Die nackte Bombe

Okay, I was 11 when I first saw The Nude Bomb -- it was on HBO, I taped it and watched it over and over and over and over again. A huge fan of Get Smart, yes, I was disappointed Don Adams was the only original from the series. But I do remember enjoying the film's opening - a spoof of the Bond-films, with women fawning over Smart as a hokey ballad played over the credits. And of course, Sylvia Kristel ... need I say more.

Like the Austin Powers movies, "Get Smart" is a spoof of spy movies like the James Bond series, and "The Nude Bomb", made at the height of the Cold War, in the early 1980s, concerns Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, the guy with the shoe phone, pursuing the madman who has developed a bomb that, if exploded, would render everyone without clothes. This is an underrated movie and works well even with the absence of the original supporting cast from the 1960s television series. Almost, but not quite as funny as "The Naked Gun". 8/10

Come on now, sometimes a movie seeks to be nothing more than simple inane fun! as is the case with The Nude Bomb. Let's face it you know going in this movie is farce it's just an enjoyable way to spend time you wanted desperately to waste anyway.

A movie about a dude in plumb paisley that wants to rule the world by creating a bomb that renders the world totally nude. Making the way clear for him to inflict his warped fashion sense on a now naked world get a grip its just fun. On the face of it the plot and the developer of the Nude Bomb sounds deliciously stereo-typical gay wanting to force feed a naked world his sense of high tone fashion.

However the movie is set in the hopelessly weird world of Control Agent number 86 Maxwell Smart and thats weirder than anything in gay life let me tell you. Max has to stop the nude bomb terror threat because, let's face it if the world was suddenly plunged into being seen in, "the all together", all the failings and small wonders of human civilization will be "exposed". Just think of the ugliest person you know now imagine you looking right at them when the first Nude Bomb hits... Yuck, gag me with a spoon. Now that I have you in a playful mood go buy the Nude Bomb movie and count your blessings if Agent 86 saves us from the Nude Bomb fright.

Of course the Nude Bomb would be great for the makers of Sport Utility Vehicle's if some men had to walk about nude because immense size and number of SUV's needed to rebuild shattered male ego's around the world would be huge.

An interesting trivia note: Joey Forman, who plays Agent 13, was a regular on the television show as the Hawaiian detective Harry Hu. Also, when promoting the film, Don Adams and Johnny Carson repeated dialogue from the film that took place when Smart and Larrabee were driving. Not as bad as some critics say.

"Get Smart" is an often very funny TV series that aired in the late '60s that can be seen in syndication (it currently airs on the TV Land Channel). It's a spy spoof created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry and starred Don Adams as Agent 86 Maxwell Smart, the clumsy spy who Lt. Frank Drebin (of TV's "Police Squad!" and "The Naked Gun" movies) can easily relate to. "Police Squad!" was a flop on television (lasting only 6 episodes) but it was loyally supported and as a result led to three successful theatrical movies. Before "Police Squad!" was created, the "Get Smart" series did the same thing. The final result was the other way around. "Get Smart" was a success, lasting five seasons on the tube (1965-70) and winning Emmys as Best Comedy Series twice and Adams winning Best Actor in a Comedy Series three consecutive times. Then ten years after "Get Smart" went off the air, several Hollywood writers and producers (Mel Brooks was not one of them) tried to do justice to the TV show by reviving it as a big theatrical movie. This concept didn't work however. "The Nude Bomb" was the big screen spinoff of "Get Smart". Although I found it to be occasionally funny, it comes off rather disappointing. First of all, Barbara Feldon (who played Smart's sidekick and wife Agent 99) does not appear in this film and her presence is sorely missed. The relationship between Agents 86 and 99 was one of the reasons why "Get Smart" worked so well. Second of all, where's the old "Get Smart" music theme at? That classic theme music that plays during the opening credits of every "Get Smart" episode is nowhere to be found in this movie. I love that theme! How could the filmmakers not put it in this movie? And third of all, where are those KAOS villains Siegried and Starker? Instead, "The Nude Bomb" features new characters that for the most part don't come off well. The plot of the film is about a new KAOS villain who hatches a plan to make the world naked by destroying all the clothing, and it's up to Agent 86 to stop him. Maxwell Smart's sidekicks this time include not one but three new female agents (Agents 22, 34, and 36). The Chief this time is played by Dana Elcar (TV's "MacGyver"), and here it's understandable why a different actor is playing the Chief. Edward Platt, who played the Chief on "Get Smart" died a couple of years after the show's run ended. But the other actors who played their characters to great lengths on "Get Smart" should have been a part of this movie instead of these new characters. That doesn't make sense. Adams plays a great comic character once again, and he carries "The Nude Bomb" singlehandedly. That's not enough. He needed his "Get Smart" co-stars badly in this movie. Though those famous lines that Smart always said on the show ("Sorry about that Chief!", "Would you believe...", and "Missed it by that much!") are still intact. Those are good for some laughs. "The Nude Bomb" has funny moments, but missing elements keep this from being the laugh riot comedy that it should have been. That's a crime! And a shame!

** (out of four)