Billion Dollar Brain Coming to Blu-ray!

Harry Palmer is finally coming to Blu-ray in the United States! And somewhat surprisingly, not in The Ipcress File* or Funeral in Berlin, but the much more divisive third film in Harry Saltzman's other spy series, Billion Dollar Brain. (Which, on any given day, could easily be my own personal favorite of the three.) Kino Lorber will release Ken Russell's brilliant and beautiful Len Deighton adaptation Billion Dollar Brain in high definition on October 7. (There will also be a DVD edition, as the old MGM release is long out of print.) If you've never seen this Michael Caine masterpiece, read my review here to understand why this is such great news! And if you have, then why not go ahead and pre-order it now on Amazon? So far the only extra announced is the theatrical trailer, but the real question on spy fans' minds is will this version contain the half minute or so of footage excised from previous DVD editions in all regions? Probably not, since the footage in question contains a clip of the Beatles movie A Hard Day's Night along with its prohibitively expensive music. But perhaps Kino has found a way to clear this music? Even if they haven't, it's still well worth owning Billion Dollar Brain in high definition--especially with such pretty cover art! Spy fans and fans of Sixties capers might be interested to know that the company will also release Topkapi on Blu-ray the same day.

*Though it's never been officially released in America, The Ipcress File is available on Blu-ray as a region-free import.

Matthew Vaughn's The Secret Service Gets New Title, Poster, Trailer: Kingsman

Matthew Vaughn's (X-Men: First Class) adaptation of the Mark Millar/Dave Gibbons comic book The Secret Service has undergone a title change—for the better, I think. The Secret Service was always a pretty generic title for a spy movie (or comic, for that matter), but Kingsman, which was the title of the first arc of the comic, has a real ring to it. The new full title is a bit clunkier, but I suppose it's necessary to let readers of the comic know what it is, so movie is officially Kingsman: The Secret Service. And it's got an extremely cool poster, and a very promising trailer! The teen spy movie (a favorite subgenre of mine) stars relative newcomer Taron Egerton as a London street thug recruited into the secret service by his dapper Uncle Jack, a superspy played by Colin Firth (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy). Mark Strong (Body of Lies), Samuel L. Jackson (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) and... drum roll... Michael Caine (Billion Dollar Brain) co-star. (All-time spy movie vet Caine plays the head of the secret service.) Check out the trailer:

 

Shout! Factory Slates Roger Moore and Michael Caine Blu-ray Rarities

This October, Shout! Factory will release two 1970s titles sure to be of interest to American spy fans: Roger Moore in the WWI-era African adventure Shout at the Devil and Michael Caine in the WWII spy saga The Eagle Has Landed. At this point UK readers are no doubt groaning, "What's the big deal?" as those titles have been available there on DVD and even Blu-ray for years in various editions. But surprisingly, neither one has ever even been available on DVD before in Region 1! To make up for that, the Shout! Factory releases will be DVD/Blu-ray combo sets, so those who haven't yet upgraded to high-def will still be able to enjoy these titles at home for the first time. I believe both of these titles come from the ITV library (I know The Eagle Has Landed does), and I hope their release portends further titles from that library in the U.S. for the first time. Particularly, I hope Shout! has another Moore and another Caine up their sleeves. Both Escape to Athena and The Fourth Protocol are long overdue in this country! There's no word yet on special features on the October releases, but I certainly hope that some of the special features from the UK DVDs make an appearance—and that both films materialize in their extended versions. The Eagle Has Landed (co-starring Donald Sutherland) lands on October 15 with a retail price of $24.97, while Shout at the Devil (co-starring Lee Marvin) arrives a week earlier, October 8, with the lower price point of $19.97. Both are available to pre-order for cheaper, of course, on Amazon.

DVD Review: The Holcroft Covenant (1986)

For an author who dominated the bestseller lists for three decades, there have really been surprisingly few film or television adaptations of Robert Ludlum’s novels over the years. Of the ones there have been, John Frankenheimer’s film of The Holcroft Covenant stands as what I would call the “Ludlumiest” of them. Which is to say that, while not exactly faithful to the word of the book (review here), it retains that essential Ludlum feel as a film. In fact, it might even Ludlumier than the novel! ("Ludlumier" might be my favorite word ever, so expect me to use it a lot.) By which I mean that it checks most of the boxes that I expect from a Ludlum adventure: There is an innocent man—an amateur—thrust into the world of international intrigue. There is globetrotting. There are lots of great European locations—including the requisite Geneva—and there is Swiss banking. There are multiple parties after our hero for unknown reasons. There are double-crosses. There are triple-crosses. There is sex. There is violence. There are gunfights and car chases. And there is a plot so labyrinthine that I’m not sure even veteran spy screenwriters George Axelrod (The Manchurian Candidate, The Fourth Protocol), Edward Anhalt (The Satan Bug, The Salzburg Connection) and John Hopkins (Thunderball, Smiley’s People, Codename: Kyril) could explain exactly what happened.

