L'ordre de l'Aigle Noir

Ok, I'm the first one to review this film on this site and I'm not so proud. Because I rent this movie just for fun and the plot was awful. This movie is about a man and a baboon, who kill bad guys, in this film the bad guys are nazis who have a new base in south America. The nazis plan to conquer the world for the second time. This film is crap, nothing else. The movie tries to be like Indiana Jones in someways, but it is awful. And...in the film the new nazis have froze Hitler and maybe in the future to revive him. If that doesn't sound corny, what does?

My review was written in April 1988 after watching the film on Celebrity video cassette.

"The Order of the Black Eagle" proves one can make a low-budget James Bond imitation in North & South Carolina, but the results aren't appealng. Shot in 1985, pic received limited theatrical runs commencing last December and now is in video release.

Designed as a sequel to helmer Worth Keeter's "Unmasking the Idol", pic toplines Ian Huntr (not very impressive compared to the late British thesp by that name -he's also not the rock performer) as Duncan Jax, a government agent imitating 007. Unfortunately, he is cryptically saddled with a baboon (literally, played by a trained animal named Typhoon) sidekick who wears a tux and makes rude gesturs and noise for so-called comic relief. Everyone in the film takes the simian's presence for granted, but the audience is bound to wonder.

Jax' mission provides a very skimpy story line: it seems a group of cartoonish baddies led by portly William Hicks is attempting to take ovr the world by using stolen laser technology to destroy the major communications satellites. Adolf Hitler is in deep freeze and will be revived to take over.

Pic consist of mainly okay action scene involving lots of explostions, as well as irritating Bond imitation, especially from "Dr. No" and a Q-figure played by Shang Tai Tuan. The girls are plretty but Hunte's peformance is flat. An Amazonian black actress, Flo Hyman plays Spike: film is dediated to her, listing her as having died in 1986.

Lensing at Earl Owensby Studios and on locations in the Carolinas is quite unconvincing for all the globe-hopping plot, especially when feathers are used for snow in a Geneva-set sequence.

Everything I read about this absurd film is true. It's a really bad version of Buckaroo Banzai. It looks like a film that you borrowed money from your relatives to make because you felt you were the next Stephen Spielberg. Dumb storyline, stupid dialog, grade school acting, Cheap sets (i.e. the Nazi camp was bed sheets thrown over stick frames), and rediculous music all combine to make this movie a "cult classic". A classic for Mystery Science Theater 3000 that is.

In today's world, there's little you can trust. But this film's cover tells its story perfectly.

You see a balding James Bond wannabe flanked by two women who would be gorgeous under the right light... and by his side is a baboon in a tuxedo.

Okay, so the plot is muddled and poorly thought out. The dialog is incompetent, and at some point, the writers seem to have given up trying to tell a story and invited friends over to make up the rest of the script.

I can ignore all of that in a movie where a baboon actually does wear a tuxedo, where the baboon starts up the hero's airplane (okay, ultralight glider, but close enough) and where a baboon drives his own tank.

Sure, the South American Nazi stuff is poorly tacked on an nonsensical. It doesn't matter. A baboon is driving a tank.

This is not something to watch with an eye for subtext, plot or even basic thrills. It's a movie to watch with a bunch of people willing to laugh at a ridiculous spectacle. I hope that's what the producers had in mind.

This is a movie so bad it's actually thoroughly entertaining. It's a sub-James Bond movie with all the clichés and none of the brains. You want a suave spy? You have got him in Duncan Jax, though you have to take his baboon sidekick and his receding hairline, too. You want a damsel in distress? You've got her in Tiffany Youngblood, though she's not that attractive. You want grossly underwhelming adversaries? The Order of the Black Eagle gives you neo-Nazis led by the Baron - think overweight Perry Mason with an eye patch - trying to revive Hitler and destroying the world with a laser. Ooooooooh! You want an amusing sidekick? Sorry, all we've got is a supposedly humorous baboon.

The Order of the Black Eagle is perfect for homemade, Mystery Science Theater 3000 style riffing. Invite some funny friends, grab some popcorn, and watch this wonderful mess.

Daniel J. Roos film.ispwn.com