4. Octopussy (1983)
The Man: Roger Moore
The Mission: Fellow agent 009 is found dead at the British embassy in East Berlin, dressed as a clown and carrying a fake Fabergé egg (just go with it). The plot that follows is a convoluted affair involving an exiled Afghan prince, backgammon, an Octopus cult and a circus...
The Problem: Aside from its risible title, Octopussy is an example of the series showing its age, in more ways than one. Moore was reluctant to return as Bond, feeling uncomfortable doing love scenes with actresses young enough to be his daughters. He was only persuaded to return in light of Connery's re-emergence in the unofficial entry Never Say Never Again (which was itself a remake of Thunderball). On top of Moore's reluctance, the film is tonally all over the place. On the one hand it's trying to be a little more serious in its plot, looking back to the Connery era for inspiration; on the other hand it features Moore in a gorilla suit, doing a Tarzan yell and later hiding out in a circus dressed as a clown. If you hadn't got sick of it before, Octopussy was the moment when all the goofy attributes of Bond finally caught up with the lead actor, and for once his dancing eyebrows couldn't get him out of trouble.
The Alternative: A View to a Kill (1985). The follow-up sent Moore's Bond out on a high, thanks to a steadier, darker tone and a brace of good villains in the shape of Grace Jones and Christopher Walken.