The Cobra get a qualified endorsement for a couple of plot twists and some unintended humor. Dana Andrews as Capt. Kelly mails it in. There is one scene where he is driving and slurring his lines reminiscence of Otis in Mayberry. The Jerk leading man Mike Rand (Pietro Martellanza ) just won't quit with the tough guy stuff. There is a great cameo by an actor named Changie who plays the evil Chinese National Li Fang. Where else can you find a Euro-Spy where the leading man quotes a passage from the Koran? This one is for Euro-Spy fans only and just barely.
6 Reviews
Dreary spy "thriller"
gridoon202430 June 2012
Warning: Spoilers
OK, I'll admit it: this film is so boring that I finished watching it in the space of three days - I just couldn't take more than 30 minutes a day. The story has no drive to it, and the final unmasking of "The Cobra", probably meant to be shocking, induces only a giant "Meh!". There are no exciting action scenes or stunts. The hero is scruffy and charisma-free, Anita Ekberg is hysterical (literally!), although she does briefly snap out of it at one point to save the hero's life; then she goes back to being a victim again. In short, you deserve a medal if you can get through this one - even Stallone's 1986 dud "Cobra" is better than this! * out of 4.
Eurospy
BandSAboutMovies28 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Mario Sequi made The Tramplers, a spaghetti western with Charles Band's father Albert before this Eurospy film, which is all about Captain Kelly (Dana Andrews, who shows up in plenty of other spy films like Bang You're Dead, Spy In Your Eye, The Satan Bug and Innocent Bystanders).
Peter Martell from Franco's Killer Barbys vs. Dracula and Death Walks at Midnight is in this, as is George Eastman, who we all know is the patron saint of B&S About Movies. Elisa Montes from Franco's 99 Women and Anita Ekberg also show up. Ekberg is best known for La Dolce Vita, but she also shows up in Killer Nun and S*H*E*, as well as the Bob Dylan song "I Shall Be Free." Dylan sang, "Well, my telephone rang, it would not stop / It's President Kennedy calling me up / He said, "My friend, Bob What do we need to make the country grow?" / I said, "My friend, John, Brigitte Bardot, Anita Ekberg, Sophia Loren." / Country'll grow."
Peter Martell from Franco's Killer Barbys vs. Dracula and Death Walks at Midnight is in this, as is George Eastman, who we all know is the patron saint of B&S About Movies. Elisa Montes from Franco's 99 Women and Anita Ekberg also show up. Ekberg is best known for La Dolce Vita, but she also shows up in Killer Nun and S*H*E*, as well as the Bob Dylan song "I Shall Be Free." Dylan sang, "Well, my telephone rang, it would not stop / It's President Kennedy calling me up / He said, "My friend, Bob What do we need to make the country grow?" / I said, "My friend, John, Brigitte Bardot, Anita Ekberg, Sophia Loren." / Country'll grow."
The future of our country is at stake, again.
vjetorix18 November 2002
The movie starts off well enough with a cheesy rock score by Anton Garcia Abril that leads into a cool psychedelic credit sequence but it's all downhill from there. Peter Martell, who made a lot of spaghetti westerns, is a less than likable lead; a swarthy brute with John Wayne delivery who's always getting the gun knocked out of his hand. Martell is Mike Rand, an ex-Treasury agent who, we are told, was discharged from a high security post `for the good of the nation.' He must be a bad boy, all right.
Rand says `man' a lot and sweatily muscles his way into bed with the high-class likes of Anita Ekberg. Her name's Lou and she runs a women's spa when she's not shooting up drugs. Ekberg looks pretty darn good for a strung out junkie but she's not given nearly enough to do here.
The other big star, the one who's given way too much to do is Dana Andrews. Andrews is Kelly, Rand's boss, and he's in on a surprising amount of the action in the film. One wonders why, exactly. Andrews seems pretty deep into the sauce and his boot-blacked hair doesn't melt away the years the way they thought it would.
To sum up, aside from a couple of bright spots, this is not really a good or fun film. You would have to be in a pretty tight spot to want to spend your time with Mike Rand, man.
Rand says `man' a lot and sweatily muscles his way into bed with the high-class likes of Anita Ekberg. Her name's Lou and she runs a women's spa when she's not shooting up drugs. Ekberg looks pretty darn good for a strung out junkie but she's not given nearly enough to do here.
The other big star, the one who's given way too much to do is Dana Andrews. Andrews is Kelly, Rand's boss, and he's in on a surprising amount of the action in the film. One wonders why, exactly. Andrews seems pretty deep into the sauce and his boot-blacked hair doesn't melt away the years the way they thought it would.
To sum up, aside from a couple of bright spots, this is not really a good or fun film. You would have to be in a pretty tight spot to want to spend your time with Mike Rand, man.
