The Ambushers

This is not an exact quote, but I read somewhere on the internet that Dean Martin's portrayal of Matt Helm could make Perry Como look hyper. The Ambushers is a great example of this. Martin literally sleepwalks his way through this one. He's in very little hurry to get anywhere other than to the nearest bar. And, if you look close, you'll notice that Martin used a stunt double for even the most routine of actions. I suppose that if the activity involved anything more strenuous than lifting a glass of scotch, Dino wasn't up for it. Even though I had a decent enough time watching The Ambushers, I can't rate it any higher because of some of the ridiculousness of the plot. A flying saucer? I'm sorry but I'm not buying it. And where did the writers dream up the idea that a man couldn't fly the thing because the electro-magnetism (or some such nonsense) was deadly to males? I realize that the Matt Helm movies are based in what is essentially an alternate reality, but come on. The implausibility of the whole thing really took away from my enjoyment. The highlight of the movie for me had to be Senta Berger. Wow, what a woman! Some of the outfits she wears throughout The Ambushers (and really those worn by most of the female cast members) are just too much.

"The Ambushers" (1967) is the third film in Dean Martin's four-film "Matt Helm" franchise. It is significantly weaker than the other three and the only one which does not feature a song by the Steubenville Thrush, I don't think that omission impacted the film's relative quality. Martin was not in Sinatra's class as a singer or an actor but he was effortlessly likable and had some comedic talent. "The Ambushers" gets two stars instead of one because Janice Rule gives a solid performance in the face of what must have been a professionally embarrassing production for her. She looks extremely uncomfortable when she is not looking bored - I imagine her mind alternated between these two states. I can't imagine that the typical Irwin Allen production design motivated any of the cast. That said the film works quite well as a window into the pre-Woodstock era cultural vacuum. It throws a bevy of pretty young starlets onto the screen, none having the slightest dimensionality or being involved in anything remotely erotic. Sizzle-wise it's all form over substance. Rule (whose character physically looks a lot like Mrs. Peel) does provide a bit of erotic voltage in much the same classy detached way Diana Rigg did in a standard episode of "The Avengers". Working against all the females in the cast are some of the worst costume choices you can imagine. Apparently for a few days in 1967 dull finish boots that look to be made from shag carpet were trendy, unfortunately those days appear to have been the days when the wardrobe choices were made. The film had a villainess or at least the Francesca Madeiros character was intended to serve such a purpose. Francesca is played by a foreign actress named Senta Berger. She has orange skin, no waist, and wears large Christmas tree ornaments for earrings. It is rumored that Francesca's look served as the inspiration for the Oompa, Loompa characters in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". The film features a flying saucer and I wonder if the original script called for Francesca to be from Venus, perhaps they forgot to communicate the changes to the wardrobe people. That might explain the incredible leaps of logic and obvious gaps in the development of her character. Berger's character is so garishly moronic that it elevates Rule's character or at least helps you appreciate the degree to which Rule was able to transcend this hopeless mess. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

During a test run, an experimental American flying disk is captured by an unknown force. It's pilot, an ICE agent is also captured and only found months later wandering in the jungle frightened and disorientated. She is teamed with the only agent who can make her normal – Matt Helm. The two go to the area she was found to investigate the whereabouts of the lost saucer. I think I have seen all the Matt Helm films (which I hope will serve as my punishment rather than Hell!) and I don't know why I keep going back. I have seen them out of order and this is one of the last I saw (despite being the second or third of the series). Safe to say, any merit that the first film had is gone even by this early stage. The `plot' is silly and ignored for the most part – instead we just have as many beautiful girls for Helm to kiss and goons for him to fight as possible. I know it is a spoof but it isn't funny and is woeful rather than mocking. The girls are all beautiful and if you're just looking for playful titillation then this may suffice. They all wear low cut tops and short skirts, showing bellies etc when possible – and if there is any opportunity for a costume to get ripped then it gets ripped! However it does begin to tire a little when Martin turns up. He is lazy in the lead – just content to touch the girls as much as he can. He does do a few good jokes (like having a few Sinatra records around the place) but really this is one big ego trip for him. The villains are unmemorable and without teeth and the only members of the cast you're left remembering is Janice Rule (the original Ja Rule!) and the really sexy Senta Berger– both of whom are sadly only used for their looks. Overall the girls are the only reason to watch this – and even that is not really worth putting yourself through this for. The comedy is dire, the plot weak and Dean Martin hardly even tries to do a good job. Another weak entry in a very weak series.

