A franchise that single-handedly shot Mike Myers to superstardom, with goodwill that Myers has almost squandered since, 'Austin Powers' is a fairly wacky creation but undeniably funny and endearing. He now gets the 'shagadelic' high-def treatment with all three films making their debut to Blu-ray.
Made for a paltry 12 million, 'Austin Powers' came out in 1997 with unsurprisingly low potential. God only knows what New Line was expecting as Myer's 'Wayne's World 2' and 'So I Married an Axe Murderer' both faltered four years earlier in '93 and an idea of broad comedy schtick lampooning a franchise that already seemed to be lampooning itself (that very year’s 'The World is Not Enough'...) didn't quite seem cutting edge.
But beating all odds, the first pic actually became a sleeper hit and while not becoming the behemoth the sequels would become, paved the way for the enormously successful DVD release - the sales of which convinced the studio that a sequel would be a safe bet indeed.
Throwing at the screen a ridiculous amount of characters and catch phrases, Myers managed to find new ground on the well-trodden path of spy caricature. From 'Secret Agent', 'Get Smart' and 'I-Spy' to the Matt Helm and Flint pics, borrowing liberally from Bond was nothing new, but Myer's swinging superspy Austin Powers as well as nemesis Dr. Evil, both played by Myers, were right up his distinctly broad alley.
Relying heavily on Myer's predilection towards schtick, anachronisms and juvenile humor, he managed to hit most of the right notes (see 'The Love Guru' for that same formula that hits most of the wrong notes...) in the tale of Austin Powers who gets cryogenically frozen in the late sixties and woken up in present day to take on his old nemesis Dr. Evil ('Demolition Man' anyone?).
So swinging, sex-crazed, shaggy-haired Powers has to come to terms with this new era where bad teeth and a rotating bed are generally frowned upon. Teaming up with Agent Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley), Powers has his work cut out for him as he attempts to take on maniacal genius Dr. Evil and his comedic set of henchmen which includes Frau Farbissina (Mindy Sterling), Mustafa (Will Ferrell), Number Two (Robert Wagner) and even Dr. Evil’s own son Scott (Seth Green).
A film that seems almost completely improvised, Myers boon was creating a villain for Powers that was equally as interesting and funny as Powers was. Dr. Evil's hilariously ill-conceived plans of destruction as well as his need for acceptance from his son become comedic high points in a film that's a constant chuckle if the mood's right.
And despite the broadness, Myers injects a humanity and sweetness to Powers, and even Dr. Evil, that give the characters the feeling of being well-worn slippers - audiences seemed automatically comfortable with them.
With the original such a smashing DVD success, it didn't take long for Myers to hit the sequel, 'The Spy Who Shagged Me', with quadruple the theatrical gross. Myers is renowned for never meeting a joke he didn't like to hammer into the ground and for the sequel, Myers regurgitates almost all of what worked about the original while expectedly making things bigger and shaggier.
Admittedly, even though most of the jokes are carried over from the original, it's still funny. And Myers added enough to the sequel to make it feel just different enough to not invoke a sense of déjà vu - the new additions being Verne Troyer's Mini-Me and Myers' own Fat Bastard.
This time, Dr. Evil hatches a plan to travel back in time to 1969 and steal the mojo of a frozen Austin Powers. With his mojo stolen at a most inopportune time, Powers has no choice but to travel back to '69 himself where he enlists the help of a shagadelic American agent Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham - this entry's 'Powers' girl versus the 'Bond' girl).
And, yeah, that's pretty much it. Almost everyone returns with Seth Green as Scott upping the father/son issues to Jerry Springer, Frau Farbissina succumbing to the irresistible charms of Dr. Evil when he drinks Powers Mojo juice (to Al Green's 'Let's Get It On...natch), and Elizabeth Hurley as Agent Kensington who has a heck of a honeymoon secret to share.
Mini-me is by far the most successful addition to the franchise with Fat Bastard having a few moments but mostly designated to just the grotesque. Heather Graham continues the tradition of the sexy, vapid co-star and seems to ably handle herself amongst all the improv madness.
