User Reviews

The movie is fantastic in its execution, not its substance, but it was never intended to be serious.

The movie has all the glamor, and opulence that only American movies seems to be able to deliver. The choice of color, the character, and of course the girls.

Dean Martin's Matt Helm was a product of the swinging '60s, and it's a beautiful movie in its own way. I wish that the modern movies had more of this kind of opulence to its style. Why not live a little like the way these people did ?

It's intentionally silly, but if you take away the silly it still has the glamor like nothing you see these days. The movie is worth seeing for this alone.

Elke Sommer, and Sharon Tate were beautiful, and we don't see beauties like this anymore either.

Much better than the previous 2 Matt Helm films, but not as good as the first, THE SILENCERS. THE WRECKING CREW was directed by PHIL KARLSON as was the first Matt Helm movie 3 years earlier. This time around, Matt Helm (DEAN MARTIN) is sent to Denmark to immobilize Count Contini (NIGEL GREEN) who has hijacked a fortune in gold bullion. Assisting Helm is eager, but bumbling Freya Carlson (SHARON TATE). Freya is more of a hindrance than a help however. Contini's former flame Lola Medina (TINA LOUISE)is willing to provide pertinent information to Helm, for a cut of the action. She is killed though before she can tell him anything by a bomb laden bottle of scotch placed in her bar by Contini's current paramour Linka (ELKE SOMMER). Another beauty in the Count's arsenal is Yu Rang (NANCY KWAN). Contini tries to buy Helm off, but when that is unsuccessful, resorts to a dozen lame brained attempts to murder him. Will Helm triumph over the evil Count Contini ? What do you think ? One of the reasons that this movie is better than the previous 2 is that Helm is giving a female sidekick that is funny. As in THE SILENCERS where you had klutzy Gale Hendricks (STELLA STEVENS), here you have Freya (SHARON TATE) in a similar role. Neither MURDERERS ROW, nor THE AMBUSHERS had that. And TATE, although only 25 when this was made, showed very funny comedic ability. The production dollars spent appear less than in all 3 prior Helm flicks. In a scene where Helm is sparring with one of Contini's men outside of the Count's chateau, the artificial grass fold up like a rug. The interior sets look like something from a porno movie. The fight scenes are slow, and obvious. At 51, MARTIN was getting a little old for this kind of thing. Plus, JAMES BOND aside, ersatz "Spy Films" were on their way out. If you watch the credits at the end, you'll see a notice that states : Matt Helm will be back in THE RAVAGERS. Alas, it was not to be. This genre had run its gamut and what a schmaltzy time it was !!!

Dino was 51 and smooching ridiculously hot actresses half his age when he did The Wrecking Crew, one of the all-time cringeworthy films but still fun. A fifth Helm was planned but Martin bowed out. The entire total-escapist series was written, produced and directed by a team that owed its sensibilities and point of view to the men's magazines of the late 50s and 60s and took very little from Hamilton's novels. It made fantasy logic that his cover was a glamour magazine photographer pursued at first sight by gorgeous models. I saw them all at the movies and dreaded the moments when Dean would croon a tune. The supporting players were always great pros and the actresses were all fantasy women. In this final entry, James Gregory (Matt's boss McDonald) is replaced by John Larch and while Larch was a fine actor, Gregory's rich baritone is missed. Someone must have watched Deadlier Than The Male, a much better film than any of the Helm movies, because Elke Sommer and Nigel Green, the lethal duo from Deadlier, essentially reprise their roles. The opening theme song ("Ah So, Ah So") was embarrassing 50 years ago. Otherwise, Montenegro's music was memorable at times. The production values are top-notch, for the most part. The hand-to-hand fight scenes were poorly choreographed, performed, shot and edited even though the great Bruce Lee was involved. The only sad note about this film is the fate of lovely Sharon Tate who has a substantial role, exploited this year by Tarantino in his uber-fantasy Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

