The Avengers (1998)

Two British agents team up to stop Sir August de Wynter from destroying the world with a weather-changing machine.

Director:

Jeremiah S. Chechik (as Jeremiah Chechik)

Writers:

Sydney Newman (television series The Avengers), Don MacPherson

Stars:

Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman, Sean Connery

Bottom Rated Movies #67 | 4 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ralph Fiennes	...	John Steed
Uma Thurman	...	Dr. Emma Peel
Sean Connery	...	Sir August de Wynter
Patrick Macnee	...	Invisible Jones (voice)
Jim Broadbent	...	Mother
Fiona Shaw	...	Father
Eddie Izzard	...	Bailey
Eileen Atkins	...	Alice
John Wood	...	Trubshaw
Carmen Ejogo	...	Brenda
Keeley Hawes	...	Tamara
Shaun Ryder	...	Donavan
Nicholas Woodeson	...	Dr. Darling
Michael Godley	...	Butler
Richard Lumsden	...	Boodle's Porter

Storyline

British Ministry agent John Steed, under direction from "Mother", investigates a diabolical plot by arch-villain Sir August de Wynter to rule the world with his weather control machine. Steed investigates the beautiful Doctor Mrs. Emma Peel, the only suspect, but simultaneously falls for her and joins forces with her to combat Sir August.

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Plot Keywords:

good versus evil | heroine | evil man | villain | weather | 

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Taglines:

Saving the World in Style

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Emma Peel: mrspeel.com (Warner Bros.) John Steed: mrsteed.com (Warner Bros.)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 August 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los vengadores

Filming Locations:

Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,305,957, 16 August 1998, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$23,322,832, 4 October 1998

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$25,200,000, 4 October 1998

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.,Jerry Weintraub Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min 115 min (original cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The moves in the chess match between the characters Emma Peel and John Steed are the same as in the match between Roy Batty and Tyrell in Blade Runner (1982). Another reference to the film is during the fight between Sir August De Wynter and John Steed, when Sir August says "Time to die". The same line Roy Batty says to Rick Deckard during their fight in Blade Runner.

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Goofs

Between the two bursts of full auto fire from Alice's Thompson sub-machine gun, the bolt is seen to be closed. Thompson sub-machine guns are all fired from an OPEN bolt position (in order to cool the chamber and prevent rounds from "cooking off").

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Quotes

John Steed: So much for science, I'll stick to swordplay.

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Connections

References The New Avengers: Target! (1976)

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Soundtracks

RAINDROPS KEEP FALLIN' ON MY HEAD
Written by Burt Bacharach, Hal David

User Reviews

Falling for the old "edit out what the test audience didn't like" trick

Oh, wait, that's from Get Smart, not The Avengers.

No matter. As a longtime fan of The Avengers (since childhood), I will say, right off the bat, that this movie did not fail on all levels. If nothing else, the makers of this film understood, at least, what The Avengers was about. This puts them head and shoulders above, say, the makers of The Wild Wild West movie, who had only the most rudimentary (and faulty) knowledge of what made that series an icon of popular American culture.

They might not have been successful in the execution, but they did understand what made The Avengers tick, and if the studio heads hadn't ordered extreme and desperate editing, we might have been able to see more of what the filmmakers imagined.

Two scenes stand out as perfect examples of this understanding: When Mrs. Peel tries to escape by running endlessly down an Escher-like staircase, and when Steed and Mrs. Peel walk on water in giant bubbles. Sean Connery's eccentric megalomaniac (so much more interesting than a serious, conservative megalomaniac) fit right in with the The Avenger's roster of enemies.

Whatever sense of fun the movie had (and The Avengers tv series never seemed to take itself too seriously; does anyone remember Steed being shrunk to the size of a mouse and jabbing a villain in the ankle with a fountain pen?) was destroyed when the nut jobs at the studio fell for the old "edit out what the test audience didn't like" trick, and put a botched film on the screen. Too bad these studio honchos have such weak nerves and such short memories; will they never learn?