Danger!! Death Ray (1967)

- Il raggio infernale
Bart Fargo!, 4 November 2007

Oh, those Italians and their James Bond rip-offs! While they sometimes have a bit of charm or interest to them, usually they're dull and lifeless. That's certainly the case with Danger! Death Ray. The muddled plot centers on a group of baddies kidnapping a scientist who has developed a "death ray". It's up to secret agent Bart Fargo to rescue the scientist, bust-up the group of bad guys, and, presumably, save mankind.

The problem with most of the James Bond rip-offs is a lack of money. The locations and sets in Danger! Death Ray cannot compete with the extravagant places visited by James Bond. You need money to film in those locations. The special effects are laughable. The submarine and helicopter scene was obviously filmed in a bathtub. Again, you need money for special effects. Add to that an incoherent plot, bad acting, poor dubbing, unimaginative cinematography, and uninteresting characters and you've got one bad movie. Finally, what kind of name is Bart Fargo! You can't take someone with a name like Bart Fargo very seriously. Say the name five times and see what happens.

I should point out that it's not all terrible. Danger! Death Ray does feature quite a snappy musical score. Even though it was endlessly repeated throughout the movie, the title theme is pure 60s fun. And, despite the film's many flaws, it's still a reasonably entertaining experience. And as I continually repeat, isn't entertainment what it's all about? A very enthusiastic 5/10.

5/10