Best Bond-inspired series/individual "copycats"

These days I've been trying to make a list of decent films at least inspired or influenced by the success of the James Bond series (counting some spoofs), but it feels incomplete. Can you guys help me adding more movies?

Let's see. Series:

- The two Derek Flint movies
- The Matt Helm series
- Jack Ryan's movies? (I have all of them despite my literary contempt for Tom Clancy, but I have doubts about linking them to our favorite series)
- The Bourne Series, which now actually influences 007 XD
- Mission:Impossible
- Austin Powers
- XxX

[I won't count the Larry Palmer series here, but if you disagree, tell me]

And individual movies... This is a bit more hard, and I'm not counting CR'67 and NSNA, as they are actually non-canonical Bond movies:

- Modesty Blaise
- The Quiller Memorandum
- Enter The Dragon (yes, I love this movie and I consider it a Bond Knock-off. So do some other Bond fans)
- Mad Mission/Aces Go Places 3 (I have a soft spot for this HK spoof)
- True Lies
- Spy Hard

And that's all I can think of. Am I forgetting any recommendable, or at least "so bad they're good" films? Thanks in advance.
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Comments

  • Birdleson wrote: »

    THE MATADOR

    Checked, thanks!

    You guys tend to speak well about this movie. That said, no actor has made more "bondlegs" than Brosnan. Just love him in The Fourth Protocol.
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    Posts: 4,575
    Let's not forget...

    Get Smart
    Archer
    I Spy
    Spy Kids

    And the new Disney show, KC Undercover
  • Birdleson wrote: »
    I don't really care for it, but you might want to try FORM HONG KONG WITH LOVE (1975). Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell do appear as M and Ms. Moneypenny, respectively. They also appear playing basically the same roles, albeit with alternative names, in OPERATION KID BROTHER (1967) (also known as OK CONNERY) starring Neil Connery, Sean's younger brother. Again, not very good.

    Been thinking about these two, but I think I'll pass or see 'em on MST3K if available.

    Here in Spain we made a couple of parodies, like a co-production with France called Carré de dames pour un as (TERRIBLE except for Serge Gainsborough's soundtrack), or 07 con el 2 delante (07 with prefix #2) and one of them premiered last Friday: Anacleto, Agente Secreto, based in a popular comic which spoofed James Bond.

    There was that lil' nifty cartoon fantasy film, Freddy as FRO7. I loved the songs (especially the George Benson one, as I'm a great fan of him), but I don't know if it's worth getting it
  • TripAces wrote: »
    Let's not forget...

    Get Smart
    Archer
    I Spy
    Spy Kids

    And the new Disney show, KC Undercover

    OF COURSE XD How could I forgot Get Smart? I was a fan of Maxwell Smart long before I even saw a 007 film!
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    The Agent 077 films
    1-Ken Clark as Dick Malloy:
    Agent 077: From Orient With Fury
    Agent 077: Mission Bloody Mary
    Operation Lady Chaplin

    2-Richard Harrison as Bob Fleming:
    Agent 077: Secret Agent Fireball
    Agent 077: Killers Are Challenged

    3-Brett Halsey as George Ferrell:
    Espionage In Lisbon

    4-Luis Davila as Mike Murphy:
    Espionage In Tangier

    *Note: There are, as you noticed, four separate 'Agent 077's, all different to one another.

    The OSS 117 series
    1-Pre-SpyCraze Film Noir:
    OSS 117 Is Not Dead

    2-The Paul Cadeac/Andre Hunebelle films:
    OSS 117
    OSS 117: Panic In Bangkok
    OSS 117: Mission For A Killer
    OSS 117: From Tokyo With Love (written by Terence Young)
    OSS 117: Double Agent

    3-The Pierre Kalfon Production:
    OSS 117 Takes A Vacation

    4-The Michel Hazanavicius/Jean Dujardin Parodies:
    OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
    OSS 117: Lost In Rio

    The Charles Vine Trilogy
    Licensed To Kill: The Second Best Secret Agent In The Whole Wide World
    Where Bullets Fly
    Somebody's Stolen Our Russian Spy

    One-offs:
    Agent 505: Todesfalle Beirut
    Operation Poker
    The Spy Who Loved Flowers
    Password: Kill Agent Gordon
    Super Seven Calling Cairo
    Upperseven
    Secret Agent Super Dragon
    Kiss The Girls And Make Them Die
    That Man In Istanbul

    Those are the primary Bond knock-offs of the 1960s/60s period pieces every Bond fan MUST see. Sure, some of them are made of absurdity, but if you're a fan of the spy genre and the 1960s overall, these films you should never miss. And I must point out, some of those titles are very hard to track down and find. They took me awful lot of time (and money) to acquire them and add them into my collection.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    One of my favourite movies of all time:
    Every fan of the 60's Bond movies has to see this.

