Condorman

"Condorman" is not a great movie. However, it is a lot of fun to watch. "Condorman" follows cartoonist Woody Wilkins (Michael Crawford), an eccentric who refuses to have his hero, Condorman, do anything in a comic book that he himself hasn't done in real life. The acting is predictably predictable, but still fun. Aside from Crawford, the other characters include a ravishing Barbera Carrera as the gorgeous Russian spy Wilkins falls for, and Oliver Reed as her "old fling". If for no other reason than to see a pre-"Phantom" Crawford in an outrageous role, this movie is worth at least a look.

Ratings are almost entirely about perspective. Is this really an 8 star movie? Of course not. But it also depends on which version of me you ask.

5 year old me in 1981 - 10 stars!!!!!!! 40something year old me in 2019 - Eh, 6 stars seems fair. Average rating - 8*

Condorman was easily one of my 5 favorite movies as a young child. I watched it so many times I wore out a few VHS tapes. There isn't a lot about the movie that really holds up and I gotta imagine that if you showed it to a child today, they'd probably lose interest in it fairly quickly. Some of the humor is very dated and wouldn't make any sense to anyone who wasn't actually alive at the time. And the special effects, which looked totally real to 5 year old me, are painfully bad to 40+ year old me and would probably be terrible to the eyes of anyone who has grown up only knowing CGI. That said, it was then and still is now, a really fun movie that stays in its lane and doesn't try to be anything more than what it is.

If you're looking for something to engage your 5-10 year old kid, there's a sliiiiiight chance this might do it for them, but chances are the only people who would really enjoy this movie today are people who saw it when it was released. Grab some popcorn and a side order of childhood nostalgia and enjoy.

Condorman,wow....the film that made a childhood. It was THE Easter/Summer/Christmas/Half Term movie of a generation. Back in the 80's this film was ALWAYS on TV in the UK. Now,you hardly see it, its a disgrace (to my knowledge the last time it was on was at 5am on a Saturday morning on BBC1).Kids today have no idea what their missing,this was superhero movie magic at its best.....no...really...it was. It starred Michael (Phantom,Some Mothers) Crawford as Woody, a comic book artist who turned into his creation (Conderman) in order to rescue the beautiful (when your 10) Barbara Carrera from the clutches of the evil Hannibal (played in ultimate OTT mode by Oliver Reed... What i find more upsetting is that this masterpiece isn't available for us in the UK (Video or DVD). So,why,with the current trend for making Comic Book movies at a high,does nobody take a chance and offer this classic a remake!! Think about it..its got to be better than Daredevil,The Punisher, Batman and Robin and as for Catwoman,don't get me started!!. Question is,who could replace the Wonderful Crawford,Reed,Carrera?? Well the part of Natalia (Carrera) could go to somebody like,umm,lets say Hilary Swank.........Hannibal (Reed),needs to be one mean SOB,so how about Vernon Wells (Bennett in Commando, bad guy,bad string vest,back moustache,perfick!) and last but by no means least the part of Woody Wilkins.....well Vin Diesel needs a Hit!!!! But i feel the acting part of the role may be too much for him, so lets get Jeremy Irons on board!!! COME ON Hollywood GET WITH IT!!!!!!

If the best James Bond movie had a "G" rating, it might very well have looked liked "Condorman". It has all of the cool gadgets, world-wide locations, a sexy femme fatale, creepy Russain villains, and best of all, some of the coolest car and boat chase sequences on film. Keep in mind that this is a kids movie, so the humor level is elementary, but nonetheless funny. The acting is over-the-top and cartoonish, but regardlessly enjoyable. Everyone looking for a fun, fast-paced adventure movie should check out this movie.

Being a superhero flick made by Walt Disney Productions, one couldn’t expect the violent thrills associated with the genre – but, then, neither was it the kiddie-oriented fare I was dreading. In fact, it’s more espionage stuff (the narrative occurs in a variety of European locations) in clear imitation of the James Bond extravaganzas, complete with multi-purpose car, than outright fantasy (the hero is a mild-mannered cartoonist and the “Condorman” outfit emerges to be decidedly quaint, getting very little mileage into the bargain!).

Still, it’s engaging and pleasant-looking for what it is – though the simplistic “Condorman” theme wouldn’t rank among famed composer Henry Mancini’s most memorable pieces. The cast enters gleefully into the absurd spirit of the thing: Michael Crawford as the unlikely hero; Barbara Carrera as a luscious defecting Russian agent (she would eventually feature in the “Odd Bond Out” of that series i.e. NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN [1983]); Oliver Reed, a bit glum but at least non-hammy as the chief villain; James Hampton as Crawford’s C.I.A. agent pal; Jean-Pierre Kalfon as Reed’s top henchman, a one-eyed menace; and Dana Elcar as the C.I.A. operative who unwittingly puts “Condorman” on the map.

Typically, we get a number of disguises (at one point, both Crawford and Hampton don the garbs of Arab sheiks!), chases (on land and sea) and stunts (directed by the ubiquitous Remy Julienne) – not to mention romance (Crawford, of course, falls for Carrera and models his fictional “Laser Lady” character on her!). Incidentally, while we’re obviously not treated to an action prologue here like in the Bond films, we’re given an animated sequence instead – which is a nice way of acknowledging the film’s comic-strip aspect. Finally, I wouldn’t say that CONDORMAN is hilarious…but it does contain one good in-joke – a crack by Hampton that “not everyone in the C.I.A. is Robert Redford”, clearly a reference (and a very apt one given the title!) to that star’s own espionage venture THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975).