Their script departs fairly radically from the book’s plot in specifics, but keeps the basic overall premise intact: Noel Holcroft (Michael Caine) is told by an enigmatic Swiss banker (Moonraker’s Michael Lonsdale) that his father, a notorious Nazi, left him a fortune ($4 billion) to be used to make amends for the Nazis’ horrible crimes. This money is the product of a covenant between Holcroft’s father and two other Nazi officers who supposedly turned on Hitler in the final days of the war. The terms of the covenant dictate that Holcroft must locate the eldest offspring of the others to access the vast sum, but as the only British-born American citizen of the trio, he will be the chairman. The book was not one of Ludlum’s finest, its plot dense and clunky. Most of the changes are expedient and necessary, some really improving the storyline. A lengthy sojourn to South America is excised altogether, keeping the action limited to New York and Europe. The various factions after the money (there were tons of them in the novel) are condensed into a manageable few (though it’s still not entirely clear who is working for who), and a messy subplot involving an international assassin is wisely cut, along with the uncharacteristically clumsy setpiece it culminated in in the novel. I was disappointed, however, with the decision to conflate the two daughters of the Nazi Von Tibault (another member of the Covenant) into one character, Helden (Victoria Tennant), as their characters were very distinct in the book and would have worked well on film. Caine’s Holcroft is also, happily, a far less annoying protagonist than his literary counterpart! He whines a little, but overall he’d prefer to take action against his predicament than to complain ceaselessly about it.

Caine himself is, of course, the consummate spy movie actor, and even when he’s just doing a picture for the money (as one suspects he was with some of his Eighties spy flicks), he still elevates any material he works with. James Caan was originally slated to star, and he would have probably been great in the role, but Michael Caine nails it. In Caine’s finest moment here, following a grisly murder that hits close to home, a trained agent assures Holcroft that he’ll kill the person responsible. Seeing the look on Holcroft’s face, he amends his offer, “Or you can, if you like.” A bereaved Caine glowers up at the camera, and growls, “I like.”

Caine is ably supported by an ensemble of the caliber that could be described as too good for this movie, but like Caine they elevate the material to their own level by their presence. Tennant is not only ethereally beautiful, but convincing in a part made much trickier by the screenwriters’ decision to roll two very different characters into one. Anthony Andrews is in full sneering villain mode, but what else would you expect of a man who wants to bring about a global Fourth Reich? The august Lilli Palmer (Hitchcock's Secret Agent, Lang's Cloak and Dagger) stands out as Holcroft's strong-willed mother, Althene, and Eurospy veteran Mario Adorf (The Dirty Game, That Man in Istanbul) lends a commanding presence as the final member of the present-day Covenant, Erich Kessler. A lot of spy vets round out the cast, including multi-picture Bond alumnus Shane Rimmer (who turns up in the small role of a New York cop who played a much larger part in the book), Carl Rigg (the assassin who tangled with Timothy Dalton in the opening of The Living Daylights, here playing a very similar part), Andy Bradford (Octopussy’s ill-fated 009, as an agent attempting to help Holcroft) and Bernard Hepton (Toby Esterhase to Alec Guinness’s George Smiley; The Contract) as a slick MI-5 operative whose role is successfully expanded from the book.

Caine’s real co-star, however, is director John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate, Ronin). Like Caine, Frankenheimer could frequently be found slumming in the Eighties, but, like Caine, he brings his all to this film—mostly, anyway. The director’s gritty style and sharply honed sense of pacing are perfect matches for Ludlum’s story, and I credit Frankenheimer with translating the spirit of the author’s work so directly to the screen. It’s too bad he didn’t do more Ludlum titles in that era. In a stroke of genius, Frankenheimer relocates the book’s carnival chase scene to Berlin’s infamous Love Parade (though he could perhaps be accused of dwelling a tad longer than necessary on all the glittery, naked flesh), creating the film’s most successful setpiece bearing his unmistakable imprint.

