Grimerlana
Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike
Spoonatects
Am i the only one who thinks........Average?
Dana
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
oscar-35
*Spoiler/plot- 1967, The Ambushers, The baddies have built a working super secret flying saucer and plan on using it against the USA. Along with their new ray gun weapons, they plan to attack and win. Spy Matt Helm goes into action.*Special Stars- Dean Martin plays lead spy, Matt Helm, Senta Berger plays the lead love interest. Albert Salmi plays the baddie.*Theme- US spies come in many shapes and sizes.*Based on- Donald Hamilton's novel on Matt Helm, spy.*Trivia/location/goofs- Spoof of James Bond 007 spy films. Mostly shot in Mexico. The second entry in Martin's Matt Helm film series.*Emotion- A fun film for 'Dino' to relax in and be campy and funny. Light entertainment and humorous.
Simon Foster
I'd like to know more about the people writing negative reviews of a movie like this: how old are they? were they even alive during the 60s? This movie is a product of a different age. It was a simpler time. You could get away with making movies that had this kind of production values, script and, yes - allusions to rape in an action-comedy notwithstanding - moral values (I'm not saying they're high, they're just an indicator of the time).Do you watch Charlie Chaplin or Laurel & Hardy and complain about the cinematography? You're watching a movie from the 60s guys - it's a time capsule. It can teach you about what life was like then, because at the time the Matt Helm movies were all completely acceptable and even successful.I dread to think how you lot would handle a 'Carry On' film - yet they were some of the most successful movies ever made in England. You'd probably brand them sexist, vulgar, childish and uninventive though...duh!
laika-lives
The hoariest old relic of the sixties spy-spoof boom, 'The Ambushers' is an extremely poor film dragged lower by what may be the single laziest performance ever given by a major Hollywood star. Everything has been laid out for Dean Martin in this film - it is written specifically for him, constructed for his screen persona to allow him to capitalise on his strengths. All he has to do is deliver the one liners, punch the bad guys, and kiss the girls. Unbelievably, he can't seem to work up much enthusiasm for any of these tasks. His delivery of the gags is appalling - he's so laid back he sucks them dry, draining them of what wit they have, and throws them away. It may not be comedy gold, but a good comic makes even bad jokes tolerable. Martin isn't even trying, but worse, he seems to be winking at the camera, inviting the audience to collude in his sloppiness. His very presence seems to be meant to be enough. It may be the ugliest display of star ego before Sean Connery got his hands on 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'.His female co-stars are much better. Janice Rule really seems to be trying to find something in her character, but the script doesn't really know what she's playing, so it's hardly surprising that she doesn't either. She goes from crazy woman to able spy to helpless damsel over the course of the film, and she isn't helped by ugly hair and costumes. The real star performance in this film is Senta Berger. She's truly funny and sexy in exactly the way the script needs for the film to work. Unfortunately, she's maybe too good - everything else seems dead without her (in Martin's case, you may occasionally suspect that he's actually expired on screen). The film-makers prove themselves incompetent when her bad-girl character is killed off towards the end. It isn't just the mistake of dispatching their most talented performer, but the casual way she is strangled and thrown off a platform by a none-too-interesting minor villain. It isn't even clear that she is dead, until she simply fails to reappear. This is terribly off-hand treatment of the character - and actress - who come closest to making the film work. Killing off such a fun character in such a light-hearted comedy feels like a total mistake anyway, as though Jessica Rabbit had been bumped off during the final reel of 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?'(and as she's just helped the heroine escape from a lecherous villain, it doesn't even make Hollywood-moral sense).On the whole, this is a profoundly bad film - I've no idea if the other Matt Helm films are any better. The casual sexism, however, is a worthwhile reminder that by Sixties standards, the Bond films actually border on the progressive. Those much parodied big-band Bond themes sound a lot better, too, when compared to the irritating sub-surf-pop theme that opens the film. Couldn't Dean Martin have recorded something himself, or would that have been too much effort?
ShadeGrenade
The third 'Matt Helm' picture came out in the same year as 'You Only Live Twice' ( starring Sean Connery as 'James Bond' ), 'Casino Royale' ( an all-star 007 spoof headed by Peter Sellers ), 'In Like Flint' ( starring James Coburn as 'Derek Flint' ), and 'Billion Dollar Brain' ( starring Michael Caine as 'Harry Palmer' ). Two of those pictures had plots involving outer space, so 'The Ambushers' followed suit. After a breezy title sequence ( the catchy song is performed by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart ), the film opens at a secret location somewhere in the States. I.C.E. have been brought in to supervise security on the test flight of an experimental flying saucer. The pilot is Sheila Sommers ( Janice Rule ). No sooner is the craft in flight than an anti-gravity beam pulls it back to Earth. The thief is one Jose Ortega ( Albert Salmi ), owner of a beer factory in Acapulco. He intends selling the saucer to the highest bidder in order to finance a revolution against the Mexican Government. Sheila is found in the jungle some time later, badly beaten and with no memory of her ordeal. The only thing she remembers is the jingle to a television commercial for Ortega's beer. To recuperate, she is sent to an I.C.E. rehabilitation centre by MacDonald. Also present ( on a refresher course ) is Matt Helm. Posing as husband and wife, he and Sheila fly to Acapulco to make the acquaintance of Mr.Ortega. This is the second and last 'Helm' to be scripted by Herbert Baker and directed by Henry Levin. Once again Donald Hamilton's storyline ( which had an ex-Nazi out to destroy Texas with a Russian nuclear missile ) has been clumsily grafted onto a jokey, sci-fi plot. Agents from all over the world converge on Acapulco to buy the saucer. None are aware that it can only be flown by a woman. Any man who tries to do so is killed by radiation. The locations are beautifully photographed by Burnett Guffey and Edward Colmans and the movie coasts along nicely with plenty of action and humour. There is a wonderful scene where Matt and Sheila must spend the night in the desert and his car automatically converts into a mini 'hotel'. Hugo Montenegro wrote the music, while Oleg Cassini ( Jackie Onassis' fashion designer ) provided the clothes. Albert Salmi is particularly menacing as the villain, and Janice Rule makes a classy heroine as Sheila. Senta Berger sizzles as the top pilot for 'BIG O' - Francesca Medeiros. Kurt Kasznar ( who also appeared in 'Casino Royale' ) provides the odd laugh as Ortega's bumbling henchman. Yes, the Slaygirls are on hand again to assist Matt, some kitted out with guns in their brassieres. At times you feel that there's a better movie struggling to get out. A stronger emphasis on adventure and less on comedy was needed. Better S.F.X. would have helped too. The saucer and Ortega's anti-gravity devices ( where did he get these, incidentally? ) look like left-over props from 'Star Trek'. For all its shortcomings, this is the best Helm movie since 'The Silencers'. Harry and Michael Medved's decision to include it in their book 'The 50 Worst Films Of All Time' is mystifying.
