Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

OSS 117 Is Unleashed Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 3, 2024

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Kino Lorber's OSS 117: Five Film Collection release.

Someone thought it would be a good idea to reinvent Jean Bruce's iconic spy OSS 117 as a blundering oaf, with the result being what I personally found to be the surprisingly unfunny OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies and OSS 117: Lost in Rio. As I mentioned in my OSS 117 Blu-ray review, while anyone who sees a spy with two repeated digits and then a seven in their codename might naturally instantly think of, um, someone else, Bruce's creation actually predates Ian Fleming's work both in the book arena and the film world. Perhaps for licensing issues, the very first OSS 117 film, 1957's OSS 117 n'est pas mort, is not included here (and just as weirdly, it's not even in our database, which is why I linked to its IMDb listing). That particular outing featured Ivan Desny as Bruce's perhaps unfortunately named spy (officially Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath), but starting with 1963's OSS 117 se déchaîne, Kerwin Mathews took over the role for two films, followed by lookalike Frederick Stafford for the next two, and then by stalwart John Gavin for the final film in this collection, 1968's Pas de roses pour OSS 117. (Kind of interestingly in the trivia department, both Stafford and Gavin seem to be relatively "forgotten" Hitchcock actors.)

It's probably salient to note that while as mentioned above Jean Bruce's creations and their cinematic adaptations predate Fleming's, there was a six year gap between OSS 117 n'est pas mort and this film, and there's probably little doubt that the success of Dr. No in 1962 probably jumpstarted a "series" that had been moribund for quite some time. Anyone expecting Bond level antics or even production values may be slightly disappointed with OSS 117 Is Unleashed, though the film has some fun moments and Mathews makes for an appealing hero. A narrated prologue alerts early sixties viewers to the horrors of an impending atomic catastrophe, suggesting that nuclear powered subs are the answer to the world's problems (who knew?) while also making coastlines a target for espionage, since folks near the oceans might be better able to figure out where any hidden enemy submarines might be.

That brings OSS 117 to the gorgeous cliffs of Bonifacio, where he's almost instantly involved in intrigue surrounding deep sea divers and the suspicious death of another agent while on one of those very dives. The "mystery" here is frankly not all that compelling, and the villains are a bit on the cartoonish side (which actually kind of humorously may recall the early Bond films), but the location photography is great. OSS 117 shares at least one thing with Bond, James Bond, in that he's apparently not only irresistible to women but is rather "incorrect" (to modern day sensibilities) in how he goes about romancing them.

OSS 117 Is Unleashed Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

OSS 117 Is Unleashed is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. (This film and OSS 117: Panic in Bangkok are paired on one disc.) The sole black and white entry in the Kino Lorber OSS 117 collection looks rather nice in high definition, though aspects like a lot of pretty low grade stock footage in the opening moments and some later occasional murkiness in a number of underwater sequences may lessen the overall appeal. Detail levels are typically quite good, and actually excellent in some close-ups (see screenshot 8 for one example). Contrast is mostly solid, arguably faltering just a bit in those aforementioned underwater moments and a few other dimly lit interior scenes. Grain can be rather heavy at times, but encounters no real resolution issues. My score is 3.75.

OSS 117 Is Unleashed Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

OSS 117 Is Unleashed features a fine sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track. There's no bombastic John Barry music, and in fact the score is kind of jazz combo-esque a lot of the time, but everything boasts decent fidelity if not huge dynamic range. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. It appeared to me that Mathews is probably dubbed, though to my somewhat French attuned eyes, it kind of looks like he actually was speaking French on set, at least at times, judging by his lip movements. Perhaps his accent wasn't all that it should have been, but there is definitely some loose sync with regard to his dialogue in particular. All of that said, dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

OSS 117 Is Unleashed Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The only supplements included in this collection are some trailers found on OSS 117: Double Agent. See that review for details.

OSS 117 Is Unleashed Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If one agrees with my assessment above that the success of Dr. No may have helped spark a new interest in OSS 117, it's maybe just a little odd that this film was shot in black and white and doesn't offer the same whiz bang gadgetry that tends to make so many of the Connery Bond outings in particular so enjoyable. Taken on its own merits, though, this provides some fun plotting and the scenery is often quite sumptuous. Technical merits are generally solid, and OSS 117 Is Unleashed comes Recommended.