Voitheia o Vengos, faneros praktor '000'

Thanasis Veggos, alternatively spelled Thanassis and/or Vengos, (Greek: Θανάσης Βέγγος; pronounced: Thanássis Véngos; 29 May 1927 – 3 May 2011) was the most popular and critically acclaimed Greek film comic.

His style incorporated slapstick elements to the popular art of Karagiozis (Greek shadow theater).He was not -as many of his contemporaries- a comedian of theatrical origins.He was a pure cinematic actor, using the 60s New Wave sense of montage to refine his physical artistry.He was as influenced by the Mack Sennet comedies as he was from the New Wave and the Free Cinema.

This film, the first one he directed -and the first for his own production company- is a surrealistic spoof of the James Bond movies. This was followed by "The Baldheaded Agent and the Land of Destruction Mission" which Greek film critics and historians consider to be his masterpiece. This first movie follows Thou-Vou (Vengos' initials), a Greek Secret Agent from his school days to his first mission. A very weird movie to watch if you're not Greek .

Around the same time Mel Brooks started his career as a writer and director of "anarchic" comedies, Thanasis Vengos did pretty much the same thing in Greece with this spy movie parody. This film has the same feel with Brooks' best efforts, as well as the Abrahams-Zuker-Arahams comedies,which arrived a full decade later. Despite some misfires, there is a barrage of ingenious jokes, as well as a general surreal atmosphere that make this a winner. The film can also be read as an underground satire of the police state that was Greece in the 60's and which led to the 7-year junta in 1967. A year later Vengos reconfirmed his innovative spirit by releasing a sequel- a long time before they became fashionable.

It is a great pity that this comedy will not be watched by other than Greek speaking audiences. I have watched most of what are considered to be the greatest comedies of all time in the history of the cinema. I can say that without any doubt this is the finest and funniest of them all. It is the only movie that has me crying from laughing each and every time I watch it. I know it by heart, as I have seen it countless times, and it never gets boring, it never wears off!

Theough it has elements of the Marx Brothers anarchic humor, and physical gags in the tradition of Chaplin, Keaton, Langton etc, it is an extremely original comedy, well ahead of it's time, being pythonesque two years before the Python were even created. It is very sad that he isn't so famous as they are...

Veggos is a genius and here is the movie that proves it!

Perhaps the only Greek entry (along with its 1969 sequel) in the James Bond Spoof sweepstakes, this is one of the better ones from any country. Producer-director-star Thanassis Vengos is not very well-known outside Greece, but he should be: his brand of humor is more advanced and stands the test of time better than such European contemporaries as Louis De Funes or Franco and Ciccio. In fact, the surrealistic school of comedy he represents may be unparalleled in Greek cinema. This film cannot keep its momentum from flagging at times (the first of the three "graduation" missions goes on too long), but it offers several laugh-out-loud monents, and its best sections can be watched more than once; the "training" scenes at the start can almost compare with similar ones in Woody Allen's "Bananas"! The cartoonish sound effects are particularly amusing. In a too-small role, Ria Deloutsi (Dora) will have you exclaiming "Sophia Loren....who?". **1/2 out of 4.

Vengos is at his best by creating this movie. He manages to produce "tons" of laughs by pulling James Bond's leg. Every joke in this black and white motion picture is a real diamond and manages to make you laugh no matter how many times you see this movie.

I consider this movie to be one of the best parodies relating James Bond and his spy films. I also believe that it is even better than Austin Powers, because the laugh you make is real and moral.

I think it's the best James Bond comedy ever made.