Shout! Factory's Next MST3K Set to Include Agent For H.A.R.M.

According to Shout! Factory's website, Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XXXIII will include the 1966 poverty row spy flick Agent for H.A.R.M., starring Peter Mark Richman (a frequent guest star on Sixties spy series like Mission: Impossible and The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) as sweater-fancying not-so-special agent Adam Chance and Barbara Bouchet (Casino Royale) as the requisite professor's daughter. Agent for H.A.R.M. was reportedly a failed TV pilot (an attempted U.N.C.L.E. rip-off) turned into a sort of "American Eurospy" movie and released to drive-ins. Unlike Mario Bava's brilliant Danger: Diabolik (review here), which I will probably never forgive MST3K for riffing, Agent for H.A.R.M. definitely deserves this treatment. In fact, there's a good argument that Mike and the 'Bots (it was a 9th season episode) make it far more watchable. Which is just as well, since it's never been officially released on DVD on its own, making this MST3K set will be the only way, for now, to see it easily at home. (Weirdly, it does sometimes turn up on Time Warner's On Demand movie listings, though.) Among the special features (including the hilarious Mystery Science Theater Hour host wraps) is the new interview "Peter Mark Richman: In H.A.R.M.'s Way," presumably featuring the actor discussing Agent for H.A.R.M. (Perhaps he'll confirm that it was indeed shot as a TV pilot.) I think I'm probably safe in supposing that this is the only documentary material that's ever been devoted to this particular title. The DVD set also includes original theatrical trailers for all the films skewered, and the usual exclusive mini-posters by artist Steve Vance. (I look forward to seeing Vance's H.A.R.M. artwork.) This is a pretty great set overall; besides Agent for H.A.R.M., it also includes the classic episodes Daddy-O and Earth Vs. The Spider, as well as Teen-Age Crime Wave.

While Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XXXIII is available at a substantial discount from Amazon, if you order directly from the Shout! Factory website, then you'll get your discs two weeks earlier than everyone else and you'll also receive an exclusive set of MST3K coasters.

Read my review of Agent For H.A.R.M. here.

And, if you're so inclined, also check out my reviews for similar "American Eurospy" poverty row spy flicks like A Man Called Dagger and Dimension 5.

Operation Kid Brother Comes to DVD... In its MST3K Version, Anyway

Operation Kid Brother may be the most famous Eurospy movie, mainly because of its notoriety among Bond fans. When series veterans Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell agreed to appear alongside Sean Connery's brother, Neil, in the 007 spoof, Sean was very upset. He thought they were exploiting Neil. Of course, as Maxwell personally explained it to me decades later, they weren't exploiting anyone. They were simply collecting a paycheck, as they were jobbing actors who didn't enjoy a Sean Connery level salary that afforded them the luxury of turning down work. And, to be honest, Neil looks like he's having so much fun in the movie that I kind of doubt he felt exploited, either! In fact, aside from the awful dubbing on the leading man, Operation Kid Brother (which also stars Bond vets Daniella Bianchi and Adolfo Celi) is an awfully enjoyable Eurospy movie. (And the killer score by Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai may be my very favorite Eurospy music.) In fact, because it's relatively famous for its genre (even enjoying a cover story in Cinema Retro a few years ago), I've been surprised that it hasn't turned up on DVD or at least MOD. And, sadly, it still won't in its unmolested version... but the good news (according to Satellite News, via TV Shows On DVD) is that Shout! Factory is releasing the MST3K version in their latest DVD collection, Mystery Science Theater 3000 XXV! Because of rights issues, they just have to use the (better, in my opinion) Operation Kid Brother title instead of the alternate title Operation Double 007, which appears on screen in the episode. (The film is also known as OK Connery.) Of course, this doesn't do much for fans who crave a beautiful widescreen print uninterrupted by wisecracking robots. (There's a really good fandub floating out there to tide them over.) But it's still exciting.  Like the other Eurospy titles mocked on that show Secret Agent Super Dragon and Danger! Death Ray (which I really wish Shout! would release) and decidedly unlike the Mario Bava masterpiece Danger: Diabolik (which MST3K wrongfully maligned), Operation Kid Brother is ripe for some good-natured riffing. Eurospy fans with a sense of humor about the genre will likely find this version highly entertaining. But, of course, what this release really has me wondering is, does this possibly portend a straight release for this film down the road? I certainly hope so.

The other titles in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 XXV set are Robot Holocaust, Kitten With a Whip and Revenge of the Creature, which makes it a pretty darn good set. Shout! has routinely produced some good extras for some of these MST3K sets, so... dare we hope for a Neil Connery interview? That would certainly make this a must-buy for fans of the genre. It's a must-buy already for me. As far as I know, no date has yet been announced for this release.

Upcoming Spy DVDs

Sony has finally re-announced the long-awaited Hudson Hawk special edition for November 20, according to DVDActive. That's right, I said "long-awaited!" By me anyway. Surely someone else out there has been waiting too, right? Because the movie (while far from perfect) frankly wasn't the disaster it's made out to be. It was silly and it was pretty funny. In middle school, I loved it. I caught it recently on TV and I thought it still held up pretty well. Of most interest for spy fans, it contains a terrific performance by Our Man Flint himself, James Coburn, as a tough-guy CIA mastermind. The special edition will feature deleted scenes, featurettes with Bruce Willis and Sandra Bernhard, and a commentary with director Michael Lehman. The disc had originally been announced for last year as a "15th Anniversary Edition," and that's the artwork pictured. Presumably they'll change it, but you never know...

Meanwhile, TVShowsOnDVD.com has revealed the cover art for Mystery Science Theater Vol. 12, and (in a break with tradition), it contains actual poster art for Secret Agent Super Dragon. That set is due Oct. 30.