Someone once said that Dean Martin was so laid-back he made Perry Como look like a nervous wreck. It was said if a nuclear bomb went off behind him he wouldn't even drop his martini glass. Martin and his fellow Rat-packer Frank Sinatra were among our few recording giants who achieved in films as well. Although not as good an actor as Sinatra, Martin had a charming presence on the screen and was always entertaining to watch, even when you knew he wasn't taking it too seriously. The Matt Helm films came out at the same time as Sean Connery was playing Bond and have been largely forgotten today. Martin played the reluctant spy with tongue firmly in cheek. The Wrecking Crew was the last of the four Helm films and I feel it was the best. A gold train has been hijacked by a criminal mastermind. The one billion dollar theft will cause world wide financial panic and its up to Matt Helm to save the day. Of course in any spy film of this nature, you have to have beautiful women and there are plenty here. Elke Sommer and Tina Louise light up the screen, but it is Sharon Tate who steals the show as bumbling MI5 agent Freya Carlson. I thought it was so funny how she kept getting Helm into deeper and deeper trouble, even getting him arrested at one point. She tells him "I wont desert you Mister Helm". He says "Do me a favor PLEASE DESERT ME!". However, she comes through in the end and there is a good fight scene between her and Nancy Kwan. (For trivia lovers, Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee helped to set up the fight scenes for this film). People have commented the fight scenes involving Helm are fakey, what do you expect? Dean Martin was 52 when this film was made. Sharon really stole the show in this one, in fact they later based one of the characters in the Austin Powers films on her character here. This was her last film before she was murdered by the Charles Manson family. Its chilling when you watch it and think of how horribly her life ended.

Count Massimo Contini (Nigel Green) is the mastermind behind a billion dollar gold robbery. His plan is to send the world markets into chaos. He may get away with it unless Matt Helm (Dean Martin) can track down the missing gold. But along the way, Helm will meet up the Count's hired muscle, a gorgeous female killer, and a ditsy woman who insists on helping him.

I suppose the best way to describe a Matt Helm film would be a light and breezy spoof of the James Bond movies. Nothing is very serious and you're sure that everything will work out in the end. Dean Martin plays Matt Helm about as laid back as could be imagined. Instead of a gun, you're more likely to see him with a drink in one hand, a cigarette in the other, a beautiful woman to ogle, and a quick quip. His fights scenes may leave a lot to be desired, but there's no denying his "cool".

The Wrecking Crew is actually one of the better Matt Helm films. The hiding place of the gold is ingenious, the spy gadgets are plentiful, and the women are everywhere. The cast is one of the better assembled for any of these films. Nigel Green and Elke Sommer make a wonderful pair as the distinguished master criminal and the sexy killer (roles very similar to the ones they played in 1966's Deadlier Than the Male). But Sharon Tate really shines as the ditsy Freya Carlson. It's incredibly sad to think that this would be Tate's last role before her brutal murder. She's a joy and a real pleasure to watch.

Though it wasn't planned that way, The Wrecking Crew became the last of the Matt Helm series that Dean Martin brought to the screen. At the end credits it was announced that the audience could expect a new Matt Helm film The Ravagers would be coming out next.

It wasn't to be because Dino frankly got bored of the whole thing and in those days Martin would bore easily. You could tell it on the screen and in his performance that the Matt Helm series just wasn't interesting him any longer.

The Wrecking Crew was filmed minus Beverly Adams as Martin's private secretary Lovey Kravezit and the role of his boss MacDonald was taken over by John Larch in place of James Gregory. It was not as ridiculous as the third film in the series, The Ambushers which was clearly the worst of them. This one involved Nigel Green stealing a shipment of gold bullion worth a cool billion.

The gimmick here is that the USA does not want anyone knowing that such a shipment was stolen because of the financial implications. Which is why they've sent in Dino to get it back.

One thing this film does not lack is the bevy of beautiful women working with and against Dino in his mission. They include in this film, Tina Louise, Elke Sommer, Nancy Kwan and Sharon Tate. The Wrecking Crew turned out to be the tragic Ms. Tate's next to last film.

Like the James Bond films, the Helm series also had some nice spy gadgets. The Wrecking Crew had one of the best of them. It was a portable helicopter that you carried in the trunk of your car. It gets Dino and Sharon out of a tight spot. It has to be seen to be believed.