Reflecting the director's sense of humor, the man who attacks Holcroft in that scene (one of the book’s many interchangeable, faceless hitmen working for various factions) is now a scantily clad transvestite named Fritzl!

A pretty terrific (and unambiguously Eighties) synthy soundtrack by Russian-born composer Stanislas (that’s right, just one name) perfectly complements this sort of sleazy opulence. (I would love to get my hands on that score, but it was sadly never released, not even as an LP.) Where Frankenheimer lets us down, unfortunately, is in the car chase department. A promising setup involving a speeding Mercedes, a helicopter, and several motorcycles sadly never builds to what we know the director is capable of. (Perhaps Ronin was his apologia.)

The film’s ending is radically altered from the book’s unforgettable finale… but then the book’s conclusion probably wouldn’t have worked in a movie. The drama in the film’s closing moments, unfortunately, depends a little too much on a largely unconvincing (and until that point underdeveloped) love story. But that doesn’t detract too much from what’s really a pretty enjoyable viewing experience. Overall, The Holcroft Covenant is fairly great spy entertainment if you’re looking for that unique Eighties European flavor, for Second Stage Michael Caine spyishness, for underrated Frankenheimer direction, or for some rare, genuine, on-screen Ludluminess.

This is one of those odd titles that's recent and fairly big, but somehow ended up in the public domain, probably because someone at the studio didn't do their due diligence. That means that there are a lot of budget DVDs available, but all the budget versions I've seen should be avoided. Most are fullscreen. The version to get is the official MGM DVD . It isn't anamorphic, but it is at least widescreen, and it looks decent enough. (That said, this film could really stand a new high-def transfer!) Also, it's got some good special features, including an audio commentary with Frankenheimer, the original theatrical trailer, and one of those 8-page booklets MGM used to include with all their DVDs, which is actually quite informative.

The Ludlum Dossier
Read my book review of The Janson Directive (2002) here.
Read my book review of The Bourne Supremacy (1986) here.
Read my book review of The Holcroft Covenant (1978) here.
Read my book review of The Bourne Identity (1980) here.
Read my book review of The Sigma Protocol (2001) here.

Return of the Painted Poster: Gambit Remake

Gambit's not a spy movie; it's a caper... but that hasn't stopped me from writing about it on occasion here before. Anything Sixties and swinging and Michael Caine is fair game in my book! And it's a really fun film, that lots of spy fans are apt to enjoy, co-starring Shirley MacLaine and the recently late, always great Herbert Lom. But this post actually isn't about that Gambit. It's about the new Gambit, a remake with Colin Firth donning Michael Caine's signature glasses, Cameron Diaz in the MacLaine role, Alan Rickman filling Lom's shoes (who else possibly could?), and Otley's Tom Courtenay in another part. The script is written by Joel and Ethan Coen (that's right: the Coen Brothers), but when it comes to remakes, that's no guarantee. (Remember The Lady Killers?) Still, I'm hoping this one's good. Its poster certainly is! That's the real reason I'm talking about it. Fans of Sixties spy movies tend to be fans of the lurid, illustrated posters of the Frank McCarthy/Robert McGinnis school—the sort seldom seen since A View To A Kill. I certainly am. Which is why it thrills me to see a poster (via Sky Movies) for a new movie marketed with actual artwork instead of a Photoshopped collage of actors' faces floating over a generic bluish background! It's not quite on par with the original's posters, but I'm definitely a fan of this campaign. Below is the original's McGinnis artwork for comparison.

