Our Man Flint (1966) User Reviews

James Coburn .... At His Best !!

[ebiros2 · 8/10 · 17 January 2006]

This was the America's answer to Bond, a super agent Derek Flint, and James Coburn plays his part with an outstanding flair. Flint is more scientific in his approach when attacking problems. He's also more lavish and colorful (he's into ballet and stuffs James Bond will never be engaged in). He has more girls, and he's a millionaire to boot ! What more can you expect from this super human hero ? American spirit of independence is also evident in that he's not an "agent" of any government agency, but an independent "consultant". The colors are brighter, and actions more wild. If James Bond was Aston Martin, Derek Flint is a drag racer. There's nothing this man of iron, with science, money, and charm can't accomplish.

In hind sight I can see how difficult it might have been to out Bond a Bond in this type of movie, and Saul David and Daniel Mann did a masterful job of conjuring up a secret agent a la American style. Is it just my imagination or is James Bond starting to look more like Derek Flint after 40 years with his scentific weapons and out landish story lines ?

James Coburn was at top of his game, and I wished he'd done more sequels to this franchise. Colorful '60s; looking at this film really convinces you that there was something special about that era.

"An anti-American eagle; that's diabolical!"

[grendelkhan · 28 September 2003]

Flint was cool when it still meant something. This light-hearted spoof, along with Michael Caine as Harry Palmer and Dean Martin as Matt Helm, provided the inspiration for the increasingly juvenile Austin Powers. Flint, however, did not grow tiresome.

Spoilers- When the evil Galaxy organization threatens the world with widespread natural disasters, the leaders of the free world must turn to the one man who can stop them, Derek Flint.

Flint is a one man army, reminiscent of Doc Savage, as well as James Bond. He is a master of many disciplines and an object of desire for many women. Even Galaxy agent Gila cannot resist his charms.

Flint is marvelous fun with Coburn obviously having fun with the role. Gila Golan has enough sizzle for a steak house and Edward Mulhare makes for a great snooty villain. Lee J. Cobb is at his cranky best, as Flint's exasperated boss.

The film pokes fun at the spy genre and swings as only the 60's could. The colors are bright, the music fast, and the women are beautiful objects to be rescued and wooed. There is a nice touch with the leaders of Galaxy, three scientists whose names do not reflect their ethnicity (Dr Schneider is Asian, Dr. Wu is caucasian). Pay special attention to the end of the film, when everyone is rescued by the Navy. One of our brave fighting men cops a feel as he pulls Gila out of a barrel! Never trust a sailor.

Our Man Flint

[meddle712002 · 31 December 2004]

I thought this was a clever spoof of Bond. One reviewer criticized it's depiction of women. The whole point was making fun of the Bond character's smooth way with the ladies,and the Bond film's depiction of sexy women. if that is what's bothering you.One female character (the adversary, Gila)was an assertive character and not the typically helpless female. A favorite part in the movie of mine is, when after capturing Flint and she is reading the mock J.B. novel with the character called 0008, she puts down the book and sigh's "God, if there really was such a man!" As for the "dated" comment, c'mon, this is a '66 flick. Of course it's going to be a little dated.Fashions, movie making standards,slang, etc. have come and gone and are coming back. My problem with the movies nowadays is the P.C. crap in them. Now it seems that most action movies have to have a female character be a kick boxer or some other tough character.This crap should be made fun of more too. I have nothing against tough action females, (Cynthia Rothrock's a bad ass!)it's just that now it's un-PC to have a demure soft woman lead character in a lot of action films. I thought this film was so beyond reality and this was the point of the film. As for J.B.,I hope Bond does die soon. Connery commented he'd like to be the villain to do it! That would be most excellent! Besides all that, Coburn was awesome(I bet he was chuckling making this one))and will be sorely missed. R.I.P.

Rollicking good fun.

[lloyd7202003 · 10/10 · 14 June 2005]

This movie is something of a minor masterpiece. It should be in every home library. Sure it's a little silly but so was the decade of the 1960s that spawned it. Derek Flint (James Coburn) was America's answer to the British super spy James Bond, hence the title Our Man Flint. But all the 007 and Matt Helm movies together aren't as much fun as this spy spoof. Colorful and well-directed, it doesn't take itself too seriously and throws in some good gags to keep you chuckling. Jerry Goldsmith does another excellent musical score, as good as or better than anything from the 007 genre.

