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Dom Robinson reviews
Distributed by
MGM
- Cert:
- Cat.no: 21225 DVD
- Running time: 126 minutes
- Year: 1967
- Pressing: 2001
- Region(s): 2 (UK PAL)
- Chapters: 16 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Mono)
- Languages: 5 languages available
- Subtitles: 10 languages available
- Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Panavision)
- 16:9-enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: No
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £15.99
- Extras: Theatrical Trailer, Teaser Trailer
Directors:
- John Huston, Ken Hughes, Val Guest, Robert Parrish and Joe McGrath
Producers:
- Charles K. Feldman and Jerry Bresler
Screenplay:
- Wolf Mankovitz, John Law and Michael Sayers
Music:
- Burt Bacharach
Cast:
- Sir James Bond: David Niven
Evelyn Tremble (007): Peter Sellers
Vesper Lynd (007): Ursula Andress
Le Chiffre: Orson Welles
Mata Bond (007): Joanna Pettet
The Detainer (007): Daliah Lavi
Jimmy Bond: Woody Allen
Agent Mimi (alias Lady Fiona McTarry): Deborah Kerr
Ransome (CIA): William Holden
Legrand (Cinquieme Bureau): Charles Boyer
Smernov (KGB): Kurt Kasznar
M (McTarry): John Huston
Q: Geoffrey Bayldon
Himself: George Raft
French Legionnaire: Jean-Paul Belmondo
Cooper (007): Terence Cooper
Long beforeAustin Powers,there was already a spoof Bond film available in the form of CasinoRoyale, originally released by Columbia but now on the MGM label.
SMERSH are on the loose again – having killed 11 of the best BritishIntelligence agents – and one of the bad guys is Baccarat-playing illusionistLe Chiffre (Orson Welles), so it’s just as well that when retired agentSir James Bond (David Niven) is coaxed back into work with a plan tohire new agents all of whom will be known as “James Bond 007”, so as to confusethe enemy and “because one James Bond isn’t enough”, one of the applicants is an author who wrote the book on successfulBaccarat-playing, Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers). There are also rolesfor Ursula Andress, Woody Allen and Deborah Kerr.
However, although this may have been a great Bond-spoof at the time, I’mapproaching this film for the first time after having seen a slew of otherBond films since as well as numerous other action/spy flicks and, as such,parts of Casino Royale just don’t seem funny any more and, although thisfilm got their first, I saw the rotating bed scene in the firstAustin Powersouting, for example. Also, the whole Bond series has since become rather a parodyof itself, albeit a far more entertaining one than this production.
One other thing about this film is that it keeps changing direction and lookslike a series of disjointed, overlong sketches stuck together, so it won’t be surprisinglyfor you to learn that no less than five directors had their say. Talk abouttoo many cooks…
Firstly, the print isn’t anamorphic and there are some print flecks at times,although it’s fairly free of artifacts and doesn’t look too bad for a filmthat’s now 34 years old. Presented in the original widescreen ratio of 2.35:1,the average bitrate is 5.82Mb/s, briefly peaking over 8Mb/s.
The sound is mono. Dialogue is pretty clear, but any action shots don’t standout to any great degree so don’t use this as a demo disc.
In the extras dept., there’s not a lot going on for this spoof – just a4:3 theatrical trailer lasting nearly 2½ minutes and ananamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen Teaser Trailer lasting just over90 seconds.
The disc contains a mere 16 chapters and dialogue is delivered in English,German, French, Italian and Spanish.Subtitles are in 10 languages: English and German (both with hard of hearingoptions), French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian andDanish. The main menu contains animation and music but nothing like to theextravangance we’ve come to expect from the Bond collection.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.