New Spy DVDs Out This Week: Cars 2

New Spy DVDs Out This Week: Cars 2

This week sees the release of the latest Michael Caine spy movie on DVD, Blu-ray and an astounding total of five different formats! Following in the long, proud tradition of The Ipcress File, Billion Dollar Brain, The Black Windmill, The Jigsaw Man, The Holcroft Covenant, The Quiet American and countless others comes... Disney/Pixar's Cars 2. I think it was a stroke of genius for Pixar to turn their computer animated sequel to a movie about anthropomorphic cars into a spy movie. Because these movies are aimed squarely at young boys, and what's cooler to young boys than spy cars? It was a certain Aston Martin DB5 and Lotus Esprit that got me hooked on spies for life. Furthermore, since the Cars franchise makes more money off of merchandise than box office, well, what better toy cars are there than toy spy cars? Because it wasn't just those movie cars that got me hooked... it was also their miniature incarnations from Corgi. So I'm solidly sold on the idea of a spy movie about talking cars with one of the greatest spy stars of all time, Sir Michael Caine, playing the lead spy car, Finn McMissile, who seems to be an amalgam of 007's Aston Martin and The Saint's Volvo. But despite my respect for the idea... I have to admit, I still haven't seen the movie. (I do have a toy Finn McMissile, though, displayed right next to my Corgi Bond cars!) I desperately wanted to, but the weekend it came out I was travelling, and then opportunity after opportunity passed me by. It's the biggest movie regret of my summer. But, anyway, now I've got the chance to finally catch up in comfort of my own home! Not only that, but I get to (have to?) choose between those five different configurations. Disney has released Cars 2 on regular DVD, 2-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo in BD packaging, 2-disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo in DVD packaging), 5-Disc DVD/Blu-ray/3D Blu-ray/Digital Copy and the Cars Director's Collection which runs a whopping eleven discs. All the versions come with the theatrical short Toy Story Hawaiian Vacation (which features Timothy Dalton reprising his Toy Story 3 role as Shakespearean hedgehog Mr. Pricklepants as an added spy fan bonus), a director's commentary and an all-new "Cars Toon" short, but if you want more in-depth special features like deleted scenes, making-of documentaries, "Set Explorations from the Different Cities in the Movie," and "Nuts and Bolts: A Sneak Peek of Cars Land World Tour – Interactive Map," then you'll have to buy the 5-disc version with the stupid 3D stuff and digital copy. That runs $49.99 SRP as opposed to $39.99 for the two combo versions and $29.99 for the DVD, but luckily all of them are considerably cheaper than those list prices on Amazon, and there there's only a $2 difference between the 2-disc and the 5-disc configurations. That Director's Collection megaset will set you back $119.00, though Amazon's got it on sale now for $79.99.

The Men Who Would Be King - Together For the First Time At Last!

The Men Who Would Be King - Together For the First Time At Last!

I've written many times about how much I love the UK DVD distributor Network. I love them for releasing obscure ITC shows that no one else realizes there's an audience for, I love them for releasing so many spy things, but most of all I love them for seemingly creating brand new old gems from whole cloth. Of course they're not really new, but they're new to me, and I love discovering them through these fantastic Region 2 releases. For example, despite being a huge fan of the two frequent spy stars, I never realized that Sean Connery and Michael Caine had been in a movie or TV show together prior to their epic team-up in The Man Who Would Be King. But now, thanks to Network's newly relaunched website, I know that they both starred in the 1969 TV movie Male of the Species, which the company will release on DVD (for the first time ever on any home format) on October 10. Connery and Caine don't actually appear together, but they're both in it and they're both on the cover and either one of them alone would be enough to get me to buy this! Apparently Male of the Species was originally conceived for British television as a series of three half-hour plays by Alun Owen airing in consecutive weeks on ITV’s celebrated anthology series Saturday Night Theatre. Each episode explored the relationship between Mary MacNeil (Anna Calder-Marshall) and a different man in her life. Connery plays her father in the first part, and Caine plays her smooth lover in the second. Paul Scofield appears in the third, and Laurence Olivier narrates. The three plays were apparently aired together as one TV movie on Masterpiece Theater in the United States. Network's Region 2 PAL DVD will retail for £15.31, but it's currently discounted on their website to £9.18.

The Spy Star of the Summer: Finn McMissile

Michael Caine may have starred in more spy movies than just about anyone over the years. His latest spy role is his biggest in decades—and one with a bit of a twist.  As previously discussed, in Pixar's Cars 2, he plays a spy car.  The conceit of Cars and its sequel is that anthropomorphic cars are the characters. I still haven't seen the original, but I don't believe there are people in this world.  So when thinking of possible new characters for a sequel that might sell lots and lots of toys, the notion of spy cars must have been an obvious one! Caine plays Finn McMissile of British Intelligence. Though the design probably owes as much to Sixties BMWs as the Aston Martin DB5, James Bond's famous car is clearly the inspiration for the character.  As seen in the second trailer, Finn has lots of tricks up his sleeve—everything you'd expect of a good gadget car. (Plus, his Beemer-like grill makes a great mustache!) Obviously, those gadgets feature prominently in the new Cars toy line. Disney has made a mint in merchandising off of the Cars brand, and the cynic in me suspects that the whole reason for a sequel was to sell more toys. But really, what better reason than to sell spy car toys? I would have absolutely loved this movie if it had come out during my childhood—and the toys.

