Runtime: The version I saw was 87 minutes
Directed by: Charles Jarrott
Starring: Michael Crawford, Oliver Reed, Barbara Carrera, James Hampton, Jean-Pierre Kalfoun
From: Disney
One of those films I had an odd relationship with. In several previous reviews, I’ve mentioned films that were watched on a particular local station in the evening, only they were partially viewed before going to bed. This was everything from D.C. Cab (!) (I don’t know either how they created a TV edit of such a vulgar movie!) and The Cat from Outer Space to Halloween III: Season of the Witch (!) (Mom wasn’t happy I was viewing a horror movie) and Condorman. All the others had been viewed as an adult yet it was just last night that this was finally tackled.
The movie’s print never advancing to the world of HD was a reason why. However, recently I discovered someone who uploaded an upscale of the old DVD-but you didn’t hear that from me. As for the movie—flawed and silly yet inoffensive. Michael Crawford is a comic book illustrator (and also a dork, to be honest) whose CIA buddy got him involved in a courier mission but things go awry and he bumbled his way into success so he was asked to help Soviet agent Barbara Carrera-lucky man-to defect. Several European locations are shown, including Monte Carlo, Paris & Switzerland.
This is both a comedic take on the spy and the superhero genres. The humor is hit or miss-the same goes for the effects-and at least one major logical fallacy. Yet, there are some assets that help. Oliver Reed is the villain; that would have been my first time seeing him. The action scenes are all fun; this includes auto stunts from the legendary Remy Julienne. There are some sweet vehicles on display, from black Porsche 911’s and 911 Turbos to the gnarly Nova Sterling kit car. As typical, Henry Mancini provided a catchy score.
After more than 35 years, it was nice to finally watch this movie in full when my childhood memories were rather faint. As others have noted, Disney during the 70’s and till the middle of the 80’s made some odd live-action movies… this, Return to Oz, The Watcher in the Woods, plenty of obscurities featuring famous faces, TRON, etc. To state the obvious, it’d be nice if Disney was this adventurous now when it comes to cinema.
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