Secret Agent Super Dragon (1966)

I love this movie so much

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

While certainly a bad film, it could have been much worse. The entire movie is mostly just nothing but spy clichés and it's pretty easy to tell that this was made around the same time as the original Sean Connery James Bond movies. The plot's not that good, with the title spy investigating a woman's death and finding out it was a poison made by a supervillain. There really is very little to distinguish this from a Bond movie. It's mostly a ripoff. There are in fact a few good lines here and there. I really did like it when he said, "Call me an idiot" (or something like that) and he just says, "You're an idiot".I guess it's kind of hard to judge this because according to this website, it has a longer running time than the actual MST3K episode it was featured. I'm not going to waste my time tracking the original version down. I got all I wanted from this movie. The colors were bad, although some of the sets seemed off at time. There's a little good action, but for the most part it's quite boring. I guess it's around this time we tried to put intentional jokes in non comedies.

I'll keep the plot synopsis short and sweet. Most of Secret Agent Super Dragon was so unnecessarily confusing that little of the plot seemed to matter anyway. In this James Bond wannabe, CIA agent Super Dragon (Ray Danton) goes up against a Venezuelan drug lord who uses candy to distribute his merchandise. Anything else beyond that wouldn't be much more than speculation as I found myself completely in the dark during much of the movie. I'm not one who needs to be spoon-fed plot points, but how about making what's going on just a little clearer? Too much of the movie seemed like a series of unrelated set pieces that didn't fit together.But the biggest problem with Secret Agent Super Dragon is the same thing that plagues a lot of these James Bond inspired films – money. The James Bond movies had the financial backing to pull it off. These Italian movies like Secret Agent Super Dragon can't match that kind of money. As a result, they suffer from weak scripts and acting, a lack of interesting multiple locations, poor special effects, a very anti-climatic ending, and anything else you can spend money on to make a movie better.That's not to say the movie was a total waste. In fact, I enjoyed quite a bit of it. Danton is above average in the title role. He's slick and clever – just what you would expect from a secret agent. Marisa Mell and Margaret Lee would give any Bond girl a run fir her money. Finally, there is a sense of fun about the movie that I liked a lot. Those behind the movie were smart enough to never take it too seriously. As a result, the movie's light, almost bubbly, feeling is an asset.

Super Dragon? What kinda spy name is that? This is one of the better spy movie send-ups, especially because it takes itself completely seriously. The Dragon is remarkably smooth and smug, and his lumpy, cheerful sidekick Babyface is along to help solve the mysteries of dead colleagues, toxic gum and villains who can't stop decorating. Our Hero is worldly ("Fremont, Michigan? That's a little college town, isn't it?") but accident-prone -- he'll stay away from Ludenkelder after this assignment. This movie is colorless as spy movies go, except for the wild colorings in the ladies' hair. ("Betcha that color comes out of a bottle," one character grumps.) Worth getting the MST3K-ized version of this film, especially for musical interlude provided by Joel and the 'bots. Unlike such efforts as Code Name: Diamond Head, this movie actually has some decent locations, including a panorama of foggy windmills that looks like a "starving artists" painting.Be sure to check out Mario Cuomo (well, it sure looks like him) as the art collector with a collection of pen-phones and unlisted numbers. Take my word for it!

It's hard to think of a more goofy film with a more goofy premise than "Secret Agent Super Dragon". Apparently, a terrorist mastermind and his henchman have been lacing bubblegum with a substance that makes you act stupid. Evil isn't it? Of course the only one who can save the world is Secret Agent Super Dragon: a greasy, deep-throated "tall guy" that should have been called Secret Agent Super Sportjacket. While dispatching villains in absolutely ridiculous methods (karate chops), he manages to bed plenty of women with fake eyebrows and fake hair color. The dubbing is atrocious along with just about everything else in this movie. The highlight is a sequence in which the Super Dragon is sunk in a wooden coffin and is suddenly saved by inflatable rubber bags - which should have kept him from sinking in the first place! Also, the sets in Holland are hilarious looking; imagine walking through the garden section of a local Walmart. Be sure to watch the MST3K version of this pathetic mess.