10 Things You Didn’t Know About Octopussy

James Bond has been around for a long time and there are two many reasons. First, the audience knows what it is going to get, a suave spy with cool gadgets, lots of stunts and action, beautiful Bond girls and over the top villains. The second reason is that the James Bond movies make money. With all that being said, there are some that are true classics and some that are duds. One movie that usually fits right in the middle of the pack is the 1983 film Octopussy. The penultimate Roger Moore outing as 007 is well worth watching, but sometimes gets overlooked which is why I checked it out again recently with the commentary from director John Glen. I found lots of things I never knew, ten in fact, and thought maybe you would like to see if they are also 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Octopussy.

1. The pre-credit flight sequence footage of the plane actually flying was filmed in the United States because there is a lot more space than the United Kingdom and way more freedom to fly where you want. The grade A stunt of Bond on horseback jumping onto a plane was also done in the U.S. The aerial footage and on the ground footage shot at the studio, Pinewood Studios natch, were combined for a seamless opening action set piece.

2. The missile that looks like it is going to hit James while flying was actually just a firecracker strung to a remotely flown miniature airplane. The plane flying through the hangar was full sized… as is clearly visible along with the pole that attaches it to the Jaguar chassis “driving” the plane.

3. All the Indian locations were a mix of actual palaces used for the exterior and Pinewood for the interiors. Props go to the local maharaja for the use of his palaces, Rolls Royce and stuffed tiger that makes two separate appearances. There was a real tiger on set at Pinewood.

4. Bond’s MI6 man in India, Vijay, strangely uses a tennis racket as a weapon in the three wheel taxi chase. Well, it is not so strange when you realize Vijay was played by friend of producer Cubby Broccoli and Indian tennis champ Vijay Amritraj.

5. The blue ringed octopus that gives the character Octopussy (Maud Adams) and the movie its name is a real type of octopus, but there are no tame one so the one you see on screen is fake and powered by air.

6. A henchman uses a bladed yo-yo like weapon that John Glen wanted to include so the kids could relate. Presumably, the toy part of the yo-you and not the murdering part.

7. Bond famously uses a fake crocodile to sneak onto Octopussy’s island, but the scene where Bond and a henchman tangle with a different croc had a real live animal on set at Pinewood. The animal actually got loose and was living under the set for two weeks, but was in a period of hibernation so nobody was harmed and the animal was rescued when the set was torn down.

8. There were lots of dangerous stunts in Octopussy, but the only major injury was when Roger Moore’s stunt double was hanging from the side of a railcar was struck by a pipe that was missed in pre shooting safety checks. The stunt double was ok after some time in the hospital.

9. There was another injury, it just wasn’t very serious or done during a stunt. Walter Gotell, in one of his multiple Gogol appearances, took a tumble while trying to lightly jog on the rail sleepers and cut his face. He was a true professional though and only was out for a half hour and back with some thick makeup.

10. When Bond tries to hitchhike back to the U.S. Air Force base a car drives off after pretending to stop to pick him up. This was a personal experience for John Glen when he was in the Air Force and would hitchhike his way back to Lincolnshire from London. Glen finds it funny in the film, but not in real life.