Universal Pictures
In the 1960s, James Bond was the king of the spies on the big screen, and in the early to mid-60s The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Danger Man, The Saint and The Avengers brought spies to the home screen. But those shows were mostly action-packed dramas with a little tongue-in-cheek humor so the comedic geniuses Mel Brooks and Buck Henry came up with an antidote to those shows by introducing Secret Agent 86 to the world in 1965 in Get Smart. The show was silly but smart, playing the situations completely straight which made the comedy even funnier. It made stars out of its leading man Don Adams and leading lady Barbara Feldon, and ran for five seasons across two networks, NBC and CBS, ending in 1970. During its run, many TV series would produce one-off TV movies during the shows’ hiatus, and that was the plan for Get Smart but for various reasons (explained a bit in the Blu-ray bonus material) those movies never materialized. In the 1970s, NBC wanted to include Get Smart as part of the NBC Mystery Movie series that also included Columbo, McCloud and McMillan & Wife but research showed that fans of the series wanted to see Maxwell Smart and company on the big screen. They finally got their wish … sort of … in 1980 with the release of The Nude Bomb.
Review
The Nude Bomb brings Agent 86 Maxwell Smart to the big screen to thwart another KAOS plot to launch bombs that will destroy all the world’s fabrics so a deranged fashion designer will be the only source for clothing. It’s an odd plot that apparently went through several drafts and became very watered down by the time it got to the screen. On the plus side, Don Adams — who hadn’t played the role of Agent 86 for ten years at this point — is perfection, stepping back into Smart’s shoe phone as if he’d never been away. Adams was always looking for ways to make things funnier and improvised a lot of the comedy on the spot, much to the chagrin of director Clive Donner, who was intent on shooting the film as it was on the page. It’s safe to say Adams’ contributions helped elevate what is ultimately a convoluted, confusing, disjointed, marginally funny film from the total disaster it could have been (and make no mistake, the film was profitable despite the terrible reviews). The movie does include some familiar faces from the classic series including Robert Karvelas (Adams’ cousin) as Larabee, Joey Forman as Agent 13 (played by David Ketchum on the series but Forman made several guest appearances as other characters), and Bill Dana, who guested on the show and was a writer for the show and the movie. Unfortunately Edward Platt, who played the Chief of CONTROL, had passed away in 1974. Where the movie really falters is the omission of Agent 99, played by Barbara Feldon. The head of KAOS, Siegfried (Bernie Koppel), is also missing, as is CONTROL and the classic Get Smart theme song (in the movie, Smart works for a different organization with the acronym PITS). Any true fan of the series has to be disappointed by this, and many were taken aback that 99 is never even mentioned while 86 is portrayed in the opening credits as a Bond-like womanizer, and the use of mild profanity really made fans think the studio, which wanted the movie to be nothing like the TV series, had compromised the character. The great character actor Norman Lloyd also has a supporting role in the film but whenever he’s asked about it, he just greets the questions with great disdain. It’s not a great movie, but Don Adams does manage to make it watchable even if the things that made Get Smart a classic are completely missing. (The show finally did make its way to the small screen in 1989 as the TV movie Get Smart, Again! that included Feldon, Koppel, Karvelas, and Dick Gauthier as Hymie the Robot, as well as a very short-lived TV series in 1995 that included Andy Dick as the son of Smart and 99). The Nude Bomb (which was originally titled The Return of Maxwell Smart) also stars Italian actor Vittorio Gassman in a dual role as the villains, Emmanuelle star Sylvia Kristel as Agent 34 in a single scene set in Austria, Buck Rogers‘ Pamela Hensley as Agent 36 (who really does nothing in the movie), Andrea Howard as Agent 22 (the film’s substitute for 99), Dana Elcar as Chief, Norman Lloyd as Carruthers (think of Bond’s Q), and Gary Imhoff and Battlestar Galactica‘s Sarah Rush as the Krovney twins, very underdeveloped characters who were apparently computer geniuses that were supposed to be featured more in the film’s sequels (that never happened). Lalo Schifrin provides a score that plays as if this is a serious spy movie and it works perfectly. Director Donner does a fine job and even though he didn’t like Adams stepping on his toes, he let him do his thing to the betterment of the movie. Some of the film’s special effects are a little dodgy by today’s standards but there was no CGI in 1980.
