Review of: THE AMBUSHERS (1968)
Review written: 1/24/98 Copyright 1998 Afterburner Email me at: aburner@erols.com
Rating (out of 10): N/A. See review for further details.
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Of the four Matt Helm movies made, THE AMBUSHERS (1968) is the most "MST3K-able" of the bunch. (Meaning that it's ripe for parody by the folks at Mystery Science Theater 3000, for those who may not get the reference.)
If you haven't seen any of them, the Matt Helm movies answer the question "What if Hugh Hefner (founder and publisher of Playboy Magazine) had been a secret agent on the side?" Dean Martin plays Matt Helm, an affable, boozing photographer of scantily-clad women who works for "Slaymate" magazine. But that's just a cover! The truth is that Helm is *really* an affable, boozing, super-competent secret agent who works for the Intelligence Counter Espionage (ICE) organization.
Before we go further, I should point out that the Matt Helm movies are all pretty bad. But they're wonderfully bad, and they're great, cheezy, campy fun. I tend to speak glowingly of the Matt Helm movies because I enjoy them for their over-the-top campiness, but more serious-minded viewers will probably be turned off.
And let me tell you: THE AMBUSHERS spares *no* expense in the "campiness" department. Try this plot on for size:
The ICE organization is testing out a new, super-secret flying saucer. That's right, a flying saucer. As MacDonald (James Gregory), head of ICE points out, if it works it will put the other planets "right next door," and the rest of the universe will be "just around the corner." It's never sufficiently explained why a counter-espionage organization would need to go to other planets (much less the rest of the universe), but no matter. They've made it and they're testing it.
The test works fine, until the saucer is forced to land by Mysterious Bad Guys. The leader of the Mysterious Bad Guys enters the saucer, and the pilot (a female) screams. Fade to black. This all takes place within the first 10 minutes of the movie.
Cut to Matt Helm, in Matt Helm heaven. He's helping to train a cadre of new ICE agents who, coincidentally enough, all happen to be gorgeous, scantily-clad babes. Go figure. But he runs into a white-haired, crazed woman who thinks all men are out to kill her. It's his old partner! It's also the woman who piloted the flying saucer! Will wonders never cease? (Answer: Of course not! This is Matt Helm!)
Naturally, Helm is assigned to find the saucer, and he has to take his former partner (who's now recovered) because only females can fly the saucer. The reason is because the saucer uses "electromagnetic fields" to propel itself around the neighborhood. And, according to the movie, electromagnetic fields are lethal to males. No, I never learned that in my basic physics classes either, but there you are.
You can guess the rest. Typical spy-movie stuff with the usual Matt Helm twist. Helm still wanders from place to place as though he's looking for the nearest bar. During one fight scene he gets knocked into a huge vat of beer, much to his obvious delight. And in a send-up of his singing career, the very final scene shows him trying to teach an attractive new recruit how to make love while on the job. The recruit is cold and unresponsive, even after Helm puts on a Dean Martin tune. But when he puts on Perry Como, she responds amorously, much to his chagrin.
High points of the movie:
* The whole "electromagnetic fields are lethal to men" bit, which had me rolling on the floor. * A couple of male bad guys dying from, as near as I can tell, turning completely red all over. Even their clothes. This is, apparently, the inevitable consequence of exposing men to electromagnetic fields. (Now you know why your Mom always told you not to sit so close to the TV...) * The obvious set pieces when Helm is supposed to be outdoors. * A set of railroad tracks which leads right up to the very edge of a cliff, apparently for no other reason than to allow a railroad flatcar to careen dramatically off said cliff. * The *incredibly* cheesy effects, which include ray guns that emit sparks, and radar towers that emit obvious "radar" noises. * Helm turning his belt into a sword by the simple expedient of getting it wet.
It's true that none of the other Matt Helm movies are pinnacles of the film-maker's craft. But the plot and cheesy special effects make THE AMBUSHERS a cut below the others. In ranking the four Matt Helm movies in terms of overall quality, this would be #4 on my list. But in ranking them in terms of laughs (both intentional and otherwise), this is easily #1.
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