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Death Is Nimble, Death Is Quick

Death Is Nimble, Death Is Quick (1966)

May. 17,1966
|
5.5
| Adventure Action Crime

Two Yanks are hired to protect a rich lady from a sinister underworld group. Lots of jungle thrills, martial arts, ancient temples, huge explosions, & even sci-fi elements. Watch for Harris' great karate fight inside a crumbling temple, surrounded by masked members of an ancient sect.

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Reviews

Hellen
1966/05/17

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

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Lawbolisted
1966/05/18

Powerful

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Ella-May O'Brien
1966/05/19

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

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Billy Ollie
1966/05/20

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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Uriah43
1966/05/21

From what I gather this is the second film in the "Kommissar X" series and takes place in Sri Lanka with several thugs from a criminal gang known as "the Golden Cats" attempting to kidnap a wealthy woman named "Babs Lincoln" (Ann Smyrner) and hold her for a ransom of $1 million. Although she manages to escape one of her assistants is killed and an American police officer named "Captain Tom Rowland" (Brad Harris) is sent by the United States government to investigate. Additionally, since her father is one of the wealthiest men in America, a private detective named "Joe Walker" (Tony Kendall) is also sent to act as her bodyguard. Naturally, since both Joe Walker and Captain Rowland present an impediment to their plans, the Golden Cats have an assortment of methods—which includes the use of karate, vials of nitroglycerin and bacteriological agents—at their disposal to eliminate them. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film certainly had potential but the rather unstructured direction caused it to seem somewhat drab and confusing. To be sure, the exotic location of Sri Lanka and the presence of both Michele Mahaut (as "Michele") and Ann Smyrner helped to enhance the scenery--but other than that there really wasn't much here for me to rank this film any higher than I have. Average.

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Leofwine_draca
1966/05/22

A muddled European spy film, recommended for those only with a high tolerance for the genre. Despite having a number of exotic locations and being an Austrian (!), Italian, Spanish and French co-production, with the typically offbeat European set design which never fails to impress, this movie is let down through some very bad editing (which makes you wonder what on earth is happening at some crucial points) and a typically contrived and confusing plot involving people who appear and disappear at will throughout the story.Okay, so this is a bad movie, but that doesn't mean its not without its good points. Things kick off with the kidnapping of a young blonde woman (aren't they always in these movies) by three thugs, who are chased by an American agent. Unfortunately he crashes his car (twice, judging by the explosions??) and is killed by a bald assassin. "This blow on his head - how was it done?" asks a curious bystander. "Karate!" answers the investigating policeman. Of course, the Americans don't take too kindly to their men being killed off like this, so in their fight against "gangsterism" they send in their best man, Captain Roland. He's better known as Brad Harris, a Euro-veteran with many films under his belt. His presence lends an agreeably tough angle to the movie. Roland is so tough that he can punch holes in solid metal blocks! Also on the scene is Walker, a top-secret spy agent who also happens to be a bit of a womaniser in his spare time. This slick playboy is played by none other than Tony Kendall, another hot Euro-property in those days. Walker's first piece of action is to battle a Chinese assassin in his hotel room, eventually throwing him in an acid bath (after watching GOLDFINGER last night, I'm struck by the similarity of a similar scene in the film's opening - you know, the "shocking" bit). After this the pacing becomes more laid back, with lots of plot and intrigue interspersed with some cool scenes of action, including a rooftop chase and a shootout train chase with a car.Events don't really pick up again until the last fifteen minutes, where all hell breaks loose, but until then the film is pretty boring, it has to be said. Rudolf Zehetgruber's direction is pretty static and obvious, with only the occasional flash of inspiration: like the scene where a striking snake cuts to a striking karate assassin! There are some imaginative scenes, like a plane full of mysterious men in black or the exceptionally eerie vista of a lake full of dead, skeletal trees, complimented by the howling wind. These are too few between to retain the interest, though.By far the best, and most fun, character in the movie is King, the bald karate assassin. This film was made in the days when karate was supposed to be mysterious and wonderful and King is hilarious as he goes around chopping people! Of course you know when he's going for the death blow because he always ties a black bandanna around his head beforehand! An excellent scene at the end of the film sees him taking on Brad Harris in a one-to-one battle in a spooky old temple surrounded by people in yellow cat masks (he also wears a yellow cape in this scene). Hilarious, mouth-dropping stuff.So, all in all, this is is routine sub-Bond spy rip-off, with some chases and fights to keep it watchable, but it never becomes good, like Margheriti's own LIGHTNING BOLT, another open rip-off produced with some style. Events play out to a jazzy soundtrack yet again and the film is leisurely paced and laid back. Peplum actor Dan Vadis also makes an appearance as the cool bald karate assassin. This film is recommended only to those of you who like real obscurities!

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bensonmum2
1966/05/23

Being new to the Eurospy scene, there are a couple of websites that I check out for news and reviews. I was shocked when I noticed that one of the sites I really like called Death Is Nimble, Death Is Quick the best of the three Kommissar X films in Retromedia's set. To me, the opposite is true. In my opinion, Kiss Kiss, Kill Kill and So Darling, So Deadly are both superior to Death Is Nimble, Death Is Quick. The problem – no discernible plot. I defy anyone to watch Death Is Nimble, Death Is Quick and tell me just what's going on. Maybe I missed something, but to me the movie is little more than a seemingly random series of set-pieces. Sure, some of the scenes are very enjoyable (the hotel rooftop chase and the final karate showdown being two wonderful examples) and Tony Kendall and Brad Harris' on-screen chemistry is strong, but without a coherent story, I lost interest in what was going on. I think my 5/10 rating is generous.One reason I've rated Death Is Nimble, Death Is Quick higher than I probably should have is the scene set in what I'll call the Haunted Swamp. It's very well done. Creepy music, twisted trees, an abandoned/crumbling old house, and a "fire-breathing monster" (very reminiscent of Dr. No) make these scenes really stand out. Very atmospheric. I just wish there had been a story to go along with the wonderful images.

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dinky-4
1966/05/24

One of six films in the German "Kommissar X" series, this plays a bit like a "Dr. No" wannabe with the action switched to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and with two heroes instead of one. The heroes are played by Tony Kendall and Brad Harris and the bald-headed henchman by Dan Vadis and together or separately these three actors appeared in a number of those sword-and-sandal and secret-agent and spaghetti-western movies which came out of Europe in the 1960s. As an example of the secret-agent genre, this is familiar and forgettable but modestly entertaining if one isn't too demanding. There's a goodly amount of action, a bit of exotic scenery, (though not as much as one would wish), and a couple of pretty girls -- one blonde and one with black hair. The chief villain turns out to be one of those "mad scientists" who's perfected a deadly form of bacteria. Tony Kendall manages to get his shirt off fairly early while undressing for a bath and Dan Vadis strips to the waist for a fight scene but, alas, Brad Harris remains shirted throughout. Both Kendall and Harris, however, briefly wind up in bondage situations. While watching this makes for harmless time-killing, one probably won't be inspired to track down the other "Kommissar X" movies.

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