Our Man Flint is pure escapism and a good investment if you can find it. James Coburn is no longer with us, and like any great work of art Our Man Flint is even more valuable now that the artist has died.

Almost Out-Bonds Bond

[RNMorton · 9/10 · 1 May 2005]

The only 60's spy flick to give Bond a run for his money, albeit with more silliness and less pretentiousness. Coburn, spot on as exotic retired super agent Derek Flint, very reluctantly rejoins the service when a group of scientists attempt to conquer the world through weather control. It doesn't help their cause that they kidnap all of Flint's girlfriends, in a strategy doomed to backfire. Cobb is great in his traditional role of curmudgeon authority figure, and Golan is a very attractive femme fatale, as I'm sure the rescuer who "inadvertently" mishandles her at film's end would agree. Consistently entertaining from the first reel to the last.

The 60s, tongue-in-cheek

[overfedcinemafan · 22 January 2006]

They don't make them like James Coburn any more; compared to the likes of him, modern Hollywood leading men seem like fairies suited to play nothing more than Tinkerbell in Peter Pan remakes.

Here, Coburn plays the plethoric, three-doses-of-everything Derek Flint. Four girlfriends (up to five at one point as we learn in the sequel), able to stop his heart, master of combat techniques, uses two wolfhounds and a GSD to greet guests and escort them in (dog lovers, note the GSD's silver colouration, a rare combo with black in the US -- and note that a black and tan GSD is used in the sequel), forensic science genius, private jet owner, philosopher... the list goes on.

This is a fun film with plenty of outright silly moments. No more or less silly than James Bond films or even The Saint, the difference being Connery and Moore's characters appear to take themselves and their work much more seriously than Coburn's Flint does -- and with good reason. His clothing, made of fibres not found in nature on this planet, is at least three sizes two small; his pantlegs are configured for an imminent flood; his hairstyle rivals that of any British Invasion band member; his attitude toward women is similar to that of Alexis Zorbas (special albeit frail creatures that must be respected and loved); his shrieks and cries during hand-to-hand combat make Bruce Lee sound like Caruso.

Recommended!

Mr. Whipple as GALAXY bad guy!

[estabansmythe · 10/10 · 21 January 2006]

Okay, time to get serious: it is not an understatement to declare that Our Man Flint is one of the greatest movies ever made in the entire history of cinema! Haha! It's so much fun!

Heck, how can you not love a movie in which Dick Wilson - the guy who played Mr. Whipple in the Charmin toilet paper commercials for more than 20 years - plays an agent for that evil insidious organization, Galaxy?

The two-film Flint series would never have been the incredibly popular spy spoof that it was - made at the height of the 007/Man From U.N.C.L.E./Wild Wild West/Matt Helm craze - if anyone other than the great James Coburn had been cast. The man was born to play the role.

It all comes together: Jerry Goldsmith's zippy spy music; beautiful babacious Gila Golan and Edward Mulhare as rotten rat Rodney and then of course, its legendary spoofing.

From the LBJ impersonator, to Benson Fong's Dr. Schneider and Peter Brocco's Dr. Wu, to Flints lighter that performs 82 separate functions...83 if you want to light a cigar, Our Man Flint is just the greatest fun!

James Coburn is just terrific as super spy Derek Flint!

[Infofreak · 6 January 2004]

If you approach this movie thinking it's going to be a proto-Austin Powers you might be in for a disappointment. Sure, it's a James Bond spoof, but nowhere near as broad as you might expect. The Bond movies were becoming increasingly self parodic by the late 60s anyway, so there's not all THAT much difference between this and say 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service', except this is more entertaining than just about any post-Connery Bond in my opinion. James Coburn is just terrific as super spy Derek Flint, a role he was born to play. I can't say this is his best performance acting wise, but his most enjoyable role? Could be. The More you dig Coburn the more you'll enjoy the movie as let's face it, the plot is pretty thin, about some maverick scientists controlling the world's weather. But hey, it sure does LOOK great, and Gila Golan ('The Valley Of The Gwangi') makes a very sexy co-star. Plus you have respected character actor Lee J. Cobb, and if you keep your eyes open James Brolin, and even Russ Meyer babe Tura Satana in the supporting cast. Cool fun for 1960s buffs.