    CAPRICE 1967

    full.jpg

    full.jpg

    full.jpg
  • HOLY SHIT what a list! Thanks, people! I'll search for all of them today. Let's see if there's more...
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,978
    The uber Bond-esque:

    deadlier_than_the_male_MF00983_L.jpg

    And it's no-so-good sequel:

    8108__x400_some_girls_do_poster_02.jpg

    Not part of the same series, but also staring Richard Johnson:

    b70-8543
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    The International with Clive Owen & Naomi Watts
    p176365_p_v7_aa.jpg

    Also, Arabesque (Gregory Peck & Sophia Loren - more comedic though) and a few Hitchcock (some that predate Bond) including, of course, North by Northwest & Charade but also Notorious & the Torn Curtain.
  • Posts: 5,965
    "Charade" is a Stanley Donen movie, not a Hitchcock movie. Just keeping the facts straight.

    Then of course, there's the "Fantômas" film series, by André Hunebelle, featuring Jean Marais, Louis de Funés and Mylène Demongeot :

    fantomas-andre-hunebelle-1964-100x140-cm-affiche-de-cinema-originale-italienne-original-movie-poster-jean-marais-louis-de-funes-mylene-demongeot-film-comique-925939197_ML.jpg

    IlLRRLvQaASlJzCdV2CH-pRq8Dc.jpg

    fantomas-contre-scotland-yard-1373456901-10.jpg

  • edited September 2015 Posts: 1,009
    Marais was excellent both as Fantômas and the as serious counterpart to the bumbling De Funés (and watching him on Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast showed me how an ace of an actor he was). My fav part was when De Funés broke the fourth wall at the end of the first movie.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,185
    Didn't see Johnny English mentioned (2 films) and I think it was called 'the suit'or something, a Jackie Chan film.

    and of course
    Kingsman and UNCLE, the series and films.
  • TripAcesTripAces Universal Exports
    Posts: 4,575
    bondjames wrote: »
    The International with Clive Owen & Naomi Watts
    p176365_p_v7_aa.jpg

    Also, Arabesque (Gregory Peck & Sophia Loren - more comedic though) and a few Hitchcock (some that predate Bond) including, of course, North by Northwest & Charade but also Notorious & the Torn Curtain.

    The International was very Bond-esque. Or is it Bondian. I liked it a lot, actually.
  • edited September 2015 Posts: 1,009
    Birdleson wrote: »
    And an excellent '70s spy thriller, not necessarily Bond influenced, is MARATHON MAN. Screenplay by William Goldman after his own, also excellent, novel.

    If you ever want a list of wonderful Pre-Bond spy films, let me know.

    I have it. Excellent performances by Hoffman, Scheider and Sir Laurence, and that scene with a crazed Hoffman terrorizing Olivier is a classic. Heck, it still inspires lots of internet memes.

    Now that I remember it, as a spoof, we have Woody Allen's What's Up, Tiger Lily?, that infamous but funny gag dub of a Japanese Bond knockoff featuring Akiko-chan and Mie-chan from YOLT.

    I was wondering... Is there a Soviet Bond-like film?
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    Just to wet your appetites, here's something that's straightforward Bond in everything but an official Bond film. And it also features Daniela Bianchi as the titular character, the villainess of the plot.
  • edited September 2015 Posts: 5,965
    "Le Grand Blond avec une Chaussure Noire" and its follow-up "Le Retour du Grand Blond" come to mind as well. Especially the second one :







    And of course, there's "Le Magnifique", with Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jacqueline Bisset, which is a hilarious send-up of potboilers like OSS and SAS. Highly recommanded !

    http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=19363260&cfilm=10150.html

    <div id='blogvision'><iframe src='http://www.allocine.fr/_video/iblogvision.aspx?cmedia=19363260' style='width:480px; height:270px'></iframe><br /><a href='http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm=10150.html' target='_blank'>Le Magnifique</a></div>
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    Gerard wrote: »
    "Charade" is a Stanley Donen movie, not a Hitchcock movie. Just keeping the facts straight.

    Yes, of course. My mistake and thanks for correcting me.

