Rod Steele 0014 You Only Live Until You Die

Rating:
Summary: Steele... Rod Steele!
Review: "Rod Steele 0014, You Only Live Until You Die" is entertainment! I highly recommend it! Robert Donovan is brilliant in his portrayal of 0014, thanks largely to his ability to sound like Sean Connery while coming across with a Roger Moore debonairness!

Writer/Director Rolfe Kanefsky, most noted for his cult classic horror/comedy "There's Nothing Out There", and the sex comedy film, "Pretty Cool", wrote and directed this script... and just like he did with "Alien Files", he continues to prove that he can blend comedy with eroticism resulting in entertainment.

Although it is true that Robert Donavon STOLE the show, it must be noted that there were hilarious supporting characters - not to mention a titillating plot! I know... it has a late night feel to it but this film has a story, comedy, and exciting female arousal! TRUST ME when I say that it is much better than 99% of the erotic comedies out there! In addition, I was absolutely charmed by the ever so lovely Sita Thompson, and enthralled by my personal favorite, Gabriella Hall. Both beauties are very convincing when in the throes of the arousal ray!

Briefly, here's the synopsis... Rod Steele 0014 is sent in to rescue the ever lovely 0013, who's been brainwashed to kill all who oppose the evil villains (played cleverly by De'ann Power and Mark Collver). While on the way to his mission, Steele inadvertently swaps his secret agent gadget device with a scientist's "arousal ray" devise. Of course the scientist's device is better suited for this mission than Steele's secret agent gadget device, and proves it so by turning every beautiful female he crosses paths with into a raging nymphomaniac!

"Rod Steele 0014" had me laughing! Great Writing! Great Acting! Great Job!

Rating:
Summary: You've got to be careful...
Review: ...when you do camp for camp's sake. It's really easy to get completely stupid, and that's what this movie is. Agreed, Robert Donovan does a *killer* Sean Connery impression, but it was essentially a one-joke movie, and that joke got kind of tired, kind of quick. I don't usually spend movie time talking on the phone, but I couldn't help it. I was bored, and wanted to let a friend know that John La Zar (Dr. Fez), who played Z-Man in "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" (are you looking for a campy sex-flick? Watch that instead, it's pure genius), was apparently alive and well, and none the worse for the time spent with Russ Meyer. Watch it if you'd like, but make sure you bring knitting, so you've got something to keep you occupied.

Rating:
Summary: Rod Steele Rules, but DVD has flaws.
Review: I bought a VHS of this movie a couple of years ago back when it was still called "Balls of Thunder". To be honest, I was just looking for a cheap soft core movie to watch and this one seemed interesting.

But whoaa! I never expected to watch something good and genuinely funny. This actor who plays Rod Steele is absolutely hilarious, specially when he apes Sean Connery's voice, and it's uncanny.

The movie is not perfect though. There are some awkward and badly acted moments, but the overall fun that this movie gave me more than made up for it.

I've already placed an order for the DVD!

May 25 Update...

Ok, I finally got my DVD today and I'm both happy, and disappointed. Happy because I can finally have this amusing movie among my DVD collection. Disappointed because unlike what the package says, there is no Mockumentary: "The Feel Of Steel" anywhere to be found on this disc, and I've searched high and low. However, there is a short featurette called "Behind the Behind", which is quite fun in its own way, showing some *revealing* auditions and behind the scenes footage.

My main disappointment however, was the commentary. Yes, even though Amazon doesn't list it here, the disc has a full length commentary from the Director and actors Robert Donovan and Gabriella Hall. But the problem is, they didn't lower the volume of the original audio track so you can hear both the commentary and the original audio track and you can hardly make out what the heck they're talking about. From 4 stars, I bring my rating down to 3.

Rating:
Summary: Comedy soft porn at its best!
Review: I rented this on video a few years ago with a group of friends, incorrectly titled "Sex Detective", and have been searching for it again ever since. I suspected "Sex Detective" was not the real name of the film, as it's about a spy, not a detective, but my search was fruitless - until today! I shall be ordering this film on DVD forthwith; it really is very funny and great to watch with a group of mates. The sex scenes are quite soft, but much better and more convincing than in a lot of comedy porn such as those Seduction Company ones. As a Bond spoof it's great; classic scenes include the one in which Rod fights a duel in a brothel using a pair of vibrators which are crossed on the wall, and the scene in which Q gives him a selection of low budget gadgets because his department is running out of money. Quality!

Rating:
Summary: What were you expecting??
Review: If you are looking for a 'Genius' movie here, it's like looking for a humpback whale in a swimming pool... This movie is a modest, campy fun flick. Not too great, some jokes do fall flat, but overall I liked most of the jokes, and the visuals aren't bad either.

Rating:
Summary: It Seemed Just Silly
Review: The James Bond voice is great, but that's about it for this show. The jokes are so trivial. I know it is supposed to be a mockery of Bond movies but it goes so far overboard it looses its humor. If you must, give it a shot, but be forewarned.

Rating:
Summary: Rod Steele DVD suffers from stolen widescreen
Review: Yes, Bob Donovan does a cool Bond accent, but I'm still waiting for the proper DVD version of this film to appear. All we have now is a cheap pan-and-scan copy with the director's commentary drowned out by the loud audio of the main feature.

It ends up like a fuzzy version of some late-night Cinemax thing from the 1980s, borrowing heavily from the spy caper humor of the old 1960s Ted Mark paperback series.

Ironically, they also put out an unrated version, but they again went and butchered the picture in half, from widescreen down to standard screen. (Although I haven't heard if the audio on the director's commentary is similarly ruined on this version.)

I thought this naughty little gem deserved much better DVD treatment than this, especially since it wouldn't have cost much more to provide it.

The movie was originally shot in widescreen, so it could easily be reproduced as such. And it's simple enough to turn down the volume on audio track one, allowing you to hear audio track two. So why didn't they?

Sounds like a case for agent Steele himself.