
U.N.C.L.E. agents Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin are sent to retrieve Dr. Kharmusi's latest invention, a death-ray called the thermal prism. In order to break into Dr. Kharmusi's secure vault, U.N.C.L.E. seeks out notorious safe cracker Luther Sebastian who is a fugitive from justice hiding in a country without extradition treaties. In exchange for an international pardon, Luther Sebastian agrees to help U.N.C.L.E. retrieve the thermal prism. Secretly, Luther Sebastian has ... (Full plot summary below)
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U.N.C.L.E. agents Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin are sent to retrieve Dr. Kharmusi's latest invention, a death-ray called the thermal prism. In order to break into Dr. Kharmusi's secure vault, U.N.C.L.E. seeks out notorious safe cracker Luther Sebastian who is a fugitive from justice hiding in a country without extradition treaties. In exchange for an international pardon, Luther Sebastian agrees to help U.N.C.L.E. retrieve the thermal prism. Secretly, Luther Sebastian has ambitions of his own regarding the new weapon. He's part of a mystical and religious group called the Third Way, that seeks world-domination and whose members and disciples wear platinum white hair. Solo makes his way to Dr. Kharmusi's fortress, Illya Kuryakin and Luther Sebastian are dropped by parachute into the area and sneak into the fortified compound at night. After a series of unforeseen incidents, crosses, double-crosses and unexpected revelations, the U.N.C.L.E. team leaves with the thermal prism while the fortress is in timer-based self-destruct mode. Victory is elusive however because Luther Sebastian double-crosses U.N.C.L.E. and steals the thermal prism. After regrouping at the U.N.C.L.E. HQ in New York, Solo tries to track Sebastian down through his ex-wife from L.A. Later, Solo adopts the typical look of a Third Way member and infiltrates that organization in the hope of finding Luther Sebastian and the thermal prism. Meanwhile, Kuryakin follows up on a tip-off leading to an abandoned L.A. stage theatre. Solo participates at the high-jacking of a U.S. rocket organized by Sebastian and the Third Way operatives. Eventually, Solo and U.N.C.L.E. discover the secret facility where Sebastian and the Third Way plan to set-up a rocket launch carrying the stolen thermal prism. Launching the thermal prism into orbit the Third Way intends to blackmail countries into paying protection money to avoid destruction. U.N.C.L.E. reinforcements arrive and storm the launch facility. The final battle pits U.N.C.L.E. reinforcements against the Third Way forces.
Leave your thoughts about The Helicopter Spies.
| User ReviewPaul DOne of the famous U.N.C.L.E. movies, based on two episodes from the TV series with the same name (1967 â?? â??The Prince of Darkness Affair, parts I and II). Amusing as the U.N.C.L.E. productions always are, they could also be described unfavourably as cheap American rip-offs of James Bond movies. Both have the adventurous spy plot, which is not always entirely to be taken seriously, the flash action scenes, the appealing foreign locations, the beautiful women, the megalomaniac criminal mastermind, the over-the-top tricks and gadgets which tend to be all too sci-fiisch, and so on, and so forth. Like the 007 spy adventures, the U.N.C.L.E. episodes and films are always guaranteed amusement. It must be said, though, that â??The helicopter spiesâ?? is not entirely flawless. Unlike a Bond movie, this one does not rank as one of the best of its genre. On the whole, the plot gets so complicated it gets fuzzy too. And the editing pace does not help the transparency of the plot either. At some points you feel youâ??ve just missed the essence of a possibly vital scene in the whole chain of events by a mere blink of your eyes. At times I thought it would be better to watch the movie a second time (which would in itself not at all be an unpleasant experience) to get my mind â??round all the details in the story, until I realized this would be silly â?? after all this is supposed to be just a piece of light entertainment, and not some object of profound study. In addition, I thought Bradford Dillman a rather unconvincing megalomaniac. True, he is villainous, but not psychopathic like a Blofeld or other such Spectre boss. And the (quasi-)religious cult thing was a rather strange addition too. Dillmanâ??s insincerity did however allow for a plot twist that makes the movie more interesting. We might have guessed it perhaps from Dillmanâ??s evasive behaviour with regard to the use of violence and from the presence of the victimized girl who wants to get even with him, but these hints are subtle enough not to give anything away and ruin our viewing experience. On the whole this one is good for a pleasant evening. |