OSS 117: Terror in Tokyo Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

OSS 117: Terror in Tokyo 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.)

One of the unexpectedly snarky delights of a commentary track on You Only Live Twice was hearing the inimitable John Barry talk about having to "comp" Nancy Sinatra's vocal on the theme virtually syllable by syllable, since she evidently was not the most agile singer with whom Barry had worked. There's no Sinatra and no Barry on hand here, but rather interestingly Terror in Tokyo presages the better known Bond outing not just with its Asian setting (very well utilized here, as with the previous Rio entry) but even some of the individual moments in the film. It's obvious that the slam bang ambience of many of the 007 films influenced this outing, and it's notable that Terence Young, who directed Dr. No, From Russia with Love and Thunderball, has a co-writing credit on this film.

As with Frederick Stafford's previous outing playing the superspy, OSS 117: Mission for a Killer, this film probably shows both his deficits as an actor as well as his perhaps surprisingly facile abilities in some of the action scenes. The plot here revolves around a convoluted blackmail plot that plays out within the somewhat hilarious context of miniature bombs, in what might be a subliminal nod (among others) to the typical Bond gadgetry. As with some of the other entries in this series, OSS 117 has to figure out whether various women are allies or enemies, not that it ever makes much difference in terms of how he chases after them or indeed how they respond. Marina Vlady plays the main source of OSS 117's amorous advances in this film.

OSS 117: Terror in Tokyo Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

OSS 117: Terror in Tokyo is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. (This film and OSS 117: Mission for a Killer are paired on one disc.) To my eyes this is the single best looking transfer in the bunch, with some really appealing fine detail levels and a more consistently natural looking palette than in the other admittedly generally great looking color films included in this set. The use of Tokyo locales gives the film some great background material, and outdoor scenes in particular pop with considerable authority. Grain resolves without any issues. My score is 4.25.

OSS 117: Terror in Tokyo Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

OSS 117: Terror in Tokyo features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track that can occasionally be just a trifle thin sounding, as in some of the gunfire in the opening sequence, but which offers other sound effects ranging from helicopter rotors to explosions with a bit more energy. While nowhere near as compelling as John Barry's work for You Only Live Twice, Michel Magne offers a rather colorful pop inflected score which is well presented. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

OSS 117: Terror in Tokyo 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: Terror in Tokyo Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

OSS 117: Terror in Tokyo can't help but draw comparisons to You Only Live Twice, though of course this film came first. That said, this is easily the most "Bond suffused" entry in the films collected for this set, which ironically may not be a good thing, considering the somewhat more tamped down and slower paced approach the OSS 117 films tend to have. Technical merits are solid for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.