The Exterminators (1965)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Just what I expected

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

What the hell is going on in this film? Is there even a script, or do they simply have Coplan and his sidekick running around in Istanbul beating up nameless bad guys and following obscure "clues"? It's well-photographed, but otherwise near-unbearable. Richard Wyler is OK in the fight scenes, but otherwise lacks charisma as Coplan; in one particularly awful scene, he prevents his partner from saving the life of a girl who gets stabbed! The only worthwhile part of the movie is a spectacular car stunt at the end - more specifically, a car jump from the dock onto a ferry boat that has just departed. Apart from that, even the most dedicated fans of the genre may struggle with getting through this one. * out of 4.

Coplan,was along OSS 117 (who was on the screens again this decade in the spoofs featuring Jean Dujardin) ,one of two main French answers to the much more lucrative OO7.This one looks like,in its last part , a poor man's "you only live twice" -although this Bond episode had yet to be made in 1965).Riccardo Freda's Coplans (there are two of them,the second being "Coplan Ouvre Le Feu A Mexico" ) are somewhat superior to the lousy "Coplan Agent Secret " (1964) by Maurice Cloche .Freda had a sense of mystery which shows in the scene in the Egyptian museum .But this is a cock and bull story .A sinister-looking person (he is not even a Japanese !) wants to avenge Hiroshima by triggering a third world war ,so that Asia will rule the whole Earth after the USA and the USSR have destroyed each other with atomic bombs .Very original indeed.Gil Delamare was the greatest French stuntman ever ;he stood for lots of actors in very famous movies: "L'Homme De Rio" "La Grande Vadrouille" "Fanfan La Tulipe" "the longest day" and many more .In "Coplan FX 18 Casse Tout" he is an actor ;he plays the part of a Jewish secret agent who helps Coplan fight the villains . Delamare was so popular he even became a comic strip character in motor race driver Michel Vaillant ("Les Casse-Cou" 1962)saga.Sadly he was to die four years later ,as he stood in for Jean Marais in " Le Saint Prend L'Affût" .The rest of the cast is not worth mentioning.