Aaron1375
Yet another James Bond wannabe that was featured on the television show MST3K. It is also yet another rather badly done Bond ripoff, as it once again thinks the only thing it needs to make a Bond film is a smug agent. Explosions??? They cost too much. Submarines??? A toy stand in will suffice. A super fast car chase??? Those are too hard, we can do a very tepid follow scene and try to pass it off as an exciting chase. This film is very unexciting and one never gets the sense of real danger or thrills. The film, like many other Bond wannabes also has a few girls, but they are just okay in the looks department. The bad guys are not very threatening and for the most part the action is very lacking. Does have a nice theme to it though.The story has a death ray that was created for non violent uses being stolen for violent purposes. Why this ray is even considered all that great is beyond me as it seems to be simply a device to melt holes in metal. Actually, it was not even the ray that was taken, but rather its creator who named his device that he had no intentions of using for violent purposes a Death Ray! Well enter super spy Bart Fargo, who at first does not want to do the mission because he is on vacation. What a spy! When has Bond ever complained about a mission? Yet, with every James Bond knockoff, the spy is always whining about doing his job. So off he finally goes and he flirts, has numerous fist fights and rides a car and a speed boat at extremely slow speeds! He also falls for a painter who looks kind of creepy in the face. Meanwhile, the bad guys repeatedly try to kill him. Nothing new happening here suffice to say.The film is one of many James Bond knockoffs featured on MST3K. I have seen Secret Agent Super Dragon, Operation Kid Brother and Agent from H.A.R.M also. This one is a bit better than H.A.R.M, mainly because all the agent does there is hang around a house for most of the film and fail miserably. Sure the fungus stuff is kind of cool and the niece is hotter than any of the girls in this one, but that one was even more boring. I thought Super Dragon and Kid Brother were better though as they featured more attractive girls. Kid Brother also had the fun of spotting actors and actresses from the James Bond film series. This one has a bit more going on than H.A.R.M, if it had better looking gals I would have said it was better than Dragon.So this film pretty much goes by with not much happening for a super spy film. Then again, that can be said of most copies of the Bond films. They pretty much seem to think if you have an agent who can swarm his way through the film that people will flock to it, but you just should have more. I mean, a that car chase was so slow, there is no way an oil slick is going to make a car lose control that badly at the speeds he was going. Still, it made for a very funny episode of MST3K, but why did that person catch the watch the agent threw out the window?
quamp
Man, the late 1960's sure did produce a whole mess of James Bond clones. Bart Fargo, hero of Il Raggio Infernale is one of them.However, unlike the Albert Broccoli offerings, the gadgets here aren't very inspiring, the acting is pretty bad, and the plot gets very contrived very quickly. The artist woman chosen to be Bart's romantic interest was definitely chosen for her good looks and not her acting ability. Then again, this film being from Italy, one shouldn't expect a whole lot.
