Review by kevinolzak

1965's Italian-Spanish "Lightning Bolt" (Operazione Goldman) was picked up by Woolner Brothers for a double bill with Stewart Granger's "Red Dragon," TV veteran Anthony Eisley popping up mostly in low budget features like "The Wasp Woman," "The Navy vs. The Night Monsters," "The Mighty Gorga," and Al Adamson's "Dracula vs. Frankenstein." FSIC (Federal Security Investigation Commission) is assigned the case of American rockets drawn off course by radiation on their way to the moon, an obvious echo of the debut James Bond feature of 1962, "Dr. No" (the original title and Florida settings also recall "Goldfinger"), Eisley's Lt. Harry Sennett posing as a frivolous American playboy with checkbook always ready, his smarmy narration of every little detail quickly wearing out its welcome. Folco Lulli plays the villain Mr. Rehte, whose likeness adorns his own brand of beer, safely hidden near Cape Kennedy in a subterranean stronghold, one that the Bond series would adopt a decade later for "The Spy Who Loved Me." A science fiction element is added with hibernation chambers keeping his enemies in a state of suspended animation, all reduced to skeletons during the explosive climax, an impressive display of set design and special effects for director Antonio Margheriti. An unlikely chase scene at the halfway mark finds our hero trying to prevent the latest launch by driving headfirst toward the site, reminding one of Robert Loggia in 1957's "The Lost Missile." Eisley just doesn't look the part of suave secret agent, and for once the girls aren't much help, though brunette captain Diana Lorys scored a 1961 triumph with Jesus Franco's "The Awful Dr. Orlof," later appearing in Amando de Ossorio's "Fangs of the Living Dead," Christopher Lee's "The Bloody Judge," and Paul Naschy's "The Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll."