Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery


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Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

The Theatrical Poster for Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Directed by Jay Roach
Produced by Eric McLeod
Demi Moore
Mike Myers
Claire Rudnick Polstein
Jennifer Todd
Suzanne Todd
Written by Mike Myers
Starring Mike Myers
Elizabeth Hurley
Michael York
Mimi Rogers
Robert Wagner
Music by George S. Clinton
Quincy Jones (Song: Soul Bossa Nova)
Cinematography Peter Deming
Editing by Debra Neil-Fisher
Dawn Hoggatt
Distributed by Flag of the United States New Line Cinema Flag of the United Kingdom Pathé Distribution
Release date(s) May 2, 1997
Running time 94 min
Country  United States/
 Germany
Language English
Followed by Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, released in 1997, is the first film of the Austin Powers series. It was directed by Jay Roach and written by Mike Myers who also stars in the title role. Myers also plays Dr. Evil, Austin Powers' arch-enemy. The movie co-stars Elizabeth Hurley as Vanessa Kensington, Robert Wagner as Number Two, Seth Green as Scott Evil, and Michael York as Basil Exposition. There are cameos by Will Ferrell, Carrie Fisher, Tom Arnold, Rob Lowe, Christian Slater, Neil Mullarkey, and Burt Bacharach, and an uncredited cameo by MADtv star Michael McDonald, among many others.

The film is a parody of the early James Bond films (particularly those starring Sean Connery) as well as other 1960s spy films.

The film, which cost $16.5 million, opened on May 2, 1997, to positive critical reviews. It made a modest impact at the box office, grossing US$53 million in its North American release and about US$68 million worldwide. The film later became a hit and cult classic on the home video market and cable television, spawning two more commercially successful sequels.

Contents

Plot

Dr. Evil reprimands his henchmen

The year is 1967. Dentally-challenged British gentleman spy Austin Powers and his nemesis Dr. Evil have faced each other many times during the decade. As Dr. Evil's henchmen have failed to dispose of Powers, he makes his own assassination attempt at a nightclub in London, England. Powers foils the attempt and Dr. Evil escapes in a space rocket disguised as a Bob's Big Boy statue, where he places himself in a cryogenic freezing chamber to return sometime in the future. In return, Powers volunteers to have himself placed in cryostasis in case his services are needed in the future.

Dr. Evil returns thirty years later in 1997 with new evil plans for world domination and reunites with his associates, Frau Farbissina, Mustafa (whom he soon enough kills off after "problems arose in the unfreezing process", causing his cat, Mr Bigglesworth, to lose all his fur) and Number Two. During Dr. Evil’s absence, Number Two has developed "Virtucon", the legitimate face of Dr. Evil's empire, into a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, but Dr. Evil prefers to either (a) blackmail the British Royal Family, the wealthiest landowners in the world, by fabricating an extramarital affair involving Prince Charles which would lead to divorce or (b) use several industrial lasers to punch holes in the ozone layer and cause an increase in risks of skin cancer. Yet they are both rejected by Number Two as already having occurred. Frustrated, he decides to "do what [they] always do: hijack some nuclear weapons and hold the world hostage." It is only after Dr. Evil suggests a ransom of $1 million that he learns of Virtucon's revenues, and raises the demand to $100 billion.

Having learned of the return of Dr. Evil, the British Ministry of Defence unfreezes Powers. To help him adjust to the 1990s, he is teamed with Vanessa Kensington, the daughter of his 1960s sidekick Mrs. Kensington. After being reunited with his previous belongings, which include a "Swedish-made penis-enlarger pump", a receipt for a "Swedish-made penis-enlarger pump" and a book written by Powers titled "Swedish-Made Penis Enlarger Pumps and Me (This Sort of Thing Is My Bag, Baby)", Powers and Kensington jet to Las Vegas in search of Dr. Evil. However, Powers' free love credo from the 1960s does not go down well with Kensington, who continues to resist his advances.

Number 2 and Alotta Fagina at the blackjack table

Meanwhile, Dr. Evil learns that during his absence his associates have artificially created his son, Scott, using his frozen semen. Now a Generation X teenager, Scott resents his father's absence, and they attend a "fathers and sons" group therapy session (Hosted in cameo by Carrie Fisher).