Video
The Blu-ray presentation looks better than the film probably did in theaters (and I saw the movie on the big screen in 1980). The colors pop, especially in the opening skydiving scene with enemy agents in color coded jumpsuits pursuing Smart (who loses a parachute, and how he landed in one piece is never explained in the film), and the clarity makes the blue screen shots all the more obvious. But the presentation is sharp, colorful and pleasing to the eye with an appropriate level of grain that doesn’t overpower the image but retains the look of film.
Audio
The 1980-era audio isn’t the most robust mix to test your home theater system, but it does keep the voices clearly front and center, never over-powered by Schifrin’s score or the sound effects. When Smart is speaking to Chief on his shoe phone while plunging towards the earth, the dialog is never obscured by the wind sound. There’s no detectable hissing or popping, so overall this is a very nice audio presentation for this vintage.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary by Sledge Hammer! Creator Alan Spencer – This is a very informative, insider commentary that really digs deep into the making of the movie and is scene specific with Spencer pointing out a moment when Eugene Roche can be seen as Chief in some scenes before he was replaced by Dana Elcar, and he explains how 86 survived the skydiving scene. Lots of good, informative and fun information. And Spencer never stops to take a breath.
- Audio Commentary by Film Historian and Film Critic Peter Tonguette – This commentary is more stilted and dry, not very specific to the film, sometimes veering off into tangents that have nothing to do with the movie. Not as engaging as Spencer’s commentary.
- Deleted/Extended and Alternate Scenes (28:37) – A real treasure trove of material culled from cut footage and footage used for the TV broadcast, including scenes in which dialog was dubbed by the actors to cover ‘offensive’ words for an early 80s TV broadcast and clumsy edits to obscure the nudity (all male, by the way). There are some funny scenes here, plus several that actually expand on Pamela Hensley’s role, giving her a reason for being in the movie. The Krovney twins also get a little more screen time. Sourced from the best material available, it’s amazing this footage even exists.
- Textless Opening/Closing Credits (5:29)
- TRAILERS FROM HELL with Alan Spencer (3:19) – Spencer gives a brief intro and then talks over the trailer for the film, giving some info that isn’t in his commentary and some that is. The audio from the trailer is a bit distracting.
- Lobby Cards & Posters – Image Gallery (4:00) – A nice collection of promotional materials with the movies theme song playing underneath.
- Promotional Materials & Costumes – Image Gallery (4:01) – Even more promotional material, the movie’s press book and photos of some of the costumes. The theme song also plays along (luckily, it’s a catchy tune by Merry Clayton).
- Behind-the-Scenes – Image Gallery (4:03) – A collection of candid photos taken during the making of the movie … with the theme song playing along.
- Alternate Scenes – Image Gallery (3:51) – This collection (with the theme song) is notable for including shots of Eugene Roche as Chief.
- 3 Radio Spots (1:25) – Three fun radio spots that play under a promo image that never appears in the film.
- 2 TV Spots (1:00) – TV ads of not very good quality but still worth including. Interestingly there is a shot of Pamela Hensley in a scene that was altered for the TV broadcast of the movie.
- Theatrical Trailer (2:47)
- Theatrical Trailer for Kino Lorber release What’s New Pussycat? (2:53)
Overview
Fans of Get Smart may not have gotten exactly what they wanted with The Nude Bomb (and one reviewer dubbed the film ‘The Lewd Bomb’), but Don Adams reprising the role of Maxwell Smart is enough of a selling point to make the movie watchable. For a film that is not very highly regarded, Kino Lorber has gone above and beyond not only with the video and audio presentation, but with the stuffed-to-the-gills bonus features. The Nude Bomb may not be a great movie, but the Blu-ray is certainly worth owning because of the care taken in bringing the movie to home video.
Kino Lorber generously provided Hotchka with the Blu-ray for reviewing purposes.
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