Euro-Spy Entry Fumbles with Amateurish Execution and Predictable Plot
jfrentzen-942-20421125 February 2024
This Italian spy film is ludicrous yet amusingly preposterous. The plot kicks off with the US Government calling back Mike Rand, described as "their best Middle East agent," to hunt down "The Cobra." Initially, G-man Dana Andrews mistakenly believes The Cobra to be either a drug cartel or a crime lord. Rand's mission weaves through a maze involving oil magnates, drug enforcement bodies, and even the United Nations, all in a bid by the US Treasury to halt opium trafficking to America. As Rand edges closer to his goal, the body count rises alarmingly.
THE COBRA is a peculiar Euro-spy flick that struggles with the motions of a thriller. The film suffers from occasionally amateurish editing and staging. While Istanbul's scenery adds interest, the film overall offers little in terms of engagement. The narrative is predictable with minimal twists and lacks ingenuity. The excessively prolonged finale, featuring endless sneaking around with minimal action, further detracts from its appeal.
Pietro Martellanza (Peter Martell), portraying Rand, displays a limited range of emotions, primarily looking gloomy, which undermines the film's impact from the start. Anita Ekberg manages to shine in a limited role, whereas Dana Andrews, in a significant part, delivers a notably poor performance, especially during a scene where he drives while clearly impaired, struggling with his lines. Elisa Montes appears briefly as a potential double agent, and her presence is a welcome, albeit small, addition.
The film's dialogue often borders on the ridiculous, highlighted by a scene where a Japanese drug lord dramatically declares, "We will send you tons of drugs! DRUGS will spread!" In another moment, Rand's request for whiskey from a waiter, followed by his demand for a funnel instead of ice and soda, exemplifies the movie's attempt at humor amidst its purported "serious" espionage theme.
THE COBRA is a peculiar Euro-spy flick that struggles with the motions of a thriller. The film suffers from occasionally amateurish editing and staging. While Istanbul's scenery adds interest, the film overall offers little in terms of engagement. The narrative is predictable with minimal twists and lacks ingenuity. The excessively prolonged finale, featuring endless sneaking around with minimal action, further detracts from its appeal.
Pietro Martellanza (Peter Martell), portraying Rand, displays a limited range of emotions, primarily looking gloomy, which undermines the film's impact from the start. Anita Ekberg manages to shine in a limited role, whereas Dana Andrews, in a significant part, delivers a notably poor performance, especially during a scene where he drives while clearly impaired, struggling with his lines. Elisa Montes appears briefly as a potential double agent, and her presence is a welcome, albeit small, addition.
The film's dialogue often borders on the ridiculous, highlighted by a scene where a Japanese drug lord dramatically declares, "We will send you tons of drugs! DRUGS will spread!" In another moment, Rand's request for whiskey from a waiter, followed by his demand for a funnel instead of ice and soda, exemplifies the movie's attempt at humor amidst its purported "serious" espionage theme.
Operation Opium.
mark.waltz10 May 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This is a type of film where the American actors took the job simply for a trip to an exotic place, in this case at least Italy and Turkey. Veteran actor Dana Andrews is obviously one of them, doing this just before he did a daytime soap opera ("Bright Promise"). He's still a very attractive older man, but I found his voice to be strangely nasal, as if he was dubbed by himself for some reason with the speed adjusted. You can tell from the beginning that this film is either going to be delightfully bad or just dull, and I must say it is a combination of both.
Peter Martell stars as the investigator working for Andrews (as T. Mann Kelly, "the last of the honest cops") out to find the title character. "He's not afraid of the devil himself", Andrews says when describing the drug lord responsible for unleashing opium on the world with the hopes of getting everybody addicted. Ironically Cobra was the code name for a drug lord on a later soap opera ("All My Children") where the person was revealed to be female.
So we get some exotic places here to visit on screen, and the good thing is that you won't have to spend airfare to go there. That means that you're stuck with 90 minutes if you intend to get through this and go to all these exotic places, finding a bit of action, some bizarre convoluted situations, and beauty from the presence of two exotic leading ladies Elisa Montes and Anita Ekberg. The film is watchble but messy, so it's a good time to clean out your expired coupons while sitting in front of the TV.
Peter Martell stars as the investigator working for Andrews (as T. Mann Kelly, "the last of the honest cops") out to find the title character. "He's not afraid of the devil himself", Andrews says when describing the drug lord responsible for unleashing opium on the world with the hopes of getting everybody addicted. Ironically Cobra was the code name for a drug lord on a later soap opera ("All My Children") where the person was revealed to be female.
So we get some exotic places here to visit on screen, and the good thing is that you won't have to spend airfare to go there. That means that you're stuck with 90 minutes if you intend to get through this and go to all these exotic places, finding a bit of action, some bizarre convoluted situations, and beauty from the presence of two exotic leading ladies Elisa Montes and Anita Ekberg. The film is watchble but messy, so it's a good time to clean out your expired coupons while sitting in front of the TV.
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