Talk:Octopussy

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Good article Octopussy has been listed as one of the Arts good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can delist it, or ask for a reassessment.
August 28, 2007 Good article nominee Listed
To-do list for Octopussy: edit · history · watch · refresh

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    • The Main thing to do with this, is sources/references.
      • If you used the Inside Octopussy documentry as your source add <ref name="documentry"/> after the statement
    • Cite Soundtrack section (and remove template)
    • Expand Release and reception section
    • The plot is three words over the 700 word suggested limit. (not that this matters too much)
    • The Vechiles and Gadgets section needs cleaning up, (in line with From Russia with Love (film) style)

    The above was added by SpecialWindler talk 07:06, 6 August 2007 (UTC)
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    [edit] Found this:

    A black opal worth over £1 million is to go on display at an East Staffordshire jewellery shop. The stone, which is known as "Octopussy" was mined at Australia's Lightning Ridge, by Englishman John Wheeler. [1]

    Supposedly this octopussy is bigger than the family jewels of the Queen. Femto 21:25, 18 Nov 2004 (UTC)

    [edit] Derivation of the word

    Regarding the recent edit that had explicitly mentioned the 'deeper' meaning of pussy, what exactly is the derivation of Octopussy? I'm asking because at octopus we mention that Octopussy is a "portmanteau of octopus and pussycat", but I haven't seen the movie or read the book—do either of them elaborate on the meaning, other than the obvious "octopus chick"? Femto 11:50, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)

    Not that I recall from reading the story several years ago. Fleming just chose a name that sounded titillating. In fact, the edit that was removed was correct -- it's not a portmanteau of octopus and pussycat, but indeed it was octopus and "pussy", the slang term for female genitalia. Fleming did something similar with his character name Pussy Galore from Goldfinger. It was just a bit of British schoolboy humor. I just felt there was no need to spell out what the word meant since most people could figure it out for themselves. In the original short story, "Octopussy" refers to an animal that Major Smythe encounters, whereas in the film it is the name given to the female lead, whose female followers wear octopus tattoos -- at one point one of them describes the tattoo to Bond as "That's my little octopussy." It's all wink-wink, nudge-nudge stuff and probably the main reason why "Octopussy" didn't appear as a film until the 1980s when they could actually get away with such things in a PG-rated movie. 23skidoo 12:23, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)
    Its largely assumed that Fleming got the name from his octopus, which was named Pussy Galore. No other reason, as far as I remember has ever been given save for that this is just an example of Fleming's (as 23skidoo stated) school boy humor. K1Bond007 14:17, Apr 20, 2005 (UTC)

    Great! (and quick answers too) I shall simply describe it as a 'play on words' then at octopus, and leave the rest to the reader where it was meant to belong to. Femto 14:27, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)

    Explanation might be good anyway - this is an encyclopedia after all. The pussy article notes regarding Octopussy that octo- means 8 which may be transliterated to "ate," as in eating. Ergo "eating pussy" or cunnilingus. This might be supported by any references to 'eating octopus' or to the 'Octopus cult' as being similarly interested. While relatively benign in popular culture today, cunnilingus was a bit more risque thirty years ago, and that may explain the need for the hidden meaning. -MagnaMopus 20:58, 14 January 2006 (UTC)
    I don't think Fleming (who originated the title) had such complex ideas in mind. The title was just a play on the slang word "pussy", and the PG-rated movie was allowed to stretch this a bit more. The whole octo/8/ate bit is overthinking it, IMO. It's something that would likely have gone over the heads of 99% of the audience and Bond films have always been somewhat more obvious in their double entendres. 23skidoo 22:48, 14 January 2006 (UTC)
    From what I know now, I believe it was named after a coracle that was given to Ian by his lover (and neighbor) Blanche Blackwood — unfortunately this is all I've heard. I always thought it was the Octopus and Fleming's school boy humor, but apparently not. The Octopus itself (Pussy Galore) was apparently named after an SOE agent by the name of 'Pussy Deakin'. Noel Coward's partner always said Pussy Galore was based on Blackwood.... so who knows? K1Bond007 01:39, 15 January 2006 (UTC)
    Yes, but Pussy Galore is rather obviously a pun in reference to pussy and the world's abundant supply of it. Even if the movie puns are more overt than the books, its perhaps useful to explain them in passing. Its interesting on a couple levels: for foreign English readers not totally familiar with English puns, and for culturists who take interest in the use of overt or subvert puns. Bond films are far more about sex than any other topic — "spying" for instance (who can relate to that?). -MagnaMopus 18:32, 16 January 2006 (UTC)
    But you can't explain the "pun", if you don't know it truly is one. Yeah, Octopussy has the word "pussy" in it, but that's all you have to go on. The title also has the word "Octopus" in it; add in the fact that the Octopus' name is "pussy" (a legitimate nickname that several women have) and there you go. It's play on the words. You shouldn't assume it's a pun though. Pussy Galore is a lot more obvious and is backed up by the character being the ringleader of an all-lesbian mob. K1Bond007 20:40, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