I'm guessing that, like me, just about everyone reading this blog grew up with one version or another of the Corgi James Bond Aston Martin. (My own model from the late 80s or early 90s was probably the most boring; it wasn't gold like the original and it didn't have the tire slashers like the slightly later version or the newest one, and the Bond figure and the guy who got ejected were both just hunks of brown plastic, not painted... but I absolutely loved it nonetheless! Still do, in fact.) Since the current Bond movies aren't really targeted at kids and the Aston Martin in the last one didn't feature any gadgets, it's only right that Disney provide this generation with a cool spy gadget car toy. But they're not offering just one. Instead, there are many, many iterations of mini Finn McMissiles to be had, in different scales and with different functions. The Secret Spy Attack Finn McMissile is a very traditional spy gadget car, sort of like the AC Gilbert Goldfinger Aston, but with a big plus: not only do missile launchers pop out when you push the buttons, but it talks in Michael Caine's voice!



This one is crazy. They call it the Zero Gravity Finn McMissile, and it's a remote control car that drives not only on the floor... but on the walls! That's just what every parent ever has wished for, right? A remote control car that their kids can drive on the walls. And it seems to make a horrible noise, too... even better for aggravating mom! You've gotta check it out:



Then there are some smaller ones, like the "Submariner" version (clearly influenced by another Corgi classic, the Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me) and the "Lights and Sound" version, which is pretty self-explanatory. I just love that spy cars will be the must-have toy again, right up through Christmas! But maybe coolest of all is this life-size remote control version. No, that one's not for sale, unfortunately. But it's doing a promotional tour of the country, so it's possible you might be able to see it in person. (Though you might feel kind of weird about that if you don't have kids.) Check out the pictures on the Disney fansite Stitch Kingdom. Looking at ones like this one, from the rear, you get a much better sense of the design than you do from the trailers. I love how they just added fins to a very recognizable DB5 back end, right down to the Bond-inspired license plate!

There's also a YouTube video here of the life-size touring cars, including Finn.

New Cars 2 Trailer

I still haven't seen Pixar's first Cars movie (even though I vowed to last time I reported on this sequel), but the new one looks pretty darn good.  Judging from this new trailer, it's the classic story of an innocent abroad mistaken for a spy that we've seen in everything from The Man Who Knew Too Much to Gotcha! to If Looks Could Kill... but with cars.  That part still strikes me as kind of odd (they just don't seem to have the relatability of Pixar's toys and monsters and creatures and people), but some of those cars are spy cars loaded with gadgets and, in one case, voiced by Michael Caine!  And that's awesome.  Burn Notice's Bruce Campbell also lends his voice, which is also awesome.  I wish this had come out when I was a kid; I would have gone nuts for it.

Caine and Lazenby

Michael Caine is famously friends with both Sean Connery and Roger Moore, and there are many pictures out there of Harry Palmer with one or the other of those Bonds.  He's even made movies with each of them (though The Man Who Would Be King has a distinct edge over Bullseye!), and the three memorably teamed up together to present the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1989. (That's a pretty priceless TV moment, in fact; if you've never seen it, be sure to check it out.)  And of course Caine also made a great movie with Pierce Brosnan.  But one Bond I've never seen him with is George Lazenby, which is why I was excited to see this picture of the two together (both sporting scruffy beards) at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival at Quantum of Bond.  I really don't think I've ever seen this photo before, though I supposed it might have gotten lost in the shuffle amidst all the other wonderful images in Charles Helfenstein's exhaustive and fantastic book The Making of On Her Majesty's Secret Service. At any rate, if you're a fan of either actor (and I'm betting that encompasses pretty much anyone reading this blog), you'll probably get a kick out of this picture. Also be sure to visit Quantum of Bond where it was initially posted.  A big thanks to that site's Philippe Lombard, who turned up the image on Allposters.fr.

Upcoming Spy DVDs: The Destructors and Cloudburst

MGM's latest wave of MOD titles in their "Limited Edition Collection" will include two not-quite spy movies that will nonetheless be of interest to readers here. Currently available to pre-order from Screen Archives Entertainment, The Destructors is not the 1968 Richard Egan Bond knock-off (which I'll get around to reviewing here one of these days), but the 1974 Michael Caine movie also known as The Marseille Contract.  Though Anthony Quinn plays some sort of American agent, it's really more of a crime movie than a spy movie. Quinn hires a professional hitman played by Caine to take out an untouchable drug lord played by James Mason.  The action all unfolds in the south of France, and as I recall, the locations (shot beautifully by my favorite DP, Douglas Slocombe)are really the film's highlights.  I haven't seen this movie in about ten years, and honestly I remember very little of it.  My recollection is that it's not very good, but does offer up one great car chase, alone worth the price of admission. The chase, coordinated by frequent Bond car chase guru Rémy Julienne, prefigures his 1995 Aston Martin/Ferrari rally in GoldenEye, playing out over the same twisty Côte d'Azur roads. All in all, I'm looking forward to seeing this one again. 

