Man from Uncle: The Karate Killers (4 Stars)

"The Man from Uncle" was an American television series that ran for 105 episodes from 1964 to 1968. It featured the adventures of two spies, Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum. The weekly tongue-in-cheek fast-moving international espionage makes the series seem like a low budget version of the James Bond films. This is no coincidence. Ian Fleming was hired to help design the series, and his style can be seen especially in the first year.

Although set in the age of the Cold War, this is very much an anti-Cold War series. Uncle (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement) is a secret organisation that relies on international cooperation. The organisation is based in New York, but Illya Kuryakin is a Russian agent. No, not a dissident, we occasionally hear him making statements in favour of Communism. He is a loyal Russian patriot who has been assigned to Uncle to aid them in battling global threats. The main threat comes from the evil organisation Thrush. Unlike "Uncle", we never find out what "Thrush" stands for.

As far as I know, the Man from Uncle films are all re-edited versions of television episodes. The scenes were extended by adding out-takes, usually involving short nude scenes that were "too hot for TV". The plot for this film is typical for the not-so-serious nature of the series.

A scientist has accidentally stumbled on a formula to extract gold from sea water. He wants to hand the formula over to Uncle, but since he is afraid that an evil power -- in this case Thrush -- could get their hands on it he scatters the formula "to the four winds". Dr. True's wife has been divorced four times, and she has a daughter from all five marriages. The doctor sends a signed photo of himself to his four step-daughters, who live in four different countries. Each photo contains a segment of the formula. Napoleon and Illya have to reach the four girls before Thrush gets to them. The four girls are totally different; the only thing they have in common is that they are all fast to lose their clothes. But the fifth girl, his own daughter, is the one who unknowingly holds the key to interpreting the formula.

This is light-hearted fun. If you like the early James Bond films you'll enjoy this as well, even though it's been shot on a much smaller budget.