From Bond to Flint

[rstone-13 · 9/10 · 13 February 2007]

Having read all the James Bond novels by Britain's Ian Fleming -- most of which were written in the 1950s long before the watershed 1960s era of sexual promiscuity, recreational drug use, proud individuality, rock and roll, anti-establishment protest, etc. -- I think that tracing the evolution of the original Bond to the outrageous Derek Flint in so few years might actually make a fascinating sociological Ph.D. thesis. In each of Fleming's novels, the 6', 170-lb. Bond was little more than a glorified policeman (as Dr. No so aptly described him) who used thought, skill, courage, and gritty determination to plausibly accomplish his mission and survive torture, all while falling for a single woman who usually died in the end. In his way, he was practically monogamous and faithful, in addition to being deadly serious. Fleming picked the name James Bond to connote a bland, rather unremarkable cog in the wheel of Her Majesty's Secret Service, albeit with a license to kill. The first Bond film, "Dr. No", remained fairly faithful to the novel, except that actor Sean Connery oozed an almost animalistic and sexual charisma which Fleming found inappropriate. By the second film, "To Russia With Love", Bond was becoming a swashbuckler capable of fighting off a dozen men in hand-to-hand combat without getting winded. In subsequent films over the next 40 years, Bond became more and more sexually promiscuous while performing increasingly implausible feats of daring-do, all while the plots and gadgets and bad guys became more and more outlandish. But in the mid-1960s, when "Our Man Flint" was released, the cinematic Bond was still largely grounded in reality, and his tongue was only occasionally in his cheek. Flint, on the other hand, wasn't so much a parody of Bond as the quintessential expression of what so many male, American Baby Boomers secretly wanted to be: adored by harems of gorgeous young women; multi-millionaires without having to work for it; quick, witty, and gifted with devastatingly high IQs; super-athletes and sportsmen; ultra-skilled in all forms of hand-to-hand combat without losing a fight or getting hurt; Renaissance men equally at home amid fine art, fine wine, eclectic music, sophisticated gadgets, Zen masters, foreign cultures, and powerful weapons. In other words, the comparatively "boring, nose-to-the-grindstone Bond" of the 1950s had, by the mid-1960s, become the "ultra-fantastic fantasy figure of Flint". One of the reasons Bond (in the novels) smoked so many cigarettes and didn't care, was that he was convinced he was going to be killed soon; his body was already covered with scars. Flint, on the other hand, seems to feel he's going to live forever in his prime -- exactly what many Baby Boomers wanted (and still want, in some cases). The Bond of the novels was a former naval commander and dedicated government agent almost 24/7; Flint is a playboy who probably contributes articles to "Playboy" and saves the world when it suits him because he unexpectedly has a few hours to kill. In many respects, Bond and Flint are opposites, just as the mid-1950s and mid-1960s were. Each character speaks volumes about the societies in which they first appeared. On a lighter note, I found "Our Man Flint" a hysterical hoot led by the outrageous, scenery-chewing James Coburn, and I recommend the movie to those who want to take a lighthearted look at the "pop Sixties" while chuckling and shaking their heads at the silliness.

Espionage...what a business!

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 10 August 2006]

OK, in retrospective, we should all know that 1960s espionage was all about cool dudes battling evil, and attracting hot babes in the process (though the latter often overshadowed the former, as Austin Powers showed). "Our Man Flint" is no exception. I will say that Derek Flint (James Coburn) isn't exactly James Bond, but he has his merits. The movie mostly seems like an excuse to experience that ultra-cool feeling that always emanated from the spy movies of the '60s, and they achieve that.

So, even if it isn't James Bond, it's still very enjoyable. Also starring Lee J. Cobb...and a bunch of half-dressed women.

So during that era, the four most important spies were James Bond, Derek Flint, Harry Palmer and Maxwell Smart.

Okay Spy Spoof, But Not A 'Pleasure Unit'

[slokes · 6/10 · 11 June 2012]

Cool, grace, style, wit. James Bond got most of the action, but Derek Flint made a mark all his own, both as breakout role for star James Coburn and uniquely clever send-up of 007, who in 1966 was taking his first year off after knocking off four big hits in the four preceding years.