kikaidar
AH, the exotic thrill and glitz of the big time world of international espionage, where steely eyed men in immaculate suits regularly face off against impossible odds and charm the ladies with polish and flair!Then there's Bart Fargo.Bart Fargo, whose pithy comments and sidelong glances have redefined the Spy Game for so many of us who have been unfortunate enough to actually see DANGER! DEATH RAY. Make no mistake about it -- in the dog-eat-dog world of spies and intrigue, Bart's that big, mangy puppy that follows you home, tripping all the time over its oversized paws, in hopes that you'll share some day old bacon with it.Actually, DEATH RAY is a fun little Italian spy film...once you throw up your mental arms and accept what are clearly a very cheap model submarine and an equally threadbare toy helicopter (no boxtop went unsubmitted in the interests of your viewing pleasure) as being manifestations of a rich, ruthless and powerful man who is out to use every last penny of his personal fortune in his relentless bid to rule the world.Bart is played rather blandly by former movie Tarzan Gordon Scott. Bart is in some distinctly European city when we first meet him, sprawled languidly beneath the sheets. Yep, sleeping solo, which probably should warn us that this won't be your average spy flick.Two lovelies from the office ambush Bart, meaning to drag him into work (or possibly simply work him over with tire irons while he sleeps -- you get the feeling that Bart is the type who would really annoy most women).Bart's no fool. He evidently always sleeps with a gun under his pillow (evidently he's had run-ins with irate girls before). Distracting them with his nearly massive pecs, he niftily gets the drop on them. After flashing his big gun, Bart sullenly dons bunny slippers and sallies forth.You see, as we're about to hear endlessly, Bart is on vacation and just doesn't have his heart in saving the world and the rest of us working schlubs out here. Thanks, Bart. From the bottom of my heart.Off to HQ and our first (failed) little attempt at a witty confrontation. His chief is in a peevish mood. Bart had done something particularly well (possibly picked up the Chief's best suit from the cleaners without catching it in the car door), and had been given this vacation week. However, something dire has come up. Pausing only to good naturedly slander the entire Arab race, the boss gives Bart his briefing:A dedicated scientist has invented a death ray -- for entirely peaceful purposes. No wholesale killing and mayhem for this genius! No sir. This is a better, kinder, gentler...er...well, death ray.Let's take inventory. Just to make sure I'm not missing anything.A bland spy, uninspired car chases, and this kind of logic. I think we can all see where this is all heading.Demonstrating this perky little device for a bunch of bald guys (Pro Spy Tip # 1 -- Bald = Brains!), the researcher is promptly kidnapped and taken by unconvincing toy helicopter to the above mentioned toy sub. Clearly he's being carted away by the wicked people of the land of Wee!Or maybe it's just cheap sets. Everyone aboard the sub seems to be big. Ah, heck. "Portly" comes darned close to covering it.And now for a nice, almost bracing shot of plot to spice things up a bit! It seems that a wealthy man wishes to use the peaceful death ray to bring the world to its knees. Peacefully, we presume, but you never KNOW with these rich megalomaniacs...Bart is instantly off to the rescue, and it is from this moment on that our learning process truly begins. In rapid succession we learn each and every one of his many, many shortcomings.Bart has only a vague clue as to where he's going. He finds a tavern, his first real clue, more or less by accident. Following a rather leisurely fight, Bart boldly turns tail, winding up pretty literally hiding behind a woman's skirts. Except that the woman in question's working in the nude. Sort of.Back at his hotel, Bart is again attacked by one of the thugs. Bart, in no mood to play, mauls him mercilessly with a 'phone, then allows him to escape.Fortunately for Bart, his attacker is even more of a stumble bum than he is. Realizing that he's made a total fool of himself, Bart lets the man go without filing him full of holes. This works out nicely, as it later prompts the thug to come over to Bart's side and help him sneak into the Bad Guy's evil estate.Back to the "romance". Much vaguely arch dialog, ensues. At the same time, Bart flirts with a blonde who he had met on the flight out, and who is obviously one of the Bad Guys.En route to the final showdown, Bart tries to do some Spy Stuff, again wretchedly. He puts on his nifty sunglasses, climbs into his red sports car, and attempts a car chase.Tedious. Just tedious, and mostly shot in close focus with both cars very obviously careening around hairpin curves in speeds occasionally in excess of 5 mph. A few random shots are tossed vaguely back at Bart, and his car lazily rolls off of a convenient cliff.The whole sequence has the same non threatening feel of a dream featuring the Care Bears.It's non-stop tedium, and thrills a-snore! After some more derring-do, Bart's off to the villain's palacial-yet-cheezily decorated manor house.He bribes that conveniently reformed thug (remember him?) into being his friend. His pal. His sacrificial target for the local snipers. He's dead within a few seconds of their crashing the gate.After daring the corridor of hidden cameras and remote controlled machine guns, Bart takes on the baddie and his death ray, rescues the brainwashed scientist and the redhead of his dreams, and conveniently "forgets" about his planned vacation with the boss's secretary.All in a bad day's work for our boy Bart!DEATH RAY has its moments (chiefly in the buoyant but endlessly reprised main theme). In the end analysis, though, it's extremely minor stuff.
