Best movie of this year hands down!

Don't Believe the Hype

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Somebody is wrecking havoc on the weather. The ice caps are melting and the sea level is rising. The international organization Z.O.W.I.E. selects ex-agent Derek Flint (James Coburn) to investigate despite Cramden (Lee J. Cobb)'s objections. After a failed assassination attempt by Gila, Flint decides to take the job from Cramden. From 0008, he learns that it's bigger than SPECTRE. It's GALAXY.This is an outrageous spoof of the Bond franchise. The problem is that James Coburn isn't funny. I don't think he can deliberately tell a joke if his life depends on it. He just looks weird when he tries to have fun. Also I don't know how many comedies the director has made over the years. This is simply a Bond movie with crazier stuff. I'm not sure that there's a comedian in the bunch or a joke that is written well. The only thing I laughed at was the mentioning of Spectre. It's kind of funny especially coming from 0008.

Super smooth freelance agent and dapper playboy millionaire Derek Flint (the always amiable and engaging James Coburn on top of his game) has to stop the nefarious criminal organization Galaxy from taking over the Earth through manipulating the weather. Director Daniel Mann, working from a hip and witty script by Hal Fimberg and Ben Starr, relates the eventful and hugely entertaining story at a snappy pace, maintains a winningly sly tongue-in-cheek tone throughout, and stages the fight scenes with genuine aplomb. Coburn's supremely cool, assured, and charismatic presence really keeps the picture humming throughout; he receives sturdy support from Lee J. Cobb as Flint's huffy boss Cramden, the gorgeous Gila Golan as lovely, yet lethal femme fatale Gila, Edward Mulhare as suave killer Malcom Rodney, and Benson Fong as evil scientist Dr. Schneider. The bevy of beautiful gals (Shelby Grant, Sigrid Valdis, Gianna Serra, and Helen Funai are all quite foxy and sexy as Flint's live-in distaff companions), Jerry Goldsmith's wonderfully lush and groovy swinging score, a neat array of funky gadgets (Flint's watch and lighter are both amazing), Daniel L. Fapp's vibrant widescreen cinematography, the sharp dialogue (favorite line: "An anti-American eagle; it's diabolical"), and the lively and exciting climax all further enhance the gloriously kitschy fun. A total blast.

It's quite obvious that the whole Austin Powers franchise got based on the Flint movie. It even references to it itself. Both franchises are certainly also comparable in its style and comedy but of course with a difference that this movie is not just set in the '60's but it actually got made during the '60's. Just like the Austin Powers movies this movie also makes fun of the James Bond franchise, which had only started years prior to this movie.The movie features some crazy silly gadgets and random action sequences, that are quite good looking considering this movie is from 1965. An era when there wasn't really such a thing as the 'action' genre, at least not in the way we know it today. The movie has a typical '60's atmosphere, with its sets and costumes and is good looking.The movie stars some actors you normally wouldn't expect to see in a comedy such as this one; most notably of course James Coburn and Lee J. Cobb. Their more serious acting style isn't of course really consistent with normal comedy acting (well, it's not exactly like their playing their roles with a straight face though) but this makes it work all the more funny within this movie. After all, some of the best comedy roles are often being played by 'serious' actors.It's a fun movie to watch and certainly a great time-killer but the movie by no means is a classic. Also as far as Jamed Bond spoofs are concerned, this movie isn't really among the best.One of the problems I had with this movie was its story. It's a real simple comedy story, that never succeeds in becoming truly engaging. It's quite formulaic and predictable all. Nevertheless its whole global warming plot line seemed to be ahead of its time, although global warming in this movie is being used as a terrorist threat, when some scientist succeed at controlling the weather.I must say I liked the sequel "In Like Flint" better.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Of all the cinematic characters that were born in the 1960's (and later) as a result of the huge commercial success of the James Bond movies, Derek Flint is probably the most widely known (along with Matt Helm). However, when you sit down to watch "Our Man Flint", the first of his two vehicles, you'll find out that it's closer in quality to the many Euro-spy flicks of the decade rather than the official Bond entries. Although the movie does boast vivid colors and very impressive, large-scale sets, it seems that most of the budget went into building and then destroying those sets. The locations include New York, Marseilles and Rome, but you would hardly know it since most of the action takes place indoors. And speaking of action, there is little of that in "Our Man Flint". There are several fight scenes (which James Coburn executes very well), and lots of explosions at the end, but the rest of the time the movie plods. As a woman assigned to kill Flint, Gila Golan is dazzlingly gorgeous, but it is rather obvious that she will join his side by the end. And then there are the conflicted "politics" of the movie: Flint's biggest objection to the scheme of the "evil" scientists to control the weather and create a new world seems to be that they want to use women as robot-like "pleasure units"; at the same time, he has his own private harem, made of four beautiful women who are ready to serve his every wish (obviously the movie was well behind its time). At the end - SPOILER - he blows up the island where GALAXY's headquarters are, and rescues ONLY the women that he knows; what happens to all the other women who were being programmed as "pleasure units"? He doesn't seem to care. Flint is just not a very likable character. (**)