Cinedelica: Der Kommissar's in town!

Kommissarx Last week Retromedia released the action-packed The Kommissar X Collection on REGION 1 DVD (NTSC) in the U.S. and if you enjoy stylish sixties spy spoofs you should give these fun films a look. The DVD collection contains three movies from the entertaining Kommissar X series including Kiss Kiss, Kill Kill (aka Kommissar X - Jagd auf Unbekannt), Death Is Nimble, Death Is Quick (aka Kommissar X - Drei gelbe Katzen) and So Darling, So Deadly (aka Kommissar X - In den Klauen des goldenen Drachen). All three of the movies included in this set were made between 1965-1966 and directed by Gianfranco Parolini and Rudolf Zehetgruber. The films are based on the original Kommissar X spy novels written by the German pulp-author Bert F. Island (aka Paul Alfred Müller).

The films feature the suave Italian actor Tony Kendall as the well-dressed secret agent Joe Walker, alias Kommissar X. Joe spends his time chasing down bad guys with his partner, the upright Captain Tom Rowland (Brad Harris). When Joe & Tom aren't saving the world from the diabolical schemes of crazy villains and their Fembot-like armies, our heroes are busy visiting exotic locations around the globe, driving fast sport cars, dancing the night away and romancing various European beauties.

All of the Kommissar X movies are light on story and heavy on action and explosions, but the great soundtracks and stylish look of the films make up for many of the plot holes. Both stars (Tony Kendall & Brad Harris) seem to be enjoying themselves and it's hard not to be charmed by them.

Unfortunately the quality of The Kommissar X Collection is really lackluster. The DVDs come with no extra bonus materials and are shown in fullscreen. The picture & sound quality is very poor at times and the packaging is badly designed. Thankfully the movies are so much fun to watch that many 60s spy movie enthusiasts probably won't mind too much. At least Image Entertainment is making an effort to release these hard to find films and hopefully they will continue to release more of the Kommissar X movies in the future.

For more information about the DVD collection please visit Amazon.

- Kimberly Lindbergs