Spy Hard
Encyclopedia
Spy Hard is a 1996 American spy
Spy film
The spy film genre deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way or as a basis for fantasy . Many novels in the spy fiction genre have been adapted as films, including works by John Buchan, John Le Carré, Ian Fleming and Len Deighton...

 comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...

 starring Leslie Nielsen
Leslie Nielsen
Leslie William Nielsen, OC was a Canadian and naturalized American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in more than one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying more than 220 characters...

 and Nicollette Sheridan
Nicollette Sheridan
Nicollette Sheridan is an English film and television actress. She is best known for her roles as Edie Britt on Desperate Housewives and as Paige Matheson on Knots Landing.-Early life:...

, parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...

ing James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

 films and other action film
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...

s. The introduction to the song is sung by comedy artist "Weird Al" Yankovic

Plot

Secret agent
Secret Agent
Secret Agent is a British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on two stories in Ashenden: Or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham. The film starred John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young...

 WD-40
WD-40
WD-40 is the trademark name of a United States-made water-displacing spray. It was developed in 1953 by Norm Larsen, founder of the Rocket Chemical Company, San Diego, California. It was originally designed to repel water and prevent corrosion, and later was found to have numerous household...

 Dick Steele (Leslie Nielsen
Leslie Nielsen
Leslie William Nielsen, OC was a Canadian and naturalized American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in more than one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying more than 220 characters...

) has his work cut out for him. Along with the mysterious and lovely Veronique Ukrinsky, Agent 3.14
Pi
' is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve , which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants...

, he must rescue the kidnapped Barbara Dahl and stop the evil genius, a General named Rancor (Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...

), from seizing control of the entire 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. Steele is talked out of retirement by an old friend, agent Steven Bishop, and given his new assignment by The Director (Charles Durning
Charles Durning
Charles Durning is an American actor. With appearances in over 100 films, Durning's memorable roles include police officers in the Oscar-winning The Sting and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon , along with the comedies Tootsie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the last two...

), who also is testing out a new variety of disguises. At headquarters, Steele encounters an old agency nemesis, Norm Coleman (Barry Bostwick
Barry Bostwick
Barry Knapp Bostwick is an American actor and singer. He is known for playing Brad Majors in the 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, replacing Peter Scolari as Mr. Tyler in the sitcom What I Like About You, and playing mayor Randall Winston in the sitcom Spin City...

), and flirts with the Director's adoring secretary, referred to as Miss Cheevus (Marcia Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden is an American film and theatre actress. Harden's breakthrough role was in Miller's Crossing and then The First Wives Club which was followed by several roles which gained her wider fame including the hit comedy Flubber and Meet Joe Black...

).

On the job, Steele is assisted by an agent named Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

 (John Ales
John Ales
John Ales is an American actor best known for appearing in Spy Hard, The Nutty Professor, You Wish, and more.-Film:*Crime Killer ... Kids*Spy Hard ... Kabul*The Nutty Professor ... Jason...

), who gives him rides in a never-ending variety of specially designed cars. They seek help from McLuckey (Mason Gamble
Mason Gamble
Mason Wilson Gamble is an American actor known for his portrayal of Dennis Mitchell in the 1993 film Dennis the Menace and as Jason Schwartzman's sidekick, Dirk Calloway, in Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson's critically acclaimed 1998 film Rushmore. He also appeared in Anya's Bell with Della Reese,...

), a small blonde child, home alone
Home Alone
Home Alone is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. The film stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, an eight-year-old boy, who is mistakenly left behind when his family flies to Paris for their Christmas vacation...

, who is very good at fending off intruders. Steele resists the temptations of a dangerous woman (Alexandra Paul
Alexandra Paul
Alexandra Elizabeth Paul is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Lt. Stephanie Holden in the television series Baywatch from 1992–97. She has starred in over 60 movies and television programs.-Personal life:...

) he finds waiting for him in bed. But he does work very closely with Agent 3.14 (Nicollette Sheridan
Nicollette Sheridan
Nicollette Sheridan is an English film and television actress. She is best known for her roles as Edie Britt on Desperate Housewives and as Paige Matheson on Knots Landing.-Early life:...

), whose father, Professor Ukrinsky (Elya Baskin), is also being held captive by Rancor.

