Argoman Superdiabólico

I've seen this movie 4 times. The first time when I was about 8 years old, in Romania, with the Romanian title "Argoman superdiabolicul". I remember that I liked it very much. I was just a naive child. I saw it 2 more times as an adult, less than 10 years distance, and I totally forgot what was the subject, "so good it is"... Everything is bad, stupid plot, bad acting, bad bad bad. They are trying a combination of James Bond with Batman and a big s..t gets out. A movie for little children without discernment or for adults without brain. Only they can like it.

...was the title of the last print I saw. A classic in the 1960's European superhero/action genre. You'll swoon with B-flick extasy when Argoman confides to his manservant, Chandra, "Sometimes I'd prefer not to have my superpowers, if only to make my adventures a bit more difficult!" This is just one snippet of the dazzling dialogue from this masterpiece. His flair for Jetson-style interior decor makes his pad almost as cool as Diabolik's. He locks horns with supervillain Jenabel, "queen of the world," a hot redhead supermodel type babe with a fabulous Swinging 60's wardrobe and miles of eyeliner. All to one of those upbeat, cheerfully awful, strangely compelling European badmovie soundtracks. There are a couple of loosely related flicks, "Superargo vs. the Faceless Giants" and "Superargo vs. Diabolicus." It's the sort of stuff we lovers of cinematic trash thrive on. This is a film you will watch over and over again. Or maybe that's just me. Whoops.

While nowadays there's been a big boom in super hero movies, it's a little known fact that it's not the first. During the 60s there were a ton of them, most trying to cash in on the Batman show although they did have their own sense of style. Argoman is different in the fact that it lacks the style, because of this it just becomes like the campiness of the 60s Batman. Which IS a good thing by the way, but it doesn't seem as original as stuff like Danger Diabolik. Also, most of the movie is pretty slow, with Argoman trying to find out where Jennabell is by standing around and talking to people! However, the last act in the base makes up for it. Overall, while it's not as stylish as some other 60s super hero movies and is pretty slow at times, it has most of the other traits of a good movie down. Food acting, good effects, a catchy theme song, and a robot! Check it out!

This film is one of those strange super hero films from Europe, I am not sure if it is based on anything, but as is often is the case with these superheroes the powers of Argoman are a bit all over the place. There is also Super Argo, who is a superhero wrestler who does a lot more in his film than this dude, but Argoman does have a way nicer home base. Argoman's powers stop for six hours after he has sex, but that did not play as big a part of this film as I was expecting. Not sure if they were going to do another film where it did play a prominent role, but here it is used only once and does not hinder our 'hero' all that much.

The story has a crown stolen, a warning from the queen of the world and the introduction of Argoman at his awesome house where he gets a sexy redhead driving a hovercraft by his oceanside manor. He boings her and loses his powers, but he is not even on the case. Soon he is as he got busy with the self proclaimed queen of the world! She wants a diamond that does stuff, not sure what as it is as clear as Argoman's powers.

The acting is typical for this type of film as it is a bit over the type and a bit goofy in places. The women look great, a scene with his friend in lingerie is awesome. Women definitely looked better back in the day than they do now and dressed better too. These days they dress in sweats and weigh more than Andre the giant riding carts around Walmart. Thank god for the internet, anime and Asian girls...

So I thought the movie was a fun watch despite its rather strange premise. Not much action mond you, but it makes up for it with pretty women, cool locations and just the fact it is not taking itself too seriously. I would rather watch this film than most of the Marvel films released since Endgame.

This movie seemed to be taking itself seriously while winking at the same time.

A big dig on the superhero shows and films that were all the rage at the time. It had every cliché. The rich man's hideaway. The gadgets. The ladies. The police and governments friends and/or connections. It still seems fun.

The costume was a bit weird. The red ski mask didn't exactly look like it belonged on a hero.

And while the name 'Argoman' sounds cool, it doesn't make a lot of sense really.

I won't even attempt to explain the plot. See it for yourself. It's out there on video, (I know, I have it. An American copy.) but only the patient will find it.