Lightning Bolt

Moviecut—Lightning Bolt

source: Lightning Bolt

An American variation of James Bond is still a poor man's James Bond, and this one really deserves the title of "the rip-off movie". It's all about some convoluted attempt for foreign enemies to interfere with space travel, and starring third string leading man Anthony Eisley, it is short on A talent. What it lacks in a Sean Connery or Dean Martin or even a James Coburn, it makes up for in scantily clad blonds of every side of the spectrum, some of them more cartoonish than Bullwinkle's Natasha. In spite of a concrete, believable plot, there are plenty of engaging action sequences including a very intense scene where Eisley and his companion for the evening get stuck in a giant tank quickly filling up with scalding hot water. The main villain is a total rip-off of the Bond villains, and this makes it ultra predictable. But I still couldn't help bit enjoy it even though at times, I couldn't figure out at all what the heck was going on.

This movie is a lot of fun with multiple plot twists and a bad guy with a hilarious German accent. If you like SciFi or Eurospy take a little time and enjoy Operation Goldman.

It's pretty obvious that the Italian makers of "Lightning Bolt" were trying to emulate the James Bond movies, but this imitation falls considerably short. That's not to say that everything about the movie is terrible. It looks pretty good, for one thing, with it being well shot as well as boasting some very impressive sets. And the climatic sequence does have a little excitement and suspense. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie leading up to that climatic sequence will have long put many viewers to sleep. There isn't a terrible amount of action in the movie as a whole, and what action there is is mostly flat. Another problem with the movie is with the characters. The hero is a somewhat smug and annoying lead, while the chief bad guy is one you've seen in dozens of mediocre movies before this one. The movie as a whole lacks spark; even Riz Ortolani can't muster the enthusiasm to compose a flashy musical score! Still, despite the flat nature of the movie, it is sort of watchable all the same. I will admit I have seen James Bond clones worse than this effort.

The poster and the pictures of the movie look very appetizing, like a real valuable Bond. But the reality is different. Poor Folco Lulli was swallowed by the lava because he tried to imitate Gert Fröbe in "Goldfinger". The whole movie fails because it tries to copy another Bond, "You Only Live Twice". I'm convinced that the producers Giuseppe De Blasio (as Joseph de Blasio), Anacleto Fontini (as Cleto Fontini) and Alfonso Balcázar, they did not had the money of Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, therefore, their effort is worthwhile, the film is not really bad. The sets are OK, the music is OK, the actors' play leaves something to be desired.

The Plot. A U.S. agent goes undercover as a rich playboy to stop a madman from destroying a NASA moon project. I saw this under the title of Lightning Bolt. Made in Italy and Spain, this 1966 movie takes it's plot from the James Bond / spy craze of the 60s, with a bit of NASA space work thrown in to make it interesting. It is by no means a great movie, however I can see how this could be fun as a midnite grind-house screening. It's wide screen and technicolor and there are relatively decent special effects. There's also some fun 60's misogyny. What brings the experience down a notch is that it seems like the whole movie is dubbed even though they are speaking English. It gives the film a cheaper feeling. A lot of the sets look very Bond-ish. The acting and directing is a few notches above most cheap-o Italian movies. Although it's a bit slow paced.

American moon rockets (remember them?) are suspected of being sabotaged when the sixth one in a row blows up. It is believed a "radiation force" is responsible as they discover "signals from the bottom of the sea." So much for science. To find out what is going on they call in... Harry Sennet (Anthony Eisley),the American version of James Bond. He works with Capt. Flanagan (Diana Lorys) who is also a love interest. It is decided the best way to scour the sea bottom off Cape Kennedy is for Harry to go to Florida and buy a seaplane pretending to be a playboy. Harry also provides some gumshoe style narration while Capt. Flanagan has her own jazz swagger music. Harry drives one of those cars that stays stationary while the same scenery quickly moves behind it. Perhaps in 1966 this was a decent film...okay it wasn't back then either. Today this production has all that spy camp value we have come to love including hibernation chambers. Watch it for camp value only. I don't know where they got the drawing of the girl in the red tight jumpsuit. It has nothing to do with the film. Parental Guide: No f-bombs, sex, or nudity. Warning: If you watch this on a Rare Flix DVD there is nudity in the movie trailers.

Taking part in ICM challenges to watch It Italian and "cult" films,I decided to take a look at what titles DVD sellers had recently found. With his superb 1970 film And God Said to Cain being my intro to Spaghetti Westerns, I was happy to read from a seller that he had found a Euro Spy flick by Antonio Margheriti,which led to me spying on the goldman. View on the film: Swooning into the peak of the Euro Spy years on Riz Ortolani's colourful Jazz score, director Antonio Margheriti & cinematographer Riccardo Pallottini, (who both later reunited for Cain) investigate the spy genre with hip Pop-Art, via a glittering use of matte paintings building the underground lair of the baddie, and Sennet's gadgets being given a kitsch appearance. Referencing their work in the Horror genre, Margheriti and Pallottini stylishly use whip-pans and zoom-ins to give the lazer burns and henchmen Sennet faces a level of threat, and blends the matte paintings with tightly held shots to give the final fight between Sennet and Rehte an exciting atmosphere. Sending Rehte off with a baddie plan that allows the flick to chip into the Sci-Fi space craze of the era, the screenplay Alfonso Balcázar/José Antonio de la Loma and Ernesto Gastaldi smash Sennet into the mission with cheeky comedic asides that allow him to outwit the baddie and his own agency. Teaming up with fellow agent Captain Patricia Flanagan once entering Rehte's lair, the writers give Sennet's attempt to succeed at the mission a surprising level of menace, with the sassy one-liners being replaced with shocks of death and Sennet's frustrations over not being able to break Rehte's traps on his own. Joining the mission half-way,Diana Lorys gives a sparkling performance as Flanagan,thanks to Lorys giving Flanagan a mischievous edge when helping Anthony Eisley's lean Sennet,which Lorys turns cold when she begins to fear it's the kiss of death from (Folco Lulli's excellent) Goldman.

One of the most enjoyable Eurospy flicks I've seen lately, though it's not perfect by any means (the first half is better than the second). Diana Lorys is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen: her character is introduced very promisingly, as a high-ranking agent who can even cause "spinal fractures" to her enemies, and she develops a nice interplay with the male lead, Anthony Eisley. But then she is rather clumsily written out of the story until the very end, while the main bad girl of the film (Wandisa Guida - her ultra-tight black outfit emphasizes her jaw-dropping curves) turns out to be an entrapped good girl after all. Although the influence of "Goldfinger" and "Thunderball" on "Lightning Bolt" is clear, the sci-fi aspects actually predate other official Bond films such as "You Only Live Twice" and "Diamonds Are Forever". The second half takes place almost entirely in the villain's underwater headquarters: the sets are quite elaborate, but the scenes of their eventual destruction go on too long. Still, if you're in the mood for a light and unpretentious take on the less serious side of espionage, "Lightning Bolt" should fit the bill. **1/2 out of 4.