    [edit] George MacDonald Frasier

    Hi:

    For anyone familiar with George MacDonald Frasier's books, the outrageous plot, high adventure and comedey in Octopussy are all hallmarks of the Flashman books. Frasier's contribution, particularly the Indian setting, rates mention in the article. I think Frasier commented on his experiences writing Octopussy in sundry interviews.

    I noted in the trivia section that Fraser co-wrote the screenplay, and cited him as the author of the Flashman series. Like his screenplay for his book "Royal Flash," he tends to indulge his taste for slapstick, bawdy humor -- I'm sure the scene where Bond trains a camera on a woman's cleavage and zooms it in and out while the machine makes the equivalent of an "ah-oogah" sound is Fraser's contribution. From the critical commentary I've read, most critics and fans found the humor in this film not only lowbrow, but not very funny. I may be wrong (and did not include this in the main page), but I think it's easily surmised that Fraser contributed much of the Indian-centered material, some of the circus material, and much of the humor, and Maibaum and Wilson, whom I believe were both veterans of the Bond series, contributed the more standard plot artifices and action sequences. As with most "team-produced" screenplays, though, it's often very hard to tell where one author's work begins and another's ends.

    [edit] KGB shot Orlov?

    When Orlov realizes that Bond is aboard he is after the train too, past the KGB border guards who shoot him.

    Those guys that shot him looked more like eastern Germany's NVA border soldiers to me. What evidence/reasoning is there that those guys were in fact KGB?

    I agree I don't think they were KGB. The KGB chief is present, but the film shows he actually tries to stop them from shooting Orlov. 23skidoo 22:30, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

    [edit] Split

    I didn't suggest the split, but was looking at cleaning up some things and saw this. I don't feel like the soundtrack needs its own article, only some of the other Bond films' soundtracks have separate articles and there are not enough notable songs on it. The main page of the music is already linked. Just my thoughts. Phydend 03:01, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

    [edit] Moore's contract

    As the edit summaries show, I've just reverted an obviously well-meant change.

    The article says:

    Roger Moore's Bond contract had expired with "A View To A Kill" and the producers had been engaged in a semi-public quest for the next Bond including Pierce Brosnan and James Brolin. When the rival Never Say Never Again was announced the Producers re-contracted Moore in the belief that an established actor in the role would fare better against Sean Connery.

    This is confusing since of course AVTAK hadn't been made at that point. But the person who changed it (from AVTAK to FYEO) said "can't have been" rather than "wasn't" and so I presume they were making a presumption too. In fact, it could have been, since Moore may have had a contract for AVTAK. The sentence would therefore be poorly worded but not wrong as such. I must admit it had troubled me too, when I first read it, but to just go ahead and change it is kinda "original research".

    We should clarify this from some kind of source. – Kieran T (talk | contribs) 21:46, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

    • First, many thanks for being kind, and no offense is taken by me for your revert. The sentence sounds like it was written to reflect a time before "Octopussy" even went into production, let alone "A View To A Kill." It only makes sense if you read it as Moore's contract had expired with FYEO,

    and the Brocollis wanted him back for "Octopussy" to battle Connery's huge popularity, etc. From what I have read (no cites, just old "Starlog" mags, etc.), Moore started making noise that he wanted out after "Moonraker," but was lured back three more times, thus signing up for his last three films on a one-movie at a time basis. I don't really know, to be honest. Sir Rhosis 01:30, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

