Movie Review: In Like Flint (Blu-ray)

The spy movie boom of the 60's was in full gear by the time Gordon Douglas' In Like Flint hit the screens. Our Man Flint had very good success amongst critics, with a solid box office take that made a follow-up to Our Man Flint, starring the incomparable James Coburn (Major Dundee, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid). Twilight Time tackled the limited Blu-ray release of the first film with very impressive results - could they do it with the In Like Flint as well?

Our Man Flint director Daniel Mann doesn’t return to helm the sequel here, this time around it’s in the very capable hands of Gordon Douglas (Stagecoach, Them!) to direct the follow-up. Lee J. Cobb reprises his role as Cramden, head of ZOWIE. It seems that Cramden has lost a few minutes of his memory during which the President (who he’s golfing with at the time) has been abducted. This leads to yet another phone call from Cramden to his retired super-spy agent Derek Flint (Coburn).

Flint helps save the world again but somehow this time around it's not as much fun. Don't get me wrong, In Like Flint is an enjoyable entry into the spy sub-genre, it's just that it's way too goofy at times. Some quality laughs are to be had though with one of the biggest being Flint's ability to converse with dolphins. It's so incredibly stupid I couldn't to this wilder brand of humor The action is solid, again with Coburn showing off his excellent martial arts skills. I even noticed a sequence that could very well have been lifted for, get this, the Bond film Moonraker.

Movie Review: Our Man Flint (Blu-ray)

Looking back at film history, it seems that so many of the most influential films in the super spy sub-genre graced the silver screen in the 1960’s. The decade is arguably the peak for these types of movies - with that said, they are still a blast now to watch. The James Bond films had the biggest impact which helped in turn bring about rip-offs from Europe and even some enjoyable franchises in their own right like the Matt Helm series (The Silencers, The Ambusher’s and Murderers’ Row) and the less goofy but delightfully entertaining Derek Flint films, Our Man Flint and In Like Flint. Daniel Mann’s Our Man Flint makes its Blu-ray debut courtesy of Twilight Time in a brand-new release decked with all kinds of extra goodies.

Derek Flint (James Coburn, Cross of Iron and Major Dundee) is a super agent who really doesn’t need to be a super agent – the guys loaded. He also has zero trouble with the ladies enjoying his own “me” time meditating between two chairs. Flint isn't doesn't have as much an obligation as say James Bond but when his boss calls onto him to save the world from a diabolical chaos-creating group called Galaxy, Flint is summoned away from his carefree life to do his duty.