The Nude Bomb

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.

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.

"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.

Having watched "Get Smart" and "Get Smart, Again!" I have finally laid my hands on this follow-up to the greatest TV-series spoof comedy of all times and it turned out just fine. Not as true to the original as "Again" was nine years after "The nube bomb" but still pretty decent. The idea though of having a KAOS villain built a bomb that when blowing up makes everyone naked is very silly, even by "Get Smart" standards but the overall humor, surprisingly good action sequences, superb performances by Don Adams' Agent 86 and (I can't call her new 99) Agent 22 and naturally tons of references makes this movie a worthy watch for the fans of the series and parody comedy in general.

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.