John Glen directs Roger Moore, Maud Adams and Desmond Llewelyn in this OO7 spy adventure where Bond must track a stolen Faberge egg that might be about to fund the start of a thermonuclear coup.

I have a very distinct memory of watching the finale of this in the shittiest cinema in London as a child. Might have been a rerelease. But my first memory of Bond is our Rog, in full clown make-up, desperately trying to switch off a nuke. That continual cliffhanger third act is an adventure extravaganza. But there’s lot of joy here. Some of it dated; Berkoff’s hammy second string villain, grey Northolt pretending to be Cuba, the slow fuck theme song and nudie Binder credits. Some of it truly wonderful; Q getting to join in on the caper, Maud Adam’s triumphant returns as a Pussy Galore tribute act, the classy escape from the balcony Kristina Wayborn performs in her sari. The second unit deliver, with Moore and his stunt man being put in sustained peril, danger that’d make Ethan Hunt quiver. Sure, my favourite Bond actor might be starting to creak by this point but George MacDonald Fraser’s script plunges him mercilessly through the action wringer. Given Octopussy is a daft frippery there is no need for the set pieces to go this hard yet delightfully they really do.

8

Perfect Double Bill: A View To a Kill (1985)

My wife and I do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/