7 replies to this topic

[Suivez ce parachute]

Well, I did all the searches I could and find nothing on this forum about OSS 117, a French movie released last year, now available on DVD. Quite hard to really describe what it is (it's a "spoof", but made as if it was made in the 60's, and everybody involved seems to be a fan of the genre, so it edges on the tribute). The "Mambo" excerpt below gives a good feeling of the movie, I feel.

First, the trailer :

OSS117 trailer

Now that the DVD has been realized, there are some images on Youtube, but given the success of the movie and of the DVD, I think the studio does not really care. Watch out, some of the excerpts on YouTube are spoilers (but none of those I gave are).

The mambo scene, first it looks like a dance scene from a spy movie, and then OSS 117 shows his inner child after all.

Mambo

A battle of wit, it's full of French, but even if you're French you don't see much point in the lines they say, but they all feel they have to outwit the others - excerpt one (no, not OSS this time !)

Battle of wit

The restaurant scene, in which OSS 117 uses all his skills not to blow his cover while keeping an eye on the girl and one of the baddies.

Restaurant

And now something quite fun, made by a 15 years old (!) OSS 117 and/or Bond fan : he used the Casino Royale teaser music and sounds (with French voiceovers), and digged through the OSS 117 movie to find similar short clips. Some details are spot-on (ex : when Bond removes his glasses on the teaser, you see OSS 117 doing the same. When le Chiffre tears the card, you see a OSS 117 baddie doing the same. etc.. etc..). Quite impressive.

OSS OO7 or Bond 117 ?

[bill007]

I've heard about this at Wiki and IMDB. Seems legit enough, won a few awards, and such. Looks to be well made. I bet the folks in the French Corner thread would like to hear about this, if they haven't already.

[ACE]

C'est incroyable!

A very, very, very good Bond pastiche, beautiful shot in loving 1960's style. Highly, highly recommended for those fans who never stopped swingin' and those with decidedly Gallic tastes!

[spynovelfan]

OSS 117 was created by Jean Bruce in 1949 and was an extremely successful and long-running series of novels, selling millions of copies in francophone territories. Bruce died in a high-speed car crash in 1963. As Bondmania hit, a few of his books were cannibalised for Bond knock-off films, starring the likes of John Gavin. But the original books, while written in rather more straightforward prose than Fleming's, stand up as taut spy thrillers in their own right. There's a very good site on the history of the series, with info on the new film as well, here: http://www.oss117.org

[ACE]

Ah, NOW I know they call you "spynovelfan".

[Lounge Lizard]

OSS 117 was created by Jean Bruce in 1949 and was an extremely successful and long-running series of novels, selling millions of copies in francophone territories. Bruce died in a high-speed car crash in 1963. As Bondmania hit, a few of his books were cannibalised for Bond knock-off films, starring the likes of John Gavin. But the original books, while written in rather more straightforward prose than Fleming's, stand up as taut spy thrillers in their own right. There's a very good site on the history of the series, with info on the new film as well, here: http://www.oss117.org

I've read some of Bruce's OSS 117 novels, they are all over the place as paperbacks in Dutch second-hand book stores. Rather well written, enjoyable plots and all, but unmemorable in the end. I remember there was a non-spoof series of OSS 117 films in the 1960s as well, with none other than almost-Bond John Gavin doing the honours as OSS 117 in one of the films. I would love to see the new version, trailer looks like great fun (the 'Egyptian' sets, the quasi-Bob Simmons fight scenes, Jean Dujardin's Connery style eyebrow raising, coiffure and tigerish walk, and in the end we even get Mel Brooks Nazis!).

[spynovelfan]

OSS 117 was created by Jean Bruce in 1949 and was an extremely successful and long-running series of novels, selling millions of copies in francophone territories. Bruce died in a high-speed car crash in 1963. As Bondmania hit, a few of his books were cannibalised for Bond knock-off films, starring the likes of John Gavin. But the original books, while written in rather more straightforward prose than Fleming's, stand up as taut spy thrillers in their own right. There's a very good site on the history of the series, with info on the new film as well, here: http://www.oss117.org

I've read some of Bruce's OSS 117 novels, they are all over the place as paperbacks in Dutch second-hand book stores. Rather well written, enjoyable plots and all, but unmemorable in the end. I remember there was a non-spoof series of OSS 117 films in the 1960s as well, with none other than almost-Bond John Gavin doing the honours as OSS 117 in one of the films.

Um... as I mentioned!

[Lounge Lizard]

OSS 117 was created by Jean Bruce in 1949 and was an extremely successful and long-running series of novels, selling millions of copies in francophone territories. Bruce died in a high-speed car crash in 1963. As Bondmania hit, a few of his books were cannibalised for Bond knock-off films, starring the likes of John Gavin. But the original books, while written in rather more straightforward prose than Fleming's, stand up as taut spy thrillers in their own right. There's a very good site on the history of the series, with info on the new film as well, here: http://www.oss117.org

I've read some of Bruce's OSS 117 novels, they are all over the place as paperbacks in Dutch second-hand book stores. Rather well written, enjoyable plots and all, but unmemorable in the end. I remember there was a non-spoof series of OSS 117 films in the 1960s as well, with none other than almost-Bond John Gavin doing the honours as OSS 117 in one of the films.

Um... as I mentioned!

Whoops, 'xcuse me...