MST3K's Secret Agent Super Dragon On DVD

This fall, the Eurospy favorite Secret Agent Super Dragon, starring Ray Danton, will finally see official release on DVD... albeit in a bastardized (but hilarious) form. The Mystery Science Theatre 3000 version (which I reviewed here some time ago) of the film will be included in Rhino's latest collection of that series, The Mystery Science Theatre 3000 Collection, Volume 12. The official website for the show reports that the set will be come out on October 2. Extras include "original theatrical trailers," so hopefully there will be one for Super Dragon. That should be entertaining to see. It's too bad that the DVD won't include the original, un-MST3Ked version of this rare film (which isn't really all that bad, as MST3K fare goes), like some of the very early discs of the show did. Oh well. I believe that Rhino has to clear the rights to each of the movies in these collections, which means that they could now release the movie on its own if they wanted. I doubt they'll figure the market's there, though, unfortunately.

The Mystery Science 3000 Collection, Vol. 12 will also include The Rebel Set, The Starfighters and Parts: The Clonus Horror, as well as some nifty extras (like some of the "Jack Perkins" wrap-arounds from The Mystery Science Theatre Hour!).

Review: Secret Agent Superdragon (MST3K Version)

My girlfriend got me a bootleg DVD of the "Secret Agent Super Dragon" episode of Mystery Science 3000 for Christmas. The movie is not currently available on DVD, and is even hard to find on the so-called "gray market" (for me, at least; the Eurospy Guide says it’s easy), so this seemed the closest I’d come to seeing it legitimately. I think MST3K is a hilarious show, and I have many fond memories of watching The Mystery Science Theatre Hour following Hercules: The Legendary Journeys late at night in high school, but I do get annoyed when they do a movie that doesn’t deserve the ‘bots’ treatment. The most obvious example would be Mario Bava’s Danger: Diabolik. That’s a great movie, one of my favorites. I don’t like watching the MST3K version because 1) I get annoyed with the quips, like their distracting me from watching a movie I like, and 2) I think the movie is too good to give them any great bits of humor anyway. The show is definitely best served by baaaaaad movies, which fuel their incessant quipping. When it’s not so bad, it doesn’t give them many good things to say. So it was with a little trepidation that I watched a Eurospy movie I’d never seen get the MST3K treatment.

Luckily, it all worked out. I feel that I got the gist of the movie amidst the comments, though I’d still like to see it on its own. (For one thing, as is often the case, their print seems to be cut. Most reviews of Super Dragon mention a scene in a bowling alley, and there’s none to be found in this version.) But the comments weren’t too distracting, and most were quite funny. As far as I can tell, Secret Agent Super Dragon is not a terrible movie, but it certainly offers enough to make fun of if you’re looking for it. (Most Eurospy titles do.)

Bryan Cooper (Ray Danton) is a secret agent code-named "Super Dragon" for some reason. (Leading to the best quip of he episode, when he disappears, apparently into the bathroom: "Gotta drain the super dragon.") The 1966 movie seems to use The Silencers and, particularly, Our Man Flint (also 1966) as it’s starting point, rather than Bond. However, it doesn’t have the satiric edge that Flint does, and Superdragon takes himself pretty seriously. Like Flint, he’s great at everything, and, like Flint, he lives, retired, in luxury. (Though Super Dragon’s luxury is rather modestly budgeted.) Also like Flint, he practices putting himself into a state of hibernation so that when he’s later locked in a coffin (like Fint), he can shut himself down until he’s rescued (um... like Flint). This moment leads a ‘bot to joyously exclaim, "Something in this movie has something to do with something else in this movie!" Ray Danton lacks the effortless charisma of James Coburn, and since the character takes himself so seriously (unlike Flint!), he comes off as a bit of a jerk. Imagine Flint without Coburn’s charm and he’d be pretty obnoxious, right? That’s basically what you get here, except that Danton still manages more charm than he will nine years later when he gets his chance to actually, disastrously play Derek Flint in the TV movie Our Man Flint: Dead On Target.

One hallmark of the Eurospy genre is that the hero is often (at least viewing these movies today) rather loathsome. Personally, I don’t mind this. I accept it, and even appreciate it, as part of the genre, and get some laughs out of it. I’m sure in some cases it was intentional (as Flint was intended to expose Bond as something of a jerk), but in many others it wasn’t. It’s certainly an aspect that bears making fun of, and the MST3K crew latch onto it here. Other Eurospy cliches worth making fun of that they don’t miss include the dopey sidekick (check!), the casual misogyny (check!) and the absolutely baffling plots (check, check!). Secret Agent Super Dragon also has its share of pacing problems, and the Satellite of Love’s crew’s remarks help pass the time when the going gets slow.

But does the movie have any good points? Yes. For one thing, it’s got spy veterans Margaret Lee and Marisa Mell as eye candy Comfort and Charity. For another, I said it’s got Margaret Lee and Marisa Mell as eye candy Comfort and Charity. Yes, a spy movie that names its women Comfort and Charity is always going to win some favor with this viewer. Although the make-up department went a little crazy with the hair for both ladies. Beautiful Marisa is much more beautiful as a blonde than a redhead. (See Diabolik!) It’s also got some great Amsterdam scenery, although it seems to be more famous for its lackluster "Dearborn, Michigan" locations. And it sports an appropriate Eurospy soundtrack, which Joel and the ‘bots pay tribute to in one of their sketches. (Is "tribute" the right word?) In fact, this MST3K episode features several good spy-related sketches, so fans of the genre might want to check it out just for that.

I enjoyed watching Secret Agent Super Dragon with the sarcastic commentary, and I enjoyed the movie enough on its own merits (such as I could measure) that I would definitely like to see it again without the comments, which certainly can’t be said for all MST3K titles.