    Thanks yourself – you're a breath of fresh air (especially compared with some of the bizarre conversations I've seen on talk pages lately...)
    Would a simple solution be to just remove "...with "A View To A Kill"..." but not replace it with anything, since we don't know for sure? I think the revised sentence might cover the situation well enough. – Kieran T (talk | contribs) 01:57, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
    • I think you're right, something along the lines of "Roger Moore had expressed some desire to retire from the role of Bond, but the producers lured him back... etc., etc." Sir Rhosis 03:49, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

    [edit] Merge of Monsoon Palace

    Currently the article doesn't contain any information that can't be gotten by viewing the film Octopussy. Plus what does exist is short and stubby. If there's no info on the palace itself outside of Bond, I don't think it's notable enough to stand on its own. Wl219 22:03, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

    Bond is not all - if the palace exists in fact, the article should remain. -- Beardo 07:43, 2 January 2007 (UTC)
    Oppose merger .The palace is much more than a movie filmed there.Shyamsunder 21:49, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

    [edit] Trivia

    [edit] Trivia

    • In the original, Bond attempts to spot the KGB's resident contoller in London, who is engaged in the bidding for the "Fabergé Celestial Sphere." Here, he attempts to outbid Kamal Kahn for a Fabergé imperial Easter egg.
    Bond flies over the Taj Mahal as he travels to Delhi
    Bond flies over the Taj Mahal as he travels to Delhi
    • The Fabergé egg that is stolen was made in 1897 and is called the Coronation Egg, although its name is not mentioned in the film. The egg contains a model of the Russian Imperial state coach.
    • The pre-title sequence was originally to take place in Moonraker (along with the concept of twin knife-throwing assassins) over the Angel Falls, but this was shelved after the river-bed dried up.
    • In a classic breaking of the fourth wall, Vijay (disguised as a snake charmer) signals his affiliation to Bond and MI6 by playing the James Bond Theme on a recorder while Bond is disembarking from a boat in the harbor near the Taj Mahal. Bond remarks to Vijay about the "charming tune", a combination self-reference and typical Bond pun.
    • A scene where Bond catches Khan cheating at backgammon is adapted from the Bond novel Moonraker, where Bond catches Hugo Drax cheating at contract bridge. A line where Khan tells Bond to spend his money quickly is a direct quote from this novel (Drax does, however, address 007 as "Commander Bond" and Khan calls him "Mr. Bond".)
    • The plot of Octopussy involves renegade Soviet military personnel conspiring to detonate a nuclear weapon at a US Air Base in West Germany, an unconventional example of a first strike, to provide the Warsaw Pact with an excuse for a full scale military invasion of Western Europe. On November 11, 1983, just five months after the release of the film, the Europe wide NATO exercise Able Archer 83 featuring a simulated coordinated nuclear release with participation by heads of state, and a simulated DEFCON 1 nuclear alert, had to be abruptly ended. The realistic nature of the exercise had led some in the USSR to believe that Able Archer 83 was a genuine nuclear first strike.
    • A magazine format comic book adaptation of Octopussy was produced in 1983 by Marvel Comics. The adaptation was written by Steve Moore and illustrated by Paul Neary.

    [edit] Referencing

    I'm going to tag a few sentences that need to be referenced. Cliff smith 19:18, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

    [edit] Images (re: GA nom)

    The JPStalk to me 11:05, 18 August 2007 (UTC)

    [edit] Successful good article nomination

    I am glad to report that this article nominee for good article status has been promoted. This is how the article, as of August 28, 2007, compares against the six good article criteria:

    1. Well written?: Certainly, seems to generally follow the manual of style.
    2. Factually accurate?: Accurate and sourced sufficiently.
    3. Broad in coverage?: Covers all appropriate topics without going into excess detail.
    4. Neutral point of view?: No evidence of biased treatment that I can see, it's just a franchise film after all.
    5. Article stability? No edit warring in the recent past.
    6. Images?: Well-used and properly attributed.

    If you feel that this review is in error, feel free to take it to a GA review. Thank you to all of the editors who worked hard to bring it to this status, and congratulations. — VanTucky (talk) 16:29, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

    [edit] Fair use rationale for Image:MaudAdamsBondgirl.jpg

    Image:MaudAdamsBondgirl.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

    Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

    If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

    BetacommandBot 03:19, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

    [edit] Incorrect image for "12 foot jet"

    The image is of a "BD-5B built, owned and flown by retired USAF pilot Dan Ross. The scoop under the fuselage identifies this as being Rotax powered." The correct image should be the one of the BD-5J N3038V. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bd5j.jpg