Product Details

• Actors: Roger Moore, Maud Adams, Louis Jourdan, Kristina Wayborn, Kabir Bedi
• Format: Color, Widescreen, Dolby, Closed-captioned, NTSC
• Language: English, French
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Thai
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• DVD Release Date: October 21, 2008
• Run Time: 131 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (190 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001EDVNNA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,501 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Octopussy (Two-Disc Ultimate Edition)" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Roger Moore was nearing the end of his reign as James Bond when he made Octopussy, and he looks a little worn out. But the movie itself infuses some new blood into the old franchise, with a frisky pace and a pair of sturdy villains. Maud Adams--who'd also been in the Bond outing The Man with the Golden Gun--plays the improbably named Octopussy, while old smoothie Louis Jourdan is her crafty partner in crime. There's an island populated only by women, plus a fantastic sequence with a hand-to-hand fight that happens on a plane--and on top of a plane. The film even has an extra emotional punch, since this time out 007 is not only following the orders of Her Majesty's Secret Service, but he is also exacting a personal revenge: a fellow double-0 agent has been killed. Two Bond films were actually released in 1983 within a few months of each other, as Octopussy was followed by Sean Connery's comeback in Never Say Never Again. The success of both pictures proved that there was still plenty of mileage left in the old license to kill, though Moore had one more workout--A View to a Kill--before hanging it up. And that title? The franchise had already used up the titles to Ian Fleming's novels, so Octopussy was taken from a lesser-known Fleming short story. --Robert Horton

Product Description

Feature Film with frame-by-frame digital restoration and DTS 5.1 Audio. Special Features include: ** Inside Octopussy - An Original Documentary ** "All Time High" Music Video ** James Bond in India - Original 1983 Featurette ** Testing the Limits - The Aerial Team ** Shooting Stunts - Crashing Jeeps & The Aeroplane Crash ** Designing Bond - Peter Lamont ** Ken Burns On-Set Movies ** On Location with Peter Lamont **Interactive Guide Into the World of Octopussy ** Original Theatrical Trailers

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Octopussy should get more respect - answering the critics of a fun movie January 16, 2006

By Darren Harrison VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Octopussy has had many criticisms leveled at it since it slipped into cinema's in 1983. One complaint is that there are simply too many villains - is the crazed Gen. Orlov the main villain or the suave Kamal Khan? Another objection postulates that its choice of India as a location sends Bond into a pure fantasy land with a depiction of tribal princes, mysterious islands populated entirely of impossibly beautiful women and bungling local thugs. Still more point to its inappropriate rather juvenile schoolboy humor, from Bond's Tarzan yell to our heroes ogling over a young woman secretary's bust as a reason why the movie fails.
These objections are perfectly legitimate, but one has to feel that the movies detractors were missing the point. Bond is a fantasy figure who in the past has battled armies inside bases hidden inside hollowed out volcano's (in 1967's YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE) and shot into space to save the world from poisoned orchids globes (in 1979's MOONRAKER). Bond belongs in the fantasy realm and the over-the-top formula is perfectly suited and indeed complimented by the India depicted here.
In addition the villains are similarly over-the-top and the movie audience is treated to two wonderful performances. Who can forget the fantastic performance of Steven Berkoff as Orlov in the Kremlin meeting room - "Never, the West is decadent" Orlov states as he struts around one of Peter Lamont's amazing sets.
The humor is also perfectly suited to the Roger Moore portrayal of Bond and in fact the adventures had become so fantastical at this point that it was necessary for Moore to not take events too seriously. The only truly embarrassing scene is the one in Q's workshop where Bond focuses a camera in on a woman's bust.... But other scenes referred to pop culture of the 1900s, such as Bond doing his Barbara Wodehouse impersonation telling a tiger to "sit-t-t" and swinging through the vines like Johnny Weismuller in an old Tarzan picture. Neither is particularly intrusive and both elicited belly laughs from the audience I saw the movie with. Similarly the complaint that Bond ends up in a clown suit at the end should be taken in context, he is undercover at a circus, a clown outfit is in fact the perfect disguise.
The movie starts with one of the most famous action sequences of the 1980s. Captured trying to destroy a spy plane in Latin America 007 escapes by using the worlds smallest jet even flying it through a hanger as the doors close. In fact the jet, called an Acrostar, actually exists and had been originally planned for use in 1979's MOONRAKER, it deserves its place in the Bond movie's pantheon of gadgets alongside the mini helicopter Little Nellie from 1967. Rolling up to a gas station at the end of the sequence Bond delivers my favorite line in the movie, smiling to the undoubtedly amazed attendant and asking him to Fill her up please."
Of course this scene has nothing to do with the movie as a whole but it's a nice little mini-adventure to start things off with and set the tone for the rest of the movie. Following the erotic main titles, in which designer Maurice Binder makes full use of lasers and gorgeous women, we are plunged headlong into the main plot with two assassins chasing a British agent in full clown make-up (shades of what is to come later) as he attempts to get a fake Faberge egg to the British embassy.
Understandably a little miffed at the death of their agent and curious as to the reason why he was carrying a fake egg the British send Bond to observe the auction of the real egg at Sotheby's. Here is one of my favorite scenes, there are no explosions, no meglomaniacal speeches from super villains and no incredible sets but merely Bond testing the determination of Khan in a standoff which reaches its final conclusion thousands of miles away over a game of backgammon. Here we see shades of Goldfinger cheating at golf in the 1964 movie except this time its loaded dice on the backgammon table.
Special mention must go to the very alluring Maud Adams who holds the distinction of being the only actress to play two leading roles in the EON Bond series (Ursula Andress played two, the first in DR. NO and the second in the non-Eon 1967 spoof CASINO ROYALE). Adams is a stunning Scandinavian beauty and plays the title role with a sense of both amusement and conviction. In fact in what is an interesting tip of the hat to the short story from which the movie gets its title, the plot of Bond tracking down a traitor serves as the backstory to Adam's characters father.
The plot for what its worth involves jewelry smuggling and nuclear brinkmanship, but that's really not what is important here, that merely serves as a canvas on which to stage fun set pieces and a generous selection of stunt action sequences.
What we have here is a fun action adventure movie, just don't go in expecting anything serious. If you approach this movie with the right frame of mind you might find this entry in the James Bond canon to be one of the series most entertaining - for entertainment's sake.
The DVD also features a scene specific commentary from Director John Glen. It can be a little dry at times and it might be better waiting for the upcoming remastered DVD releases that will feature a commentary by Bond actor himself Roger Moore. Read more ›

