OCTOPUSSY

1983, John Glen, 131 mins.

Bond in India and East Berlin and, er, Sotheby's.

Despite misgivings, this is one of my favourite Bond movies. The stereotypical portrayal of India jars – although it helps if you see it as part of the “Boy’s Own” tradition of Gunga Din – and some of the "adolescent antics" disapprovingly mentioned by Q are embarrassing in the context of Roger Moore’s obvious age. But on the whole it's a brisk, funny, and exciting film, which looks a treat and offers two delicious bad guys - Louis Jourdan's exquisitely wry Kemal Khan and General Orlov, played by a madly overacting Steven Berkoff. The technical credits are, as you’d expect, top-notch. There’s a fine John Barry score and a nice cameo from the extraordinary eyebrows of Douglas Wilmer. Dreary Maud Adams in the title role drags the film down, but thankfully doesn't have too much to do, and the ending is strangely anti-climactic.