Additionally, this MOD wave also includes the rare 1951 title Cloudburst, one of famed British horror studio Hammer's rare flirtations with espionage (along with Passport to China, Shatter and their Dick Barton series). Robert Preston plays an American WWII vet working as a codebreaker for a secret division of the British government... but that's as far as the movie goes into spy territory. Despite his job, the movie is considered a more standard noir mystery about the hunt for a killer. Still, rare Hammer movies always catch my eye, and I'm excited to finally have a chance to watch this.

Merry Christmas From The Double O Section!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday filled with peace, good cheer, dry martinis and lots of spy gifts!

Pixar Does Spy Cars

Hm.  The first Cars was one of the few Pixar movies I never saw.  The trailers and the basic concept just didn't really grab me.  But the trailer for the sequel certainly does, for obvious reasons!  Pixar has decided to introduce spy cars into the mix.  Michael Caine plays Finn McMissile, a superspy car who looks kind of like James Bond's classic Aston Martin DB5.  (None of the cars of Cars seem to actually be based on real makes or models, though.) This could be fun, and will definitely spawn some very cool toys.  (After all, spy cars are the coolest toy cars!) Dark Horizons reports that Jason Isaacs and Emily Mortimer also join in on the fun as spy jet Siddeley and spy-in-training Holley Shiftwell, respectively. The animation definitely (and unsurprisingly) looks better than that in the upcoming Sean Connery CGI movie, which also features an animated spy car.  Pixar regular Randy Newman scored the first Cars, but from the look of this one, I really hope they tap their other go-to guy, Michael Giacchino (The Incredibles, Alias, Mission: Impossible III), to score the sequel!  Spies (and presumably their cars) are certainly in his wheelhouse...

Upcoming Spy Screenings: Fantastic Harry Saltzman Double Feature In Los Angeles

Attention LA spy fans!  Here is an event you will not want to miss!  It's one film short of being the ultimate 1967 spy triple feature, but it is the ultimate Harry Saltzman 1967 spy double feature.  Los Angeles' awesome New Beverly Cinema (recently purchased by Quentin Tarantino) will screen You Only Live Twice and Billion Dollar Brain on Wednesday and Thursday, August 18 and 19.  Really, that's one of the best double features I can imagine.  It's the LA spy event of the year!  We're lucky enough to see James Bond double features fairly regularly in this city, between the New Bev and the Egyptian and the Aero.  But the idea of pairing Bond with Harry Palmer was truly inspired... particularly those two titles from the same year.  I love all three Sixties Harry Palmer movies, but Ken Russell's phantasmagorical third film has become my favorite over the years (as I've written about extensively in the past).  And, honestly, you've never seen it if you haven't seen it on the big screen.  This will be a fantastic evening at the cinema with Sean Connery and Michael Caine.  Personally, I plan on attending the Thursday night show.  Shoot me an email if you're in the area and want to meet up.

You Only Live Twice starts at 7:30; Billion Dollar Brain follows at 9:50. You can purchase tickets online here.

Read my review of Billion Dollar Brain here.

Michael Caine Is Harry Brown

Michael Caine’s latest “Harry” isn’t a spy and bears little in common with Palmer or even Anders, but the role does represent one of the Sixties’ biggest spy stars in absolutely top form. The easy logline for Harry Brown is that it’s Taken meets Gran Torino, but the Taken comparison (encouraged by the action-packed trailers and badass poster) actually does the film a disservice. It's a bit more Taxi Driver. Yes, Harry Brown ultimately builds toward some shattering scenes of an old guy kicking serious ass, but the film doesn’t take place in the heightened reality of a Luc Besson vehicle. Harry Brown lives in a depressingly recognizable real world, and suffers all the real-world drawbacks of aging. Director Daniel Barber’s film unspools at a deliberate, somewhat languid pace, firmly establishing Harry’s sad, lonely life and all the most unpleasant aspects of aging. Everyone Harry knows is dying off. His wife is in a rapidly-declining catatonic condition in a hospital, and he fears she doesn’t even know when he’s there despite his dutiful daily visits. His only daughter died long ago, and he appears to have no one else. His own health is failing, too, and he must use an inhaler to combat emphysema. Making matters even worse, the housing project where he lives is thoroughly unsafe. The tenement is controlled by a gang of savage kids in hoodies who spend their days dealing drugs and engaging in random acts of violence for thrills, such as shooting pregnant women. At night they occupy the underpass that stands between Harry and the hospital his wife is at, delaying him in seeing her for his fear of walking through. The police seem utterly ineffectual at maintaining order in the slum, although not for lack of trying on the part of the wonderful Emily Mortimer’s Detective Inspector Alice Frampton, who's frustrated by all the dead ends thrown up against her, but uncompromising in her adherence to the letter of the law.

