6.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, aka secret agent OSS 117, sets out to stop an evil scientist about to unleash a virulent biological strain on the world that he developed during experiments on rats.
Starring: Kerwin Mathews, Robert Hossein, Pier Angeli, Dominique Wilms, Gamil RatibForeign | 100% |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
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.)
OSS 117: Panic in Bangkok is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. (This film and OSS 117 Is Unleashed are paired on one disc.) This first color entry in the collection looks great for the most part in high definition, though color timing looked just a tad yellowish to me at times, as can perhaps be gleaned in some of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review. A lot of the outdoor material pops extremely well, and the locations offer some extremely nice scenery along the way. The 'scope aspect ratio tends to understandably lead to more midrange and wide shots, but detail levels are very good throughout. Grain resolves without any issues.
OSS 117: Panic in Bangkok features DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono audio in the original French. The use of locations offers some nice energy to the sound design in terms of both "cultural" aspects like background urban clamor and even some of the music. Other sound effects like the crunch of fists colliding with faces can be just slightly boxy at times. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
The only supplements included in this collection are some trailers found on OSS 117: Double Agent. See that review for details.
There's some kind of goofy fun to be had in this second Kerwin Mathews OSS 117 film (I especially loved his showdown in the lab with the mind control doctor), but there's a certain lethargy in this outing that suggests the creative staff thought all that was needed here to duplicate the first Mathews film's success was a larger budget and nicer color photography. While the pacing here is a bit inconsistent, technical merits are generally solid for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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