So it is a shame to see "Flint" stumble as much as it does once it so smoothly establishes our hero and his basic situation in the first 40 minutes.

The world is being held for ransom by scientists who want to establish a new order dedicated to peace and freedom - on their terms. Since their methods involve not only wholesale destruction but hiring homicidal British toffs and ex-Hitler Youth people, you don't question the world's unified response in sending against them the uniquely dangerous Mr. Flint, master of karate, fencing, and lighter with 82 different functions - 83 if you wish to light a cigar.

"Is there anything you don't know?" demands his perpetually unhappy ex-boss, Cramden (Lee J. Cobb, excellent as always).

"A great many things, sir," Flint replies, managing to sound both humble and smug about it.

"Our Man Flint" has fun with our hero, playing up his capabilities to an enjoyably absurd degree. He's so amazingly super that he not only lives with four beautiful, eminently satisfied women, but draws a grateful smile when he sends one off with instructions to prepare some deer meat for his return. One shudders to imagine how a Robert Wagner (then) or Shia LaBeouf (now) would assay such a role. Coburn enjoys himself in a natural and unaffected way that draws you in, playing up both his zen cool and his zest for life. You know he's laughing at us laughing at him, and it works because it's Coburn, so unearthly he could have played Mr. Spock if not for his kilowatt grin.

To me, the first 40 minutes of this movie is '60s nirvana. You get the build-up, the tension between Cramden and Flint (which is all one way as Flint seems only amused by his ex-boss's tantrums), and a couple of clever, ripping fight scenes. One ends with something you never see in movies of this kind - the hero stopping to save the life of a red-shirt nobody.

But once the film leaves a strip club in Marseilles (where Flint recognizes the bouillabaisse served from taste as the same exact recipe left on an attempted-murder clue), the movie settles into the business of resolving a steady-moving but dullish plot. The global extortion plot takes center stage, and a humdrum quality settles into the movie. The villains' plot is certainly unusual, but both the excitement and humor of the movie's first third diminish severely as Flint goes through some fairly standard spy paces.

Gila Golan is as sexy as any Bond girl in her red bikini, and Edward Mulhare squeezes all the sneering bravado he can from his underwritten chief-henchman role. Director Daniel Mann finds his moments with the help of Jerry Goldsmith's gamboling samba score, like when Flint climbs a ladder and faces down two assailants on a high-up catwalk in an uninterrupted shot. But too often he seems constricted by the level of what he had to film.

Early on, scenes sparkle as we visit Flint's richly-appointed bachelor pad and a New York restaurant. By the time Flint is in the villains' secret lair, Mann flails about with static tracking shots of pinwheel "hypnosis" machines strung with Christmas-tree lights. Also many babes in bikinis, nice for a while but suggesting a "bread-and-circuses" approach to the whole endeavor by about the 20-minute mark.

"Our Man Flint" wins points for not taking itself seriously. But it treats this too often as a license to loaf. The end result leaves you with a great set-up with a fair-to-middling follow-through, and a main character who should have been more iconic than he was.

SPOILER - Some people have criticized the ending of this film as a little too bloody-minded at the expense of some well-meaning if despotic idealists. I doubt the makers of the movie gave much thought to the matter in any way, but like gridoon2012's excellent review I was left wondering about the fate of the many brainwashed women who weren't lucky enough to be saved by Flint from their doomed island. It would leave more of a pall on a better film. Here you just skate past it, because the whole movie is like that, for better or worse. - SPOILER END

Zowie: Super-Cool Sixties Spy Spoof

[Bogmeister · 7/10 · 15 August 2007]

MASTER PLAN: makeover the world, beginning with ridding it of nukes. This is probably the best of the spoofs jumping on the James Bond bandwagon of the sixties (this came out after "Thunderball"). It takes the inherent absurdities of the Bond universe and amps them up even further, but not into total slapstick, like the much later "Austin Powers" pics of the nineties. This begins with a depiction of several major natural disasters throughout the world (stock footage from other films, I presume), the result of nefarious forces who can control the weather. The U.N., or something like it, is in near-panic, as groups of special agents have already failed to get to the bottom of this. But, Flint, the good-natured premiere secret agent, at first refuses to come out of retirement, nonchalantly suggesting that the world would right itself without his help. What makes this thoroughly entertaining is Coburn's performance as Flint: his is an unusual persona - arrogant yet humble, insolent yet polite, way too intelligent, always cool, with a bit of Steve McQueen and a touch of mysticism. And, quite unlike Sean Connery's version of 007. His character is very wealthy (why, we dunno), a martial arts expert with a catch-all gadget and his own set of codes. There's also a zen aspect, as, through some kind of meditation, he can turn off his own heartbeat. He also takes Bond's way with women a step further: he has his own harem, a quartet of ladies who cater to him and seem to worship his every move. Ah, yes, those sixties.

