The Helicopter Spies (1968)

An African village is nearly exterminated by a deadly weapon - The Thermal Prism. Napoleon and Ilya must find it first before it can be used again for the conquest of the world.

Director:

Boris Sagal

Writers:

Dean Hargrove, Sam Rolfe (developer: The Man From U.N.C.L.E.)

Stars:

Robert Vaughn, David McCallum, Carol Lynley

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Vaughn	...	Napoleon Solo (archive footage)
David McCallum	...	Illya Kuryakin (archive footage)
Carol Lynley	...	Annie (archive footage)
Bradford Dillman	...	Luther Sebastian (archive footage)
Lola Albright	...	Azalea (archive footage)
Leo G. Carroll	...	Alexander Waverly (archive footage)
John Dehner	...	Dr. Parviz Kharmusi (archive footage)
John Carradine	...	Third-Way Priest (archive footage)
Julie London	...	Laurie Sebastian (archive footage)
H.M. Wynant	...	The Aksoy Brothers (archive footage)
Roy Jenson	...	Carl (archive footage)
Arthur Malet	...	White Hunter (archive footage)
Kathleen Freeman	...	Mom (archive footage)
Robert Karnes	...	Ship's Captain (archive footage)
Barbara Moore	...	Lisa Rogers (archive footage)

Storyline

U.N.C.L.E. agents Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin are sent to retrieve Dr. Kharmusi's latest invention, a death-ray called the thermal prism. In order to break into Dr. Kharmusi's secure vault, U.N.C.L.E. seeks out notorious safe cracker Luther Sebastian who is a fugitive from justice hiding in a country without extradition treaties. In exchange for an international pardon, Luther Sebastian agrees to help U.N.C.L.E. retrieve the thermal prism. Secretly, Luther Sebastian has ambitions of his own regarding the new weapon. He's part of a mystical and religious group called the Third Way, that seeks world-domination and whose members and disciples wear platinum white hair. Solo makes his way to Dr. Kharmusi's fortress, Illya Kuryakin and Luther Sebastian are dropped by parachute into the area and sneak into the fortified compound at night. After a series of unforeseen incidents, crosses, double-crosses and unexpected revelations, the U.N.C.L.E. team leaves with the thermal prism while ...

---

Plot Keywords:

1960s | psychotronic film | undercover agent | secret service | espionage | 

---

Taglines:

New excitement ! Newest U.N.C.L.E. thriller !

---

Genres:

Action | Drama | Thriller | Crime | Comedy

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 January 1968 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Die unverbesserlichen Drei

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arena Productions, MGM Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite the movie's title, helicopters, all two of them, appear onscreen for less than four minutes.

---

Goofs

There is an airport shot titled on screen as being Tehran, Iran, however dominating the shot is a Lockheed Electra aircraft of TEAL (Tasman Empire Airways Limited), a New Zealand airline and forerunner to Air NZ. That airline never flew further west from NZ than Australia and would never have tried flying thousands of miles to the Middle East using such a relatively short range turboprop aircraft.

---

Alternate Versions

When originally released theatrically in the UK, the BBFC made cuts to secure a 'U' rating. All cuts were waived in 2003 when the film was granted a 'PG' certificate for home video.

---

Connections

Followed by How to Steal the World (1968)

User Reviews

"Hard-hitting spin off from the classic Man From UNCLE series"

Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuriyakin hire notorious safe cracker Luther Sebastian (Bradford Dillman) who helps them recover a Thermal Prism from a crazed scientist in Iran. However, Sebastian is the leader of a mystic cult called "The Third Way" who believe that they will inherit the Earth when their elderly leader (John Carradine) speaks for the first time in twenty years. Sebastian steals the weapon for himself along with a United States government rocket so that he can launch the prism into orbit and demand that the "Third Way" have control of the world. Solo and Kuriyakin race against time to prevent the megalomaniac Sebastian for fulfilling his evil designs.

THE HELICOPTER SPIES is the seventh big-screen spin off from the popular MAN FROM UNCLE spy series. It was compiled from a season four two-part episode called THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS AFFAIR. However, in the countries where it was released theatrically, the TV version wasn't transmitted thus making it a completely new story for the overseas market.

After the clumsy slapstick antics of THE KARATE KILLERS (see my review), THE HELICOPTER SPIES marked a welcome return to form with director Boris Sagal bringing a hard hitting approach to the nonsensical material. The pace is fast and entertaining and there are some fine action scenes including the theft of a rocket from a train involving some neat work with helicopters. Bradford Dillman makes a great villain while Robert Vaughn and David McCallam are their usual impressive selves as Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuriyakin. The only downside is that the low budget occasionally shows.