Austin Powers - International Man of Mystery - New Line Platinum Series

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre
Review: I waited a long time to see this movie. It sounded stupid and wasn't worth my time. I finally saw it and I wasn't much off the mark. It is one of those movies that you see just because so many other people have. Has some moderatley funny parts, but none that really made me laugh. I like that they used Kurt Bacharach and music from earlier films (e.g., Casino Royale). It was neat to see some toned-down 60s flashbacks, if just to get it out of your system. Overall, I wouldn't see it on its own right, but it is a "societal" movie that needs to be waded through.

Rating:
Summary: It's My Bag Baby
Review: The enthusiasm that Mike Myers imbues in the "Austin Powers" character here is infectious. It is quite apparent that Myers loved the spy movies of the sixties that he is sending up here. This initial entry in the series is the one where the Austin character's mojo is really working. To boot, he also created another memorable character in Austin's chief nemesis, Dr. Evil, kind of a Ed Sullivan-like Eastern European villain. Elizabeth Hurley is Babe-ilicious. And any film that revives the careers of Robert Wagner and Michael York can't be all bad. The only debit here is Myers reliance on toilet humor for laughs.

Rating:
Summary: a classic of modern spoof humor
Review: Having just seen this on VH1 recently, I have to admit I had forgotten how hilarious this movie is. So many good parts: fighting the Irish hitman in the bathroom ("Show that terd who's boss!!"), the cop who just wouldn't move out of the way....("NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" ::crunchcrunch::), the INSANELY HOT Allota Fagina ("May I wash you?"), and the mishap of the freezing of Mr. Bigglesworth are just a few examples of classic moments in this movie. The movie parodies classic moments from the Bond series as well as other things such as post-mortem one-liners common in action movies like Commando and Die Hard (listen to Austin after he kills the guard near the sea bass tank near the end......hilarious). All in all this is a pure ninteies classic that is worth seeing again and again. HILARIOUS!

Rating:
Summary: Clever, but not very good ,60's Spy parody
Review: It's a real shame that this movie just isn't very funny. As a lifelong Bond/Avengers/Saint/60's Brit-espionage fan, I can attest that the genre is just dying for a great send-up. If only this were it. The movie is pretty clever, and picks its targets unerringly, constantly zeroing in on everything from GOLDFINGER, to Harry Palmer's "Herman's Hermits" glasses, to Emma Peel's unforgettable leather catsuit. The faux-fab look of the movie is excellent, and even Mike Myers' Brit accent holds up 90% of the time. So, what's the problem? Well, the movie just isn't very funny. The jokes are lame, repetitive,obvious, and generally just outright dreadful.I mean, make no mistake, the humor here is just flat-out pitiful.You groan a lot while watching this movie, and not in pleasure. In fact, Myers pretty much steals the film from his own main character, with his best-thing-in-the-movie turn as the Donald Pleasance-ish Blofeld takeoff, ingeniously named "Dr. Evil". Plonkingly obvious name aside, Dr. Evil (and his Generation X "son") are by far the best thing in the film. And yet this movie is a comic masterwork compared to the two indescribably repetitive sequels, the first of which (THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME) literally repeats every lousy gag from the first one,adding virtually nothing, then the second (GOLDMEMBER) does... exactly the same thing!(On the other hand, the first 8 minutes or so of GOLDMEMBER may be the funniest sequence in any of the three films, then, CRASH!) The worst thing about these movies is that their baffling mega-success pretty much pre-empts anyone else who might do a really good spy parody (One other has been made since Myers' film, the talented Rowan Atkinson's JOHNNY ENGLISH; It, unfortunately, is a stinker as well. Go figure). At any rate, I pray nightly that there won't be a fourth AUSTIN POWERS movie, which would likely be worse than being fed to sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads.

Rating:
Summary: Groovy? I don't think so.
Review: Some people think the 60's were this wonderful, groovy age of fun and enlightenment, and really good things. I'm not one of them. After about the 3rd pointless dance scene with Mike Myers hamming and mugging at the camera, I start to loose interest. After the 5th, I start getting annoyed.

The Scooby Doo cartoon tended to be a little more articulated, with more sophisticated plots and gags, and better costuming.



Rating:
Summary: International man of shagging
Review: Mike Myers is rapidly becoming, if he isn't already, the heir apparent to Mel Brooks in the sense that he is a master of jokes based on bodily functions. AUSTIN POWERS--INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY has all the elements of scatalogical humor: urination, fornication, masturbation, penis enlargement (almost anything to do with the penis really), allotta fagina, femmebots with gun barrel breasts... jeez, he even has a long scene in a toilet booth (with a fun cameo by Tom Arnold). And like Brooks, Myers is a master of movie genre satire. If Brooks had taken on a 007 spoof, it would pretty close to this. And Brooks would play multiple roles as well.

Still, Myers is to be congratuated for his undoubted originality. His interpretation and reinterpretation of 60s and 70s pop culture, which he also demonstrated a mastery of in WAYNE'S WORLD, is his own. Part Bond movie, part Laugh-In, part sci-fi, all hilarious, AUSTIN POWERS is one of the best comedies to have emerged in the 90s.

Rating:
Summary: Hilarious doesn't do this one justice
Review: Take aspirin, because you'll need it for the sore muscles you'll get laughing yourself silly! Austin Powers shags his way through time in this rollicking spy spoof. The puns and cameos alone are worth the price - how nice to see Burt Bacharach again. Don't miss this one!

Rating:
Summary: 70s, as seen from the 90s, as seen from the 00s
Review: This is good, goofy, sophomoric fun - and I mean 'sophomoric' in the high school sense.

It combines broad double entendres, satire of the spy genre, a send-up of 70s fashion, and a little potty humor. Come to think of it, the 70s fashions were already exaggerated about as far as they could go. Just showing them as they were, or at least the most egregious examples, is satire enough.

If you want something to think about, think twice about seeing this movie. Otherwise, kick back, put your brain in neutral, and accept it for its pure silliness.

//wiredweird

Rating:
Summary: Good Features, but the Film is Cut...
Review: Austin Powers is undoubtedly one of the funniest films of the 90's. However the film on this DVD is cut. Offered as Deleted Scenes, the cuts were part of the film when screened and released in Australia. The Region 4 release of Austin Powers has all the features of this release and the film is uncut.

I recommend the movie, but not this DVD.