The film also copies the Bond structure of a teaser and then some surrealistic credits involving the female form, although these are less innovative. The actor Cobb is amusing as this world's version of M, the supposed chief and head of ZOWIE, always flustered and shocked by Flint's obstinate ways and arcane knowledge. He's also constantly answering the red phone, whose strange ringing signals a call from the U.S. Prez. The main villains turn out to be a trio of scientists whose aim is to change the world, after taking it over, of course. They operate from an island base which makes even the huge sets of the Bond films seem puny by comparison. There are even amusing direct references to the Bonders: this is not SPECTRE Flint is up against, we learn, and he has a scene with agent 0008, who happens to resemble Sean Connery. Another villain, a slick henchman (Mulhare), looks like Michael Caine's evil brother. And there's the femme fatale (Golan), who eventually goes over to Flint's side. Much of the film is silly, of course, with Flint's superhuman detective skills and cunning soon getting him to that island, by way of a certain soup recipe used in Marseille. But, once there, he finds a version of paradise which may suit his own perfectionist ways and this actually thrusts the story towards some thoughtful points, if so briefly. Since much of this proposed new world involves mind control, this may be why he rejects it outright - he's way too individualistic. There follows the standard explosions and carnage. This was successful enough to warrant the sequel, "In Like Flint," and was better than the lazy Matt Helm films of the same period. Hero:8 Villains:7 Femme Fatale:7 Henchman:7 Fights:7 Stunts/Chases:6 Gadgets:8 Auto:6 Locations:7 Pace:7 overall:7

Groovy, but outdated

[bsinc · 6/10 · 27 January 2003]

I remembered bits and pieces of this movie prior to seeing it again, because they stuck in my mind from my childhood. Maybe that's the way it should have stayed because I found "Our man Flint" really isn't as funny as I had thought. It's just a silly movie with a silly leading man with silly inventions that make MacGyver look like a boy scout. The funniest bit in this parody is without a doubt the part when he joins the dance party to collect his girls. First that look he makes right before he enters, and then the "dance" he pulls off. I must have pushed the rewind button about a dozen times because it was so funny. A silly movie with neat ideas, a rather poor production and a good leading man. Outdated, granted, but still enjoyable. 6/10

Immensely enjoyable spy spoof

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 12 September 2011]

Super smooth freelance agent and dapper playboy millionaire Derek Flint (the always amiable and engaging James Coburn on top of his game) has to stop the nefarious criminal organization Galaxy from taking over the Earth through manipulating the weather. Director Daniel Mann, working from a hip and witty script by Hal Fimberg and Ben Starr, relates the eventful and hugely entertaining story at a snappy pace, maintains a winningly sly tongue-in-cheek tone throughout, and stages the fight scenes with genuine aplomb. Coburn's supremely cool, assured, and charismatic presence really keeps the picture humming throughout; he receives sturdy support from Lee J. Cobb as Flint's huffy boss Cramden, the gorgeous Gila Golan as lovely, yet lethal femme fatale Gila, Edward Mulhare as suave killer Malcom Rodney, and Benson Fong as evil scientist Dr. Schneider. The bevy of beautiful gals (Shelby Grant, Sigrid Valdis, Gianna Serra, and Helen Funai are all quite foxy and sexy as Flint's live-in distaff companions), Jerry Goldsmith's wonderfully lush and groovy swinging score, a neat array of funky gadgets (Flint's watch and lighter are both amazing), Daniel L. Fapp's vibrant widescreen cinematography, the sharp dialogue (favorite line: "An anti-American eagle; it's diabolical"), and the lively and exciting climax all further enhance the gloriously kitschy fun. A total blast.

