Review of The Helicopter Spies (1968) by Paul D — 05 Nov 2009

One of the famous U.N.C.L.E. movies, based on two episodes from the TV series with the same name (1967 â?? â??The Prince of Darkness Affair, parts I and II). Amusing as the U.N.C.L.E. productions always are, they could also be described unfavourably as cheap American rip-offs of James Bond movies.

Both have the adventurous spy plot, which is not always entirely to be taken seriously, the flash action scenes, the appealing foreign locations, the beautiful women, the megalomaniac criminal mastermind, the over-the-top tricks and gadgets which tend to be all too sci-fiisch, and so on, and so forth.

Like the 007 spy adventures, the U.N.C.L.E. episodes and films are always guaranteed amusement. It must be said, though, that â??The helicopter spiesâ?? is not entirely flawless. Unlike a Bond movie, this one does not rank as one of the best of its genre.

On the whole, the plot gets so complicated it gets fuzzy too. And the editing pace does not help the transparency of the plot either. At some points you feel youâ??ve just missed the essence of a possibly vital scene in the whole chain of events by a mere blink of your eyes.

At times I thought it would be better to watch the movie a second time (which would in itself not at all be an unpleasant experience) to get my mind â??round all the details in the story, until I realized this would be silly â?? after all this is supposed to be just a piece of light entertainment, and not some object of profound study.

In addition, I thought Bradford Dillman a rather unconvincing megalomaniac. True, he is villainous, but not psychopathic like a Blofeld or other such Spectre boss. And the (quasi-)religious cult thing was a rather strange addition too.

Dillmanâ??s insincerity did however allow for a plot twist that makes the movie more interesting. We might have guessed it perhaps from Dillmanâ??s evasive behaviour with regard to the use of violence and from the presence of the victimized girl who wants to get even with him, but these hints are subtle enough not to give anything away and ruin our viewing experience.

On the whole this one is good for a pleasant evening.