F comme Flint

Well it looks like I'm in a minority with this one as I think 'In Like Flint' is better than 'Our Man Flint'! It's goofier than the original and for me that makes it more entertaining. It's filled with silly stuff like exploding golf balls, brainwashing via hairdryers, Flint talking fluent dolphin and Lee J. Cobb in drag. It's similar in approach to the 'Batman' TV series (Yvonne "Batgirl" Craig even appears as a Russian ballerina) so if you enjoy that show, and yes, Austin Powers, you'll have lots of fun.

MASTER PLAN: take over an orbiting space platform, have the nukes ready and use mind control - again. In this sequel to "Our Man Flint," a further parody of the James Bond films, the threat is again a weird organization which plans to rule the world. In the previous Flinter, 3 scientists led the new way; here, it's 3 captains of industry who happen to be female. They also have an island base, somewhere in the Caribbean (the Virgin Islands?) - females, females everywhere! Flint is again played by Coburn as a super-smooth genius who seems to play the secret agent as a side job, called away from his Hugh Hefner-style existence into spy activity when something really unusual rears its nasty head. In this case, he doesn't show up until 15 minutes in, to save the bacon of his former boss (Cobb), who has been discredited and embarrassed in a scheme perpetrated by traitors within the U.S. government. All of this sounds kind of serious and some of it is, especially in the final act, where-in straightforward action goes against the grain of the overall satirical tone. A lot of it is still silly, of course, especially the scenes of Coburn imitating dolphin sounds (I can't believe Coburn was talked into these). The pace is a bit slower than the first film, mostly with all the stuff revolving around Cobb's character getting bamboozled in the early going. It takes awhile for the action to get going. The main femme fatale (Hale) lacks some spark, sort of playing the role as if this was a dull daytime soap opera. The actress Craig, known for her Batgirl role, pops up briefly as another femme fatale, Russian in her case. No sign of Adam West, who would've fit in well here.

The premise proposed by the villains, as in the first film, is that the world needs to be run better; in this case, they feel the planet needs a more feminine touch - a new matriarchy. Though there's the expected glitz and camp of sixties psychedelia, the femme fatales (and there are many of them) are not a total joke; they're pretty well organized and make some valid points, though even Flint appears to sneer at their goals. This is ironic since he, at one point, says he doesn't compete with women, the inferred downside of most men. This foreshadows the reveal of the actual threat, a rogue military - male, of course. The main traitor turns out to be a general (played by actor Ihnat, who would soon be seen as the crazed Garth in the Star Trek episode "Whom Gods Destroy" with actress Craig). None of this is a surprise - the general looked suspicious in his first scene. The President of the U.S., who kept calling on a red phone in the previous pic, is now revealed (Duggan), but is quickly replaced by a double early in the story. Some of this also recalls the "Seven Days in May" thriller done up as comedy. The film is a bit too long, having a padded feel at some points: Flint has an exciting running fight with the soldiers towards the end, but he's captured anyway, so the whole thing was just an excuse to show off his martial arts. The ending is awkward, unlike the explosive conclusion in the first one: the filmmakers had to figure out a way to get Flint into outer space and it's done clumsily. The outer space theme, reflecting the space race between the U.S. and the Soviets of that time, was also prevalent in that same year's Bonder "You Only Live Twice." Flint would return in another incarnation in a TV Movie in the seventies. Hero:7 Villains:6 Femme Fatales:6 Henchmen:5 Fights:7 Stunts/Chases:7 Gadgets:6 Auto:4 Locations:6 Pace:6 overall:6

Did Flint (and the producers) know something America didn't in 1967? I'm making reference to that remark in the title of my review. Reagan was already Governor of CA at this point. :)

Anyway, the plot is unique, the parody unqualifiedly silly but fun.

All the cliches and spy references are present and accounted for. Of course there are plenty of continuity problems, bad special effects and inaccurate ones.