Everything comes to an explosive conclusion at the General's remote fortress, where Steele rescues both Barbara Dahl (Stephanie Romanov
Stephanie Romanov
Stephanie A. Romanov is an American model and actress, best known for playing Lilah Morgan on Angel.-Career:She first began modeling in Europe and was discovered at 15 by Elite Model Management founder, John Casablancas. Her first professional modeling job was in Europe, shooting fashion layouts...

) and Miss Cheevus and launches a literally disarmed Rancor into outer space, saving mankind.

Cast

  • Leslie Nielsen
    Leslie Nielsen
    Leslie William Nielsen, OC was a Canadian and naturalized American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in more than one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying more than 220 characters...

     as Dick Steele, WD-40
    WD-40
    WD-40 is the trademark name of a United States-made water-displacing spray. It was developed in 1953 by Norm Larsen, founder of the Rocket Chemical Company, San Diego, California. It was originally designed to repel water and prevent corrosion, and later was found to have numerous household...

  • Nicollette Sheridan
    Nicollette Sheridan
    Nicollette Sheridan is an English film and television actress. She is best known for her roles as Edie Britt on Desperate Housewives and as Paige Matheson on Knots Landing.-Early life:...

     as Veronique Ukrinsky, Agent 3.14
    Pi
    ' is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. is approximately equal to 3.14. Many formulae in mathematics, science, and engineering involve , which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants...

  • Charles Durning
    Charles Durning
    Charles Durning is an American actor. With appearances in over 100 films, Durning's memorable roles include police officers in the Oscar-winning The Sting and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon , along with the comedies Tootsie, To Be Or Not To Be and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the last two...

     as The Director
  • Marcia Gay Harden
    Marcia Gay Harden
    Marcia Gay Harden is an American film and theatre actress. Harden's breakthrough role was in Miller's Crossing and then The First Wives Club which was followed by several roles which gained her wider fame including the hit comedy Flubber and Meet Joe Black...

     as Miss Cheevus
  • Barry Bostwick
    Barry Bostwick
    Barry Knapp Bostwick is an American actor and singer. He is known for playing Brad Majors in the 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, replacing Peter Scolari as Mr. Tyler in the sitcom What I Like About You, and playing mayor Randall Winston in the sitcom Spin City...

     as Norm Coleman
  • John Ales
    John Ales
    John Ales is an American actor best known for appearing in Spy Hard, The Nutty Professor, You Wish, and more.-Film:*Crime Killer ... Kids*Spy Hard ... Kabul*The Nutty Professor ... Jason...

     as Kabul
  • Andy Griffith
    Andy Griffith
    Andy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...

     as General Rancor
  • Elya Baskin as Professor Ukrinsky
  • Mason Gamble
    Mason Gamble
    Mason Wilson Gamble is an American actor known for his portrayal of Dennis Mitchell in the 1993 film Dennis the Menace and as Jason Schwartzman's sidekick, Dirk Calloway, in Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson's critically acclaimed 1998 film Rushmore. He also appeared in Anya's Bell with Della Reese,...

     as McLuckey
  • Carlos Lauchu as Slice
  • Stephanie Romanov
    Stephanie Romanov
    Stephanie A. Romanov is an American model and actress, best known for playing Lilah Morgan on Angel.-Career:She first began modeling in Europe and was discovered at 15 by Elite Model Management founder, John Casablancas. Her first professional modeling job was in Europe, shooting fashion layouts...

     as Victoria and Barbara Dahl
  • Dr. Joyce Brothers as Steele's Tag Team Member
  • Ray Charles
    Ray Charles
    Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...

     as Bus Driver
  • Hulk Hogan
    Hulk Hogan
    Terrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....

     as tag-team wrestlers
    Tag team
    Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...

  • Roger Clinton
    Roger Clinton, Jr.
    Roger Cassidy Clinton is an American actor and musician and the half-brother of former President Bill Clinton.Roger Clinton was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas , the son of Virginia Clinton Kelley and Roger M...

     as Agent Clinton
  • Robert Culp
    Robert Culp
    Robert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...

     as Businessman
  • Fabio Lanzoni
    Fabio Lanzoni
    Fabio Lanzoni ; born March 15, 1959), widely known simply as Fabio, is a famous international Italian fashion model, spokesperson and actor who appeared on the cover of hundreds of romance novels throughout the 1980s and 1990s....