The first half of Harry Brown is a pure character study, examining a man alone whose best years (including a medal-studded stint in the Royal Marines which he’d much rather forget) are far behind him, and meticulously developing his oppressive environment. Then something happens that causes him to snap, and Harry’s old marine training (and, crucially, his long-suppressed ability to kill) kicks back in. Harry doesn’t become a vigilante in a single instant, but that one event does put him on a completely credible path that ultimately leads to the bloodbath the trailers would have you believe the entire movie is. Even when performing feats of cheer-inducing action, Harry’s age is still catching up with him. It is cool to watch an old guy kick ass (especially when the old guy in question has such an illustrious history of kicking such ass), but those feats are all more realistic than the ones performed by Harrison Ford in the last Indiana Jones movie or Sean Connery in The Rock. In the midst of a frantic foot chase, Harry’s emphysema catches up with him and he collapses, clawing at the ground. And when the tables are turned on Harry, he’s frankly not capable of putting up too much of a fight. But when he’s in control, he is very much in control, and capable of the same sorts of uncompromising acts of righteous violence as Taken’s Brian Mills or 24's Jack Bauer.

Harry Brown is an at times depressing but ultimately entirely satisfying vigilante drama. An interesting character study, buoyed by a superb performance from Michael Caine, builds to a well-orchestrated bloodbath sure to invoke audiences’ own latent bloodlust, and then give viewers something to think about when they catch themselves cheering at the carnage. It does reference some of Caine’s past work (particularly Get Carter), but never becomes bogged down in any sort of self-referential winking. It’s a film that stands on its own and a great role for Caine at this point in his career. Fans of the actor shouldn’t miss it.

Harry Brown opens theatrically in the United States on April 30. It opened last year in Britain, where it is already available on Region 2 DVD.

New Spy DVDs Out This Week

Callan: Set 2

The last week in January is a huge week for new spy titles–especially spy TV.  Foremost among today's many releases is Callan: Set 2 from Acorn Media.  As I stressed in my review of Set 1, Callan is one of the cornerstones of the "serious" side of the spy genre.  Simply put, it's essential viewing.  What Acorn has released as "Set 2" actually comprises Season 4 of the show, but Acorn opted to begin with the first color season, which was Season 3, as Set 1, so now we have Season 4 as Set 2.  That was only really an issue with the first episode of Set 1, which could prove a bit confusing to first time viewers as it resolves some cliffhangers from the end of the previous black and white season, which itself isn't included.  (The surviving episodes of the black and white seasons are due out in England from Network next month, so maybe there's hope of seeing them here in American down the line.)  Anyway, Set 2 is no less essential than Set 1.  Edward Woodward remains a commanding presence in the lead, turning in some of his best work.  All the essential supporting players from Set 1 return, including Russell Hunter as Callan's dimwitted chum Lonely, Patrick Mower as his calculating colleague Cross and William Squire as his reptillian boss Hunter.  They're joined by Anthony Valentine as fellow agent Meres, a major presence in the black and white series who sat out the first color season.  All of the acting is stellar, as are the tight, downbeat plots.  This time around Acorn provides a valuable extra feature, as well, in the form of two audio commentaries by the late Woodward.  Oh, and Callan kills someone with a speargun!  Indoors, no less.  Yes, I know I just established this as very much part of the "serious" spy tradition, in keeping with The Sandbaggers and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and speargun deaths reek of the more fantastical sort of espionage adventure, like Thunderball or Deadlier Than the Male.  But I assure you, the speargun death in Callan is not only credible, but also gruesome.  The speargun as spy weapon is thoroughly deromanticized.  Callan: Set 2 is just as essential to a thorough spy collection as Callan: Set 1, and should be the first thing you buy out of this week's batch.  (It's also currently on sale as part of DeepDiscount's Acorn sale.)  Check back soon for a full review.

