Spies Like Us (Snap Case)
by John Landis
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DVD details
Actor: Bruce Davison, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Donna Dixon, Steve ForrestDirector: John Landis
Brand: CHASE,CHEVY
Writer: Dan Aykroyd
Producer: Bernie Brillstein
Producer: Brian Grazer
Producer: Erik Disch
Writer: Babaloo Mandel
Writer: Dave Thomas
Writer: Lowell Ganz
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 102 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1998-11-10
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- Closed-captioned; Color; Dolby; DVD; Full Screen; NTSC
DVD Reviews of Spies Like Us (Snap Case)
DVD Review: Not Quite Vintage 80's -- Chevy & Dan Are Spies Like Us
Summary: 3 Stars
In 1985, comedians (and original Saturday Night Live players) Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd were seemingly at the top of their game in terms of their film careers. Chevy was also starring in "Fletch" and the second "Vacation" movie that year, while Dan was still reaping the fame from "Ghostbusters" the year before. In this mildly amusing satire of Cold War spy flicks, a federal spy agency opts to send out two spy teams (GL-G20's) to complete a hush-hush secret mission in Russia: one team to do the job, and the other unknowingly serving as very expendable decoys.
Enter Chevy as smarmy State Dept. spokesperson Emmett Fitzhume and Dan as a basement-dwelling Pentagon techno-genius, Austin Milbarge. After obnoxiously failing their Foreign Service Board exams (complete with hidden camera footage), the duo is chosen as the GL-G20 pigeons. After a round of amusing training scenes with Bernie Casey as their tough-as-nails instructor, our wise guys are soon sent off to stumble around in Pakistan with the KGB already waiting for them. Soon enough, Chevy and Dan encounter and trail a mysterious blonde (Donna Dixon - Mrs. Aykroyd) and her British colleague who are evidently "spies like us, but not necessarily on our side," as Dan succinctly puts it.
Throughout the film, Chevy and Dan both get their standard quips in as wanna-be secret agents dodging their inept KGB counterparts while tailing their two suspects inside the Soviet border. Yet, there are several long stretches without any genuine laughs (not that the cast isn't trying). Case in point: there is a dreadfully unfunny desert scene where Chevy, Dan, and a group of doctors spend a few minutes inside a tent introducing themselves as "Doctor, Doctor." It wasn't worth a chuckle the first time before the gag inexplicably gets recycled a few moments later (to no avail). Even an unexpected quickie cameo from a true comedy legend immediately thereafter doesn't help jazz things up much (though the inference is a nice wink-wink at the classic "Road to" comedies with Bob Hope & Bing Crosby).
Among the few interesting twists about this movie, including a radio-friendly theme song from Paul McCartney, is the abundance of fast cameos by other film directors and even a jazz legend like B.B. King. Director John Landis evidently has lots of film industry friends, but it's such an inside joke here that few, if any, will get the gag (if there is one). Still, much like the ham-fisted "Rocky IV" did the same year, "Spies Like Us" at least offered some glimmer of possible U.S.-Soviet reconciliation (at least, according to Hollywood). Remember, the Cold War wasn't close to being over at the time, so the underlying message about seeking out peace and nuclear disarmament should be taken in good spirits.
Ultimately, this movie had loads of potential, but the screenwriters simply didn't crank out enough guy humor jokes to match hit comedies like "Caddyshack," "Stripes," "Animal House," and "National Lampoon's Vacation." If a more suitable screenwriting team had worked on this project, "Spies Like Us" likely would have been a real gem. At least, this movie works great as background noise when you are drifting off to sleep.
Rating: 6/10 (For die-hard Chevy and Dan fans only. Great premise, but the end result is a mixed bag of chuckles and misfired jokes).
P.S. Except for the obligatory trailer, there are no other special features on this DVD.
Description of Spies Like Us (Snap Case)
Chase and Aykroyd star as U.S. government spies who don't work out exactly as their superiors had hoped.Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG
Release Date: 8-FEB-2005
Media Type: DVD
Yet another bad movie in a lengthy string of losers for all three of the principals involved here: director John Landis and stars Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase. Chase and Aykroyd play a pair of bumbling would-be CIA agents who are spotted cheating on the entrance exam. So the CIA decides to use them as bait in a mission to flummox the Russians. Lots of pointless slapstick and mugging, but Landis hasn't made a genuinely funny film since Trading Places. Aykroyd and Chase seem smug and self-satisfied (don't they always?), as though they can rest forever on laurels earned during the 1975 season of Saturday Night Live. Look for a gaggle of film directors (Terry Gilliam, Joel Coen, Costa-Gavras) in cameo roles: that's the closest this film comes to cleverness. --Marshall Fine
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