Review of Our Man Flint (1966) by Jeremy B — 13 Mar 2009

One of my childhood favourites. And like so many of the movies one loved as a kid, it isn't the masterpiece I once thought it was ... however, it still holds up for what it is, which is a quite cynical spoof on the "super man" hero character.

Derek Flint is actually quite a selfish, arrogant man. He refuses to help save the world until his former boss literally comes and begs him. And even then, once he tracks down the "villains" and goes about dismantling their fortress, he's far more concerned with saving his harem of girls than the mission.

And who are the villains in this film? A trio of brilliant scientists who have actually discovered a way to end world hunger, to turn wastelands into fertile gardens, to control the weather so that people no longer live in fear of typhoons and droughts. And what do they want in return? World peace! That's all. They demand that the nations of the world do away with their nuclear weapons, demobilize their armies, all so that the world may be finally be Utopia.

So Flint -- our hero -- is sent to kill and destroy these scientists!

When I was a kid I didn't pick up on this, but as an adult this is what makes me love this movie. It's deliciously subversive, and, a helluva lotta fun!