MI-5: Volume 7

One of the best contemporary spy shows (though it's got nothing on Callan) also returns today, with BBC Home Video's release of MI-5: Volume 7.  (Or Spooks, as its known in its native country of Britain.)  Season 6 was a real return to form for MI-5, and I can't wait to dig into the seventh season of this addictive drama.  No character, no matter how beloved, is ever safe in this ever-changing cast, but at least right off the bat Rupert Penry-Jones returns once more as Adam Carter.  Hermione Norris and Miranda Raison also reprise their roles from previous seasons, and Richard Armitage joins the cast as agent Lucas North.  (Uh-oh! Longtime viewers will be aware the the addition of a new cast member usually signals death for one of the existing ones.  Who will it be?)  It's Peter Firth's crusty spy boss Harry Pearce, however, who has emerged as the series' true hero, and one of the only ones at this point who's been around since the very beginning. Just as Season 6 focused on Iran as the primary enemy in a season-long arc, Season 7 turns its attention towards Russia... and a rekindling of Cold War tensions.  Special features on MI-5: Volume 7 include commentaries and various featurettes.  Read my reviews of previous seasons of MI-5 here.

Action Man Collection

The Action Man Collection from VCI unites four near-lost gems of Sixties and early Seventies spy and caper action featuring such stars as Robert Stack, Jean Gabin, Stephen Boyd, Cameron Mitchell, Edward G. Robinson, Ray Milland, Martha Hyer, Jan Murray and Eurospy goddess Margaret Lee.  Colorful heist movies Action Man (1967) and Day of the Wolves (1973) will likely appeal to Sixties spy fans just as much as spy movies The Big Game (1972) and Peking Blonde (1967), although the latter, a Eurospy entry from the writer of Help!, is undoubtedly the (ahem) spylight of this collection. 

Danger Man

The spy gods at Network unleash one of the seminal Sixties spy series this week with their release of Danger Man: Series 1, starring the great Patrick McGoohan as John Drake.  This set comprises the black and white, half-hour episodes.  The subsequent hour-long episodes (known as Secret Agent in the US) have been available for a while in the UK on another Network release, but the half-hour series has long been out of print in its native land. Danger Man was the true beginning of the Sixties spy boom–and it's excellent. The half-hour episodes are my favorites. It was also the first Sixties spy work for such integral contributors to the genre as Ralf Smart (who created the series), Brian Clemens, Robert Shaw, Donald Pleasence, Honor Blackman and, of course, McGoohan. Network's six-disc set is a bit light on extras compared to some of their other ITC offerings (including their version of the later, 1964-68 hour-long series of Danger Man), but still pretty good: you get trailers, image galleries and, best of all, a "commemorative booklet on the making of the series by Archive Television Historian Andrew Pixley." If Pixley's previous "booklets" are anything to judge by, chances are good that this will be considerably more than a "booklet." Pixley's exhaustive histories included in sets like Adam Adamant Lives! or the hour-long Danger Man are full-fledged books, and the definitive word on the series in question. Danger Man: The Complete First Series fills in a crucial gap in Network's fantastic line of ITC titles.  In America, the entire run is available in A&E's Secret Agent aka Danger Man: The Complete Collection.  You can read my review of that set here.

Gambit

This was actually out last week, but I missed it!  Hot on the heels of a recent Region 2 release from a company called Second Sight comes an unexpected American release of the classic Michael Caine caper movie Gambit.  That's right, it's not a spy movie at all, but fans of Sixties spy movies generally tend to be fans of Sixties caper movies, and this really is one of the best of them, ever.  Plus, I would imagine most readers of this site also enjoy a good Michael Caine movie, so this rarity definitely bears a mention.  Gambit is out in America as a Universal Vault Series DVD-R, burnt on demand in the style of the Warner Archives and available exclusively through Amazon.  I'm not quite sure how I feel about this burnt-to-order trend.  I was very excited when the Warner Archive began, because it created the opportunity for obscure catalog titles to be made available in high-quality transfers that we never would have seen otherwise.  But now I feel like Warner and the studios who have emulated them are simply using the technology as an excuse to put out all of their catalog titles in lower quality versions than we would have gotten had they been released as legitimate DVDs.  But maybe that's an overly pessimistic view.  The fact is, the Home Video market absolutely sucks right now, and I'll take Gambit however I can get it! The ingeniously-plotted caper co-stars Shirley MacLaine and the great Herbert Lom.  Buyers should be aware, however, before buying the Universal Vault version, that the Region 2 release includes a commentary track with director Ronald Neame.