Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

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Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
The Theatrical Poster For Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Directed by	Jay Roach
Produced by	Eric McLeod Demi Moore Mike Myers Claire Rudnick Polstein Jennifer Todd Suzanne Todd
Written by	Mike Myers
Starring	Mike Myers Elizabeth Hurley Michael York Mimi Rogers Robert Wagner
Music by	George S. Clinton Quincy Jones (Song: Soul Bossa Nova)
Cinematography	Peter Deming
Editing by	Debra Neil-Fisher Dawn Hoggatt
Distributed by	New Line Cinema (USA) Pathé Distribution (UK)
Release date(s)	May 2, 1997
Running time	94 min
Country	USA / Germany
Language	English
Followed by	Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
IMDb profile

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, directed by Jay Roach and released in 1997, is the first film of the Austin Powers series starring Mike Myers in the title role. The movie also stars Elizabeth Hurley, Robert Wagner, and Seth Green. There are cameos by Will Ferrell and Rob Lowe, Lowe would play another role in the sequel. The film is a parody of the early James Bond films, particularly those starring Sean Connery, as well as other 1960s spy films, mainly Our Man Flint.

The film was moderately successful at the box office, earning about US$ 68 million worldwide, but it was an extremely popular video rental, prompting New Line Cinema to fund sequels Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers in Goldmember.

Several of Austin Powers' joyful exclamations - such as "Yeah, baby!" and "Ohh, behave!" - have become catchphrases in popular culture.

This film is number 41 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".

1 Plot
2 Filming locations
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Austin Powers, a super-spy from the 1960s, and his arch-nemesis Dr. Evil, both played by comedian Mike Myers, have faced each other many times during the decade. In 1967, Dr. Evil places himself in cryostasis in the form of a Bob's Big Boy statue to return at a time when he won't be expected. Austin Powers is also then placed in cryostasis, should his services be needed in the future. When Dr. Evil returns in 1997, Austin is thawed out, and the duo battle as they adjust to the 1990s.

After Austin is unfrozen, he is paired with Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley) to help him cope with the 1990s. Austin is given back some of his belongs, including a Swedish-made penis enlarger pump. Austin (or as we find out, Austin Danger Powers) insists the pump is not his and is not 'his bag', despite the inclusion of a credit card receipt for it signed by Austin Powers, a warranty card for it filled out by Austin Powers, and a book called 'Swedish-made Penis Enlarger Pumps and Me: This sort of thing is my bag, baby,' written by Austin Powers.

After this, the pair set off on Austin's jet to Las Vegas, to find Dr. Evil.

Meanwhile, Dr. Evil and Mr. Bigglesworth, which has gone completely bald due to the cryogenics, mets with his henchmen. Mustafa (Will Ferrell) is blamed for Mr. Bigglesworth and is vaporized, but does not die immediately, so he is eventually shot. Dr. Evil then discusses how to take over the world, first saying he should make it look like Prince Charles is having an affair so he and Princess Diana will divorce, but Number 2 tells him this has already happened (The movie appeared in theaters three months before Diana died, and some TV edits remove all references to Diana). Dr. Evil also suggests they create a hole in the ozone layer, causing a high increase in skin cancer, but Number 2 says this, too, has already happened. In reaction to this, Dr. Evil utters "Throw me a frickin' bone here!" and they eventually decide on a pedestrian evil deed: hijack a nuclear warhead and hold the world hostage.

Dr. Evil, also meets his son, Scott, who is shown with a Kurt Cobain shirt and listening to Nirvana, and Frau Farbissina reveals their new secret weapon: android models with guns that pop out of their breasts (Fembots). They are considered to be a good weapon against the sex-starved Austin. Dr. Evil and Scott also attend a therapy sessions (with Carrie Fisher as the therapist).

Austin and Vanessa share a room in Las Vegas, much to Vanessa's disgust, as Austin is not very hygienic and is still casual about having sex, but they soon begin their work pursuing Dr. Evil, following Number 2 and his secretary Alotta Fagina into a casino. After a Blackjack match, Vanessa and Austin spend more time together in Vegas. She ends up intoxicated, but Austin says it wouldn't be right to take advantage of a woman like her, no matter how tempting she is. He does, though, go to Alotta Fagina's penthouse to get information on Dr. Evil's doomsday device. He finds the information that Dr. Evil will use the warhead in a drill to go into the center of the earth, but Alotta finds him and subdues him into sex.

After a mission briefing, Vanessa and Austin go to Dr. Evil's headquarters, where they are eventually captured. Even though Dr. Evil requested sharks with laser beams on their heads, they are placed in a room with flesh-eating sea bass because the sharks were on the endangered species list and the laser beams were not perfected. Scott objects, saying they will escape, and volunteers to kill them himself but Dr. Evil goes on with the plan because "that's the way it works," (the popular Sshh scene).

