Spy Hard
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (December 2007) |
| Spy Hard | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Rick Friedberg |
| Produced by | Doug Draizin Jeffrey Konvitz Rick Friedberg |
| Written by | Rick Friedberg Dick Chudnow Aaron Seltzer Jason Friedberg |
| Starring | Leslie Nielsen Nicollette Sheridan Charles Durning |
| Music by | Bill Conti |
| Cinematography | John R. Leonetti |
| Editing by | Eric Sears |
| Distributed by | Hollywood Pictures |
| Release date(s) | May 24, 1996 |
| Running time | 81 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $18 million USD |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Spy Hard is a 1996 movie starring Leslie Nielsen and Nicollette Sheridan, parodying James Bond films and other action films.
The title itself is a spoof of Die Hard which is never actually lampooned in the film itself.[citation needed]
Many critics panned the film; the film's gross domestic revenues were approximately $26 million.[citation needed]
Contents |
[edit] Premise
The plot is the standard story of secret agent Dick Steele, Agent WD-40 (a play on 007) who, along with Veronique Ukrinsky, Agent 3.14 (Nicollette Sheridan), must stop the evil genius, General Rancor (played by Andy Griffith), from taking over the world. Rancor was wounded in an earlier encounter and no longer has arms; however, he can 'arm' himself by attaching robotic limbs with various weapons attached.
[edit] Title sequence
"Weird Al" Yankovic sings the title song and directed the title sequence. It is a parody of title sequences from the James Bond films designed by Maurice Binder, specifically 1965's Thunderball, complete with multiple colored backgrounds, silhouetted figures, and "wavy" text. Additionally, an urban legend states that during the recording of the theme to Thunderball, Tom Jones held the song's final note long enough to pass out; in this film, Yankovic holds it long enough to make his head explode. Originally, Yankovic had planned to loop the note to the required length, but in the studio, he discovered he was able to hold the note long enough that no looping was required.[1] The sequence was later included on "Weird Al" Yankovic: The Ultimate Video Collection, although, for legal reasons, all names and titles had to be taken out, excluding that of the film and of Yankovic himself.
[edit] Cameos
The movie also contains many cameos, including Mr. T as a helicopter pilot in the opening scene and also Pat Morita as a waiter, Hulk Hogan, and Ray Charles as a bus driver amongst others.