Just as well the Matt Helm series ended here if Dino was as bored with it as he plainly shows.

Well, at least compared to the two Matt Helm flicks immediately preceding it. After a couple of pretty big missteps, the series returns to the fine form of the first film, The Silencers. This is in no doubt very much due to the return of that film's director, Phil Karlson of Walking Tall fame.

While the budget was obviously reduced for this one, it may have helped the pacing, which is not bogged down by cumbersome set pieces and elaborate gadgets. From the time Helm first arrives at Contini's château, the movie races breezily along helped by well choreographed (by Bruce Lee!)fight scenes in place of the earlier movies' overblown hovercraft chases, runaway spaceships and the like. Additionally, this is the only one of the 4 Helm movies where the main villain's death doesn't seem anti-climatic. The soundtrack is great and absolutely helps to keep things moving along as well.

This cast is most enjoyable, with Nigel Green stealing the show while stealing the gold. He delivers many of the best lines in the movie, nay the series. Nancy Kwan and Elke Sommer are excellent as a couple of deadly femme fatales and Tina Louise is rescued from Gilligan's island just in time to give Helm his first lead. Sharon Tate showed a proclivity for comedy that was so deft and popular with movie goers that she was supposed to reprise her role in the never to be made The Ravagers. Also notable was the film debut of a little known martial arts expert named Chuck Norris. Dino himself seems to be enjoying the proceedings this time around and is a little more energetic. MacDonald, Helm's boss, is now being played by John Larch and actually takes part in some of the action.

In conclusion, this is one tight, exciting and truly funny (without being silly) little movie, at least by Dean Martin Matt Helm standards. It's too bad this was the last in line, because it could have served as the action comedy template going forward.

A train carrying $1 billion in gold is hijacked in Denmark and secret agent "Matt Helm" (Dean Martin) has only 48 hours upon his arrival there before British and American markets collapse. The person the secret organization I.C.E. believes is responsible is the multi-millionaire "Count Contini" (Nigel Green). Assisting him is his beautiful but deadly fiancé, "Linka Karensky" (Elke Sommer) and his top agent from Hong Kong, "Yu-Rang" (Nancy Kwan). As luck would have it, Count Contini has recently dumped his mistress, "Lola Medina" (Tina Louise) and she is willing to make a deal. So with only the help of an assistant named "Freya Carlson" (Sharon Tate) waiting for him in Denmark, Matt Helm flies to Copenhagen to retrieve the gold. At any rate, rather than reveal what happens next I will just say that this movie is loaded with sexy women who all want to get close to Matt for one reason or another. In that regard, I thought both Elke Sommer and Nancy Kwan performed very well in their respective roles. Dean Martin was solid and Tina Louise looked great. But her role was a bit too short in my view. Sharon Tate also put on a good performance but her character was too inconsistent. One minute she's a dull-looking klutz and the next she's a sexy secret agent. Likewise, except for the fight between Yu-Rang and Freya, the combat scenes were quite boring. In short, this film is much like the other 3 Matt Helm movies with some really nice-looking actresses thrown in for good measure. It definitely has some flaws but all things considered it's still watchable all the same.

The final Dean Martin/Matt Helm spy-spoof is eons better than the previous one ("The Ambushers", one of the worst movies ever made), no thanks to the lovely supporting ladies: Elke Sommer (cool), Tina Louise (hot), Nancy Kwan (dangerous), and the delightful Sharon Tate (a professional scatterbrain). Tate's repartee with Dean Martin is in the love/hate style of 1930s comedies, quick quips and straight-faced one-liners, and she's a lovable cut-up with her placid demeanor. Dean Martin, once again, is strictly on auto-pilot, and the fight scenes (though choreographed by Bruce Lee!) are wooden, yet the movie has some laughs and clever gadgets. It's just too bad the producers of this series felt that a walk-through by their star and some attractive surroundings would suffice. These pictures could've been--and should've been--much funnier and classier. **1/2 from ****

As I watched this movie I couldn't help smiling. The movie is essentially a spoof of James Bond flicks with super-guy fighting well-equipped villain. Seductive women and ridiculous gadgets are abundant. Some are as cute as they come (I am talking about women here). All are fallible (women). All women fall for our super-guy. He seemed to be bemused by this (who wouldn't). While he conquers one woman after another, he also manages to rescue a few tons of gold from the grip of the above mentioned villain (the later is usually considered to be the main plot - what a preposterous notion). One has to love the irreverent soundtrack. They don't make movies like this anymore. Pity. 9/10.

As l'd wrote before Dean Martin wasn't a better choice to be Matt Helm, he was old and already wrinkled for the role, instead all Matt's girls are gorgeous and no make sense whatever the reason, worst he enforces to sing along disfiguring the main score in twist sounds, in this final movie who shine are Sharon Tate and Elke Sommer, she were a very close scenes in those marvelous bodies in sexy walking and exciting legs, a plenty of action leaves the picture somehow acceptable and annoys no one, so l figure out that those girls saved the whole picture of total disaster just for a bad miscasting of leading Role!!

Resume:

First watch: 1990 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 6

The 4th and final M. Helm film, this is definitely the bottom of the barrel, except for the lovely and funny Sharon Tate near the end of career. There are other babes as well: Elke Sommer (hot for many years), Nancy Kwan lovely as always and Tina Louise who doesn't get to do much. Nigel Green is a noble villain and very creepy. Dino slogs along the best he can under the circumstances and Sharon Tate is just a joy! If she'd ever been given a decent role in a good film, I think she might have surprised a few skeptics about her talent.

A 3 out of 10. Best performance = Sharon Tate. All of these Helm flicks are cotton candy at best, but a pleasant reminder of bad fun films of the late 60's.

I have not seen any of the other Matt Helm films, first off. My main reason for getting this film was that Sharon Tate was in it. I think it's safe to say that, out of her very brief acting career, her role in "The Wrecking Crew" is her best out of all her films. In all her other roles she played the blonde sex kitten with little to do but smile pretty for the camera. In this film, however, she gets the chance to shine as a tough yet sexy, red-haired secret agent who assists Dean Martin's Matt Helm in apprehending a group of gold thieves. The plot is ridiculous, Dean Martin looks more than a little out of it, and the sets and music are bursting with such an infectious '60s vibe that you just have to love it in all of its corniness. That title song is stuck in my head for weeks after I watch the movie - and I love it! Don't miss the catfight between Sharon and Nancy Kwan, as well as Sharon's jaw-dropping booty-shake dance sequence. Oh man, what a babe.

No movie clashes more than "The Wrecking Crew." We have an aging Dean Martin, a soon to be dead Sharon Tate, Chuck Norris, and Bruce Lee choreography. In short, in this film, the 50's the 60's and the 70's meet and they REALLY don't get along. There are tedious "erotic" scenes. There are tedious shoot-outs. Even the explosions are tedious. This film is so slow that you'll notice how bad the sets are. Even the opening song, as catchy as it is, is offensive. People often call "The Ambushers" the worst Matt Helm film, but that's something you can sit through without getting the runs. And Sharon Tate should have known better to be in this. You can see her struggling, her energy showing through despite the script, but being giving no more to say than, "Mr. Helm, help me!" The biggest problem is director Karlson who was responsible for the inept first Matt Helm film, "The Silencers". Skip this and see "Murderer's Row," the best in the series.

MASTER PLAN: Operation:Rainbow - steal a billion in gold and then take it in on a train. More so than the previous 3 Matt Helm adventures, this one has the earmarks of a regular thriller, though a lot of absurdity is retained: gold cannot be stacked as high as we see here; it's too heavy. Dino Martin is back in his final take as the boozy USA-Bond-type Helm, still snoozing to femme-infested dreams and ready with the off-the-cuff remarks, though some of it doesn't work. In an early scene at ICE's testing facility (copying the Q dept. from the James Bond films), he and his boss MacDonald test a new grenade device; 'Why don't we call it a little bit of hanky-panky?' Helm quips. MacDonald just looks at him like 'What are you talking about, please?' The actor James Gregory did not return as MacDonald, replaced by John Larch. There's an uneven tone to this Helmer, combining straight action with silliness. We have a bevy of femme fatales: Elke Sommer is pretty bloodthirsty as the head villain's main squeeze, but Nancy Kwan is also on hand to offer dangerous thrills. Tina Louise, off of "Gilligan's Island," shows up briefly. The real bright spot, however, is Sharon Tate as a clumsy agent, recalling the Stella Stevens character of the 1st Helmer "The Silencers." You can't decide whether she really is a dimwit or playing some undercover role (it turns out, she works for the Brits). Helm is really annoyed with her during most of the film and their repartee is quite amusing, suggesting what more could of been done with the female characters in the "Austin Powers" movies.

