A bizarre looking Mexican dude (Albert Salmi in very, very strange garb) steals a flying saucer built by the good guys. So, it's up to Matt Helm and a crazy lady who thinks she is Matt's wife to go to the rescue. However, the film does have a happy ending. The lady actually realizes that the perv she thinks she's married to isn't her husband! Oh, and they stop Salmi and save the day.
Okay, I'll admit before I go any further that I don't particularly like the Matt Helm films. Part of this is because Dean Martin appears to be sleeping through the pictures. I have heard of giving an "effortless performance", but here Dean-O doesn't seem to try to break a sweat or attempt anything other than a walk-through sort of performance. Part of it is the cheapness of the film itself, such as the scene where he slides on a rail, the obvious dummy falling off the roof or the poor use of stunt doubles or the obvious wires suspending the woman near the end of the movie--they're so obviously bad yet no one seemed to care. Part of it is that the films are one sexual double-entendre after another--the sort that put 12 year-olds into hysterics but non-brain injured adults usually can't stand. And, part of it is the utter smarminess and crappiness of the films. They just didn't try very hard or have decent production values in this film.
Amazingly, however, this film comes off almost as an Austin Powers film--and it's obvious that they inspired this later series. The problem, though, is that while the Powers films were sleazy, they also were funny in an undemanding and crude way. The Helm films are just sleazy and crude--and the single joke that is the film wears thin very fast. And, believe it or not, the Helm films had many, many, many more crude lines and sexual references--coming so rapidly and poorly that you cringe at the terrible writing. Because of this, Austin comes off as a joke while Helm comes off as a boorish pig...an old, alcoholic and boorish pig.
It's pretty obvious that I didn't like the movie very much. So the question is, is the film bad enough to have been included in the book "The Fifty Worst Films" by Harry Medved? Harry obviously thought so, though I am inclined to say no...just because there are more than 50 worse films out there--probably several hundred, actually. However, I could see why it was included. For spy films, it might just be the worst from series films--though individual spy films such as THE NASTY RABBIT and LAST OF THE SECRET AGENTS? make THE AMBUSHERS seem like Shakespeare!! Oh...the music was pretty good. There, I COULD say something positive about this film after all!!
Okay, I'll admit before I go any further that I don't particularly like the Matt Helm films. Part of this is because Dean Martin appears to be sleeping through the pictures. I have heard of giving an "effortless performance", but here Dean-O doesn't seem to try to break a sweat or attempt anything other than a walk-through sort of performance. Part of it is the cheapness of the film itself, such as the scene where he slides on a rail, the obvious dummy falling off the roof or the poor use of stunt doubles or the obvious wires suspending the woman near the end of the movie--they're so obviously bad yet no one seemed to care. Part of it is that the films are one sexual double-entendre after another--the sort that put 12 year-olds into hysterics but non-brain injured adults usually can't stand. And, part of it is the utter smarminess and crappiness of the films. They just didn't try very hard or have decent production values in this film.
Amazingly, however, this film comes off almost as an Austin Powers film--and it's obvious that they inspired this later series. The problem, though, is that while the Powers films were sleazy, they also were funny in an undemanding and crude way. The Helm films are just sleazy and crude--and the single joke that is the film wears thin very fast. And, believe it or not, the Helm films had many, many, many more crude lines and sexual references--coming so rapidly and poorly that you cringe at the terrible writing. Because of this, Austin comes off as a joke while Helm comes off as a boorish pig...an old, alcoholic and boorish pig.
It's pretty obvious that I didn't like the movie very much. So the question is, is the film bad enough to have been included in the book "The Fifty Worst Films" by Harry Medved? Harry obviously thought so, though I am inclined to say no...just because there are more than 50 worse films out there--probably several hundred, actually. However, I could see why it was included. For spy films, it might just be the worst from series films--though individual spy films such as THE NASTY RABBIT and LAST OF THE SECRET AGENTS? make THE AMBUSHERS seem like Shakespeare!! Oh...the music was pretty good. There, I COULD say something positive about this film after all!!