Robert J. Maxwell A "parody" is a piece of work that sets out to amuse by exaggerating stylistic and other qualities of the original and almost always meant to be amusing. A satire has more edge. That qualifies "Our Man Flint" as a parody of the James Bond series that had begun (to immense success) just a few years earlier. The question is how to parody something that is already a parody of itself? Is it a META-parody?There's no question about the intent, not even in the first five minutes. The pre-credit sequence focuses on a crowded warehouse full of international VIPs trying desperately plying giant computers to figure out how to stop a secret organization from manipulating the weather. Behind the credits there are writhing silhouettes of naked girls. And instead of Bond glimpsed through a gun barrel, there is Flint frozen in an open doorway.I don't think I'll bother with the plot much. The hero, Derek Flint, is an expert at everything from self discipline to self indulgence. He speaks one thousand and forty-four languages fluently. The only reason he doesn't speak still more languages is that there are no more languages. He's a black belt in karate. He rests by stopping his heart for half an hour or so. He has more electronic tricks on his person than your most powerful Krey computer, the one that takes the transcendental constant of π out to a million digits without revealing the climax. One useful piece of information you can draw using π is that the area of a circle is equal to πR². Thus, if you get the diameter of a pizza pie you can find its area easily, and if you divide by the amount you paid, you can get the cost per square inch of the pizza pie.If you think THAT'S silly, you ought to see this movie. It reflect every male fantasy -- of the 1950s. Flint is impossibly rich, and seems to stride around leaving a cloud of pheromones behind him because all of the "girls" in his vicinity have too much make up and throw themselves at his feet. He has to keep saying things like, "Not now, Tondalayo." But these spy movies were very popular at the time of their release, the early 60s, say, and stayed so for the next ten years. They have worn out their welcome. It happens. Some jokes date badly. Our cultural history is littered with obsolete send ups -- "Gulliver's Travels," "A Modest Proposal," "Shamela", "The Master and Margarita." Except for the original "Casino Royale" in 1968. I always get a kick out of that until the last ten minutes.

Uriah43 A secret organization called "Galaxy" has found a way to manipulate the weather and is threatening to take over the world. So a secret agent by the name of "Derek Flint" (James Coburn) is called in to stop them. But to do that, he has to find out where their base of operations is in order to destroy it. Realizing that he is the only man that stands in their way, they send out their two main security agents named "Gila" (Gila Golan) and "Malcolm Rodney" (Edward Mulhare) to kill him. Failing that they seek to neutralize him by acquiring his "four weaknesses" as an insurance policy. Anyway, this film was obviously intended to capitalize on the popularity of the James Bond series and it succeeds to a certain degree. It is clever, sexy, funny and quite preposterous. As it was intended to be. James Coburn plays his part very well and although Gila Golan didn't star in very many notable films she is definitely one of the most beautiful actresses at the time. Be that as it may, while this film has a definite 60's flavor, I think it still manages to retain its charm and entertainment value.

blanche-2 James Coburn is "Our Man Flint" in this 1966 spy film. Flint is called in by our government to find and destroy the enemy's capability to control the weather. Given our current situation with global warming, it was actually quite interesting.The cool, perfect Flint is a derivative of James Bond, a gadget-ridden spy, unflappable in the face of certain death, totally brilliant, and a sex machine surrounded by gorgeous, buxom women. Played by the resonant-voiced, angular-faced James Coburn, Flint sails through his assignment, not only escaping death but faking death when it suits him.It's a fun movie, but it's amazing how many of this type of film and spy films in general were made in the '60s - not only the Bond films, but caper films like Topkapi, Gambit, the Harry Palmer films, Casino Royale (where James bond was a character) - these films and takeoffs of them, like The Glass-Bottomed Boat - abounded.It's always nice to reminisce about the '60s, and "Our Man Flint" has the music, the dancing, the gowns, the gadgets and the bustlines that will take you right back. A good time.

Boba_Fett1138 It's quite obvious that the whole Austin Powers franchise got based on the Flint movie. It even references to it itself. Both franchises are certainly also comparable in its style and comedy but of course with a difference that this movie is not just set in the '60's but it actually got made during the '60's. Just like the Austin Powers movies this movie also makes fun of the James Bond franchise, which had only started years prior to this movie.The movie features some crazy silly gadgets and random action sequences, that are quite good looking considering this movie is from 1965. An era when there wasn't really such a thing as the 'action' genre, at least not in the way we know it today. The movie has a typical '60's atmosphere, with its sets and costumes and is good looking.The movie stars some actors you normally wouldn't expect to see in a comedy such as this one; most notably of course James Coburn and Lee J. Cobb. Their more serious acting style isn't of course really consistent with normal comedy acting (well, it's not exactly like their playing their roles with a straight face though) but this makes it work all the more funny within this movie. After all, some of the best comedy roles are often being played by 'serious' actors.It's a fun movie to watch and certainly a great time-killer but the movie by no means is a classic. Also as far as Jamed Bond spoofs are concerned, this movie isn't really among the best.One of the problems I had with this movie was its story. It's a real simple comedy story, that never succeeds in becoming truly engaging. It's quite formulaic and predictable all. Nevertheless its whole global warming plot line seemed to be ahead of its time, although global warming in this movie is being used as a terrorist threat, when some scientist succeed at controlling the weather.I must say I liked the sequel "In Like Flint" better.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/