The drawback to this Helm entry, which follows "The Ambushers," is the deadly slow pace in many scenes during the first half of the pic. A good example is Helm's scene with the Tina Louise character, which seems to drag on forever. Most of the action takes Helm to Denmark, where he must confront the super-rich Count Contini (Nigel Green), a villain patterned on such Bond foes as Goldfinger and Drax of the later "Moonraker." If one wanted an actor for a snide, sneaky, dastardly mustache-twirling role in the late sixties, actor Green was the 'go to' guy. He tries to bribe Helm at first, looking down at him as a typical agent, and eventually decides to have him killed. The action picks up in the final third of the film, with the story having to dispose of several key characters, and there's a lot of kicking, punching and shooting, not to mention cheesy explosions. Tate and Kwan have a martial arts confrontation to add some spice. Helm assembles a helicopter out of some equipment stored in his car's trunk and the climax shifts to a moving train. Helm would not return in "The Ravagers," as planned; there was no "The Ravagers," as the briefly-popular Helm persona could not sustain more than 4 features (by contrast with Bond, who went past 20 of 'em by the new millennium). Helm would return in a TV-movie and brief TV series in the seventies, with actor Tony Franciosa. Hero:5 Villain:6 Femme Fatales:7 Henchmen:6 (hey, Chuck Norris was one of these) Fights:6 Stunts/Chases:5 Gadgets:6 Auto:4 Locations:7 Pace:6 overall:6-

....but not necessarily the best. That title still goes to "Murderers' Row", in my opinion. "The Wrecking Crew" is probably the best-produced of the series (then again, after the embarrassing climactic chase of "The Ambushers", the only way was up), and in Elke Sommer it has the sexiest bad girl since Daliah Lavi of "The Silencers". It also has the second best villain in the sophisticated Nigel Green (re-teaming with Sommer after "Deadlier Than The Male") - Karl Malden remains the best. But director Phil Karlson makes the same mistake as in "The Silencers" - he lets several scenes play out too long. However, my biggest problem with this movie has to do with Sharon Tate. Not with the actress - who is beautiful, likable and energetic - but with her character. She is very inconsistently written, alternating between clumsy and competent, sometimes in the same scene. And what's worse, Matt Helm is obnoxiously condescending towards her - I much preferred his equal partnership with Janice Rule in "The Ambushers". This film has gained some fame for having Bruce Lee involved in the staging of the fight scenes: truth be told, they are still quite ungraceful, though at least Dean Martin has added more kicks to his repertoire. My favorite scene is easily the fight between major babes Sharon Tate and Nancy Kwan - unfortunately it is spoiled by a few too many interruptions. ** out of 4.

A forgettable spy movie, with Dean Martin in one of his worst performances.

There's not much to say about it at all, but the film is certainly worth a look for Sharon Tate's funny performance: She steals every scene she's in with her beauty and comedic timing! A pity she left us so soon, because she could have become a great silver screen comedienne (like Carole Lombard in the late 30s, for instance). The character of Felicity Shagwell in the "Austin Powers" movie was based on Sharon's character in "The Wrecking Crew".

Silly, sometimes funny spy spoof with some colourful sets, beautiful ladies (Tate, Elke Sommer, Nancy Kwan and Tina Louise) and beautiful dresses.