     As Fabio as Himself
  • Robert Guillaume
    Robert Guillaume
    Robert "Bob" Guillaume is an American stage and television actor, best known for his role as Benson Du Bois on the TV-series Soap and the spin-off Benson, voicing the mandrill Rafiki in The Lion King and as Isaac Jaffe on Sports Night...

     as Steven Bishop
  • Pat Morita
    Pat Morita
    Noriyuki "Pat" Morita was an American actor of Japanese descent who was well-known for playing the roles of Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on Happy Days and Mr. Miyagi in the The Karate Kid movie series, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1984.-Early life:Pat...

     as Brian the Waiter
  • Alexandra Paul
    Alexandra Paul
    Alexandra Elizabeth Paul is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Lt. Stephanie Holden in the television series Baywatch from 1992–97. She has starred in over 60 movies and television programs.-Personal life:...

     as Woman in bed
  • Mr. T
    Mr. T
    Mr. T is an American actor known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series The A-Team, as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film Rocky III, and for his appearances as a professional wrestler. Mr. T is known for his trademark African Mandinka warrior hairstyle, his gold jewelry,...

     as a helicopter pilot
  • Alex Trebek
    Alex Trebek
    George Alexander "Alex" Trebek is a Canadian American game show host who has been the host of the game show Jeopardy! since 1984, and prior to that, he hosted game shows such as Pitfall and High Rollers. He has appeared in numerous television series, usually as himself...

     as Agency Tape Recorder (voice)
  • Taylor Negron
    Taylor Negron
    Brad Taylor Negron is an American writer, actor, and stand-up comedian.-Personal life:Negron was born in Glendale, California to Conrad Negron, Sr., former mayor of Indian Wells, California. He grew up in Pasadena, California. His cousin is singer Chuck Negron...

     as Painter
  • Curtis Armstrong
    Curtis Armstrong
    Curtis Armstrong is an American actor best known for his portrayal as Booger in the Revenge of the Nerds movies, as Herbert Viola on Moonlighting, and as famed record producer Ahmet Ertegün in the film Ray.-Early life:...

     as Pastry chef
  • Tina Arning as Dancer #1
  • William Barillaro as Blind Driver
  • Michael Berryman
    Michael Berryman
    Michael John Berryman is an American actor. He has appeared in several horror movies and other B movies. Berryman is famous for having a distinctive physical appearance as a result of hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, a rare genetic condition which prevents him from developing hair, sweat glands...

     as the man with the oxygen mask
  • Downtown Julie Brown
    Downtown Julie Brown
    Julie Dorne Brown, also known as Downtown Julie Brown , is an English actress and former MTV VJ.Of mixed race, Brown's father, Valentine Brown, was Jamaican and her mother, Doreen, is white...

     as Cigarette Girl
  • Stephen Burrows
    Stephen Burrows
    Stephen Burrows, aka Stephen Dale Burrows, Steve Burrows, etc., is a writer/director/actor in many movies, including Chump Change and Spy Hard.-Actor:* The Soldier of Fortune as Steve* My Father the Hero as Hakim...

     as Agent Burrows
  • Keith Campbell as Thug #2
  • Carl Ciarfalio as Thug #1
  • Brad Grunberg as Postal Worker
  • Wayne Cotter
    Wayne Cotter
    Wayne Cotter is an American stand-up comedian.Cotter attended the University of Pennsylvania where he studied electrical engineering. After college, he became a comedian and made appearances on The Tonight Show, Late Show with David Letterman, and Politically Incorrect...

     as Male Dancer
  • Rick Cramer as Heimlich, Rancor Terrorist
  • Eddie Deezen
    Eddie Deezen
    Eddie Deezen is an American character actor, voice actor and comedian, best known for his bit parts as nerd characters in 1970s and 1980s films such as Grease, Grease 2, Midnight Madness, 1941 and WarGames, as well as for larger roles in a number of independent cult films, including Surf II: The...

     as Rancor guard that gets spit on
  • Joey Dente as Goombah, Dead Wise Guy
  • Paul Eliopoulos as Agent #1
  • Andrew Chr*stian English as Paratrooper
  • Johnny G as Agent #2
  • Michael Lee Gogin (Brad Garrett
    Brad Garrett
    Bradley "Brad" Garrett is an American actor, voice actor, stand-up comedian, and professional poker player. Throughout he has appeared in numerous television and film roles....

