Customer Reviews

Ambushers [VHS]

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3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A great many of us will be familiar with the image of Hugh Hefner (Founder and Publisher of Playboy magazine) at one of his famous parties. We can picture in our mind's eye Hef walking around Playboy Mansion in his robe and pajamas, cocktail in one hand, cigarette in the other. (Actually, Hef usually smoked a pipe. But for the sake of argument, we'll say it was a cigarette.) He's smiling. He's mingling. He's making small talk, with amusing bon mots and double entendres.

Now imagine that, instead of a robe and pajamas, Hef is decked out in attire that would have been fashionably casual for an affluent male in the 1960s. And while keeping everything else the same (the cigarette, the cocktail, the utterly casual attitude), imagine Hef in the underground lair of an evil Arch-Villain who is ready to visit death and destruction across the globe. Oh, and make Hef a James Bond-esque spy.

You now have the basic feel for the four Matt Helm movies, of which "The Ambushers" (1967) was the third. (The others were "The Silencers," "Murderer's Row," and "The Wrecking Crew.")

The Matt Helm movies were made as star vehicles for Dean Martin. By the mid-60s, Dino had cemented his reputation as a boozing playboy, and the Matt Helm role was written with this in mind. In the movies, Matt Helm is a boozing, affable, world-famous photographer of beautiful women who works for "Slaymate" magazine (which fits in nicely with the Hugh Hefner analogy...). BUT THAT'S JUST A COVER! Helm is REALLY a boozing, affable super-competent secret agent for the Intelligence Counter Espionage (ICE) organization. And in all four movies, he casually wanders his way through whatever the bad guys have to throw at him as though he were looking for the nearest bar.

I should point out that the Matt Helm movies are all pretty bad. But they're wonderfully bad, and they're great, cheezy, campy fun. I tend to speak glowingly of the Matt Helm movies because I enjoy them for their over-the-top campiness, but more serious-minded viewers will probably be turned off.

And let me tell you: THE AMBUSHERS spares *no* expense in the "campiness" department. Try this plot on for size:

The ICE organization is testing out a new, super-secret flying saucer. That's right, a flying saucer. As MacDonald (James Gregory), head of ICE points out, if it works it will put the other planets "right next door," and the rest of the universe will be "just around the corner." It's never sufficiently explained why a counter-espionage organization would need to go to other planets (much less the rest of the universe), but no matter. They've made it and they're testing it.

The test works fine, until the saucer is forced to land by Mysterious Bad Guys. The leader of the Mysterious Bad Guys enters the saucer, and the pilot (a female) screams. Fade to black. This all takes place within the first 10 minutes of the movie.

Cut to Matt Helm, in Matt Helm heaven. He's helping to train a cadre of new ICE agents who, coincidentally enough, all happen to be gorgeous, scantily-clad babes. Go figure. But he runs into a white-haired, crazed woman who thinks all men are out to kill her. It's his old partner! It's also the woman who piloted the flying saucer! Will wonders never cease? (Answer: Of course not! This is Matt Helm!)

Naturally, Helm is assigned to find the saucer, and he has to take his former partner (who's now recovered) because only females can fly the saucer. The reason is because the saucer uses "electromagnetic fields" to propel itself around the neighborhood. And, according to the movie, electromagnetic fields are lethal to males. No, I never learned that in my basic physics classes either, but there you are.

You can guess the rest. Typical spy-movie stuff with the usual Matt Helm twist. Helm still wanders from place to place as though he's looking for the nearest bar. During one fight scene he gets knocked into a huge vat of beer, much to his obvious delight. And in a send-up of his singing career, the very final scene shows him trying to teach an attractive new recruit how to make love while on the job. The recruit is cold and unresponsive, even after Helm puts on a Dean Martin tune. But when he puts on Frank Sinatra, she responds amorously, much to his chagrin.

High points of the movie:

* The whole "electromagnetic fields are lethal to men" bit, which had me rolling on the floor.

* A couple of male bad guys dying from, as near as I can tell, turning completely red all over. Even their clothes. This is, apparently, the inevitable consequence of exposing men to electromagnetic fields. (Now you know why your Mom always told you not to sit so close to the TV...)

* The obvious set pieces when Helm is supposed to be outdoors.

* A set of railroad tracks which leads right up to the very edge of a cliff, apparently for no other reason than to allow a railroad flatcar to careen dramatically off said cliff.

* The *incredibly* cheesy effects, which include ray guns that emit sparks, and radar towers that emit obvious "radar" noises.

* Helm turning his belt into a sword by the simple expedient of getting it wet.

It's true that none of the other Matt Helm movies are pinnacles of the film-maker's craft. But the plot and cheesy special effects make THE AMBUSHERS a cut below the others. In ranking the four Matt Helm movies in terms of overall quality, this would be #4 on my list. But in ranking them in terms of laughs (both intentional and otherwise), this is easily #1.

The Matt Helm Spy Film Series was never a serious competitor to The James Bond Films, but they were entries into the faltering end of Spy Film Craze which vaporized in the Seventies (But now seems to be making a comeback.) Dean Martin played Matt Helm Agent for ICE (Intelligence Counter Espionage) or rather Dean played Dino playing at being a secret agent. Never does a chance to booze it up, make a play for any available female, or have a smoke go untaken. It's typical 60's and 70's kitschy fare with girls in go-go boots, psychedelic dresses and big hair. When the girls are wearing anything at all. While the Helm movies would get a low-end PG rating today, they we're rated M for Mature when they debuted, an equivilent for R without the nudity, or foul language that you see in today's R rated releases. I don't think Helm utters anything stronger than "hell". The best of the four flicks was "Murderer's Row" where Helm has to stop a crazed Karl Malden as millionaire Julian Wall from scorching Washington DC with something called a "Helios Beam". It's all great fun, as Dino quips, boozes and loves his way from one end of the flick to the other with the casual aplomb of someone who is strolling back to the bar for another round. The gadgets in this film are chic, the villian's henchman "IronHead" is hulking, has a metal cranium and is as unstoppable as Oddjob or Jaws in the Bond flicks, and there's a chase involving hovercraft . If 60's spy flicks are your cup of tea then Matt Helm is your sugar.