Before "Austin Powers" there was: Derek Flint

[House-4 · 8/10 · 17 March 1999]

When this generation talks "spy-spoofs", the dominant topic is "Austin Powers". But for many movie fans born before Mike Myers, there is only one great send-up of the 60's spies, "Our Man Flint". It is the only film to really nail the already satirical Bond films.

James Coburn is magnificent as the ultimate spy, Derek Flint. Any man that can seductively suggest to one of his four female companions that "it's just about time to hang the venison" is tops in my book!

You're okay, Austin, but for my money, there's only FLINT!

The Coolest of the Flint Movies

[sanctifiedminister · 18 August 2003]

This has got to be one of my favorite movies of all times. When Derrick Flint has those dogs that can smell your emotions; that is just too much for me. Also, he was the coolest American hero at the time; because James Bond was from the U.K; but Derrick Flint was ours.

This movie so cool because not only was James Coburn one of my favorite actors; but he also was cool and smooth in all of his movies. One of the best scenes is when he rescues "his girls" and tell them that "they are not a pleasure unit." That line has stuck wtih me and kept me out of many relationships and out of a lot of trouble in my lifetime.

But, my favorite scene in this movie is when Derrick Flint puts his girls in those drums. Of course; the girls had on bikinis, and after he blows up the island while looking smashing and not getting his white pants dirty. Are you kidding, Flint be dirty; it just aint; gonna happen. Also without one hair out of place on his or his girls' head. He puts them in those drums, throws them over a waterfall, but of course, there is nobody to seal his drum; so he jumps right into the the ocean and swims away just in time before the entire island blows to bits. Getting the beautiful girl in the end; now that is what I call action-movie.

I will truly miss James Coburn because he knew how to be cool, polished, and funny while keeping a straight face all at the same time.

A Huge James Coburn Fan

"Flint, the Government needs you".

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 6 March 2010]

This isn't the type of film I would normally seek out, but I've been on the lookout for it on the cable channels for a while now. Back in the early Sixties when I was in Scouting, our local troop regularly went to New York City on the Sunday at the beginning of Boy Scout Week. Our Scoutmaster had this thing for a movie and a show at Radio City Music Hall, and this is one of the films I recall from those excursions. (The others included "Days of Wine and Roses" and "Hatari" on separate trips). Amazingly, I was able to recall a few details about the flick before watching it once again today, like the reliance on scientific gizmos and the villainous plot having something to do with weather control. And the girls. You know, in hindsight, I have to wonder what our parent chaperons must have thought about our Scout leader's choice of entertainment, but the subject never came up afterward.

Back then, I was too young to realize that the picture was a spoof of the James Bond and spy mystery genre. All you have to do to realize that now is catch the opening of the picture with Lee J. Cobb heading up ZOWIE and you've got it knocked right from the start. But still, this picture had some pretty clever stuff for fifty years ago, like the disappearing building and the roll away vault trap. And how about Flint's heart stop trick used effectively to outwit those Galaxy goons. The best sounding gimmick though was the electro-fragmentizer, man I have got to get me one of those.

Anyway, this was my first look at James Coburn, who I hadn't come to appreciate until many years later in a variety of screen roles, mostly those multiple appearances in TV and movie Westerns. He makes for an unusually suave and sophisticated Bond clone, but when the script calls for cheesy, he's pure cheddar, and extra sharp at that.

In hindsight, I'm surprised that none of the young ladies cast as part of Flint's entourage were celebrities of the day, including his nemesis Gila Golan. But hey, right there near the top of the credits was one of Charlie Chan's favorite sons, Benson Fong as Doc Schneider. That was another clever bit actually, giving him the name Schneider and calling Peter Brocco 'Wu'.

Here's something I thought about during the picture as well - you could really have some fun with this concept as a director today. You substitute the weather control plot with one involving global warming, and you put Al Gore in the Malcolm Rodney role. Then when you have him do battle with the hero, he gets swooped up by a giant pro-American war eagle, who carries him off to the top of an active volcano and drops him in. The world is saved once more.

Say here's something to think about - if there's no such thing as a Battle of the Bulge ribbon, how did Flint know what the phony award was supposed to represent?

Only James Coburn could play this guy.

