OK Connery

You just have to love the massive balls that it took to release this film at the height of the James Bond craze. It wasn't enough just to flagrantly rip off the Bond films, no, the producers actually got most of the supporting actors/villains/hot chicks from the real films and then had the nerve to cast Sean Connery's brother, Neil, as the hero (who is alluded to be 007's brother)! However, as bad'60's spy flicks go, this is astonishingly more entertaining than most of them. Give it a chance!

During the height of the original James Bond craze in the 60's, there were a lot of rip-off films produced. High profile celebs like Dean Martin and James Coburn starred in light hearted Bond rip-off series. Existing characters like Bulldog Drummond and Modesty Blaise were co- opted into films that were more like Bond films. Even Bond material not owned by the folks behind the series got adapted into the terrible film "Casino Royale". Still ... trust the Italians to produce the most blatant rip-off of them all. This film stars a ton of actors from the Bond series ... Lois Maxwell, Bernard Lee, Anthony Dawson, Daniela Bianchi, Adolfo Celi ... and throws in Sean Connery's young brother Neil to play the younger brother of "England's greatest spy" who's called into action when his brother is not available. The film's not exactly good ... in fact, I don't think the plot ultimately makes much sense at all ... but with all these actors from the series and surprisingly decent production values, it's nowhere near as bad as you'd expect. The big problem with the film is the giant gaping charisma hole that is Neil Connery. It's no surprise that only one brother became a star.

Face it, Sean Connery's brother as a hypnotic plastic surgeon is no less ludicrous than Denise Richards as a nuclear scientist. This completely blatant rip-off of the 007 series is a must for fans of bad flicks and Bond. It's also funnier than the last "Austin Powers" movie, especially the scenes involving the bad guys plotting "Operation Blackmail" which nearly mirror some of the Dr. Evil goings-on from the first Austin Powers. With bad martial arts, a rock combo, groovy chicks, cool Ennio Morricone score, it's sort of "Our Man Flint" or a Matt Helm flick before those were even made. Endless references to Bond and the Bond flicks will make this very entertaining to fans. Hard to find on video, but a copy did come out in 1996 with a nice transfer (letterboxed credits, then pan-and-scan)

Despite being a low budget Italian rip-off of the James Bond series, I think this movie could have worked, but try telling that to the particular Italian filmmmakers that tried to pull this off. There are many problems with this movie, but I think the biggest problem is how dull much of it is. It takes forever for the premise and conflict to be established, and it's mostly slow going from that point on. There is sporadic action, but it's badly directed and choreographed, and it adds little life to the movie. As for Neil Connery, he not only lacks the charisma of his older brother, he doesn't seem to be very enthusiastic to be there. Maybe it's because for most of the movie, his character comes across as a stunned observer for most of the running time instead of actually getting involved in the action. And how can you have a James Bond rip-off that doesn't contain any fancy gadgets? The only thing of merit to be found is the musical score co-written by the great Ennio Morricone.

The first 20-30 minutes of this are surprisingly good: a fantastic title song (in both the English and the Italian versions!), a rousing score (by Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai), cool gadgets (driverless car), sexy and powerful women (Daniela Bianchi and Lois Maxwell - sexier here than in any official Bond film!), a bon viveur villain (Adolfo Celi), Monte Carlo and Malaga locales, and - last but not least - the sublime atemi (it's fatal). It slows down A LOT in the middle, but does deliver the expected explosive finale. The production is fairly polished, and Neil Connery, although obviously not a casting find like his brother, is inoffensive. The whole film is very meta, too - in a modern sense. **1/2 out of 4.