Our Man Flint: Dead on Target (1976 TV Movie) User Reviews

Near Flint TV Movie

[judex-1 · 6/10 · 19 September 2003]

Wow. I hadn't thought about this one in a while. I was all excited when I heard this one was coming. since the original 2 Flint films were long-time favorites. Well, Ray Danton gives it a good shot, but the movie doesn't seem to know what made the Flint films different from the Bond/Bond wannabes that infested theatres for years. Because of this, this movie imitates all the other clones, and misses the style, and whimsy of the first. Too bad, Danton was an old hand at this sort of thing, after "Secret Agent Super Dragon", and even the lead role in the french comic adaptation, "Lucky The Inscrutable", (directed by Jess Franco). The script just doesn't really work, and past a zippy opening, the film doesn't do much either. A lost opportunity, now best swept out of the way.

The last time to Flint!!

[elo-equipamentos · 5/10 · 6 August 2018]

Flint was the american answer for James Bond, however never reach at their foots, even James Coburn did, Ray Danton carry on trying to, but didn't have a charisma to take advance to allow challenge 007, in this final Flint's saga the plot is quite unbelievable to start, some devices used by flint a lacking substance, all women are highly prudish, well dressed like my mother, Danton really tries hard and was defeated by whose himself try overcome, l watched this picture on my parent's house in 1978 and was a real pleasure to see those wanderer years of my youth times!! By the way the official release just come out in a box of the entire Flint saga!!!

Resume:

First watch: 1978 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 5.5

Shockingly bad

[jameselliot-1 · 3/10 · 2 November 2021]

The cast is fine. Smooth operator Danton made a number of Eurospy flicks such as Secret Agent Super Dragon (where is the Blu Ray?), a Thrush agent in The Man From U. N. C. L. E TV series and gangsters (Legs Diamond). This script is awful. I came close to turning it off several times but stuck to the bitter end. Danton's charismatic personality is missing here in this poorly shot and directed time killer. Written by people who did not understand the Flint character.

So upsetting

[BandSAboutMovies · 1/10 · 4 April 2020]

Originally airing March 17, 1976 on ABC, this forgotten third Derek Flint movie sadly deserves to be that way. A pilot for a weekly series, luckily it wasn't picked up, if the quality of this effort was to be any indication of how bad the show would be. Dead On Target indeed.

Ray Danton - who became a director for TV after this (he also helmed Deathmaster and Psychic Killer) - is Flint. He had a long career in Eurospy films like Secret Agent Super Dragon, Code Name: Jaguar and Lucky, the Inscrutable. This would be his last acting role.

What the film fundamentally gets wrong is the fact that Derek Flint is a man continually looking to better himself and seek a higher plane. Why would he decide to become a normal everyday private investigator? Maybe he was following in the footsteps of Matt Helm, whose Tony Franciosa-starring TV series had him become a gumshoe.

Well, he does exactly that, helping Benita (Gay Rowan, The Starlost, the Robert Fuest-directed Revenge of the Stepford Wives) learn to be a private dick and battle the terrorists known as B.E.S.L.A. (Bar El Sol Liberation Army). They've kidnapped an oil tycoon named Wendell Runsler, who must be rescued, which again seems like something Flint would probably have an issue with.

There's a blink and you'll miss it appearance by a nascent Kim Cattrall as a secretary. Otherwise, I can't find much here to recommend to you. Truly, this is the lowest of the low where the Flint movies are the highest of the high.

One of Flint's lines is "It's like the blind man said when he passed the fish market. "Hello, ladies!"" That makes no sense. This movie being so horrifically bland doesn't either.

Devoid of anything you loved about Flint

[DanTheMan2150AD · 3/10 · 12 November 2023]

Whoever thought it prudent to make a third Derek Flint movie as a backdoor pilot for a failed TV series, clearly didn't understand why the first two movies worked in the first place. James Coburn is completely absent and in his place steps Ray Danton. Ray is decent in the role but without the sheer unpredictability of Coburn means he ends up like every other TV superspy of the 60s and 70s but devoid of any character, traits or personality outside of his name. Most of the humour has been completely removed or watered down and too many plot lines that go unresolved resulting in a barely watchable attempt at a police procedural, not a sophisticated superspy adventure. All the fun and style of the Coburn duology is gone and despite the passable musical score, Dead on Target ends up dead on arrival.

Flint -- In Name Only

[mrhomers-34601 · 2/10 · 6 July 2023]

I've rarely been as disappointed with a film I so wanted to like as this one. Flint was easily my favorite Bond parody/knock-off. And I realize the spy film craze had reached its zenith when the original Flint movies were released a decade prior. Yet this "pilot" telefilm has none of the charm and suave cool that the Coburn films had. No clever gadgets. No cool sets. No cheesy cheekiness.

I accept that a TV movie has budget constraints. Especially one in the mid-1970s. But this was just downright BAD. It has that "low budget" look and feel from start to finish. Repetitious shots of the lead driving. Overall poor photography combined with what I'd label lazy scriptwriting.

But worst of all is wasting Ray Danton.

Danton, with a better script, could easily have captured Flint's persona. And herein lies the source of my greatest disappointment. His Eurospy outings--"Code Name: Jaguar" and "Secret Agent Super Dragon" displayed a certain coolness essential to the character of Derek Flint. Actually, I can't imagine anyone at the time who would have been better suited to assume the role, at least on the small screen.

Such a wasted opportunity..

Acceptable made-for-TV spin-off

[Woodyanders · 7/10 · 21 September 2011]

Bearing precious little resemblance to the hugely enjoyable "Flint" pictures outside of the name of the protagonist, this made-for-TV film really isn't half bad. Oil company executive Wendell Runsler (the always excellent Lawrence Dane) gets abducted by a liberation army group from the Middle East. Shrewd, handsome, and dashing private eye Derek Flint (a solid and credible performance by Ray Danton) is hired to find Runsler. Flint and his spunky new eager beaver partner Bonita Rogers (a winningly vibrant portrayal by the fetching Gay Rowan) hit the streets in search of Runsler. Director Joseph Scanlon, working from a reasonably engrossing (if overly talky) script by Norman Klenman, relates the story at a steady pace, stages the infrequent action set pieces with some aplomb, and spruces things up with a nice sense of sharp sarcastic humor (the tart rat-a-tat-tat banter between Flint and Rogers is pretty amusing). However, this movie does get bogged down in too much blah chitchat and could have used more lively and exciting action. That said, the cast do well with the okay material, with especially stand-out work from Sharon Acker as Runsler's traitorous business assistant Sandra Carter and Donnelly Rhodes as the smooth leader of the liberation group. Kelly Duncan's cinematography boasts plenty of nifty panoramic helicopter shots of the city. The funky chilling score hits the get-down groovy spot. A passable and watchable enough diversion.