Inspector Gadget (1999)

A security guard's dreams come true when he is selected to be transformed into a cybernetic police officer.

Director:

David Kellogg

Writers:

Andy Heyward (characters), Jean Chalopin (characters)

Stars:

Matthew Broderick, Rupert Everett, Joely Fisher

1 win & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matthew Broderick	...	Inspector Gadget / Robo Gadget / John Brown
Rupert Everett	...	Sanford Scolex
Joely Fisher	...	Brenda / Robobrenda
Michelle Trachtenberg	...	Penny
Andy Dick	...	Kramer
Cheri Oteri	...	Mayor Wilson
Mike Hagerty	...	Sikes (as Michael G. Hagerty)
Dabney Coleman	...	Chief Quimby
D.L. Hughley	...	Gadgetmobile (voice)
Rene Auberjonois	...	Artemus Bradford (as René Auberjonois)
Frances Bay	...	Thelma
Mr. T	...	Himself
Richard Kiel	...	Famous Big Guy with Silver Teeth
Richard Lee-Sung	...	Famous Villain with Deadly Hat
Bobby Bell	...	Famous Identifier of Sea Planes (as Robert N. Bell)

Storyline

A remake of the television series, Matthew Broderick stars as Gadget, who suffers an accident at the beginning of the film, and befriends Brenda, a robotic surgeon who repairs Gadget so that he can defeat the villain Claw. In the meantime, Gadget and Brenda fall in love.

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Plot Keywords:

back from the dead | audio flashback | breaking the fourth wall | android | actress playing multiple roles | 

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Taglines:

Walt Disney Pictures presents Inspector Gadget

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Family | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for whacky violence/action, language and innuendo

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Norwegian French Spanish

Release Date:

23 July 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Real Inspector Gadget

Filming Locations:

PPG Place, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$21,889,138, 25 July 1999, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$97,403,112

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$134,403,112

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures, Caravan Pictures, Avnet/Kerner Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min 110 min (original cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Louis C.K. auditioned for a role as a police officer.

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Goofs

In the scenes where Sikes is wearing the electronic helmet, the chin strap is fastened, then loose and then fastened again.

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Quotes

Robo-Brenda: I look just like you! Only prettier... hey, I bet we even share brain waves! Are you thinking about Gelato? Cause I am!
Dr. Brenda Bradford: OK... I'm going to go find John.
[walks away]
Robo-Brenda: Aw, well, don't you wanna hang out?

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Crazy Credits

In memorium Michael A. White

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Alternate Versions

Original version ran ca. 110 minutes. After previews the film was cut down to its current length of 78 min.

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Connections

References This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

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Soundtracks

I'll Be Your Everything
from Inspector Gadget
Written by Haim Saban, Shuki Levy, Steve Durham, Tim James and Joshua Allen Stevens
Produced by The Groove Brothers
Performed by Youngstown
Courtesy of Hollywood Records, Inc.

User Reviews

good special effects, weak story

Children and adults alike are decidedly ill served by "Inspector Gadget," a frenetic but genuinely mirthless live action take on the popular Saturday morning cartoon series that mires poor Matthew Broderick in the role of a nerdish do-gooder who gets the chance to live out his heroic fantasies when he is converted into a one-man, self-contained crime fighting cybernetic arsenal.

Thanks to current state-of-the-art special effects, the filmmakers manage to effectively translate the cartoonish aspects of the original to the live action format. Despite a few glaringly bad shots utilizing rear screen projection, the visuals that help to realize the infinite gadgets at the inspector's disposal are genuinely jaw-dropping.

What the movie makers couldn't (or, at least, wouldn't) come up with is a decent script - without which all the greatest special effects in the world cannot a quality film make. Gadget is surrounded by a gallery of dull, poorly written caricatures ranging from a giddy, self-absorbed mayor, to a gruff, shortsighted chief of police, and an effete mad scientist bent on creating an army of indestructible gadget warriors, with which, of course, he (ho hum) plans to rule the world. Even the newly "hipified" gadget mobile comes across as a charmless, grating irritant as he provides a constant stream of witless one-liners as running commentary to the action.

Of the actors, Broderick and Rupert Everett cannot be faulted since both provide a degree of enthusiasm wholly unwarranted by the inferior screenplay with which they are saddled. For a perfect marriage of sophisticated writing and unsurpassable special effects, check out "Toy Story 2." And see what "Inspector Gadget" might indeed have been.