[yenlo · 8/10 · 27 July 1999]

Great entertaining spy spoof that hasn't lost its touch in the thirty something years since it's release. James Coburn in one of his great roles as Derek Flint an American James Bond type. Unlike Bond Flint is something of an independent mercenary who gets hired when he's needed. Unlike Bond who finds girls as he goes about his mission Flint has them stashed away at his pad and changes them every so often. This film and it's sequel In Like Flint were not made to be taken as serious as the Bond films and contained a slight more camp than 007's. Could Flint flicks have continued as long as the Bond films have? Probably not since only James Coburn could really play "OUR MAN FLINT"!

High Camp Quotient

[gbheron · 6/10 · 22 March 2000]

Made as a spoof of the popular James Bond films, Our Man Flint relied heavily on the current craze in "camp". It even bears a strong look-and-feel resemblance to the mid-60s TV show that epitomized this concept, Batman. The similarity really jumped out to this viewer who remembers watching Batman during his high school years.

The problem is that Batman was cheesy, lacking depth of plot and characters...but it was just a TV show. Our Man Flint suffers from the same affliction; it's very shallow fare. Good for the camp factor and very '60s (those innocent '60s between Eisenhower and 'Nam). Our Man Flint is ok, but don't expect anything special because it doesn't deliver.

The Spy With The Computer Mind

[ShadeGrenade · 10/10 · 2 July 2006]

Shortly after the release of the 007 epic 'Thunderball' ( 1965 ), another secret agent was pulling big crowds into cinemas. 'Derek Flint' was unique in Bond imitators in that he was an original creation, not based on any literary source. Interviewed by the B.B.C. just before his death, star James Coburn said that the starting point of 'Flint' was 'Sherlock Holmes as it might have been written by Lewis Carroll'. He could have said instead 'James Bond as it might have been done by the makers of the 'Batman' television series'. The bright colours, the fast action, the sly humour, the sexy girls, all are redolent of that notorious '60's pop culture phenomenon. Bond was a fully-trained assassin, but Flint was more than that. He was multi-lingual, a crack shot, wrote scientific journals, taught ballet, and so on. He could even stop his heart from beating to feign death, reviving himself using a gadget in his wrist-watch. In fact Flint's expertise became a joke in itself.

The film begins with the world in grave peril; an unknown enemy has found a way to control the weather. The chiefs of staff of Z.O.W.I.E. ( Zonal Organisation World Intelligence Network ) meet in Washington to discuss the problem, deciding to let computers choose a leader up to the job of saving the world. To the disgust of 'Cramden' ( Lee J.Cobb ), they choose the same man - Derek Flint. He served under Cramden during the war, and the crabby intelligence boss knows him to be a stubborn character who won't take orders. When Z.O.W.I.E. men call on Flint, they find him engaged in combat exercises, and he won't even talk to them. Cramden tries, but even he fails. It is only when enemy agents 'Gruber' ( Michael St.Clair ) and the lovely 'Gila' ( Gila Golan ) try to kill Flint at a New York restaurant that he realises he has a job whether he wants it or not...

Hal Fimberg and Ben Starr's story moves from Marseilles to Rome and an uncharted volcanic island in the Pacific, belonging to the sinister GALAXY organisation, headed by 'Dr.Schneider' ( Bendon Fong ), 'Dr.Krupov' ( Rhys Williams ) and 'Dr.Wu' ( Peter Brocco ). Jack Pearl's novelisation indicates the script was written originally for a much bigger budget. We get to see the trap GALAXY set for Z.O.W.I.E. at the story's start, an attempt is made to kill Flint aboard his private Lear jet, and there is a lengthy chase sequence in Mexico City, culminating in Flint taking the place of a matador ( which explains the origins of the portrait seen in 'In Like Flint' ). The film was slightly ahead of its time in featuring martial arts fights - choreographed by Buzz Henry.

In Coburn, the producers had an actor the equal of Sean Connery; in one hilarious scene, Flint even beats up a Connery-lookalike called 'Triple-0 Eight' ( Robert Gunner )! The 'perfect world' GALAXY wants to create looks nice and shiny on the outside - even Flint seems enchanted by it - but has a nasty under surface; recreational drug taking, women brainwashed to serve as sex slaves, even aggressively racist animals. It looks a lot like the city of the future seen in a later Saul David production - 'Logan's Run' ( 1976 ).