This is what old men did before internet p-rn was invented, right? Go watch a guy born during The Great War walk drunkenly through a movie while women half his age cavort around him. To a soundtrack that sounds like Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. The reviewer who likened the Helm movies to the execrable Austin Powers films was really on to something. Who thinks double -entendres are funny? Cause they aren't. They're stupid. Best scene is when the good-looking female agents got Helm out of a jam. But that's as good as it got. I believe Dean Martin was under-rated as an actor in the 50s, whether he was being over-shadowed by Jerry Lewis or Frank Sinatra. But by this time he's just a boozed-up shell of his former talents. What a shame.

Perhaps the most negative thing I can say about the James Bond franchise is that it gave birth to a welter of cheap imitations . In the case of the Matt Helm series it was obviously a still birth THE AMBUSHERS is an awful movie not only because of its Bond wannabe format but because it`s woefully made . Check out the title sequence that insinuates there`s going to be hot killer bimbos in the movie . Actually there is but they only appear for one short scene to get Helm out of a tight spot then are completely forgotten about for the rest of the movie . There`s also other serious flaws to the script like the terrible lines that belong in a CARRY ON movie , lines like " When you said uncover the agent ... " and watch out for the obvious revealing mistakes like harnesses attached to the actors as they float in the air and the laughably bad back projection One final thing I couldn`t help noticing is that several of the cast seemed to have consumed a large amount of alcohol before filming . If this was the type of movie the cast were being offered at the time you can`t really blame them and I guess everyone involved had a great time , just a pity the audience didn`t

Superspy Matt Helm is back in action. My God! What a great UNDER-RATED movie! Where do I start? The opening theme song and the images that go with it get ten out of ten. Then after we are finished with the cool theme music we cut to the spaceship...with some cool Hugo Montenergo music playing over the spaceship footage. From this point I am hooked on this fun very 1960s movie! Dean Martin, Kurt Kasznar (pre-Land of the Giants) and Albert Salmi are outstanding! The only thing I have against the film is the train-track scene where it is a bit too obvious that the actors are actually in the studio and not out on location at all. I have seen all the 60s Matt Helm movies and they are all great. The Ambushers is my favourite of the bunch as it has more of a science fiction element than the others. It is too bad these films don't seem to get the expected TV reruns these days (atleast in my country of Australia) but I am guessing the sexist nature of them might bother some? But they are a product of the time so it is not something we should be upset about today. After all, 60s 007 movies still get screenings around the clock and nobody complains about them. Frankly, I am not too big on Dean Martin as a singer so he will always be Matt Helm to me. I wonder how he would feel about that? The Ambushers is a must see!

This Helm flick should be ranked slightly lower than THE SILENCERS or MURDERER'S ROW, but definitely better than that final train wreck - THE WRECKING CREW (great babes though). The Ambushers sports Janice Rule (great actress from the 60's - check her out in THE CHASE with Brando) and Senta Berger, a European beauty with exotic looks and voice. Beverly Adams is on hand again as the sweetheart assistant, Lovey Kravezit. A 4 out of 10. Best performance = Janice Rule. Give this one a chance. It's not THAT bad! Dino is starting to show a lack of energy by the end of it, but the girls hold him up. If you're not a complete spy-spoof snob, this is a perfect way to waste 100 minutes.

