John Barry - Octopussy (40th Anniversary Expanded Edition) (2024)

Remastered and expanded 2-CD re-issue. Produced by Neil S. Bulk and mastered by Doug Schwartz, CD1 of this deluxe release showcases the film’s Score Presentation and additional music, while a remaster of the original 1983 soundtrack album is housed on CD2, along with the CD premiere of the “Extended Instrumental Version” of “All Time High”! The film score on Disc One was sourced from ¼ inch stereo tapes of the film mixes, while Disc Two’s original 1983 soundtrack and the “Extended Instrumental Version” of “All Time High” are from ¼ inch stereo album masters. All of the tapes were newly transferred in high resolution for this set.
…In 1983, Moore was close to calling time on his days as 007 (at over 50, he remains the oldest 007 on screen); that same year also found unusual competition a few months after Octopussy‘s release from Never Say Never Again, an adaptation of a story by filmmaker Kevin McClory which was partially utilized by Fleming for the Bond novel Thunderball. For one last time, Connery returned as the secret agent. (McClory’s legal battles with Fleming and Eon Productions/Danjaq, LLC, the longtime maker of Bond films, wouldn’t be settled until years after his passing in 2006.)

Eon’s Octopussy was only loosely based on original Fleming material, taking elements from two short stories (“Octopussy” and “The Property of a Lady”). Here, 007 faces off against a rogue Soviet general and an exiled Afghan prince who’ve taken control of nuclear weapons. He’s assisted by the title character played by Maud Adams, who’d already co-starred in Moore’s second Bond outing, The Man with the Golden Gun (1974). John Barry composed his ninth Bond score for Octopussy, co-writing the theme song “All Time High” with lyricist Tim Rice. Rita Coolidge would be tapped to sing “All Time High”; while not a pop hit on either side of the Atlantic, it did top Billboard‘s adult contemporary survey for a month.