The Man Called Flintstone

Since I was a mere tot of 3 when THE MAN CALLED FLINTSTONE was in theaters, I first discovered it when our local ABC TV affiliate showed it yearly on Thanksgiving morning. It became my fave thing about Turkey Day next to the Macy's parade, and when it became available on home video a few years ago, I found I still loved it! Lovable loudmouth Fred Flintstone is recruited by spymaster Chief Boulder to fill in for injured Fred lookalike Rock Slag, the James Bond of the Stone Age, to capture the megalomaniacal "Green Goose." Wacky hijinks ensue as Fred's chased all over "Eurock" by sinister yet bumbling henchmen and slinky glamour gals (the only people in the movie who wear shoes!) while trying to keep Wilma and the Rubbles in the dark about his new "Spy Type Guy" temp job. The spy spoofery ranges from grinworthy to hilarious, the songs are catchy, the voice work is delightful--what's not to like? Best of all for me, now that my toddler daughter has discovered...FLINTSTONE, I don't have to wait for Thanksgiving to watch it (and you know how often little kids watch their fave videos! ;-)!

The 1994 big screen version of "The Flintstones" was undeniably atrocious, so if you want a decent "Flintstones" movie, then "The Man Called Flintstone" works (if only marginally). The plot has secret agent Rock Slang, who just happens to be Fred Flinstone's doppelganger, getting injured and replaced with Fred. This not only complicates Fred's vacation plans, but makes him the target of spies Ali and Bobo (fortunately for Fred, these guys are beyond incompetent). In the end, Fred's big mission is to stop master criminal Green Goose from destroying the world.

Okay, so this movie won't challenge your mind or anything (and I guess that it does go overboard at times), but at least it's not a travesty of the show (I can't say the same for the 1994 movie). This one passes.

just bought this on DVD and have noticed a few dialogue additions and changes throughout that add approx 1 minute to the overall running time. These are mostly attributed to the Ali and Bobo characters. Usually "punchlines" to the on screen action and feature Ali laughing at Bobo's mishaps and vice versa. Possibly removed when originally shown to speed up the movie but if this movie was released today, would definitely be cut for stereotyping our "foreign" friends! nice movie with good songs but nowhere near as funny as it could have been either as a 007 spoof OR as a big screen Flintstones opportunity! Flintstone fan

I always thought the scripts for "The Flintstones" TV show were a cut above the usual cartoon. Rife with satirical humor and cutting jabs, many of the episodes made my parents laugh as often as us kids. Too bad, then, that Fred Flintstone's big-screen spy-adventure is loud instead of funny, hectic instead of witty, and woefully extended. Like three sub-par television installments strung together, this trip to Eurock has no juice. The Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm fantasy number is cute, but Fred--mistaken for a spy--takes up too much of the on-screen time. And what's with that title? Since the movie poster has Fred seated backwards in a chair à la James Coburn, I would imagine "In Like Flint-stone" or "Our Man Flint-stone" would be more in keeping with the spy scenario (and more clever, too). ** from ****

There is so much padding here that the movie seems to last three hours instead of one and a half. The plot parts are fine, with some good gags and an okay spy spoof story, but the songs are just interminable. The kids one has cute animation but serves no purpose to the plot and slows the movie to a crawl. If they'd cut out all the songs, you'd have a decent movie here, but with them it's just bleh.