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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 Michael McDonald. The film is a parody of the early James Bond films, particularly those starring Sean Connery, as well as other 1960s spy films such as 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 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 well-known and oft-quoted catchphrases in popular culture.

Plot

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 is placed in cryostasis to return at a time when he wouldn't be expected. Austin Powers is also placed in cryostasis, should his services be needed in the future. When they are thawed out in 1997 to battle again, hilarity ensues as the duo has to adjust to the 1990s.

When news of Dr. Evil's return reaches the world, Austin is unfrozen. He is then paired with Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley) to help him cope with the 1990s. The pair set off on Austin's jet to Las Vegas, to find Dr. Evil.

Meanwhile, Dr. Evil finds Mr. Bigglesworth, his cat, has gone completely bald due to the cryogenics. Mustafa (played by Will Ferrell), who was told to fix this problem, gets vaporized but doesn't die immediately, so he is eventually shot. Dr. Evil then discusses with his associates how to take over the world. First, he says that 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 the theatres 6 months before Diana died). Then he suggests they create a hole in the ozone layer, causing a high increase in skin cancer, but Number 2 says this has already happened also. In reaction to this, Dr. Evil utters one of his most famous lines: "Throw me a frickin' bone here!" They eventually decide to hijack a nuclear warhead and hold the world hostage. Dr. Evil, in addition to finding that a million dollars isn't worth that much anymore, meets his son, Scott. Frau reveals their new secret weapon, android models with guns that pop out of their breasts, also known as Fembots. They consider it a good weapon on Austin, who would automatically fall for the robots. Dr. Evil and Scott then attend a therapy session (with Carrie Fisher as the therapist), in which Dr. Evil tells his life story.

Austin and Vanessa, after an argument on the plane about her having sex with him, land in Vegas. They are forced to share a room, much to Vanessa's disgust, as Austin is not very hygienic. They soon begin their work pursuing Dr. Evil, following Number 2 and his secretary Allota Fagina into a casino. After a Blackjack match, Vanessa and Austin spend more time together, going around in Vegas. Vanessa ends up intoxicated and begging Austin to have sex with her. Strangely enough, Austin doesn't want to, saying it wouldn't be right to take advantage of a woman like her, tempting though she is. He is then prompted to go to Alotta Fagina's penthouse to get information on Dr. Evil's doomsday device. He finds the information at the penthouse, Dr. Evil will use the warhead in a drill to go into the center of the earth. But Alotta soon finds him, and subdues him into sex with her.

After a mission briefing, Vanessa and Austin go to Dr. Evil's headquarters, which is actually the HQ of the cable company he owns. They sneak in though the entrance to the inside of the real headquarters. They are eventually captured, and 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 weren't perfected. Scott objects, saying they will escape, and volunteers to kill them himself but Dr. Evil goes on with the plan. They escape using dental floss, and blinding the guard with toothpaste, causing him to fall into the pool. However, they do gain valuable insight on Dr. Evil's plan. The British army then plans a raid on Dr. Evil's headquarters.

When they invade the headquarters Austin is exposed to the Fembots whom almost subdue him. He then realizes he can defeat them by working his mojo. This is successful, but he is stripped of all but his Union Jack underwear, and Vanessa and two soldiers walk in on him. When he explains how he defeated the androids, Vanessa believes him, and they continue to search for Dr. Evil.

They eventually find the Doctor, and he and his henchmen are about to carry out their plan. While "Secret Agent Man" plays in the background, Austin and Vanessa stop Dr. Evil's doomsday device, but Dr. Evil soon flees closely followed by Austin. During this showdown, 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 Allota Fagina. This distracts Austin and allows Dr. Evil to execute the lair's self-destruct sequence and escape back to space. Austin and Vanessa manage to escape the lair in time.

Later, Austin and Vanessa get married, leading to a scene with genital cover-ups. After foiling 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.

Filming locations

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

Trivia

  • 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 S.P.E.C.T.R.E. (A "number two" is a euphemism for human feces.)
  • 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.
  • 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. This music was sampled by the Canadian hip-hop group Dream Warriors in their hit record "My Definition Of A Bombastic Jazz Style," as well as Ludacris in his single "No. 1 Spot."
  • 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.
  • Frau Farbissina is a spoof of Rosa Klebb, the villain from From Russia with Love.
  • Among countless other things, the movie pokes fun at the villain's love of over-elaborate schemes to kill the hero. When Dr. Evil's son questions the plan, Dr. Evil replies 'I'm going to place them in an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death', and that he 'will not actually witness them dying and assume it all went to plan'. When offering to get a gun from his room and kill them himself, Scott is told he 'just doesn't get it'.
  • 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.
  • Austin Powers' looks and dress were imitated by the character Mr. Chairman of the movie Back in Action.
  • The unfreezing process is likely a homage to the cleaning scene from the Bond movie Dr. No.
  • A running gag in the movie is that Austin would kill the guards in comical situations and the camera would show a scene where their loved ones are grieving about the guards ironic death.
  • The scene in which the security officer keeps yelling "STOP" when Austin is very far away from him with a bulldozer, and just keeps standing there yelling that until he gets ran over, mocks how in most movies (usually horror) a character dies when he/she could have been spared by doing something extremely obvious, such as moving out of the way of something.

External links

1997 films | Austin Powers | Parody films | Films shot in Super 35

Austin Powers – Das Schärfste, was Ihre Majestät zu bieten hat | Austin Powers | Austin Powers: Hemlig internationell agent

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery".

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