...I sure did. "All Time High", I like that song, always have. The tune has it's haters amongst the Bond fans, but I sure am not one of them. Maybe it is because I was exposed to it in my coming of age years, but screw it, I like it, like the opening animation of Octopussy it is set to, etc etc. It just works.
It is no secret I'm not a fan of the Moore era overall. Recently, however, I've been reviewing the Moore era, and though it is still decidedly inferior and too...Adam West-ish, it still produces some good stories, despite the jokes, the double takes and the "family friendliness" of the films in a franchise where "family" really has no place. But anyway...
This film, like most Bond films, involves a plan within a plan, with a Soviet general, the hawkiest of hawks, Orlov, in hoc with an Afghan prince-in-exile (The USSR was engaged in an occupation of Afghanistan at the time), supplying the prince, a collector of treasures, with Russian goods. Khan, in return, gave him replicas, which Orlov was intending to use in a plot to use the fake treasures to hide a bomb, detonate it at a US Air Force in Europe air show, sparking WWIII, without the knowledge of his comrades, making it look like the US was aggressing, giving the Russians an excuse to pour across the Fulda Gap.
Yeah, long, convoluted, typical of cinematic Bond, especially of the era. Geopolitical trappings, really to set up 007 to do what he does. Go to someplace exotic (India), score with hot chicks (Octopussy, played by Maude Adams, as well as a few of her henchewomen) and trade bon mots with Q and the sidekicks and heavies that share his adventures.
And really, this film does it ok. There are a few groaner moments that are unbecoming of the legendary British agent with a licence to kill. But fortunately, they are few in number. For the Moore era, this is one of the good ones. Not the best by far, but worth having in the library.
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