Our Man Flint (Widescreen)

Both Flint movies are a cornucopia of camp and to really enjoy them you have to turn your brain down a few notches and turn up your suspension of disbelief to the max. Just enjoy the silly, sexy adventures of our improbable hero.

Now about all those stars in some other reviews. To me a five-star movie is Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, Days of Heaven, The Conversation, Lolita--perfect of near perfect examples of cinematic art. As amusing as Our Man Flint is, it falls far short of such glory.

Still, this is a fun flick worth a look.

James Coburn is Derek Flint, a spy so secret that even the group of scientists that wish to take over the world don't know of him. He is able to fake death, has a lighter with 82 functions (83 if you wish to light a cigar), knows ballet, kung fu, and fencing, and is apparantly an expert in French cuisine. In otherwords, he could only exist in a (everybody say it now!) spy movie from the 60's.

The style of this widescreen epic is amazing. The special effects are very well done for the time, and are even now hard to detect. Flint is every inch a chauvinist pig, so if you want to see women kicking [rear], this is not the film for you, as Flint has FOUR women who serve his every need and are basically helpless without him.

What was truly fascinating was watching this movie after having been a big Austin Powers fan. I was surprised at how much the first Powers film owes to this movie, from the bathroom fight to the giant earth drill. My appreciation of the later films is not diminished one bit, however.

This film has a ton of tongue in cheek humor, and is a very enjoyable watch.

The DVD also features several trailers, and is very well done for a...no-frills package. The transfer is gorgeous, and the compression of the video signal is top-notch. The sound is in it's original glorious mono, and we get to hear that super-catchy Flint theme over and over again in it's various incarnations.

I heartily recommend this for lovers of Bond and Powers.