My first Kommissar X experience was the fourth film in the series, Kill Me Gently, which was something of a mess. Kiss Kiss, Kill Kill, the first in the series, is much more fun, a cheesy Bond-style espionage caper with not one, but two heroes trying to thwart a power-hungry villain out to own the world's largest gold reserve.Private detective Jo Walker (Tony Kendall) and police captain Tom Rowland (Brad Harris) investigate the disappearance of a nuclear physicist and the murder of several shady businessmen. The trail eventually leads to O'Brien (Nikola Popovic), who has been killing off his business partners in order to gain complete control of the gold that they have amassed on their island fortress.With suave protagonists, sexy women (including an army of curvaceous mind-controlled blondes), and a ruthless megalomaniac, plus lots of fisticuffs, shootouts, and an explosive finale in the baddie's lair, this is entertaining nonsense for fans of '60s spy flicks - the type of films so mercilessly spoofed by Austin Powers.

I started out thinking that this was going to be yet another poorly- executed Bond clone. But once the movie got rolling, it turned out to be a lot of fun. The two lead characters are both cool and charismatic in their own ways. There's a neat 'buddy-cop' vibe happening here; for the most part -- they're opposites. Tony Kendall's character Jo Walker resembles George Clooney (or maybe George Clooney resembles him) and Brad Harris' Tom Randall almost looks like a classic Bond villain's henchman. Of course, in these movies, he's one of the good guys.There were moments during this film that I couldn't help but think of Cowboy Bebop for some reason. Things progress at a good pace. There are plenty of the usual Bond tropes, including scorchingly hot girls, great locations, fast cars, witty dialog, close calls, a classic bad guy (complete with henchman, uber-lair, and nifty hardware), a catchy tune, descent cinematography, and surprisingly good fight scenes. In short, it was better than expected and features a great dynamic between characters.Certainly worth a look.

I've watched a bunch of Euro-Spy films recently, and few have been anywhere near as much fun as Kiss Kiss, Kill Kill. This one's got it all – a likable lead in Tony Kendall, a put-upon sidekick in Brad Harris, over-the-top gadgets, lots of beautiful women (Maria Perschy, Christa Linder, and on and on), a wonderfully entertaining villain, a cool underground lair, fight scenes galore, terrific European locations, a catchy title song, and a great explosive finale. What more could you ask for? Throw in a brainwashed army of women with matching blond hair, groovy black outfits, and machine guns (Fembots?), and you've got one heck of a cool movie. The scene with Kendall in the back of that truck surrounded by the army of gun-toting, look-alike women is just too much. Another highlight is the relationship between Kendall's Jo Walker and Harris' Captain Rowland. They're like the Odd Couple of European spies. Walker (who reminds me a little of Frank Sinatra with that hat and all) is the smooth ladies man. Rowland is the no-nonsense cop who would rather use his fists to get to the bottom of a case . They compliment one another nicely. As for the plot . . . well, the less said the better. I'll just say that it involves the murders of a number of gangsters, a missing scientist, and an attempt to by the evil O'Brien to radiate the world's gold supply. Kiss Kiss, Kill Kill may "borrow" (okay, in some instances it outright steals) a lot of ideas from Goldfinger and other James Bond movies, but it does so with its own charm and originality. The movie may start a bit slow, but once it gets going, it's just a ton of fun.If you're a fan of these 60s era Euro-Spy films, Kiss Kiss, Kill Kill is one that shouldn't be missed. Why aren't movies today this much fun?

MASTER PLAN: corner the gold market. Probably the most successful of the cheap European James Bond copies, with quite a few sequels. The hero (played by Kendall), detective Walker, resembles Sean Connery, especially when in a suit and hat, recalling the "Dr.No" days, and is more-or-less partnered with a police captain (muscular Brad Harris). The two buddies have a very healthy competition and the captain is more inclined to arrest Walker than fight alongside him at times. The plot involves the mystery of a couple of crime lords getting blown up; there are four top gangsters in all and it becomes obvious that one of them has decided to dissolve their partnership. The tone of the movie is quite cheerful throughout, almost carefree, with Walker very sure of himself and his way with the ladies, though he doesn't have all that much success, either in love or the chasing/gun battles. The film even spells out what franchise it's copying, with references to author Ian Fleming in the dialog. The first half of the film drags a little.The copycat approach becomes very blatant in the 2nd half, when it switches to the master villain's secret base and becomes, essentially, a remake of Dr.No's 2nd half and "Goldfinger." As with many such action spy thrillers, the 1st half is a standard detective story and the 2nd becomes a sci-fi adventure. As in "Goldfinger," there's a private army of female soldiers, as well as the villain's preoccupation with, you guessed it - gold. One scene is a direct rip-off of James Bond's confrontation/seduction scene with Pussy Galore, followed by a sudden rebellion by all the females - I guess Walker does have a certain charm, after all. The production values aren't too bad in this climactic section and there's actually a minor sense of grandeur by this point, recalling Dr.No's finale, though the villain's demise is a bit lame. The next Kommissar adventure was "So Darling,So Deadly." Heroes:6 Villain:5 Femme Fatales:6 Henchmen:5 Fights:5 Stunts/Chases:5 Gadgets:3 Auto:3 Locations:6 Pace:6 overall:5