Though I know this was the last of the Dean Martin/Matt Helm pictures, it's the very first one I've seen just now on YouTube. I have to admit right up front that while the beginning with the premise just being explained was pretty exciting, I thought much of the rest of the action and fighting were lacking but then that may have been because the sound and dialogue synchronization was ahead of the actual picture by a few seconds on the upload. Still, it wasn't too bad what was depicted and with gorgeous women like Tina Louise, Nancy Kwan, Elke Sommer, and especially Sharon Tate as a redhead, how can this film fail in my eyes? Yes, Dino seemed a little mature when sharing scenes with some of them but he sure seemed to having sooo much fun and that's infectious! And that score by Hugo Montenegro sure was groovy fun! This picture sure made the swinging sixties seem like such fun, that's for sure! Okay, I think I've said enough so on that note, The Wrecking Crew is very much worth a look.

Dated and extremely silly movie .Shame as it had superb cast . I only really watched it for Sharon Tate and wasn't disappointed in her performance . Such a shame, we never got to see more of this stunning lady .She was talented .No doubt Sharon had the face of an angel ..

In this one, Matt Helm's antagonist is Count Contini, a gold smuggler, played by Nigel Green. He is aided by his gang of thugs and two female sidekicks, Linka (Elke Sommer) and Gwen Ya-Rang (Nancy Kwan). As might be expected, both try to seduce Matt, offering fake carrots. Interestingly for a Matt Helm movie, however, Linka is a rare woman in Matt's orbit who is the recipient, rather than initiator, of the first display of interest. Earlier, there is a nice scene in which Lola Medini (Tina Louise), a former associate of Contina, seduces Matt in connection with the intrigue.

Ultimately, it is Freya Carlson (Sharon Tate) who gets her man. She is a Danish tourist agent who leads Matt around in fulfilling his duties. Like Stella Stevens in "The Silencers," she is initially quite clumsy, and is involved in a nice wetlook scene (actually, so is Linka). Freya helps Matt foil the villains.

I'm focusing mostly on the women here, but hey, you can hardly beat this bunch in this male fantasy series. The only Bond movie that can rival this group is "Thunderball."

A train transporting $Billion in gold is hijacked by Count Massimo Contini's men. Linka Karensky (Elke Sommer) and Yu Rang are his loyal operatives. Matt Helm (Dean Martin) is task with finding the gold. Freya Carlson (Sharon Tate) presents herself as a bumbling tourism agent but is actually something more.

I really like the idea of Sharon Tate's character. At least, they stop the overuse of go-go dancing. There is a way to make a Matt Helm action thriller sexier than Bond with a bit of fun. This is dripping with sex. The plot loses drive somewhere in the middle and the movie stalls. I would have loved Martin to be forced to pair up with Tate earlier. They do have a fun chemistry together. It's funny that he keep shoving her head down during that shootout. This is slightly better than the third one if only for stopping the go-go dancathon. The franchise ends here and Tate would be killed a few months after this movie. The fantasy scenario would have Martin pairing up with Tate for a fifth installment.

Dean Martin returns as men's magazine photographer and part-time secret agent Matt Helm, in this, the last, weakest and most notoriously sexist of the whole leering, dirty-minded series. The plot, what there is of it, involves the recovery of a billion dollars worth of gold bullion; but the story is just a mechanism to string together a series of scenes of Dino smarming his way into the boudoirs of a bevy of beauties (Tina Louise, Nancy Kwan, Elke Sommer), hoping to tease information out of them. Sharon Tate, in one of her last screen appearances, reprises Stella Stevens' klutzy sidekick part from The Silencers, but, like the movie as a whole, does not quite hit the right note with it, making for a hit and miss performance. The whole exercise is silly beyond belief, the usual jokes about Dean/Matt's drinking and womanizing fall flat and Dean himself was beginning to look a little old for an action hero. Plus, the sets and settings looked a bit cheap and stage-bound for what was supposed to be an international action hit. What 'entertainment' value there is here involves the camera lingering on the legs and cleavages of Dean's shapely co-stars, and the tight plot from Don Hamilton's novel is a dog-eared illogical mess by the time it hit the screen. Any true action-suspense fan will rapidly develop a headache from the gaps and gaffs in the logic of what is left of the plot.

The final credits advertise a fifth Matt Helm adventure - The Ravagers - which was never made. Clearly, the public, the studio and Dino himself must have been tiring of the whole business by this point.