The Nude Bomb

"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)

One of the poorest of the classic TV show adaptation movies. Lacks any of the heart of the original show. Only Don Adams, of the original show, was involved in this film. He reprises his Maxwell Smart character very well, but there's no humor in the script for him to work with.

The classic spy movies satire Get Smart provided the kind of jokes you could use as one-liners in everyday speech, and the pleasant nostalgia of remembering lines like "Missed it by that much," "Sorry about that, Chief," "Would you believe...," etc. still evoke a smile today. This movie had little of that humor, and a contrived storyline that tried but went nowhere. Worst of all: there were none of Admas's hilarious co-stars doing the agents 99, 13, Himey, and of course the Chief. Ed Platt, as the chief, had passed away by the time this was made, but they failed to even get one of the others.

The writing of failure was on the wall before they started. One has to wonder: why (beyond the obvious cash-in on the name, that is) did they do this? At least the word "bomb" was in the title to warn you.

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.

"THE NUDE BOMB" looks and feels like a cheap attempt to resurrect a 60's TV show for 80's Movie audiences - a la "Star Trek". And it is. But there's nothing terribly wrong with the film, if only that it jettisons practically every character the "Get Smart!" show created and introduces an all-new spy agency for Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) to work for. The film might make die-hard fans a little disappointed, but casual viewers probably won't care.

The plot makes very little sense - a evil fashion designer blackmails the clothes-wearing world with potential, full-blown nudity via The Nude Bomb - and it seems to zig-zag in an half-hearted attempt to string together as many mildly-silly gags, low-budget set pieces and James Bond-ian spoofs into it's brief running time. For a very tenuous plot point, Agent 86 ends up cavorting through many of the attractions of the Universal backlot in a lengthy chase scene that plays out as a mid-film "When In Southern California, Visit Universal Studios" advertisement. It serves less to the story than as a very visual and perhaps only reason why this film was greenlit by executives in the first place.

But it does have it's charms. Pantyhosed Vittorio Gassman is a good villain, and of course Don Adams is a treat. Adams' energy and delivery does about as much as British director Clive ("What's New, Pussycat?") Donner to keep this thing moving. Agent 86's gadgets are inspired, and Don's bell-bottom slacks collection are also quite funny, although probably in only retrospect.

"THE NUDE BOMB" has a breezy pace, is relatively sunny and undemanding. The film and has some funny moments, including a nifty opening credit sequence and some zingy one-liners - and for that Maxwell Smart gets a pass - but of what could have been? Missed it by THAT much.

As another IMDb contributor has noted, it seems very strange that Universal wanted to make a Maxwell Smart movie -- in fact, at the time, there was talk of doing a series of Smart movies a la Inspector Clouseau -- and then went out of its way to remove nearly every element that made "Get Smart!" so funny. Nearly all of Don Adams' supporting cast (esp. Barbara Feldon and Edward "Chief" Platt) are absent here, as are rivalling spy agencies CONTROL and KAOS, as well as *any* of the show's writers or producers. Happily (with the exception of the deceased Platt), they'd all get it right nine years later, for the TV-reunion-movie "Get Smart, Again!" Indeed, as of this writing, that movie is the only "Get Smart" item available on DVD; better that than "The Nude Bomb," at least.