Customer Reviews

The Nude Bomb

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I know "The Nude Bomb" is riddled with problems, especially in contrast with the classic show from which it was spawned... but still, for all of us who loved and missed Maxwell Smart, it was quite wonderful to see him on the big screen. The main reason to see the film, perhaps the only one, is to watch Don Adams reprise his Emmy winning portrayal and be reminded as to what a great, strong comic actor he is. Don takes the often substandard material in this film and wrings many, many laughs from it. The final twenty minutes actually recapture some of the original "Get Smart!" magic with a cloning sequence that predates "Austin Powers" as well as Mini-Me. Chalk the whole escapade up to nostalgia for one of TV's most beloved characters: Don Adams as Secret Agent Maxwell Smart, Agent 86 From Control.

I think the main reason this movie gets so many poor reviews is because it does not stay true to the original series. If you take this movie as a stand-alone film -- not expecting Agent 99 or the same Maxwell Smart as the old TV series -- then you may be able to enjoy it more.

There's a lot of good humor in this movie that just gets overshadowed by the "this isn't the same Get Smart I used to know" sentiment.

This is actually kind of a funny film but as a sequel to the classic series "Get Smart" it is really disappointing. I prefer to think of it as a dream and recommend you rent or buy the much better TV movie sequel "Get Smart Again" from 1989. This one is missing most of the original cast and it really hurts the film. By contrast, the 1989 TV movie has most of the cast and is a great and worthy sequel. FOX aired a 7 new episodes of Get Smart in 1995 with the original cast also, but these were not as good as the 1989 movie. I wush they would release them on video anyway. If you like Get Smart, see this but definately get "Get Smart Again!"

This is NOT really a sequel to the original Get Smart! TV show; It has Maxwell Smart, and he's a spy, and... that's about it. No 99, No CONTROL, no Hymie, no KAOS, basically nothing from the original. And it's not that funny. BUT, there is a couple of chuckles here and there and it is an opportunity to see Don Adams in character once more. If you are a completist, get it. If you REALLY liked the original, buy the season sets from Time-Life or pick up the Get Smart Again! TV-movie on DVD (MUCH closer to the original - Sigfried, Hymie and 99 are all back).

Despite the naysayers, enough hysterical one-liners and bits of business make this worthwhile. OK, so 99 and others are missing from the cast but this has much better pacing than "The Return of Maxwell Smart", the TV movie. Nice backlot tour of Universal studios too. A generous amount of memorable, quotable lines, i.e.; "You haven't been the same since that accident when you lost your leg, your eye, your arm, your larynx. Whats WRONG with you"

I don't know who Don Adams was playing in this movie. It sure wasn't Maxwell Smart..more like Austin Powers. Would Max ever say stuff like, "I thought our female agents were young and willing to fool around a lot." None of the original writers or production stuff that created the brilliant original series were involved. Don Adams said that the funniest bits were stuff that was cut from the film. Very painful to watch...doesn't capture the feel of the original show at all. There was no humor whatsoever from the extremely dull KOAS actors. See Get Smart Again another time instead of this. That movie is much better and doesn't mention this movie, even in passing.

Actually released in the cinemas, this lackluster attempt to bring the character of Maxwell Smart to the big screen fails miserably. With none of the supporting cast from the television series to assist him, Don Adams does his best to get laughs with a sub par script.

We do get some of the classic lines ("Sorry about that, Chief") and various visual gags, but the lack of true comedy (and the unfortunately obvious painted on hair on Adams) takes away from what could have been glorious.

Even the made-for-TV reunion movie "Get Smart, Again" was superior. That venture was a labor of love, and everyone there genuinely wanted to be there.

In fact, skip THE NUDE BOMB completely, and just pick up Get Smart Again.

You'll thank me for it later.

This is a classic! Funny the way funny used to be. Nude with out luede (sp?) kids ages 8-13 will laugh.

Before purchasing this movie, I've read a lot of reviews from all different sites. From people hating it to liking it to loving it, it was pretty complicated to decide. But being the Don Adams fan that I am I did the smartest thing... Okay,I bought it.
I saw that he didn't exactly play Maxwell Smart but more like an Austin Powers type, women falling all over him, the strange colorful villian that clones himself, but Adams didn't get too Risqué with the sexual talk like Austin Powers did. But overall I happen to think that this movie was pretty funny. I missed not seeing Barbara Feldman but my favorite scenes was the beginning of the film (very James Bondish) Him driving the desk all over the road after the bad guy and towards the end when Adams and the villian kept cloning themselves and you can even see a mini-Max for a few seconds.
So you can love it, you can hate it, but I personally thought it was a very entertaining spy spoof.

Would you believe this no-frills DVD carries a $19.98 list price? Would you believe you can get a collection of 8 much-funnier Abbott & Costello features for less? Would you believe I would have given this DVD a three-star rating if only it were less than ten bucks?

I first saw THE NUDE BOMB on its initial theatrical release in 1980, in a crowded theater. While the audience guffawed appreciatively all the way through the picture, I only found myself chuckling and laughing intermittently. Maybe this audience wasn't as familiar with the TV series as I was, because I came away thinking this was a misfire. Don Adams was a gifted comedic actor and a pitch-perfect Maxwell Smart, but without crucial characters such as Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon), The Chief (Edward Platt, who died in 1974), and Siegfried (Bernie Kopell) for Adams to play off of, THE NUDE BOMB couldn't possibly achieve the TV series' level of comic brilliance.

As Don Adams lamented in later interviews, THE NUDE BOMB was made by a studio that didn't comprehend the appeal or intent of the original series -- and it shows. Even the title reveals this lack of understanding. In Europe the film was released as THE RETURN OF MAXWELL SMART -- a much better title, in my opinion -- yet in the U.S. it was distributed as THE NUDE BOMB, which makes it sound like a cheap softcore grindhouse flick.

Nevertheless, I don't believe THE NUDE BOMB is a terrible film. Don Adams tries hard to make the best of a less-than-ideal situation, and he manages to inject some laughs into this diluted affair. There are some clever and amusing moments, and a casual viewer may find it an agreeable spy-movie satire. But for those of us who love the original series, this is an awfully disappointing venture...and, ultimately, a pointless one.