A bizarre looking Mexican dude (Albert Salmi in very, very strange garb) steals a flying saucer built by the good guys. So, it's up to Matt Helm and a crazy lady who thinks she is Matt's wife to go to the rescue. However, the film does have a happy ending. The lady actually realizes that the perv she thinks she's married to isn't her husband! Oh, and they stop Salmi and save the day. Okay, I'll admit before I go any further that I don't particularly like the Matt Helm films. Part of this is because Dean Martin appears to be sleeping through the pictures. I have heard of giving an "effortless performance", but here Dean-O doesn't seem to try to break a sweat or attempt anything other than a walk-through sort of performance. Part of it is the cheapness of the film itself, such as the scene where he slides on a rail, the obvious dummy falling off the roof or the poor use of stunt doubles or the obvious wires suspending the woman near the end of the movie--they're so obviously bad yet no one seemed to care. Part of it is that the films are one sexual double-entendre after another--the sort that put 12 year-olds into hysterics but non-brain injured adults usually can't stand. And, part of it is the utter smarminess and crappiness of the films. They just didn't try very hard or have decent production values in this film. Amazingly, however, this film comes off almost as an Austin Powers film--and it's obvious that they inspired this later series. The problem, though, is that while the Powers films were sleazy, they also were funny in an undemanding and crude way. The Helm films are just sleazy and crude--and the single joke that is the film wears thin very fast. And, believe it or not, the Helm films had many, many, many more crude lines and sexual references--coming so rapidly and poorly that you cringe at the terrible writing. Because of this, Austin comes off as a joke while Helm comes off as a boorish pig...an old, alcoholic and boorish pig. It's pretty obvious that I didn't like the movie very much. So the question is, is the film bad enough to have been included in the book "The Fifty Worst Films" by Harry Medved? Harry obviously thought so, though I am inclined to say no...just because there are more than 50 worse films out there--probably several hundred, actually. However, I could see why it was included. For spy films, it might just be the worst from series films--though individual spy films such as THE NASTY RABBIT and LAST OF THE SECRET AGENTS? make THE AMBUSHERS seem like Shakespeare!! Oh...the music was pretty good. There, I COULD say something positive about this film after all!!

The hoariest old relic of the sixties spy-spoof boom, 'The Ambushers' is an extremely poor film dragged lower by what may be the single laziest performance ever given by a major Hollywood star. Everything has been laid out for Dean Martin in this film - it is written specifically for him, constructed for his screen persona to allow him to capitalise on his strengths. All he has to do is deliver the one liners, punch the bad guys, and kiss the girls. Unbelievably, he can't seem to work up much enthusiasm for any of these tasks. His delivery of the gags is appalling - he's so laid back he sucks them dry, draining them of what wit they have, and throws them away. It may not be comedy gold, but a good comic makes even bad jokes tolerable. Martin isn't even trying, but worse, he seems to be winking at the camera, inviting the audience to collude in his sloppiness. His very presence seems to be meant to be enough. It may be the ugliest display of star ego before Sean Connery got his hands on 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'. His female co-stars are much better. Janice Rule really seems to be trying to find something in her character, but the script doesn't really know what she's playing, so it's hardly surprising that she doesn't either. She goes from crazy woman to able spy to helpless damsel over the course of the film, and she isn't helped by ugly hair and costumes. The real star performance in this film is Senta Berger. She's truly funny and sexy in exactly the way the script needs for the film to work. Unfortunately, she's maybe too good - everything else seems dead without her (in Martin's case, you may occasionally suspect that he's actually expired on screen). The film-makers prove themselves incompetent when her bad-girl character is killed off towards the end. It isn't just the mistake of dispatching their most talented performer, but the casual way she is strangled and thrown off a platform by a none-too-interesting minor villain. It isn't even clear that she is dead, until she simply fails to reappear. This is terribly off-hand treatment of the character - and actress - who come closest to making the film work. Killing off such a fun character in such a light-hearted comedy feels like a total mistake anyway, as though Jessica Rabbit had been bumped off during the final reel of 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?'(and as she's just helped the heroine escape from a lecherous villain, it doesn't even make Hollywood-moral sense). On the whole, this is a profoundly bad film - I've no idea if the other Matt Helm films are any better. The casual sexism, however, is a worthwhile reminder that by Sixties standards, the Bond films actually border on the progressive. Those much parodied big-band Bond themes sound a lot better, too, when compared to the irritating sub-surf-pop theme that opens the film. Couldn't Dean Martin have recorded something himself, or would that have been too much effort?

The third Matt Helm film - and easily the weakest up to this point. Though Maltin's BOMB rating seems a bit harsh - it IS watchable, after all - it's hard not to notice the drop-off in quality from its predecessor, "Murderers' Row". The villains are nobodies, the gadgets are not as cool as before (levitating gun < delayed / reverse firing gun), the climactic vehicular chase has worse rear projection than the Abbott and Costello movies, and the entire enterprise is slow, unexciting and drab. Bright spot: Janice Rule, who is the smartest Matt Helm assistant so far, and also closer to Dean Martin's age than Ann Margret or Stella Stevens, which makes their (professional and romantic) partnership more believable. Senta Berger has an interesting character, in the sense that you are not sure for a long time whose side she is working for, but ultimately she is underused. The movie's two best bits actually come at the very start (the catchy title song), and the very end (a funny Frank Sinatra gag). *1/2 out of 4.