Posing as a married couple, Powers and Kensington check into a hotel and are put on the trail of Number Two, using the alias' of Richie and Oprah Cunningham. During their time in Las Vegas, Kensington gradually warms to Powers' charms, but he refuses to take advantage of her while she is intoxicated. Over a game of blackjack, Powers meets Number Two's buxom "Italian confidential private secretary," Alotta Fagina. Under instructions from the British Secret Service, Powers breaks into Fagina's penthouse apartment in search of plans for Dr. Evil's "Project Vulcan". After learning that Project Vulcan involves driving a nuclear warhead into the Earth’s molten core to trigger massive volcanic eruptions, Powers is discovered by Fagina and he watches her strip naked through the door to her bedroom. She walks out wearing nothing but a very small bathrobe, which she takes off and walks into a hot tub. Powers follows her in there, where she learns his true identity and seduces him into having sex with her. Meanwhile, Dr. Evil learns that Powers is after him, but his entourage have identified Powers' libido as his weakness and created a group of fembots; beautiful, blonde female androids equipped with automatic guns concealed in their breasts. Frau tests their new weapon on their own guards and they perform flawlessly, getting the guards to lower their guns with their physical attraction, and then killing them with their breast guns.

The British Secret Service discover that Virtucon conducts tourist tours of its headquarters, and this is considered an ideal opportunity for Powers and Kensington to infiltrate. After bamboozling a security guard to gain entrance to the restricted area, Powers and Kensington are apprehended by Dr. Evil's henchman, Random Task.

The Fembots confront Austin Powers

Dr. Evil presents his ultimatum to the United Nations (here represented by diplomats seated around a table with stereotypical international figures such as matadors and sumo wrestlers surrounding them) and they concede to his demands. However, he is so evil that he decides to keep the ransom but still destroy the world. Powers and Kensington are then placed in "an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death" from which they escape, and Kensington is sent for help.

While Project Vulcan is put into operation, Powers tries to find Dr. Evil but stumbles upon the fembots, which are in fuzzy, see-through nightgowns. They enter performing cartwheels, then jump on his shoulders, which allow them to cover him with a pink gas that "came out of their jubblies" as Powers later explained. Powers lies in bed with the fembots, as they rub their hands on him he tries to snap out of it by thinking of non-sexual things. He then snaps out of it and eventually overcomes them with the use of his "mojo" in a sex-charged striptease.

Led by Kensington, British forces raid the underground lair, and at the last moment Powers stops the doomsday device. Powers confronts Dr. Evil and is joined by Kensington, who is being held hostage by Alotta Fagina. They are interrupted by Number Two, who resents Dr. Evil's illegitimate plans after he has been so successful in the conventional business world and wishes to make a deal with Powers. Before he can, Dr. Evil (apparently) kills Number Two and seizes his opportunity to initiate the self-destruct mechanism and, once again, escapes in his cryogenic freezing chamber inside the "Big Boy" spaceship. Powers and Kensington escape in Powers' conveniently parked shaguar while the underground lair is destroyed in a nuclear explosion.

Powers and Kensington are later married, but during their honeymoon Powers is attacked by Dr. Evil's henchman, Random Task. Defeated in conventional combat, Powers subdues the assassin through the use of his "Swedish-made penis enlarger pump", allowing Kensington to knock him out with a glass bottle to the head. In a romantic moment, the couple adjourn to their balcony to observe the stars. Noticing a rather bright star, Powers pulls out a telescope to discover that it is in fact Dr. Evil's cryogenic chamber in which Dr. Evil vows to "get" Austin Powers.

Critical reception

Austin Powers received a 67% approval rating from 55 people on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie received 37 fresh reports and 18 rotten reports.

Cast

Actor Role
Mike Myers Austin Powers and Dr. Evil
Elizabeth Hurley Vanessa Kensington
Michael York Basil Exposition
Robert Wagner Number 2
Seth Green Scott Evil
Mimi Rogers Mrs. Kensington
Fabiana Udenio Alotta Fagina
Mindy Sterling Frau Farbissina
Paul Dillon Patty O'Brien
Charles Napier Commander Gilmour
Joe Son Random Task
Will Ferrell Mustafa
Carrie Fisher The group therapist (uncredited)
Monet Mazur Mod Girl
Clint Howard Radar Operator Johnson
Elya Baskin General Borschevsky
Michael McDonald Henchman flattened by steamroller (uncredited)
Lois Chiles Steamrolled henchman's wife (uncredited)
Christian Slater The easily fooled security guard
Neil Mullarkey The quartermaster clerk
Larry Thomas Casino dealer
Cindy Margolis Fembot
Cynthia Lamontagne Fembot
Brian George UN Secretary
Steve Monroe Son in Dr. Evil's therapy session
Patrick Bristow Bolton, the Virtucon Tour Guide
Tom Arnold Cowboy (uncredited)
Susanna Hoffs Ming Tea guitarist
Matthew Sweet Ming Tea band member
Mike Judge Voice of Beavis & Butt-Head
Rob Lowe Decapitated henchman's friend (uncredited)
Cheri Oteri Flight Attendant (uncredited)
Patricia Tallman Waitress at the Electric Psychedelic Pussycat Swingers Club (uncredited)
Burt Bacharach Himself

Characters

Production

Inspiration

Mike Myers has stated that he was inspired to create the character after hearing the song “The Look of Love” on the radio, which was the theme song of Ursula Andress’s character Vesper Lynd in the 1967 version of Casino Royale, and thus the film has many of the late 60s psychedelic pop culture stylings of that earlier film. Other inspirations for the character and the film include Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, the BBC series Adam Adamant Lives!, in which an Edwardian hero is frozen by his arch-enemy The Face and is revived in 1960s London, Michael Caine’s Harry Palmer character from The Ipcress File, and Peter Wyngarde’s “Jason King” character from Department S and Jason King.

