New York chiama Superdrago

All straight criminals beware when Bryan Cooper, alias Super Dragon, comes out of his early retirement to battle evil once again. Our bland villain has killed off one of Bryan's mates and now plans to spread a chemical in people's drinks that will turn them into senseless maniacs (as if ordinary booze isn't good enough at that)!

Ray Danton's pathetic job at playing our smug, unlikeable hero is amazing, right up there with Peter Mark Richman in Agent for H.A.R.M. How should I describe Mr. Danton? Think George Clooney, then remove what little personality he has and erase From Dusk till Dawn from his merits list. That's how bad Ray Danton is.

This movie is a typically bland, dragging Bond rip off which is so unbelievably dull, not even some hot 60's girls help much. I counted two action scenes in the entire movie and the soundtrack was so bad it made the jazz Muzak from 'Manos' seem like Mozart. You will want to miss this one - the only entertaining part of SASD is its hilarious title.(r#9)

I'll keep the plot synopsis short and sweet. Most of Secret Agent Super Dragon was so unnecessarily confusing that little of the plot seemed to matter anyway. In this James Bond wannabe, CIA agent Super Dragon (Ray Danton) goes up against a Venezuelan drug lord who uses candy to distribute his merchandise. Anything else beyond that wouldn't be much more than speculation as I found myself completely in the dark during much of the movie. I'm not one who needs to be spoon-fed plot points, but how about making what's going on just a little clearer? Too much of the movie seemed like a series of unrelated set pieces that didn't fit together.

But the biggest problem with Secret Agent Super Dragon is the same thing that plagues a lot of these James Bond inspired films - money. The James Bond movies had the financial backing to pull it off. These Italian movies like Secret Agent Super Dragon can't match that kind of money. As a result, they suffer from weak scripts and acting, a lack of interesting multiple locations, poor special effects, a very anti-climatic ending, and anything else you can spend money on to make a movie better.

That's not to say the movie was a total waste. In fact, I enjoyed quite a bit of it. Danton is above average in the title role. He's slick and clever - just what you would expect from a secret agent. Marisa Mell and Margaret Lee would give any Bond girl a run fir her money. Finally, there is a sense of fun about the movie that I liked a lot. Those behind the movie were smart enough to never take it too seriously. As a result, the movie's light, almost bubbly, feeling is an asset.

Secret Agent Super Dragon has become a touchstone of Bondian spoofs thanks to wide availability on the gray market and the misguided shenanigans of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Those who actually watch this movie will find, much to their surprise, that it is a competent and fairly serious exercise compared to many of its genre kindred. Admittedly there is enough cheapness and silliness to keep the viewer from thinking too highly of it but it won't disappoint entirely.

Although it is executed with a certain degree of professionalism, and has some interesting touches here and there (like a bulletproof vest that reflects the bullet and sends it back to the sender!), "New York Calling Superdragon" is defeated by its sheer dullness. Not much happens throughout the film: there are no major set-pieces and little excitement. Nearly all of the action is limited to fistfights, unless you count the explosion of an obvious miniature building at the end. Ray Danton is an agreeable cut-rate Bond (and although others here have found him unlikable, I thought he was more respectful to the ladies than the real Bond); Margaret Lee and Marisa Mell are both sexy, but largely used for decorative purposes only; the villains are as forgettable as the rest of the film. (*1/2)

This is the kind of movie, like Diabolik, that the French would find funny, but everyone else in the world would think is incredibly DUMB. Man, there sure were a lot of James Bond clones in the late 1960's, and finding them is really a crap shoot. On this one, chances are you'll not like it. A joint project among four countries (and a nice rule of thumb is the more countries involved, the worse the film.) by Monaco, France, West Germany and Italy, the film features none of those countries, but was filmed in the Netherlands. (I can't say I blame these countries for not wanting their country in the film.) Secret Agent Super Dragon himself reminds me of one of those perfect jocks who always got his way in school and nobody would even think of being against. I ended up hating him, and the film. Perhaps if he was more imperfect and human, we could root for him.