Condorman (1981)

just watch it!

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

My favourite movie from my childhood, it has everything, charismatic lead, superb female counterpart, fabulous slapstick from a slapstick genius, fast cars (Porsche 911) , evil (alchoholic) overlord, scary henchmen, gadgets galore, lasers, and plenty of peril!!! What's not to love??

They probably had a great time making this film, and as a kid this was absolutely one of my favorite films. Seeing it again as an adult I can't help but notice that most of the actors seem to be in it for a payed vacation in Monte Carlo, and loads of alcohol, however.It has a lot of good set ups, a super hot Russian spy, and some amusing takes on the cinematic spy-genre. Especially the scene where Condorman's car reveals itself to be a superb racing car, with advanced weaponry - and later on even doubles as a hovercraft. It's straight out of a cross between Captain America and James Bond. But it's severely dated, and full of plot holes. It's also too slowly paced to compete with anything similar today, and the lead actor has no charisma whatsoever. He's a bumbling idiot, and very little else.

I loved this film in the eighties. I used to own it on Betamax, but since VHS and DVDs took over the world, I lost my copy of Condorman somewhere along the way. Michael Crawford (better known for his hapless TV character Frank Spencer), plays a comicbook writer who gets recruited by the CIA.As improbably as that sounds, you're best just glossing over it, as thinking too deeply about anything you see will spoil the film further.It's just stupid, cheesy fun. I loved it as a kid, but I have to admit being a little disappointed at what was really in front of me all the time. I could still appreciate some of it. The gadgets were fun, but Frank Spencer... sorry, Woody Wilkins, can just be a bit annoying. His jokes aren't that funny and he isn't tough enough to carry off being an action hero. I know this is a parody of spy movies in general, but if you want a cheesier spy movie, just watch some of the later Roger Moore James Bond films.Yes, I loved it as a kid and others who have such nostalgic memories of it will probably get something out of it, too. However, it's unlikely to find a new audience nowadays. If you have an eight-year-old boy, he might like it, but anyone over the age of eight will feel pretty bored by it all.I'm giving it 6/10 because of how much I used to love it. By today's standards, it's probably no more than a 5/10.http://thewrongtreemoviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/

Being a superhero flick made by Walt Disney Productions, one couldn’t expect the violent thrills associated with the genre – but, then, neither was it the kiddie-oriented fare I was dreading. In fact, it’s more espionage stuff (the narrative occurs in a variety of European locations) in clear imitation of the James Bond extravaganzas, complete with multi-purpose car, than outright fantasy (the hero is a mild-mannered cartoonist and the “Condorman” outfit emerges to be decidedly quaint, getting very little mileage into the bargain!).Still, it’s engaging and pleasant-looking for what it is – though the simplistic “Condorman” theme wouldn’t rank among famed composer Henry Mancini’s most memorable pieces. The cast enters gleefully into the absurd spirit of the thing: Michael Crawford as the unlikely hero; Barbara Carrera as a luscious defecting Russian agent (she would eventually feature in the “Odd Bond Out” of that series i.e. NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN [1983]); Oliver Reed, a bit glum but at least non-hammy as the chief villain; James Hampton as Crawford’s C.I.A. agent pal; Jean-Pierre Kalfon as Reed’s top henchman, a one-eyed menace; and Dana Elcar as the C.I.A. operative who unwittingly puts “Condorman” on the map.Typically, we get a number of disguises (at one point, both Crawford and Hampton don the garbs of Arab sheiks!), chases (on land and sea) and stunts (directed by the ubiquitous Remy Julienne) – not to mention romance (Crawford, of course, falls for Carrera and models his fictional “Laser Lady” character on her!). Incidentally, while we’re obviously not treated to an action prologue here like in the Bond films, we’re given an animated sequence instead – which is a nice way of acknowledging the film’s comic-strip aspect. Finally, I wouldn’t say that CONDORMAN is hilarious…but it does contain one good in-joke – a crack by Hampton that “not everyone in the C.I.A. is Robert Redford”, clearly a reference (and a very apt one given the title!) to that star’s own espionage venture THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975).