    , voice) as Short Rancor guard
  • Bruce Gray
    Bruce Gray
    Bruce Gray is a Puerto Rican-born Canadian actor.-Early years:Gray was born Robert Bruce Gray in San Juan, Puerto Rico to Canadian parents...

     as The President
  • John Kassir as Rancor guard at intercom
  • Sally Stevens as Vocal conductor/singer
  • Thuy Trang
    Thuy Trang
    Thuy Trang was a Vietnamese American actress. She was best known for her role as Trini Kwan, the original Yellow Ranger in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television series.-Early life:...

     as a Hawaiian-dressed waitress
  • "Weird Al" Yankovic
    "Weird Al" Yankovic
    Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...

     as Himself in title sequence

Title sequence

"Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...

 sings the title song and directed the title sequence. It is a parody of title sequences from the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

 films designed by Maurice Binder
Maurice Binder
Maurice Binder was a film title designer best known for his work on 14 James Bond films including the first, Dr. No in 1962 and for Stanley Donen's films from 1958. He was born in New York City, USA, but mostly worked in Britain from the 1950s onwards...

, specifically 1965's Thunderball
Thunderball (film)
Thunderball is the fourth spy film in the James Bond series starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original screenplay by Jack Whittingham...

, complete with multiple colored backgrounds, silhouetted figures, women dancing with guns, and "wavy" text. Additionally, an urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...

 states that during the recording of the theme to Thunderball, Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...

 held the song's final note long enough to pass out. Yankovic holds it so long that his head explodes. 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 sequence was later included on "Weird Al" Yankovic: The Ultimate Video Collection, although, for legal reasons, all credits and titles had to be taken out, excluding that of the film and of Yankovic himself.

Critical reaction

Reviews of Spy Hard were predominantly negative. The film received a "rotten" rating of 6% on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

 based on 31 reviews and a 3.3/10 rating. James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli is an American online film critic.-Personal life:Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and spent his early childhood in Morristown, New Jersey. At the age of nine years, he relocated to the township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey...

 of ReelViews wrote: "Director Rick Friedberg [...] has crafted a dreadfully unfunny comedy that takes Naked Gun-like sketches and rehashes them without a whit of style or energy. ... "Hard" is the operative word here, because, even at just eighty-one minutes, this movie is unbelievably difficult to sit through." Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...

 of New York Times wrote: ""Spy Hard" is never funnier than during its opening credit sequence in which Weird Al Yankovic bellows his parody of the brassy theme song from "Goldfinger," while obese cartoon silhouettes swim across the screen. ... Without looking at where it's aiming, it opens fire and sprays comic bullets in all directions, trusting that a few will hit the bull's-eye. A few do, but many more don't. ... When "Spy Hard" abruptly ends after only 81 minutes, you sense that it has used up every last round of available ammunition. It was simply exhausted and couldn't move another inch." Mick La Salle of San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...

 wrote: "It's done in the style of the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker "Naked Gun" series, but although the style is there, the jokes aren't. ... Nielsen, with his expert deadpan and sense of comic timing, creates the illusion of humor -- for about 15 minutes. Thanks to him, what could have been an unbearable experience becomes merely empty. Still, he can't work miracles, and nothing short of a miracle could have made "Spy Hard" worth seeing." A positive review came from Barbara Shulgasser of San Francisco Examiner who wrote: "This movie may not be brilliant, but every now and then it's really funny."

Box office

The film opened at #3 with $10,448,420 behind Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible (film)
Mission: Impossible is a 1996 action thriller directed by Brian De Palma and starring Tom Cruise. Following on from the television series of the same name, the plot follows a new agent, Ethan Hunt and his mission to uncover the mole within the CIA who has framed him for the murders of his entire...

s opening weekend and Twister
Twister (film)
Twister is a 1996 American disaster/thriller film starring Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt as "storm chasers" researching tornadoes. It was directed by Jan de Bont. The film was based upon a script by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin. Its executive producers were Steven Spielberg, Walter Parkes,...

s third. It eventually grossed $26,960,191 at the box office.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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