James Coburn was in his prime and drawing good box office. What else did he need? More fun as witnessed here.

Overall, an entertaining film with lots of eye candy as required.

Coburn goes way way over the top in ILF. In OMF he plays Flint as someone who is 'sort of real' ... for example, when Cramden asks him, "Is there nothing you don't know?" "A great many things, sir." In the fight sequences, they are also played 'not campy' ... the fight in the bathroom ... it's more fun when it looks somewhat real, and when the toilet paper and grunt of Gruber comes at the scene's end, it's the right touch.

The same with the fight with the two guards outside Cramden's office. Great stuff. I think Coburn's style influenced Bruce Lee ... or other way around? If Coburn did OMF in 1965 or so, and he met Lee a couple of years later (I'm not certain) .... And after the fight, the comedy is just right; a blend of silliness (the light bulb) and straightness, with Flint saving a life.

Notice also when Cramden is darted, and Flint doesn't mug when he does the cut.

But in the sequel, Coburn is all over the place, over-mugging. While most of the credit for the downsizing of Flint goes to the writers, Coburn also has to take some blame. There is hardly an action scene where he plays Flint like a fighting master ... just for laffs. Again, counter this with OMF : when he climbs the ladder with the guitar rift, happily Coburn doesn't wink and mug. With that great music, it would've ruined the scene(s).

However, the scene in the penthouse, with Flint talking about eating grubs is the Flint form the first movie.

The director should have seen this. Or maybe Coburn thought the script was so dumb, he just let loose and had his own jokes. But Flint loses his fun when it became too much Austin Powers.

Btw, the Powers movies would have been much better if they had been played as a homage to Flint/Bond. That's what OMF did so well. Created a great character with the perfect actor to play him.

But even tho ILF is so inferior to the first, it's still a lot of fun. How can I say this? Because he's still Flint!

Super-spy Flint : James Coburn is called by the organization Zowie that is an acronym for Zonal Organization World Intelligence Espionage led his old boss : Lee J Cobb to take on a new dangerous international case against powerful women who want to conquer the World. This time Flint takes on a cabal of women plotting to rule the World through subliminal brainwashing in beauty saloons or spas they own . As they are hypnotizing Girls all over the World to create an Army of faithful followers. Flint's back ! In action in Danger in Fun ! The original man of Mystery ! Flint's Back in action...in Danger .in the Virgin Islands ...when the Bad Guys ...are Girls ! The Man who makes no Mistakes !

Fun and entertaining follow-up in the wake of 007 series but with patently embarrassing plot , adding pop imagery , as well as hilarious and ironical elements. This is a sequel to Our Man Flint 1966 by Daniel Mann starred by James Coburn/Flint, James Bond-lookalike , along with Lee J Cobb , Gina Colan , Edward Mulhare, Rhys Williams . Like 007 , Flint uses a lot of gadgets and often accompanied by gorgeous Girls, in bikini-clad at a luxurious love nest . Nice acting by the always sympathetic James Coburn along with some fine secondarios , such as : Jean Hale , Lee J Cobb, Andrew Duggan , and, veteran Anna Lee.

It displays a thrilling and moving musical score by Jerry Goldsmith in his usual style . As well as colorful cinematography in Technicolor by William Daniels, Greta Garbo's regular cameraman . The motion picture was profesionally directed by Gordon Douglas . This Hollywood filmmaker was a prolific artisan whose career spans over forty years . And directing all kinds of genres : Western, Drama, WWII, Action , Comedy, SciFi , Thriller, Adventures with sucesss enough , such as : Fortunes of Captain Blood , Up Periscope , Them, The Great Missouri Raid , The Doolins of Oklahoma , Sylvia, Río Conchos , Stagecoach , Robin and the 7 Hoods , Massacre, The Detective , among others. Rating 6/10. Acceptable and passable thriller spoof movie . The pic will appeal to James Coburn fans .