This is How Movies Should Be Made

Not even bad in a good way

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Released in 1980 and directed by Clive Donner, "The Nude Bomb" brings back Don Adams as the bumbling agent Maxwell Smart in this parody of spy flicks, mostly the 007 franchise. Andrea Howard plays his new assistant, Agent 22, while Vittorio Gassman is on hand as the villain, an ee-vil fashion designer who blackmails the clothes-wearing public with the threat of total nudity via a "Nude Bomb." Pamela Hensley and Sylvia Kristel play two other female agents. Rhonda Fleming is also on hand. Coming out a decade after the demise of the Get Smart TV series that ran from 1965-1970, fans of the show tended to reject this movie version because it eliminated practically the entire peripheral cast and changed the good-guy organization from CONTROL to PITS, although it kept KAOS. The plot is just an excuse to string together as many mildly amusing silly gags as possible with the requisite low-budget set pieces and Bond-ian spoofs. The sequences include skydiving (Reminiscent of Roger Moore's stint as 007), exposition on secret agent weapons, a long chase at Universal City, a Switzerland ski segment, the secret hideout in a mountain and more. The big question is: Where is Barbara Feldon, who played Agent 99 on the series? Adams was told she turned the movie down, but she later informed him that she wasn't even contacted by the producers, likely because she was 45 at the time and they wanted a younger actress. This was a big mistake. But she returned for the TV movie "Get Smart, Again" in 1989, as well as a failed new Get Smart series in 1995.If you can forgive the deviances from the show, this is a fun, somewhat amusing parody with a couple of laugh-out-loud scenes (e.g. the magazine at the newsstand). Unfortunately, the director has little eye for women and the flick generally drops the ball in this mandatory area. Still, it works as a comical period piece. ADDITIONAL ACTORS: Dana Elcar, Norman Lloyd, Bill Dana, Gary Imhoff and Sarah Rush. The film runs 94 minutes and was shot in at Universal Studios and Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California.GRADE: B-

The original plan was to create a made-for-TV special, but fan response made the producers create a theatrical movie instead. As the "Get Smart" TV show was a spoof of James Bond movies, the movie was a parody of the then-recent Bond movies starring Roger Moore, as indicated by the plane-jump sequence at the beginning and Agent 86 having love interests other than Agent 99, despite the fact that in the TV show he had already married 99 and had twin children. So we end up with a mixture of both worlds where Maxwell Smart looks like a fish out of water. Without Agent 99 or the Edward Platt Chief (admittedly the actor had died so that was impossible), the comedic interaction that made Get Smart work isn't there. It's akin to "The Honeymooners" with only Ralph Kramden.The movie itself is mildly amusing, a rather cute idea of a villain who uses bombs to destroy clothing so he can make all of humanity dress in clothing that he produces. That would seem to have been a great idea for a Get Smart episode in itself. But though Don Adams tried, it is clear he couldn't go it alone. That mistake would fortunately be remedied in the 1988 made-for-TV reunion.

When I was a kid, I was addicted to the TV show GET SMART. Sure, I knew it wasn't the most brilliant or sophisticated show on the tube but it made me laugh. Years later, I've watched a few episodes and found that as I got older they don't seem quite as funny, but they still are charming and worth seeing on occasion. However, the film THE NUDE BOMB as well as the made for TV reunion show were an abomination and all those associated with it should hang their heads in shame! It's true that you can never go back, but this is made even worse by the fact that other than Don Adams, I didn't recognize ANYONE in the film from the original series. Plus, porn star Silvia Kristel is there instead of Barbara Feldon--that's just WRONG! If all this isn't bad enough, the plot is way too stupid to base a movie upon. The bad guys have a bomb that makes everyone's clothes disappear! Hey, maybe THAT'S why they had Ms. Kristel in the movie!

"Get Smart" is an often very funny TV series that aired in the late '60s that can be seen in syndication (it currently airs on the TV Land Channel). It's a spy spoof created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry and starred Don Adams as Agent 86 Maxwell Smart, the clumsy spy who Lt. Frank Drebin (of TV's "Police Squad!" and "The Naked Gun" movies) can easily relate to. "Police Squad!" was a flop on television (lasting only 6 episodes) but it was loyally supported and as a result led to three successful theatrical movies. Before "Police Squad!" was created, the "Get Smart" series did the same thing. The final result was the other way around. "Get Smart" was a success, lasting five seasons on the tube (1965-70) and winning Emmys as Best Comedy Series twice and Adams winning Best Actor in a Comedy Series three consecutive times. Then ten years after "Get Smart" went off the air, several Hollywood writers and producers (Mel Brooks was not one of them) tried to do justice to the TV show by reviving it as a big theatrical movie. This concept didn't work however. "The Nude Bomb" was the big screen spinoff of "Get Smart". Although I found it to be occasionally funny, it comes off rather disappointing. First of all, Barbara Feldon (who played Smart's sidekick and wife Agent 99) does not appear in this film and her presence is sorely missed. The relationship between Agents 86 and 99 was one of the reasons why "Get Smart" worked so well. Second of all, where's the old "Get Smart" music theme at? That classic theme music that plays during the opening credits of every "Get Smart" episode is nowhere to be found in this movie. I love that theme! How could the filmmakers not put it in this movie? And third of all, where are those KAOS villains Siegried and Starker? Instead, "The Nude Bomb" features new characters that for the most part don't come off well. The plot of the film is about a new KAOS villain who hatches a plan to make the world naked by destroying all the clothing, and it's up to Agent 86 to stop him. Maxwell Smart's sidekicks this time include not one but three new female agents (Agents 22, 34, and 36). The Chief this time is played by Dana Elcar (TV's "MacGyver"), and here it's understandable why a different actor is playing the Chief. Edward Platt, who played the Chief on "Get Smart" died a couple of years after the show's run ended. But the other actors who played their characters to great lengths on "Get Smart" should have been a part of this movie instead of these new characters. That doesn't make sense. Adams plays a great comic character once again, and he carries "The Nude Bomb" singlehandedly. That's not enough. He needed his "Get Smart" co-stars badly in this movie. Though those famous lines that Smart always said on the show ("Sorry about that Chief!", "Would you believe...", and "Missed it by that much!") are still intact. Those are good for some laughs. "The Nude Bomb" has funny moments, but missing elements keep this from being the laugh riot comedy that it should have been. That's a crime! And a shame!** (out of four)