When Two Bonds Walk Into a Theater…
Only in the 1980s could two rival James Bond movies hit the same year and everyone just sort of shrug and go, “Yeah sure, that makes sense.”
On one side: Roger Moore, the official, MI6-approved model of tuxedoed British dad-humor.
On the other: Sean Connery, the original Bond returning after twelve years because he wanted to prove he still had the juice—or at least wanted to show Moore who the real alpha tux was.
The Bond franchise literally split in half for one glorious moment, and the result is one of the strangest cinematic turf wars ever recorded.
Box Office: Roger Moore Wins the Big Pile of Money
Connery’s comeback got the headlines, but Moore got the cash registers humming.
• Octopussy — $187.5 million worldwide
• Never Say Never Again — $160 million worldwide
Moore didn’t just outgross Connery—he did it while dressed as a clown, swinging off trains, and leaning all the way into his elder-statesman playboy phase. Connery looked energized and serious again, but Moore won the popularity contest because he had the official theme song, the gunbarrel, and the whole Eon machine behind him.
The audience verdict was simple: the knockoff Bond curiosity was fine, but people showed up for the real deal.
Critical Reaction: A Tale of Two Mixed Reviews
Neither film blew critics away in 1983. But each impressed for its own reasons.
Octopussy
Critics liked the Cold War plot, the massive stunt work, and the fact that it felt like a “normal” Bond film—meaning there were gadgets, quips, explosions, and maybe a few bad decisions.
They didn’t like the broad humor or the increasing challenge of pretending Roger Moore was still 47.
Never Say Never Again
Connery got the love—of course he did. Critics praised the grounded espionage tone, Barbara Carrera gleefully eating every scene, and Irvin Kershner directing it like an adult thriller.
But the missing Bond elements—no theme, no signature score, no gunbarrel—made the whole thing feel like Bond cosplay that just happened to have Sean Connery inside it.
This is the rare case where “mixed reviews all around” is the fairest possible summary.
Audience Scores: Moore Wins on Paper, Connery Wins Online Arguments
• Octopussy
• RT Audience Score: ~63%
• IMDb: 6.6
• Never Say Never Again
• RT Audience Score: ~54%
• IMDb: 6.2
But here’s the twist: modern Bond fans are more vocal about Never Say Never Again. Connery loyalists passionately argue it’s the better movie—because of Connery, because it’s more serious, because Fatima Blush is incredible, and because they want to sound edgy by backing the outsider.
Meanwhile, Octopussy gets quietly slotted into the middle-tier Moore pile. Everyone likes it fine. Few love it. Nobody mounts a crusade about it.
Strengths & Weaknesses: The Breakdown
Octopussy — Strengths
• Classic Bond scope and style
• Strong stunts, especially the train and airplane sequences
• Maud Adams giving an actual performance instead of a stereotype
• The comfort-food predictability of a fully-operational Bond flick
Octopussy — Weaknesses
• The clown suit (you can’t un-remember it)
• Moore’s “world’s oldest frat boy” energy
• Tone swings so wide it feels like two different movies strapped together with a Walther PPK
Never Say Never Again — Strengths
• Connery is awake and dangerous again
• A more grounded spy thriller feel
• Barbara Carrera: perfection
• Early-career Kim Basinger
• Kershner gives the material actual dramatic shape
Never Say Never Again — Weaknesses
• Very little Bond flavor—like ordering Bond at a diner and getting “spy-ish casserole”
• Small action set pieces
• Uneven pacing
• Rowan Atkinson doing Rowan Atkinson things in a Bond movie (which is somehow both delightful and completely wrong, Bond meet Mr. Bean)
Which Film Do Fans Prefer Today?
It depends on what kind of Bond fan you’re dealing with:
• Moore loyalists pick Octopussy every time. It’s peak 80s Bond: goofy, excessive, charming, and proudly ridiculous.
• Connery purists prefer Never Say Never Again, because even an unofficial Connery Bond movie still feels more “authentic” to them than Moore’s broad comedy era.
• Film historians tend to rank Octopussy higher because it actually counts and because it holds together better as a big-screen entertainment.
The unofficial consensus of the fandom in 2025:
Octopussy sits in the respectable middle of Moore’s run.
Never Say Never Again sits just below it—flawed, fun, and quietly culty.
Final Verdict: Who Won 1983, and Who Wins Now?
1983 Winner: Octopussy
– Bigger box office, bigger stunts, more Bond DNA.
Performance Winner: Sean Connery
– The man showed up to work, and you can feel it.
Legacy Winner: Octopussy
– Still rewatched, still talked about, still “counts.”
Cult Winner: Never Say Never Again
– The Connery die-hards and oddity collectors keep it alive.
In the end, what 1983 gave us was a gift: two Bonds, two wildly different approaches, one wonderful mess of movie history.
Moore won the battle.
Connery won the cool points.
And audiences got one of the strangest spy-movie face-offs ever filmed.
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