Golden Eyes: Secret Agent 077
In the genre ghetto of India’s B movie industry, attempts were being made at churning out spy films that hued a little closer to the European model. Unfortunately for these films, while the attitude might have been there, the cash wasn’t. Given that, the end products were frequently films that tested the notion of just how sparely represented the basic tropes of the spy genre could be in a film without it falling short of being a spy film at all.
The 1968 film Golden Eyes: Secret Agent 077 fits pretty neatly within this last described category. It’s the sort of movie where bare-walled sets are dressed by way of colored lighting (it’s amazing what 1960s movies could accomplish with just a couple lights and some primary colored gels) and a super villain’s high-tech lair is represented by having what looks like the contents of an old Radio Shack “Build Your Own Ham Radio” kit strewn on a wooden table. In another villain’s hideout, the only decoration is a giant inflatable whiskey bottle
Si Muore Solo Una Volta
Si Muore Solo Una Volta is not a masterwork, but it’s linear and makes sense, something which many other Eurospy films can’t claim. In many respects it is better than many of the more readily available Eurospy productions on the market – but still, realistically this is only one for Eurospy completists – and if you are one of those aforementioned completists, then you’re going to want to watch this anyway, regardless of what I have to say — good, bad or indifferent.
Superseven Calling Cairo
Director, Umberto Lenzi, in the 1970s, with many of his hard and fast Euro Crime films, proved that he can make taut, and tough films, with proficient action scenes in them. It didn’t matter that they were almost bound to the one city, such as Rome, Milan or Naples. In fact, he made that work in favour of the stories. But here, much of the time is wasted on shots that simply seem to be inserted into the story for the sake of the location. The sequence at the pyramids is a perfect example – cutting it from the movie, wouldn’t detract from the story at all. But then again, when you promote your film as being set in Egypt, I guess some skylarking amongst the antiquities is expected. But it doesn’t make it a better film.
Lightning Bolt
Although the production is cheap and the plot is outlandish, this is actually a pretty fun little adventure. Anthony Eisley looks tough and handsome, and he’s probably one of the few spies in any of these movies who begins his mission by trying to buy off the bad guys — with a check! Imagine Sean Connery asking Robert Shaw how much money he’d need not to kill Bond, then saying, “OK, mind if I write you a check?” They don’t even accept checks at the grocery store where I shop!