Eric Stevenson
The biggest complaint with this movie is that it's an obvious James Bond ripoff. Well...it mostly is. It's still hard to really blame the film because it does feature the brother of Sean Connery. There's even a mention to Ian Fleming's novels. I thought those were pretty cute little tongue in cheek references, whatever that means. Some of the action isn't that bad either. The explosions are done pretty well, but as we know from a Michael Bay film, those can never save an entire film. The fight scenes aren't bad.The film still suffers from having a really dumb plot. It really does have no identity of its own. It was quite hard to follow, especially with how it was about radioactive rugs. That's weird even by James Bond standards. Like "The Village Of The Giants" it was hard to tell whether or not these jokes were intentional. I guess I'll give it credit for amusing me in some way. You do really have to watch the MST3K version as it truly is some of their best stuff. **
Gary R. Peterson
With a title that alludes to the short-lived 1965 Burl Ives sitcom O.K. CRACKERBY, I wasn't sure what to expect from O.K. CONNERY. It turned out to be a very good Eurospy flick that stands as deuterocanonical Bond. And OK CONNERY is not a spoof, as many like to dismiss it. It is played straight first frame to virtually last, closing on a lighthearted note similar to those in most of the official series films.Neil Connery was a good actor--not great--but capable of holding his own alongside screen veterans. Yeah, he wasn't polished and smooth like Sean, but for what little acting experience he had I thought he did a fine job. I will admit that if the Bond connection depended solely on him it would have been tenuous. But the producers scored a coup in landing both Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell. Besides lending credibility, they each were able to spread their wings more than in the official films, especially trigger-happy Miss Moneypenney! Their appearances throughout the film alone made it worth watching, then add to the mix Bond film veterans like Danielle Bianchi, Adolfo Celli, and Anthony Dawson and the movie becomes a treat for any Bond film fan.The plot is from the old school super-spy playbook--world domination, secret organizations with a stylized skull as its symbol, death to those who fail, bizarre plot points (like having blind Arabs weaving radioactive rugs!)and clever gadgets (such as the machine guns descending from the ceiling). A cute line that made me smile was Bianchi's telling Connery he reads too many Fleming novels after he tells her of Celli's plot. I also liked Cunningham/M's references to the Connery's brother and how he was at work on another component of this same case.I also liked the all-girl crew on the yacht--cute without ever crossing over into luridly sexy. The sex is cranked down low in OK CONNERY, leading me to think it was targeted to kids. And on that subject, as beautiful as Danielle Bianchi is, I was most wowed by Agata Flori as Mildred. I fell in love with her during the opening titles and even found her irresistibly enchanting while wearing Phyllis Diller's chapeau at the Malaga airport."I'm a surgeon, not a spy!" cries Connery in a parallel to Bones McCoy's impotent protestations in another venue. It's interesting to note that Neil Connery the actor and the character were both recruited into a position outside their usual area of expertise, and both did O.K., as M himself declares at the end. And in what appears prescient now, the rousing title song is sung by Khristy over a shot of a ship at sea, foreshadowing by seven years Lulu singing a rousing title song over a similar shot at the close of THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN. That Khristy song--composed by Morricone?!--was catchy and reminded me of the theme to another great Eurospy flick--MODESTY BLAISE.For this Bond fan, O.K. CONNERY is a welcome addition to the second-tier canon which boasts the 1967 CASINO ROYALE, Roger Moore's proto-Bond movie CROSSPLOT, and NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN. O.K. CONNERY is O.K. by me!
HerMrBubbles
I Mean Come On People! It's One Of The Most Shameless Ripoffs In Film History! Although The Reason Why I Gave This Movie A 5 Was Because I Actually Got To See This Movie On A Sunday Afternoon When A TV Station First Started Out When I Was About 11 Years Old. Me My Brothers And A Few Of The Neighborhood Kids Sat And Started Watching The Movie And Heckled It Within In About Ten Minutes Of The Credits YOU Have To Make The Movie Enjoyable! If You Don't You'll Want Your 90 Minutes Back. When I Seen This Movie On MST3K Almost Ten Years Later I Called And Brother And EVERY Scene We Heckled And Riffed Back Then Was The Same Ones THEY Did! It Was Actually Kiiiiiiiinda Creepy. If You Think This Is Rip Off Of 007 It's SUPPOSED To Be! That's What Makes It So Funny! The Lines Are Some Of The Worst I've Seen In A Long Time But Hey To Each Their Own....Hypnotic Plastic Surgeon...Who Knew?
vjetorix
Another touchstone of the Eurospy subgenre, Operation Double 007 better known as Operation Kid Brother, is a fair Bond copy, albeit on a slightly smaller scale, and is as entertaining as any of the legitimate Bond films. This was the first time out for Neil Connery, brother of Sean, and it was the only spy movie in his movie mini-career. He manages just fine as the super surgeon cum super spy although his distinct lack of charisma makes for a rather bland lead performance.Fortunately director Alberto De Martino (Upperseven the Man to Kill (65), Operation Lady Chaplain (66)) keeps this colorful, active film moving at a good clip so we don't have too much time to mull over Connery comparisons. The use of Connery's real name for his character is a strange stroke due no doubt to the forbidden use of the name Bond. It sort of screws up the (weak) attempts at humorous mentions of the Bond mystique when you can't even say the word.Thank goodness Connery is surrounded by exotic locations, beautiful women and villains as good as Adolfo Celi. Celi plays it to the hilt too as Thair, the number two villain of Thanatos who wants to be number one. Celi is deservedly one of the most famous Italian character actors whose talents can be seen in other spy movies such as That Man From Rio (64), Target For Killing (66), and Death Knocks Twice (69). Perhaps the film's finest asset is the presence of the lovely Daniela Bianchi as Maya, a bad girl turned good.You could do worse than this Bondian escapade; there's plenty to look at and laugh at and there's a Morricone/Nicolai score to boot. We should be used to checking our brains at the door by now.