User Reviews

For those who saw the original series, this one's pretty good. The menace in the film, KAOS getting their hands on a weather control machine, is typical of the television show. Even to how they demonstrate that they have it.

The film has Maxwell a bit more smart than he was in the show, but just marginally. Some of the old gags have new twists, like the phone booth for access to Control Headquarters. Some of the newer gags are similar to the worst of the gags on the TV series.

There was an in-joke or two, including the bad guys treating their agents like baseball players, but the writing was, IMHO, a little strained.

Nevertheless, for the most part, the film captures a lot of the spirit of the old show. It's primarily for those who enjoyed the old series, but compared to some of the current television comedies, it still stands out.

Get Smart was never a "great" show. I mean the whole idea was the campy, tongue in cheek humor, the delicious wit of Don Adams, spoofing the entire spy action James Bond Genre. I remember the original series in reruns as a kid and it was one of the TV greats!! You would never think that they could bring a cast together nearly thirty years later and still pull it off and yet that is precisely what they do!! The movie isn't good...I mean it's B Movie elongated TV Episode quality with the same quirks and tongue in cheek humor with some digs at politics and other things in a light and cheery way. The villains are really bumbling nice guys and Don Adams slips right back into the Maxwell Smart character and looks great!! True fans of the original series will find Edward Platt's Chief sadly lacking as a big part of the series was the incredible comedic timing and relationship between Max and the Chief. Still Max and 99 are in full force with some new characters and some old ones as well. It was a great film to watch before seeing the new Get Smart movie to refresh my memory to the old series. The best part about it hands down is what an amazing job the cast and film makers did bringing the series to life again.

Don Adams truly is Maxwell Smart. I think he is more of his character so it is effortless for him. He's strong on screen, funny in a very campy way and pulls it off every time. He made the series, and the film and everything else he did worthwhile just by being himself. Barbara Feldon also returns to her role as Agent 99. I must say that I thought her role was toned down a lot in this film. Her and Max still have their chemistry and she's still soft and sweet and smart but tough on the inside. I thought her and Max would spend more time teamed up in a reunion but she doesn't have that big of a role. Her and Adams have terrific chemistry even after all these years. Bernie Kopell also returns as #1 Kaos agent Conrad Siegfried and a rather silly second role as Siegfriend's twin brother. Kopell is still terrific and campy with his crazy accent (ironically he is very well known as an actor for being able to do accents.) Kopell and Adams share a distinctive talent for physical comedy and quick wit and they work great together. Richard Gautier returns in one of my favorite Get Smart roles as robot Hymie. His dry humor and the entire gag of taking things literally never gets old as bad as it is and him and Adams are also terrific together. Robert Karvelas also returns although in a small role as Larrabee. And finally David Ketchum appears as Agent 13 in his usual crazy hiding spots.

If you have never seen Get Smart the series or weren't a fan I promise that you will quite likely hate this TV rendition because it truly is for the fans. I mean it covers literally everything from the series including the many running gags as well "Missed it by that much" "Would you believe..." and so on. The special effects are mostly non existent using a floor level budget which the original series probably ran off about the same twenty years before this. Director Gary Nelson worked on the original series and I really do think that made all the difference because I just can't express how impressed I was with how much this brought me back to watching those original episodes. I score it as low as I am simply because it's very low budget, campy and not exactly top notch viewing but fans will love it and if you need a little trip down memory lane you'll want to see this one for sure as it is a great honor to the ground breaking memorable series. 6/10

The '80's saw a number of U.S. made-for-television movies reuniting the casts of old shows, including 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.', 'The Munsters', 'The Six Million Dollar Man' and 'The Wild Wild West'. Amongst these was 'Get Smart Again!' which brought back Don Adams as incompetent CONTROL secret agent 'Maxwell Smart' and Barbara Feldon as fellow agent and wife '99'. Created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, the original was a huge hit which ran for five years.

Directed by Gary Nelson ( who made the 1979 Disney sci-fi adventure 'The Black Hole' ), 'Get Smart Again!' opens in Washington where Commander Drury ( Kenneth Mars ) is wondering what to do about the revived threat of KAOS, who have built a weather machine with which to blackmail the world. Major Waterhouse ( John De Lancie ) suggests reactivating Max Smart. The man in question is at a funeral, as one of the pallbearers, when his old shoe/phone rings for the first time in years. While he goes off to answer it, the other pallbearers drop the coffin and it slides down a grassy knoll, eliciting a chase.