Ok,I realize that by any normal standard this would qualify as a bad film. The production values are as poor as you can imagine and the plot (something about retrieving a flying saucer from the clutches of the enemy) pretty damn ridiculous. Yet, the first time I saw this film several years ago I absolutely loved it. The jokes center on booze and sex,and needless to say,Dean Martin handles them as only he can. As far as Matt Helm films go,"The Silencers" and "The Wrecking Crew" qualify as better "spy" films,yet for pure trashy fun nothing beats the "The Ambushers". The babe factor is over the top, and the ribald humour of this film makes James Bond seem stilted and serious. From its cheesy theme song right down to the Slaygirls,this is politically incorrect sixties camp to the max. Watching it now you'll lament the fact that nobody can make a film this light hearted anymore. Dean and the rest of the cast treat the whole thing as a put on. A real drive in treat from the go go era; if this film actually had great action sequences I'd have died.

This movie is an excuse to display a lot of beautiful women teasing the viewer in provocative 60's style. If you like that, you will enjoy this movie as I did. The production values are so cheap that it is funny. The only reason to watch this movie is to enjoy the casual persona of Martin and the continual displays of drop dead gourgeous women. Its a fun and very simple low budget movie.

"Murderer's Row" and "The Ambushers," Dean Martin's second and third go-rounds as secret agent Matt Helm, aren't meant to be taken seriously, and are very enjoyable if, like ol' Dino himself, you're in on the joke. There are beautiful babes galore and amusing moments throughout both films (including good-natured digs at Dino's buddy, Frank Sinatra), not to mention some truly talented and even distinguished performers (most notably Janice Rule in "The Ambushers"). The Matt Helm series was never a threat to James Bond, or even The Man from U.N.C.L.E., but they were never meant to be either. If you enjoy Dean Martin (as I do) or Austin Powers (as I do not), a good time can be had with this double feature.

Bad movies can be great, if they're REALLY cheesy -- pathetic special effects, stupid plot, dated fashions, and a smarmy sense of humor. The whole Matt Helm series ranks as great bad movies, although quite frankly, "The Ambushers" just isn't cheesy enough to be a classic of the spy-spoof genre. Sure, the sets look like they're made out of day-glo cardboard; yes, the actors cavort in front of the most obvious rear projection screens; of course, the emphasis is on puns and double-entrendes which must have seemed juvenile thirty years ago! But this film needs to go further -- more gadgets, more cliches, more bad jokes. Its bad enough to be fun, but not great. Of course, Dino is the whole show -- he is still the swinginest cat on the planet, leering at girls young enough to be his granddaughters, smoking like a chimney, drinking like...well, like Dean! He's the only part of the film that looks modern...he's just as cool in the 90s as he was in the 60s, and now he's politically incorrect to boot! Some things just get better with age! This series was a guilty pleasure 30 years ago, and I guess it still is. Rock on, Dean!

Dean Martin is Matt Helm. He is an easy going secret agent, who appears to enjoy his booze.

A secret government flying saucer has been hijacked, so it's up to Matt to solve the case. As in all the Matt Helm films there is no shortage of hot women. These movies also have a very "sixties" style.

The Ambushers, as the other films, is played for laughs. The books that this film, and the others are loosely based on, are much more serious. Some fans of the books don't tend to like these movies, but if you enjoy a good spy spoof, you should give (The Ambushers) a try.

Mr. "dboud" has reviewed the wrong film. His review would apply to the Matt Helm flick "Murder's Row" co-staring Ann Margaret. In this, Dean's third Matt Helm, he finds fellow agent Janice Rule a mental patient in a straitjacket. She's lost her memory -- and a top secret aircraft she was test piloting. Matt helps jog her memory while looking for the craft. Kurt Kasznar (Land of the Giants) appears as one of the villans. A front for the bad guys is a brewery that makes XXX beer! Maybe this is where Dos Eques got the idea from? It also features an improbable telekinesis pistol whose only control is a simple trigger. Delightfully non-serious superspy spoof. Viva la Helm!

Dean Martin as super cool, super lover, super boozer, super slick, super spy Matt Helm, aka Eric, aka James A. Peters, aka Lash Petrone, Beverly Adams as his secretary Lovey Kravezit, Karl Malden as arch villain and arch enemy of Matt, Julian Wall, Camilla Sparv as his assistant Coco Duquette, Tom Reese as his, snicker, hard-headed muscleman 'Ironhead', Corinne Cole as 'Miss January', James Gregory (I) as Matt's boss MacDonald and director of I.C.E. (Intelligence Counter Espionage), Ann-Margret as Suzie Solaris and Richard Eastham as her poppa and inventor of the super gizmo, Dr. Norman Solaris, in a fun little film that to watch you must first park your brain, your cynicism and put a smile on your face and prepare to snicker endlessly throughout! A delicious little spoof of the James Bond genre has Martin doing what he and the rest of the 'Rat Pack' did so well, drinking and wooing the ladies despite those pesky villains trying to take his mind off his favorite hobbies. This rates a solid 2.5 stars out of 4.

Hopelessly cheeseball, sexist comedy, but entertaining in a creepy, pathological, what-were-they-thinking-back-then kind of way. The smarm content is high, but this is one for the 60's time capsule. Prepare your jaw for much dropping.