Nice effects though.

Absolutely Brilliant!

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

'The Assassination Bureau Ltd.' was an incomplete novel by Jack London finished years after his death by thriller expert Robert L.Fish. The 1969 film version was produced by Michael Relph and directed by Basil Dearden, whose other credits include 'The League Of Gentlemen' ( 1960 ). Crusading journalist Sonya Winter ( Diana Rigg ) uncovers the existence of a secret society of hired assassins operating at the turn of the 19th century. Their founder is cocksure Russian nobleman Ivan Dragomiloff ( Oliver Reed ). He is hired by Sonya to murder...himself. Feeling the Bureau to have become complacent, he accepts the challenge. The tables have been turned. Before he can end the meeting by banging his gavel, the first of many attempts on his life is made. An army of assassins pursues Ivan and Sonya across Europe, but they manage to stay one step ahead of them. Newspaper owner Lord Borstwick ( Telly Savalas ) - also Sonya's employer - wishes to the Bureau to become a political weapon and plans on using a dirigible to bomb a Bavarian castle in which the crowned heads of state are soon to gather...This is a fun tongue-in-cheek romp, almost like an extended episode of 'The Avengers' in period costume, and the presence of Diana Rigg supports this view. 'Wynter' resembles Mrs.Peel in as much as she is also stubbornly independent, but her 'feminism' is largely played for laughs. Oliver Reed was tipped at one point to replace Sean Connery as 'James Bond', but his hell-raising image put producers off. On the evidence of his performance here, he would have been terrific. He is wonderfully cool and resourceful, boasting a Sherlock Holmes-like talent for disguise. In one of the best scenes, he disposes of a waiter ( Kenneth Griffith ) on a train by blowing hot brandy into the man's face. In Paris, he turns a cellar into a bomb that goes off as soon as his would-be killers open the door.One of the many pleasures this affords is spotting well-loved British characters in small roles. An uncredited Peter Bowles is in the brothel sequence, Warren Mitchell and Clive Revill are among the other Bureau members, and Frank Thornton is one of the Bureau's victims who plummets down a lift shaft. Rigg and Savalas reunited later in the year for the Bond picture 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service'.Michael Relph is credited with the script but Wolf Mankowitz ( one of the writers of 'Dr.No' ) provided additional dialogue. This is most evident in the scene where Sonya first meets Ivan. His attempt to justify the Bureau's existence is borderline persuasive. Despite a few longueurs ( notably the Venice sequence ), 'The Assassination Bureau' is ideal Sunday afternoon viewing.

In the Sixties English actor Patrick MacNee successfully played male lead John Steed in the Avengers TV-series. During these years MacNee had a number of successive female partners, of whom Diana Rigg became by far the most famous.Even more so, Rigg's acting provided the Avengers with immortality. In particular in 1965, when this TV-series were at their most inspirational.Diana Rigg also stars in 'The Assassination Bureau', more or less copying her famous Avengers-role of Emma Peel. 'Assassination' itself also shows great similarities with the great TV-series: bizarre, with a surrealistic touch. Humorous. Quite a speedy plot, with sharp turns. Dealing with ingenious crime, and using a fair amount of violence.The differences with the Avengers are only minor: MacNee is replaced by Oliver Reed, and 'Assassination' is set in the past. In the turbulent year of 1914, to be precise'The Assassination Bureau' makes a good and enjoyable watch. Which is no wonder, for it cashes in on the Avengers-success. Copying its formula, and using Diana Rigg as a prime asset to do so.

Typical 1960s big-budget all-star entertainment with an unlikely but intriguing backdrop (the political turmoil in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century) and agreeably treated as black comedy. As can be surmised, the titular organization – headed by Oliver Reed and numbering among its members Telly Savalas, Curt Jurgens, Philippe Noiret, Clive Revill and Kenneth Griffith – disposes of people it deems criminal but which the law apparently can't reach…until some of them start to get too big for their boots, while Reed accepts lady journalist Diana Rigg's offer of a contract on himself! Stylish and colorful (shot on a variety of stunning European locations and with great care given to sets, costumes and props), the film is vastly entertaining along the way – gleefully poking fun at politics and murder at every turn. Reed and Rigg make a very appealing couple, while Savalas, Jurgens et al have fun sending up their respective images; of course, Rigg and Savalas would be re-teamed that same year for the James Bond outing ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE.The script, therefore, delivers plenty of suspense and surprise (including numerous disguises and near-escapes for the hero) and is capped by a spectacular climax in which a bomb attack via zeppelin – targeting a castle where all the rulers of Europe have convened for a peace conference – is thwarted.

Many , many years ago I remember seeing a film that had The Master from DOCTOR WHO in it ( In fact many of the characters looked like The Master to me ) and the climax took place upon a zeppelin but I had no idea what the film was called untill today when BBC 2 showed THE ASSASSINATION BUREAU Well yes THE ASSASSINATION BUREAU does have a sort of late 1960s charm to it and is very very inoffensive and I can understand why many of the reviewers on this page like it but it probably won`t appeal to anyone half as cynical as me . I don`t suppose I can criticise the unconvincing banter between Oliver Reed`s hero and the baddies or point out how really crap the special effects and the back projection are can I ? Nope thought not I`m not an assassin . I`m a critic