Max is given the assignment of defeating the KAOS plan and sets about reuniting his crack team of agents, amongst them Hymie the robot ( Dick Gautier ), currently working as a test dummy in a driving school, and Larrabee ( Robert Karvelas ), who has a habit of popping up where you least expect him, such as in a filing cabinet and a fire hydrant.

The previous attempt at reviving the Smart character was the 1980 movie 'The Nude Bomb', which strangely failed to include '99' and was not generally liked by fans. 'Again' works better because it feels like an extended episode, with the famous title sequence and theme tune back in place, and Bernie Kopell reprising his role as Nazi-like KAOS villain 'Siegfried'. Though Mel Brooks did not have a hand in the script, his zany sense of humour is very much in evidence. For instance, when Smart, Drury and Waterhouse wish to exchange secrets, they go up onto the roof of their headquarters and attempt to speak while helicopters hover overhead. Unfortunately, most of what they say is rendered inaudible by the choppers' engines and they are nearly blown off the roof by the draught caused by the blades.

Later, a KAOS killer breaks into Max's house at night. Not wishing to disturb 99, Max tries to fight as quietly as possible, a process that involves him tossing cushions and shoving chairs around so that the killer will not make a sound when he falls on the floor.

All of Max's catchphrases ( 'Missed it by that much!', 'Would you believe...' and 'And loving it!' ) are present and correct, as is the famous 'Cone Of Silence'. There are new gadgets too; Max wears magnetic boots which pull the villain's gun out of his hand. Then there's 'Dr.Denton's Hall Of Hush', a room in which speech is converted into words which then magically appear in mid-air. Soon there are so many floating about it becomes impossible for either Drury or Max to read them.

Adams is as wonderfully deadpan as ever, spitting the absurd dialogue through clenched teeth as though he actually believed it. The chemistry between him and Feldon is nicely preserved. Max continues to call his partner '99' even though they have been married for twenty years! In a nice touch, the film is dedicated to the late Edward Platt, who played 'The Chief' in the original series.

In the mid-90's, a new series was made, once again starring Adams and Feldon, but focusing on the exploits of their equally incompetent son, played by the unfortunately-named Andy Dick. It lasted only seven episodes. In 2008, the inevitable 'Get Smart' movie was released, starring Steve Carell as 'Max'. I have not seen it, so won't comment.

Though made on a typical television budget, 'Again!' manages to be a lot more amusing and inventive than Mike Myers' overrated 'Austin Powers' movies.

As most comments here mention, this is a film for the fans of the original series, and if that's not you, you're unlikely to enjoy this film too much. It's not bad, as a film, but as a one-off it's a bit poor.

That being said, this movie was a really nice re-visit to the old gang of Control. Ed Platt's sad passing leaves him sorely missed as the Chief, in this film and the travesty of the Nude Bomb of 1980 (though it's unlikely that even he would have been able to save that one).

The story picks up the lives of Maxwell Smart and Mrs Maxwell Smart, and shows that Kaos reigns still, with Siegfried and Shtarker continuing to fill the world with evilness and badness. Control has been disbanded, but the old members are needed to take on their mantle of anti-espionage agents once again! Kitted out with new gadgets and old jokes, the fun gets rolling! The jokes are often direct repeats from the series, but for the most part that just doesn't matter.

This was a really sweet return to the Get Smart franchise, with the 20 missing years showing on everyone's faces but not hindering anything at all; Don Adams still taking the knocks as well as he always did, with his ever-visible stunt-double taking the longs-shots like usual ;) Fans, don't miss this movie! :D

Unlike the 1980 movie, they brought back much of the old cast, and revived the old atmosphere. The jokes, the look, the characters, the interaction, and updated it without overdoing it.

There were some funny twists; Siegfriend having a twin brother on the side of good, Hymie having hurt feelings about Smart not contacting him for a long time, Larrabee having received a letter from then-President Nixon to stay at the old CONTROL headquarters building, even to the time where it is being demolished and Smart has to pull him out. Also the new jokes were in line with the ones from the old TV show, and they didn't try to make a substitute for Edward Platt. An enjoyable bit of nostalgia.