Filming locations

The following is a list of known locations during the filming of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

Deleted scenes

The international release differs from the North American release, as it includes these additional scenes:

  • Evel Knievel is among the celebrities frozen in cryo-stasis alongside Austin.
  • Right after one of Dr. Evil's security guards is crushed by a steam roller driven by Austin and Vanessa, the security guard's family is notified of his death.
  • After another guard has his head eaten by piranhas, his friends (led by Rob Lowe) hosting a surprise Bachelor's Party at a Hooters are notified of his death.
  • Austin's fight with Random Task is longer, with Austin reaching for a knife, a candlestick and a coral rake during the fight.

The UK release deleted the Princess Diana joke, as the film was released on the week of her death. The joke was subsequently restored in the 2001 TV broadcast on UK's Channel 4.

In addition, many scenes cut out from the film are found on the DVD:

  • While Number 2 talks about the business ventures he created during Dr. Evil's absence, he mentions the Franklin Mint Cheeses of the World Series Commemorative Plates.
  • Austin's flirting with the lead stewardess aboard his Jumbo Jet. A portion of this scene was played in the official trailer.
  • During Austin's final confrontation with Dr. Evil, Number 2 attempts to bribe Austin with $1 billion in a Fendi briefcase. When Austin grabs just one stack of $100 bills, he notes that the money is short of a billion, to which Number 2 mentions the Fendi briefcase being part of it. They continue to argue until Dr. Evil presses the button to eliminate Number 2.
  • Three alternate endings, all of which still have Austin and Vanessa in a lifeboat.

Soundtrack

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery cover
Soundtrack
Released April 15, 1997
Genre Various
Length 57:23
Label Hollywood Records
Professional reviews
Austin Powers series chronology
Austin Powers International Man of Mystery
(1997)		 Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
(1999)

Track listing

  1. "The Magic Piper (Of Love)" - Edwyn Collins
  2. "BBC" - Ming Tea
  3. "Incense and Peppermints" - Strawberry Alarm Clock
  4. "Carnival" - The Cardigans
  5. "Mas Que Nada" - Sérgio Mendes & Brasil ’66
  6. "Female of the Species (Fembot Mix)" - Space
  7. "You Showed Me" - The Lightning Seeds
  8. "Soul Bossa Nova" - Quincy Jones and His Orchestra
  9. "These Days" - Luxury
  10. "Austin's Theme" - The James Taylor Quartet
  11. "I Touch Myself" - Divinyls
  12. "Call Me" - The Mike Flowers Pops
  13. "The Look of Love" - Susanna Hoffs
  14. "What the World Needs Now Is Love" - Burt Bacharach and The Posies
  15. "The Book Lovers" - Broadcast
  16. "Austin Powers" - Wondermints
  17. "The ‘Shag-adelic’ Austin Powers Score Medley" - George S. Clinton

A notable omission is the song "Secret Agent Man," which is played during the attack on Dr. Evil's compound.

Home video releases

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery was released to region 1 single disc "flipper disc" DVD with widescreen and full screen versions on opposing sides of the disc. The widescreen transfer is unusual in that it is a modified version of the theatrical ratio: Despite being filmed in 2.35:1 aspect ratio, on DVD it is presented as 2:1 ratio, "as specified by the director" according to the disc packaging. The film was featured in the correct theatrical aspect ratio for the first time when it was released on Blu-Ray, in the Austin Powers Collection.

All versions of the film released on home video (including VHS) have two alternate endings and a set of deleted scenes. The DVD and Blu-Ray versions feature a commentary, as well.

References

  1. ^ Mike Myers & Director's commentary on DVD.

External links

Sister project Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Austin Powers Trilogy


Preceded by
Event Horizon		 Box office number-one films of 1997 (UK)
September 7, 1997		 Succeeded by
Air Force One
v • d • e
Austin Powers series
Films
International Man of Mystery • The Spy Who Shagged Me • Goldmember
Agents
Villains
Main Cast
Games
v • d • e
Films directed by Jay Roach
1990s
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) · Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) · Mystery, Alaska (1999)
2000s
Television
Recount (2008)
sex





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