Spy Hard
| Spy Hard | |
|---|---|
| File:Spy hard poster.jpg | |
| Directed by | Rick Friedberg |
| Written by | Rick Friedberg Dick Chudnow Aaron Seltzer Jason Friedberg |
| Produced by | Doug Draizin Jeffrey Konvitz Rick Friedberg |
| Starring | Leslie Nielsen Nicollette Sheridan Charles Durning |
| Cinematography | John R. Leonetti |
| Edited by | Eric Sears |
| Music by | Bill Conti |
| Distributed by | Hollywood Pictures |
Release dates | May 24, 1996 |
Running time | 81 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $18 million USD |
Spy Hard is a 1996 movie starring Leslie Nielsen, parodying James Bond films and other action films. The title itself is a spoof of Die Hard which, strangely enough, is not lampooned in the actual film.
The plot is the standard story of secret agent Dick Steele, Agent WD-40 (a play on 007) who, along with Veronique Ukrinsky, Agent 3.14 (Nicollette Sheridan), must stop the evil genius, General Rancor (played by Andy Griffith), from taking over the world. Rancor was wounded in an earlier encounter and no longer has arms; however, he can 'arm' himself by attaching robotic limbs with various weapons attached.
"Weird Al" Yankovic sings the title song and directed the title sequence. It is a parody of title sequences from the James Bond films designed by Maurice Binder- specifically 1965's Thunderball, complete with multiple colored backgrounds, silhouetted figures, and "wavy" text. Additionally, an urban legend states that during the recording of the theme to Thunderball, Tom Jones held the song's final note long enough to pass out; in this film, Yankovic holds it long enough to make his head explode. Originally, Yankovic had planned to loop the note to the required length, but in the studio, he discovered he was able to hold the note long enough that no looping was required. The video was later included on "Weird Al" Yankovic: The Ultimate Video Collection, although, for legal reasons, all names (except his own) and titles had to be taken out.
The movie contains also many cameos, including Mr. T as a helicopter pilot in the opening scene, and also Pat Morita, Hulk Hogan and Ray Charles, among others.
Many critics panned this film upon its release. The film's gross domestic revenues were about $26 million.
Two of the film's writers, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, went on to help write Scary Movie and Date Movie, other feature films which parody genres.
List of Gags and Parodies
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- Dick Steele is a pun off of Remington Steele, a character which Pierce Brosnan (who later became James Bond) played on TV in the 1980s.
- When Steele is given his mission, it having been recorded onto an audio tape. The tape is a spoof of game show Jeopardy! and the conclusion of the message "And do not forget, WD-40, as always, this tape will self destruct in five seconds." This explosion, a spoof of Mission: Impossible is much to the dismay of the pilot of the helicopter that Steele was in at the time.
- The name General Rancor, is a phrase, which means "widespread feelings of bitterness and hatred".
- General Rancor interrogates a mime, then has him shot, saying "He doesn't want to talk, take him outside and shoot him!". He also tells his henchmen to "use the silencer" - as an effect, a pillow is used to silence the shots (the weapon used was a Browning .50 Caliber machine gun).
- Steele's arm elongates and snaps as he is holding onto Victoria Dahl at the edge of a cliff. This is a spoof of Cliffhanger.
- The theme to the movie is a parody of a James Bond-style theme song and is sung by "Weird Al" Yankovic. "Weird Al's" head explodes at the end, referencing the urban legend that says Tom Jones passed out while singing the last note in the theme to Thunderball.
- The title scene where naked people's silhouettes is similar to the title scene in Thunderball. And "Weird Al"'s appearance in the titles is similar to the titles of For Your Eyes Only where singer Sheena Easton appears appears and sing the title tune.
- The hostage videotape of Barbara Dahl that Steele watches has a Blockbuster Video case.
- Barbara Dahl references the popular doll Barbie, whose real name is Barbara Roberts, and Bibi Dahl, a Bond girl in For Your Eyes Only.
- The secret service secretary, played by Marcia Gay Harden, is called Miss Cheevus, a take on the word "mischievous."
- During the countdown to the launch of the nuclear missile, the audience sees the woman reciting the countdown into a microphone. This occurs several times throughout the film. In one instance, she is drinking a cup of tea while counting.
- The secret code between Steele and Kabul about lighters and smoking comes from the movie From Russia With Love, where a similar line is used.
- When Steele tests one of his gadgets in the laboratory (poking fun at the character Q from the James Bond movies), a fire was ejected on it and burned the hair of a Michael Jackson lookalike, causing him to exclaim "Not again!" and jump through the window of the building.
- Steele and Veronique get on a bus, and a group of punks threaten the driver with lines like "Pop quiz, hot shot!". They hold up the disconnected brake cables. Steele opens the floor of the bus and tries to stop the bus with his legs while Veronique replaces the apparently blind bus driver (played by Ray Charles). This sequence is a spoof of Speed. When the bus takes off of the ramp it parodies the infamous jump in the film and the bus flying in front of the moon is similar to one of the final scenes of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
- The entire scene with Steele in the hotel building on the horse is a parody of the Arnold Schwarzenegger action film True Lies including Steele in the Harrier Jet. There is also similar music featured.
- When Steele and Veronique are in the club, they dance to the same song and wear the same clothes and hairstyles as Mia and Vincent in Pulp Fiction.
- Steele rode a horse while being followed by Slice (leader of the thugs) riding a lawnmower motorbike. He entered a hotel and went to the elevator while riding the horse (a spoof of True Lies). When he was escaping to Slice in the rooftop of the hotel, he and the horse shot off the building into a swimming pool. When Slice tried to look for Steele, he saw him riding a Harrier jet and was so surprised that he fell off the building himself and landed on a passing jogger (possibly the one from before). The Harrier turned out to be a fake and just a billboard advertisement.
- Steele has to infiltrate a nunnery, which contains a group of singing nuns, A la Sister Act.
- When Steele meets Professor Ukrinsky for the first time in his lab, the professor hands him the chip for Gen. Rancor's missile. Steele then sets the chip down on a table and tries to smash it with a hammer, but Ukrinsky pushes him out of the way before he could do it. This is a spoof of a deleted scene in Terminator 2: Judgment Day where Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) takes out the chip in the Terminator's head and attempts to smash it with a hammer to render him inoperable. Her son, John Connor (Edward Furlong) pushes her out of the way before she could destroy it.
- McCluckey (a parody of Macaulay Culkin) performs several pranks (that backfire) on the thugs that are searching for Professor Ukrinsky (Veronique's father). This is a spoof of Home Alone. Later, the thugs mention Culkin's movies as they spank McCluckey.
- Two raptors were seen in General Rancor's headquarters. One outside that ate Slice (leader of the thugs) and one inside General Rancor's hideout. This is a spoof of Jurassic Park.
- In the fight scene at the end, Steele tags in Hulk Hogan when he is tied up and against the wall, to get him to fight for him.
Translations
- French : Agent Zéro Zéro
- Italian : Spia E Lascia Spiare
- Bulgarian: Шпионирай Трудно
- Spanish: Espía como puedas
- German: Agent 00 - Mit der Lizenz zum Totlachen
- Hungary: Drágám, add az életed!