Austin and Vanessa escape using dental floss, blinding the guard with toothpaste, and the British army raids the headquarters. Austin is exposed to the Fembots and realizes he can defeat them, though Vanessa does walk on in Austin when he is only wearing his Union Jack underwear, but Vanessa understands Austin was only trying to defeat the robots.

They find Dr. Evil and, as "Secret Agent Man" plays in the background, Austin and Vanessa stop the doomsday device. Dr. Evil remarks on the irony that all of the things Austin stands for — free love, sixties music, and patriotism for example — are now considered 'evil' by modern teenagers. Austin replies that his generation wasn't about those things. If his people had known the consequences of such a lifestyle, they would have lived differently but the spirit would have remained the same.

Meanwhile, Vanessa is being held hostage by Alotta Fagina. This distracts Austin and allows Dr. Evil to execute the lair's self-destruct sequence and escape back to space. Austin and Vanessa escape the lair in time.

Later, Austin and Vanessa get married, leading to another scene with genital cover-ups. After foiling, with the penis pump, an assassin's last-ditch attempt at their lives, the two move out to the balcony. Noticing a rather bright star Austin pulls out a telescope and is shocked to discover that the star is in fact Dr. Evil's cryogenic chamber.

[edit] Filming locations

The following is a list of known locations during the filming of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

Japanese Gardens, Donald C. Tillman Water Reclaimation Plant in Van Nuys, California - Alotta Fagina Penthouse (Interior shots)
Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada - Alotta Fagina Penthouse (Exterior shots)
Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada - Interior shots
Stardust Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada - Interior shots
Valley of Fire State Park in Overton, Nevada
Vasquez Rocks National Area Park in Agua Dulce, California

[edit] Trivia

In order to meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this article's trivia section requires cleanup.
Content in the trivia section should be integrated into other appropriate areas of the article.

A major inspiration for the film was the BBC series Adam Adamant Lives!, in which an Edwardian hero is frozen by his arch-enemy The Face and is revived in 1960s London.
Versions released outside North America are longer in several scenes.
The Introduction is an obvious homage to the introduction to The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night movie
At the end of the movie, Number Two gets killed like Mustafa after Dr. Evil was unfrozen. Number Two appears in the second and third Austin Powers movies complete with facial scars (although in an alternative ending, he was revealed to have survived and left Dr. Evil's organization and went completly legitimate).
Dr. Evil is a spoof of James Bond's nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and his voice is based on Saturday Night Live creator/EP Lorne Michaels, Mike Myers' former boss on SNL.
Number Two is a spoof of the James Bond villain Emilio Largo who is number two in Blofeld's criminal organization SPECTRE.
Random Task is a spoof of Oddjob from Goldfinger
Alotta Fagina is a spoof of Pussy Galore from Goldfinger (in some versions broadcast on American commercial television, the name Alotta Fagina is changed to Alotta Cleavaga).
Mrs. Kensington as well as her daughter Vanessa Kensington, are both spoofs of Emma Peel from the 1960s television series, The Avengers.
Frau Farbissina is a spoof of Rosa Klebb, the villain from From Russia with Love.
Mr. Bigglesworth (Dr. Evil's cat) is a parody of Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld's white Persian, although it is hairless due to the cryostasis.
The theme music to this and the other Austin Powers films is "Soul Bossa Nova" by Quincy Jones. However, to Canadians such as Mike Myers himself, this piece of music is best known as the theme of the long-running Canadian game show, Definition.
The intro of the Pink Floyd song "Lucifer Sam" went uncredited in the film.
Austin Powers' telephone 'ring tone' originates from the film Our Man Flint starring James Coburn, of which Mike Myers is a fan.
Austin's copious chest hair is an homage to Sean Connery's James Bond.
There are many tributes in the series to such films as the James Bond parody Casino Royale and Peter Sellers' A Shot In The Dark.
Powers' flamboyant fashion sense was obviously inspired by the Jason King TV character.
Mike Myers has stated that a major inspiration for Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery was the 1965 American International Pictures film Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, starring Vincent Price.
The unfreezing process recalls the unfreezing scene from the movie Demolition Man.
Austin seems to remember his personal "jumbo jet" from 1967 immediately following his reanimation. However, the original Boeing 747 did not make its first flight until 1969. Furthermore, the 747-200 shown in the film did not make its appearance until 1971.

Cheri Oteri made a small role as a flight attendant named Ms. Wilkenson. This scene was cut from the final cut, but is on the DVD in the deleted scenes section.

The man giving Austin back his belongings after being unfrozen at the M.O.D is British comedian, writer and actor Neil Mullarky, who is really a close friend of Mike Myers. The two worked together on TV and on stage in the '80s. He can also be seen in Austin Powers in Goldmember as one of Dr. Evil's submarine henchmen.

When Austin Powers breaks into the factory, the man shouting for Austin to stop the steamroller is Michael McDonald from MADtv.
During the last scene of the movie Basil informs Austin he will be knighted by the queen however Austin is not knighted until Austin Powers in Goldmember.