Edward Mulhare makes a superbly caddish villain as 'Rodney' ( he has the heads of three black sheep for a family crest ), a pity he didn't return in the sequel.

The film opened to good reviews and excellent box office, though not on the scale of 'Thunderball'. Our hero reappeared a year later in the disappointing 'In Like Flint'. A third film ( entitled either 'Bride Of Flint' or 'F For Flint' ) went unmade. The character was briefly revived for television in the mid-'70's, starring Ray Danton, but bore little resemblance to the original, and was not developed into a series.

'Our Man Flint' is easily the best of the 007 imitators, and remains entertaining still. The cherry on the cake is the great soundtrack by the late, much-missed Jerry Goldsmith.

An amiable spy spoof.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 17 May 2013]

As the James Bond series debuted in the 1960s and had its great success, out came the imitators and the parodies, and "Our Man Flint" is a pretty good example of those particular genres. It's not quite good enough to really make it something special, but it's solid entertainment just the same, with enough laughs to sustain it for the duration.

The movie does offer what could be considered quintessential James Coburn: the film star is every inch the dashing, charismatic hero, playing world renowned secret agent Derek Flint, who works for Z.O.W.I.E. (!); this stands for Zonal Organization World Intelligence Espionage. He's the only man who can possibly save the world when the terrorist organization Galaxy starts manipulating its weather. He's a little too self interested to give a hoot at first (You can't entirely blame him. He's surrounded by four gorgeous gal pals.), but soon realizes he must get involved.

As directed by Daniel Mann, this movie does have just the right tone. It's frequently funny and thus easy to watch. It's very colourful and well designed entertainment, extremely well shot in CinemaScope and accompanied by a peppy Jerry Goldsmith music score. It definitely could have used more action, though, and it moves a little slow before picking up its momentum for an exciting finish. Its scenery attractions are most effective, especially Gila Golan, a stunner of an actress who plays bad girl Gila. It's got cool gadgets, such as the lighter with over 80 functions. The supporting cast is great, from Lee J. Cobb as Flints' frustrated superior to Edward Mulhare as intimidating villain Malcolm Rodney to Benson Fong, Rhys Williams, and Peter Brocco as the trio of scientists running things. Audiences are also certain to get a chuckle out of the fact that one of the bad guys is named Hans Gruber, 22 years before Alan Rickman played a man by that name in the action classic "Die Hard".

Overall, this is worth watching for any fan of espionage, adventure, and comedy. Coburn is just so much damn fun as Flint that he makes it impossible to resist. It was followed, predictably enough, by a sequel, "In Like Flint", and even a TV movie (with Ray Danton as Flint) a decade later.

Seven out of 10.

Best of the spy spoofs

[jea5393 · 8/10 · 16 January 2001]

The two Flint movies were the best of the numerous spy spoofs to come out in the 1960s in response to the Bond films. They are like the Austin Powers films, but funny.

Fair escapist entertainment spoof...

[perfectbond · 7/10 · 12 July 2003]

This movie is a nice light-hearted diversion. It's a spoof of Bond of course, and in many ways better than the last two Austin Powers flicks. There are also some nice sets and 60's decor. The colors are bright (nice DVD transfer). Familiar faces like Lee J. Cobb (12 Angry Men) and Edward Mulhare (Devon on Knight Rider) along with Coburn in the title role keep things interesting for the most part. There's also some very nice eye candy...7/10.

Very tongue in cheek

[shanen · 7 November 1999]

Seems like a lot of people are taking this thing MUCH too seriously. I'm wondering how many of them know that the original James Bond was intended to be a parody. This movie was just trying to build on the joke, and of course had to go even farther, and I thought he did a good job with it, even regarding the overt sexism. He played it very much tongue in cheek, and I suspect the hardest part was keeping a straight face during some of the more preposterous scenes.

In fact, even the sexist stuff would be an effective parody of political correctness, a notion that didn't even exist at the time the movie was made. Another example that I found amusing and memorable was the mad scientists, where the obvious Teutonic fellow had the Chinese name, and the little Chinese fellow was Dr. Schneider.

Haven't seen it in a while, but definitely enjoyed it at the time, and probably still could. But I generally like action comedies.