ASSIGNMENT SKYBOLT (1968)
Label: Dark Force Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 99 Minutes 36 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono (No Subtitles)
Video: 108op HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Director: Gregg C. Tallas
Cast: Nikos Kourkoulos, Anna Brazzou, Paris Alexander, Arthur Brenter, Artemis Matsas, Sonia Zoidou, Elena Nathanail
In the Greek eurospy-thriller Assignment Skybolt (196) American secret agent Dan Holland (Nikos Kourkoulos, With Fear and Passion) of the American Secret Service arrives in Athens, Greece to find a missing hydrogen bomb that has been stolen from a NATO base in Turkey. At the start of the film we see another agent named Wilkins (Arthur Brenter) get beat to death while searching for the H-bomb, with Holland arriving and trying to retrace his steps, which leads him to the Mermaid nightclub, run by the sinister Stenger (Artemis Matsas, The Savage Hunt). Not surprisingly he ends up getting involved with some attractive women from the club, including singer Carla (Anna Brazzou, Bikini Paradise), a strippers Paula (Sonia Zoidou, Love Written in Blood), and Toni (Elena Nathanail, The Designated Victim, The Fear), the latter of whom does a notable balloon striptease!
In the Greek eurospy-thriller Assignment Skybolt (196) American secret agent Dan Holland (Nikos Kourkoulos, With Fear and Passion) of the American Secret Service arrives in Athens, Greece to find a missing hydrogen bomb that has been stolen from a NATO base in Turkey. At the start of the film we see another agent named Wilkins (Arthur Brenter) get beat to death while searching for the H-bomb, with Holland arriving and trying to retrace his steps, which leads him to the Mermaid nightclub, run by the sinister Stenger (Artemis Matsas, The Savage Hunt). Not surprisingly he ends up getting involved with some attractive women from the club, including singer Carla (Anna Brazzou, Bikini Paradise), a strippers Paula (Sonia Zoidou, Love Written in Blood), and Toni (Elena Nathanail, The Designated Victim, The Fear), the latter of whom does a notable balloon striptease!
His superiors suspect that his late brother Jack, code-name Achilles, who was reportedly KIA by communists during the Greek Civil War is somehow involved with the H-bomb shenanigans., a suspicion based on the fact that the dead agent Wilkins was found with an antique coin belonging to Jack.
This spy flick is a low-budget, cheapie 007 knock-off, with the main location is the multi-colored lit Mermaid nightclub, a lot of it takes place there, with precious few other locations other than a day for night finale off the coast of Athens on a Chinese yacht, though we do get some nice Greek scenery. The acting is a bit stiff as well, especially from our 007/Connery knock-off lead Holland as played by Greek actor Nikos Kourkoulos. The sex is toned down, but the scrappy spy flick does have some fun action set pieces, we get a pretty thrilling car chase down a winding seaside mountain road, some genital electrocution, a ring that fires poison darts, and some sexy stripteases, with most of the sexy good times only hinted at, though there is a scene of Holland removes his pants belt and starts whipping a would-be femme fatale before promising her a night of unpleasant rough sex. I thought the fisticuffs, gunplay and karate elements were pretty limply executed, but there's enough eurospy thrills here to keep my attention. and the lady eye-candy certainly does not disappoint, it's Bond on a Budget for sure, but still manages to be quite entertaining.
Slipcover
Audio/Video: Assignment Skybolt (1968) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Dark Force Entertainment in 1080p HD framed in 1.66:1 widescreen, advertised as a new 4K scan of the 35mm OCN. There's plenty of white speckles and a couple of tears that pop-up, but overall it's quite a pleasing HD image. Colors largely impress as well, the purple, green, and magenta hues shine during the multi-colored scenes inside the Mermaid club, and skin tones look accurate. Depth and clarity also look terrific, and black levels have pleasing shadow detail, and are appropriately deep. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with no subtitle options. It's not perfect, there's a steady layer of background noise and hiss embedded in the track. The dynamic range is pretty flat, but it is always intelligible, it's just not perfection.
The only extra on the disc is a Cult Movie Trailer Reel featuring Cut and Run (1:36), Screams of a Winter Night (0:27), Slaughterhouse Rock (1:40), The Cycle Savages (1:16), Tintorera (2:31), Eye in the Labyrinth (3:20), and The Violent Breed (2:50) . The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring vintage key artwork, as well as a Limited Edition Slipcover with a different artwork option and Greek title, also based on vintage poster artwork.
Special Features:
- New 4K scan from the uncut 35mm original camera negative presented in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio
- Cult Movie Trailer Reel: Cut and Run (1:36), Screams of a Winter Night (0:27), Slaughterhouse Rock (1:40), The Cycle Savages (1:16), Tintorera (2:31), Eye in the Labyrinth (3:20), The Violent Breed (2:50)
- New 4K scan from the uncut 35mm original camera negative presented in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio
- Cult Movie Trailer Reel: Cut and Run (1:36), Screams of a Winter Night (0:27), Slaughterhouse Rock (1:40), The Cycle Savages (1:16), Tintorera (2:31), Eye in the Labyrinth (3:20), The Violent Breed (2:50)
- Limited Edition Slipcover
Screenshots from the Dark Force Ent. Blu-ray:
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