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Roger Moore's Best Bond Movies January 6, 2007

By H TERESA K

Format:DVD

This is one of Roger Moore's best Bond movies and ranks up there with his definitive THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN. It certainly has its moments. It does contain the best scene from the entire series. Bond swings from a vine and gives this terrific Tarzan yell. Only Roger Moore's Bond could pull that one off. Bond uses some cool disguises like a gorilla suit and an alligator outfit that turns into a boat. The story is a little confusing and gets jumbled up in subplots involving lookalike jewelry and smuggled nuclear devices. You don't know who is good or who is bad. It depends on your point of view.

The score by John Barry is exceptional and harkens back to a more rich sounding score such as he used in ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE. He did do a good job scoring the scenes involving the Soviets, which has a rich eastern European flavor.

The film does use elements from the short stories "Octopussy" and "The Property of a Lady" by Ian Fleming as a jumping board. We had not seen that for some time. I think LIVE AND LET DIE was the last Bond film that resembled anything written by Fleming.

Louis Jourdan as Kamal is excellent and gives a performance that rivals Christopher Lee's Scaramanga. It was also good to see many of the regular cast members return for this one. Desmond Llewelyn as "Q," Walter Gotell as Gogol, Geoffrey Keen as the Minister of Defense, Eva Reuber-Staier as Rublevitch, Jeremy Bullock as Smithers and Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny all reprised their roles. Robert Brown replaced Bernard Lee as the beloved "M." We all missed Bernard.

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Bond's On An Island Of Beautiful Women in "Octopussy" October 31, 2000

By Phillip C Mackey

Format:DVD

"Octopussy" is the thirteenth entry of the James Bond series produced by Cubby Broccoli and it marks the sixth appearance of Roger Moore as the British secret agent. John Glen returns to the series to make his second of four directorial efforts in this film. The title of this film is taken from an Ian Fleming short story which is actually told by the title character to James Bond in the film. Only one part of the film, the auction, is based on Fleming's work, in this case the short story "Property of a Lady". The rest of the screenplay was conceived and written by longtime Bond associates, Richard Maibaum and Michael Wilson.

The story begins with the discovery of a fake Fabrege Easter egg in East Berlin. Its genuine counterpart is about to be auctioned off in London and M, head of MI6, is worried that this is part of a Soviet operation to raise hard currency. Bond is assigned to attend the auction and report what he can see. What starts out as a simple assignment quickly becomes more involved. Bond first encounters Kamal Khan, a disposessed Afghan prince and apparent jewelry fence. As Bond follows Kamal back to his home in India, he finds that Kamal is involved with a female jewel smuggler known only as Octopussy. But behind them both is Soviet General Orlov and his plans involve more than just selling off jewels from the state archives. Bond must find out what Orlov is up to and stop him.

The cast of characters in "Octopussy" is as wide and varied as ever seen in a Bond. Bond is opposed not by one but two master villians. Actor Louis Jourdan portrays the smooth but deadly Kamal Khan and Steven Berkoff nearly steals the show as the maniacal General Orlov. Kamal's henchman Golinda, played by Kabir Bedi, is a worthy successor to the likes of Red Grant and Oddjob.... David and Tony Meyer nicely round out the villians as the twin killers, Mischa and Grischa. Kristina Wayborn makes good impression as Magda although she comes off as a little stiff in a couple of her earlier scenes. The film's title character is played by Maud Adams, whose performance as the smart but sensuous businesswoman Octopussy is quite excellent. The regular cast of characters are here as well with Robert Brown debuting as "M" and with Lois Maxwell and Desmond Llewelyn reprising their roles of Miss Moneypenny and "Q". Bond's trusty sidekick in India is played by newcomer Vijay Amritraj.

The screenplay to its credit maintains a strong storyline, no mean feat considering the number of characters and the number of fights and chase scenes. The scenes where Bond is racing to prevent the fulfillment of General Orlov's plans are both amusing and suspenseful, worthy of comparison to films like Goldfinger. The final assault of Kamal's palace is a bit weak but the ensuring fight between Gobinda and Bond on the outside of a twin-engine aircraft is first-rate.

The MGM Special Edition DVD of "Octopussy" has, like most of the other DVDs, an excellent widescreen print. The DVD also contains a couple of interesting documentaries, an audio commentary track, and many other goodies. As with any movie presenting in a widescreen format, this DVD is best seen on a large-screen TV.

"Octopussy" is one of those few Bond movies, especially in the Roger Moore's era, that seem to blend all the elements, exotic locations, colorful villians, spectacular physical action, suspenseful plot, into a masterful whole. If not the best of his individual performances, "Octopussy" is certainly the most entertaining of the Roger Moore Bonds. It is a shame that he was persuaded to do another Bond, this effort would have been a great swan song for Roger Moore. This DVD is a must for any Bond fan's collection. Read more ›