    Another one is "Hot Enough For June", also known as "Agent 8 3/4" with Dirk Bogarde & Sylva Koscina (who was apparently in the running at one point to play Tatiana Romanova).
    515u7IhjTGL.jpg

  • Posts: 5,965
    "If Looks Could Kill" with Richard Grieco whan he was popular :

  • dominicgreenedominicgreene The Eternal QOS Defender
    Posts: 1,756
    Just curious guys, I just found out in Canada Ian Flrming's book copyrights are public domain, I'm not really a particular reader of any of them but I'm a filmmaker so I might consider making an adaption (which is also legal). Any ideas? :D
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 6,208
    In some ways it's the anti-Bond, but I highly recommend The Prisoner TV series.
  • JohnHammond73JohnHammond73 Lancashire, UK
    edited September 2015 Posts: 4,151
    Bond inspired trailer from the new Danger Mouse cartoon series that we'll see soon.....



    Edit - just noticed that this has its own thread. Apologies for the duplication. And this probably doesn't belong here. Please delete as necessary......
  • Oh, man, he's back! I hope he brings Count Duckula: he was my fav character in the show.
  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423
    echo wrote: »
    In some ways it's the anti-Bond, but I highly recommend The Prisoner TV series.
    I heavily suggest this, as well. Danger Man is my all-time favourite television series that I believe has been conducted by Ian Fleming somehow, too. The hero, John Drake, is very much like the anti-Bond, yet Bond in a way. The series is highly recommended.
  • Posts: 5,965
    How could I forget one of the better spoofs : Condorman, featuring Michael Crawford and Barbara Carrera. And a killer main theme by Henry Mancini :



  • Posts: 5,965
    And this one :

  • edited September 2015 Posts: 1,009

    After searching the net...

    The Agent 077 films
    1-Ken Clark as Dick Malloy:
    Agent 077: From Orient With Fury CHECK
    Agent 077: Mission Bloody Mary CHECK
    Operation Lady Chaplin CHECK

    2-Richard Harrison as Bob Fleming:
    Agent 077: Secret Agent Fireball CHECK
    Agent 077: Killers Are Challenged CHECK

    Upperseven CHECK
    Secret Agent Super Dragon Found the MST3K version
    Kiss The Girls And Make Them Die CHECK
    That Man In Istanbul CHECK. I think my grandpa worked on this one: he worked at Miró, the company which supplied the atrezzo according to the credits

    It has been a very useful guide, Clark. Thank you.
  • edited September 2015 Posts: 1,009
    One of my favourite movies of all time:
    Every fan of the 60's Bond movies has to see this.

    CAPRICE 1967

    Found and willing to see that
    Gerard wrote: »
    How could I forget one of the better spoofs : Condorman, featuring Michael Crawford and Barbara Carrera. And a killer main theme by Henry Mancini.

    I have this one! I read it was a very funny Disney romp and got it. I got Le Magnifique, too. It looks very promising.

    I have the three Richard Johnson movies covered, as well as the Fantomas trilogy, If Looks Could Kill,Agent 8 3/4 and The Matador



  • Just curious guys, I just found out in Canada Ian Flrming's book copyrights are public domain, I'm not really a particular reader of any of them but I'm a filmmaker so I might consider making an adaption (which is also legal). Any ideas? :D

    I suggest you open a new thread: it will be much more noticed than this little message, and I'm sure many people here will help you on this wonderful idea of yours. Good luck!!!
  • Gerard wrote: »
    And this one :


    Piece of cake: the MST3K version is widely available online due to being the last episode of this legendary series.

  • ClarkDevlinClarkDevlin Martinis, Girls and Guns
    Posts: 15,423

    After searching the net...

    The Agent 077 films
    1-Ken Clark as Dick Malloy:
    Agent 077: From Orient With Fury CHECK
    Agent 077: Mission Bloody Mary CHECK
    Operation Lady Chaplin CHECK

    2-Richard Harrison as Bob Fleming:
    Agent 077: Secret Agent Fireball CHECK
    Agent 077: Killers Are Challenged CHECK

    Upperseven CHECK
    Secret Agent Super Dragon Found the MST3K version
    Kiss The Girls And Make Them Die CHECK
    That Man In Istanbul CHECK. I think my grandpa worked on this one: he worked at Miró, the company which supplied the atrezzo according to the credits

    It has been a very useful guide, Clark. Thank you.
    Glad I could be of service, my good man. And err... don't forget to check out the OSS 117 films, either. They're rather great ones.
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