Bill Slocum It's ironic Derek Flint gets not one but two post-mortems in James Coburn's second and final turn as Twentieth Century Fox's goof on James Bond. Twice in the film his boss Lloyd Cramden (Lee J. Cobb) mourns the secret agent's passing; each time he learns Flint has managed an impossible escape."Of course it's impossible, that's why he's Flint!" a teary Cramden chortles.Flint was always a tricky balancing act; making a spy that genuinely wowed viewers with his feats of daring-do while simultaneously mocking his ability in that and other departments. The first Flint film, "Our Man Flint," managed to develop the character quite well that way; it works as a comedy as long as there's some attempt at grounding it as a serious adventure.This time, goofiness takes over early. "In Like Flint" pits Flint and Cramden against a female conspiracy that supplants the president with an actor and works toward a society where men no longer get much of a say. Of course, Flint is the ideal weapon against this crew; just a flick of his famous cigarette lighter sets hottie opponents a-purring.Unfortunately, even with tongue in cheek, "In Like Flint" doesn't really have the craft to pull off this idea, or a related one about a renegade general who wants to use the nation's nuclear arsenal in some diabolical if unexplained way. At just under two hours, "In Like Flint" drags noticeably, suffering from plot sprawl and a tendency to play things too cute.The film boasts a visibly larger budget than "Our Man Flint," a sign of that film's left-field success. This time, the enemy lair is well- designed, and the cinematography quite brilliant in places, especially when the movie moves to Jamaica, Bond's home territory.Cobb, a boon in the first film, really shines here, showcasing a warmer side in Cramden's relationship with Flint. For his part, Coburn employs his growing star power at close to full magnitude, never taking things too seriously, even allowing himself to be introduced in conversation with a dolphin. He has three women living with him, catering to his every whim."Didn't there used to be four?" Cramden asks."There were five at one time, but that got to be a bit too much," Flint replies.Not much else is too much for Flint; whether ballet dancing in Moscow or riding a rocket into space. His brilliance was more fun the first time, though; when it took you more by surprise. Here, it amuses, thanks to some nice twists, but still, after two hours the joke wears thin.I did like director Gordon Douglas's fight scenes, especially one set in a document disintegration chamber and another in a gymnasium, where action and comedy are well-mixed. Otherwise, what passes for a plot moves aimlessly from scene to scene. Whatever what Flint doing in Moscow? Watching Coburn have a rather steamy kissing scene with Yvonne Craig put me in an accepting mood, but too many U-turns make you feel the film isn't really playing fair. James Bond stories never got quite as goofy as this.Coburn apparently had enough after this, retiring the lighter and the harem for keeps. It's a fun film, but there's nothing in "In Like Flint" to make you think he shouldn't have gotten out.

Brewstie2 James Colburn is a super genius and super spy. He aids in a friend to help find three minutes missing while on a golf outing with the President. Something appears to be amiss. Colburn is a ladies man and ends up all over the world showing his many talents. I happened to find all of the set designs very detailed and colorful. I will be watching it again just for the costume design, furniture design and set designs. I love Colburn, this was nothing I expected from him. It is light heartedly silly and comical. I will leave all the critical reviews for someone else. I found it goofy and entertaining and it was surprising to see this side of Colburn. If I was a design student, artist or interior decorator, definitely worth the watch.

Bogmeister MASTER PLAN: take over an orbiting space platform, have the nukes ready and use mind control - again. In this sequel to "Our Man Flint," a further parody of the James Bond films, the threat is again a weird organization which plans to rule the world. In the previous Flinter, 3 scientists led the new way; here, it's 3 captains of industry who happen to be female. They also have an island base, somewhere in the Caribbean (the Virgin Islands?) - females, females everywhere! Flint is again played by Coburn as a super-smooth genius who seems to play the secret agent as a side job, called away from his Hugh Hefner-style existence into spy activity when something really unusual rears its nasty head. In this case, he doesn't show up until 15 minutes in, to save the bacon of his former boss (Cobb), who has been discredited and embarrassed in a scheme perpetrated by traitors within the U.S. government. All of this sounds kind of serious and some of it is, especially in the final act, where-in straightforward action goes against the grain of the overall satirical tone. A lot of it is still silly, of course, especially the scenes of Coburn imitating dolphin sounds (I can't believe Coburn was talked into these). The pace is a bit slower than the first film, mostly with all the stuff revolving around Cobb's character getting bamboozled in the early going. It takes awhile for the action to get going. The main femme fatale (Hale) lacks some spark, sort of playing the role as if this was a dull daytime soap opera. The actress Craig, known for her Batgirl role, pops up briefly as another femme fatale, Russian in her case. No sign of Adam West, who would've fit in well here.The premise proposed by the villains, as in the first film, is that the world needs to be run better; in this case, they feel the planet needs a more feminine touch - a new matriarchy. Though there's the expected glitz and camp of sixties psychedelia, the femme fatales (and there are many of them) are not a total joke; they're pretty well organized and make some valid points, though even Flint appears to sneer at their goals. This is ironic since he, at one point, says he doesn't compete with women, the inferred downside of most men. This foreshadows the reveal of the actual threat, a rogue military - male, of course. The main traitor turns out to be a general (played by actor Ihnat, who would soon be seen as the crazed Garth in the Star Trek episode "Whom Gods Destroy" with actress Craig). None of this is a surprise - the general looked suspicious in his first scene. The President of the U.S., who kept calling on a red phone in the previous pic, is now revealed (Duggan), but is quickly replaced by a double early in the story. Some of this also recalls the "Seven Days in May" thriller done up as comedy. The film is a bit too long, having a padded feel at some points: Flint has an exciting running fight with the soldiers towards the end, but he's captured anyway, so the whole thing was just an excuse to show off his martial arts. The ending is awkward, unlike the explosive conclusion in the first one: the filmmakers had to figure out a way to get Flint into outer space and it's done clumsily. The outer space theme, reflecting the space race between the U.S. and the Soviets of that time, was also prevalent in that same year's Bonder "You Only Live Twice." Flint would return in another incarnation in a TV Movie in the seventies. Hero:7 Villains:6 Femme Fatales:6 Henchmen:5 Fights:7 Stunts/Chases:7 Gadgets:6 Auto:4 Locations:6 Pace:6 overall:6

MartG Somebody must have visited a 60's-era Titan II site. The missile launch, the silo door opening and other footage were old USAF reels. I know, I worked there during those years. The cable-way (tunnel) closely resembles the Titan passageway also. During the orbital fight scene, those two sure had a lot of room to knock around! Compare to any photos of the super-squeezed Gemini astronauts, also launched on a Titan rocket! Still, it was fun to catch this on TV last night. Couburn always played the "cool" guy, (Great Escape, Magnificent Seven, et al) and this series plays that image to the hilt. Yes, we wince at the chauvinism, and non-PC parts, but that was how it was back then! I'm surprised at how beautiful those ladies were (and probably some still are!)