further he delves into the mystery the more he discovers. It seems that his old adversaries SPECTRE, fronted by the nefarious Blofeld (Max Von Sydow) have stolen two nuclear warheads which they will detonate if they are not paid an extortionate ransom. Chief overseer of this hideous plan is Maximillian Largo (Klaus Maria Brandeur), and Bond pursues Largo around the globe in an attempt to stop him, visiting such places as Monte Carlo and North Africa during the course of the mission. Connery seems to be responsible for making 007 a more mature secret agent and a number of changes take place in the Lorenzo Semple screenplay that emphasize Bond's age. At 52, Connery still has a youthful vigor here than in "Diamonds are Forever".

The best thing in this film, other than Connery, are the Bond girls, shot with more attention to personality than normal in Bond films, a testament to cinematographer Douglas Slocombe and director Irvin Kirshner. Barbara Carrera was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role as the villainess Fatima Blush, every bit as crazy as Largo and even nicer to look at. She doesn't last the whole movie; you almost need her gone in order to focus on the others.

Brandauer's role as the chief villain, Maximilian Largo, is one of the best in any Bond film, with Brandauer enjoyably playing up his character's menace and mania. At one point, he allows Bond free roam of his situation room, with a martini to boot, and his dancing eyes and mad, engaging grin make for compelling company throughout. Bernie Casey makes an appearance as Felix Leiter, and while it's isn't much of a big role, Casey does give a good performance and this is the first time where we see a black in carnation of the character.

Rowan Atkinson also has a fairly good role as a dim-witted agent assigned to "help" Bond.

Kim Basinger is a lovely actress but as Domino, but she honestly appears to have limited acting ability in this film.

Lastly, Max Von Sydow has an appearance as Blofeld, but he's just wasted, no resemblance to the character with the exception of his white cat, maybe his appearance was meant to setup a sequel, but we'll never know.

Although all that the film remains inferior to the original "Thunderball". It lacks many fundamental ingredients for being a real Bond movie: there's not the traditional gun barrel sequence, there's not the "James Bond theme", M and Q are not played by the traditional actors... It's a copyright reason: EON only is allowed to use these elements. Briefly, NSNA lacks the classic cinematic 007 atmosphere. The end result is that it is entertaining so I'm not complaining.

Both movies, "Octopussy" and "Never Say Never Again" were both box office successes but "Octopussy" made more than "Never Say Never Again", which helped Connery's film career improve throughout the 80s and 90s where he was credited for his acting ability which he added some prestige to/ Four years later after "Never Say Never Again", he won an Oscar for Best Supporting in 1987's "The Untouchables". This would be the last time Connery would play Bond, unless his voice acting in 2005 video game adaptation of "From Russia With Love" counts, but Roger Moore wasn't done yet.