The brainchild of former Saturday Night Live cast member Mike Myers (Wayne's World, Wayne's World 2), Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery burst onto the Hollywood landscape in 1997 and made a beeline for the cult classic Hall of Fame. A parody/satire of the popular James Bond films of the past several decades, Austin Powers gave birth to a number of quirky and famous characters such as Austin himself, Dr. Evil, Scott Evil, and (later) "Mini-Me". Sporting some of the most outrageous antics and bathroom humor in the history of film, Austin Powers successfully utilizes its play on the James Bond series (because it so parallels the films) to create a memorable movie that will keep you laughing for two hours plus...

Mike Myers plays the role of Austin Powers - international man of mystery. Frozen in a cryogenic chamber since the 1960s, Austin is thawed out in the 1990s in order to take on his arch-nemesis Dr. Evil (who has also been frozen during that time period). A free-love advocate, Austin makes an immediate play for his new partner Vanessa Kensington (Elizabeth Hurley), daughter of his former spy partner Mrs. Kensington (Mimi Rogers).

Meanwhile, Dr. Evil collaborates with his entourage which consists of Number Two (Robert Wagner), Frau Farbissina (Mindy Sterling), and others. He develops a plan to steal a nuclear weapon and hold the world hostage for... one million dollars! No. Make that one trillion dollars!!! To carry out his task, Dr. Evil must not only face down Austin Powers and his beautiful partner, but he's forced to grapple with the common-sense, quasi-evil tendencies of his son Scott Evil (Seth Green) with whom he's constantly fighting. Can Austin Powers save the world? Or will Dr. Evil succeed in holding the world hostage?

The success of Austin Powers is wholly attributable to the unique comic mind of Mike Myers who not only starred in the leading roles, but who also wrote the screenplay. Myers' portrayal of Dr. Evil steals the show with his evil laugh, diabolical grin, and propensity for all things evil (such as "evil petting zoos"). His soliloquy while receiving family counseling with Scott ranks as not only one of the best scenes in the film, but among the best scenes from any comedy film ever made. Elizabeth Hurley also turns in a good performance as Austin's partner Vanessa (doing a far better acting job than the verbally-challenged Heather Graham who always seemed to be reading from cue-cards in the Austin Powers sequel).

Meanwhile, Will Ferrell (of SNL and Elf fame) makes a notable appearance as Dr. Evil's henchman, Mustafa. His is a recurring character in later films. Overall, Austin Powers is one of the funniest films you'll ever see. Unless outrageous comedy is simply not your cup of tea, I can't think of any reason not to recommend this film. Although the sequels are hilarious in their own right, the original is the best (as is often the case), and that's why Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery is a definite must-see film...

The DVD Report

Austin Powers is one of the funniest films I've ever seen. The movie is a laugh out loud riot, and it'll have you begging for more. The story is about a secret agent that's cryogenically frozen for thirty years, so he can catch his old time adversary Dr. Evil. Although the story is a bit far fetched and predictable, it doesn't ruin the film. The movie does a great job making fun of one of America's outragious decades, and it pokes fun at a lot of spy movie cliches. With so many sexual jokes about the sixties, this film never stops being interesting. Overall, it's a great film to enjoy.

Also, the DVD has an incorrect framed transfer.
The DVD presents the film with a ratio of 1.93:1, when the film's ratio is actually 2.35:1.

I waited a long time to see this movie. It sounded stupid and wasn't worth my time. I finally saw it and I wasn't much off the mark. It is one of those movies that you see just because so many other people have. Has some moderatley funny parts, but none that really made me laugh. I like that they used Kurt Bacharach and music from earlier films (e.g., Casino Royale). It was neat to see some toned-down 60s flashbacks, if just to get it out of your system. Overall, I wouldn't see it on its own right, but it is a "societal" movie that needs to be waded through.

The enthusiasm that Mike Myers imbues in the "Austin Powers" character here is infectious. It is quite apparent that Myers loved the spy movies of the sixties that he is sending up here. This initial entry in the series is the one where the Austin character's mojo is really working. To boot, he also created another memorable character in Austin's chief nemesis, Dr. Evil, kind of a Ed Sullivan-like Eastern European villain. Elizabeth Hurley is Babe-ilicious. And any film that revives the careers of Robert Wagner and Michael York can't be all bad. The only debit here is Myers reliance on toilet humor for laughs.

Having just seen this on VH1 recently, I have to admit I had forgotten how hilarious this movie is. So many good parts: fighting the Irish hitman in the bathroom ("Show that terd who's boss!!"), the cop who just wouldn't move out of the way....("NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" ::crunchcrunch::), the INSANELY HOT Allota Fagina ("May I wash you?"), and the mishap of the freezing of Mr. Bigglesworth are just a few examples of classic moments in this movie. The movie parodies classic moments from the Bond series as well as other things such as post-mortem one-liners common in action movies like Commando and Die Hard (listen to Austin after he kills the guard near the sea bass tank near the end......hilarious). All in all this is a pure ninteies classic that is worth seeing again and again. HILARIOUS!