Despite a few new characters along with some musical cameos from Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello, Myers approach here seems to be if it ain't broke...
And yep, Myers didn't deviate much for the third pic, 2002's 'Goldmember', although by this time, the franchise has become noticeably more expensive looking. None the more obvious than in the slam-bam opening which contains several big-name cameos - a highlight of the whole series. Most everyone returns from the first and second, including unfortunately Fat Bastard.
This time out, Powers has his own father issues to work out when reunited with his pop Nigel (a great Michael Caine) after traveling back to the 70s to join up with a FBI agent Foxxy Cleopatra (Beyonce Knowles) to thwart Dr. Evil and new villain Johan van der Smut (Myers) - a crazy gold-obsessed Dutchman. The time-travel craziness of the script is, of course, nonsensical and completely beside the point.
It just serves as a thin framework to stage as many outrageous sequences as the film can fit, a few highlights being Dr. Evil and Mini-me's prison stint with a hilarious 'It's a Hard Knock Life' musical interlude, disco club shenanigans including some roller derby action and a flashback that gives us a little more background to the contention between Austin and Dr. Evil.
Despite including single scenes that are some of the best of the franchise, the film as a whole is a bit more aimless and desperate to please. And Johan van der Smut is a complete wash as a villain being neither funny nor intriguing - he's in fact borderline obnoxious.
Luckily, Myers may have realized that and delegated his screen time appropriately so despite being the title character, he's still overshadowed by Dr. Evil and the plethora of other characters.
There's a lot of fun to be had with these three films and while they start to lose a little bit of the novelty on each installment, Myers was smart enough to throw new characters in each time to freshen up the formula and each one clocks in at a spry 90 minutes give or take a few so none of them overstay their welcome.
Their all presented in 2.40:1 with 1080p VC1 encodes and the results are quite nice indeed. All being filled with bright, vivid colors representing different periods - the swinging sixties and glam disco seventies - clarity and detail is great throughout although the first, 'International Man of Mystery', does have a small amount of grain. There shouldn't be too many complaints with the high-def presentations here.
All three films also get Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless tracks and the audio improves from title to title along with the budget. The first being a low-budget affair, the mix really only kicks in with the musical sequences but by the time the 80million 'Goldmember' arrives, the disco club and rapping really put the 5.1 track to use.
All the special features from the previous DVD releases have been carried over in standard def. No new content is provided unfortunately. The first Austin Powers include a commentary by Mike Myers and Director Jay Roach, 'Deleted Scenes', 'Alternate Endings' and 'Trailers'.
'The Spy Who Shagged Me' includes a commentary from Mike Myers, Jay Roach and Co-Writer Michael McCullers, Comedy Central's 'The Dr. Evil Story', 'Behind the Scenes', 'Deleted Scenes', 'Music Videos' and 'Trailers'. The music videos include Lenny Kravitz, Madonna, Mel S and 'Just the Two of Us' with Dr. Evil and Mini-Me.
The last pic is loaded with features and include a full-length Fact Track, commentary from Myers and Roach, 'Deleted/Alternate Scenes', Production featurettes that includes 'MI-6: International Men of Mystery', 'Fashion Vs. Fiction', 'Disco Fever' and 'English, English'. Six featurettes make up the 'The World of Austin Powers' and all told run about 45 minutes which covers the stunts, special f/x, vehicles, characters and the background of the series.
Music Videos from Britney Spears, Beyonce, Min Tea round things out with Dr. Evil and Mini-Me also getting a video for 'Hard Knock Life'.
Are these must-haves on Blu-ray? I'd probably have to go with no, their bright and colorful but not necessarily f/x extravaganzas so the old DVDs should be fine for that Powers fix. That being said, if you never got around to the DVDs or have a Powers nut in the family, this collection would make a pretty good Christmas gift.
Austin Powers Collection: Shagadelic Edition Loaded With Extra Mojo [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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