After about 50 minutes of talk and boredom, "Wonder Women" aka "The Deadly And The Beautiful" boasts some amateurish yet energetic action scenes. Nobody seems to have any idea what they're doing in their fight scenes, but it looks like they had fun trying. The film by no means lives up to its title(s), but it's not a total washout, either. ** out of 4.
19 Reviews
Entertaining a little bit!
RodrigAndrisan27 April 2019
This is some kind of James Bond movie with a lot of women, it is obvious that Mr. Robert Vincent O'Neill, director and co-author of the script, he really loves women, only in panties and bra (check almost all his other films), which is not bad. But, to achieve a great film, you need also a great story and many other things... The film looks very much from this point of view with the first "Kommissar X" movie, "Kiss Kiss, Kill Kill"(1966) Kommissar X - Jagd auf
Unbekannt (original title), which is a copy of "Goldfinger". Nancy Kwan is very convincing in her role. Maria De Aragon also distinguishes herself through physical beauty and... multiple other skills. Don't expect a masterpiece, just a tiny entertainment. Very good music in the soundtrack!
The Deadly and the Beautiful
Uriah4328 June 2014
After a dozen high-profile athletes from all over the world go missing, Lloyds of London hires an insurance detective by the name of "Mike Harbor" (Ross Hagen) to investigate--and if possible rescue--a particular jai alai player who is insured by them. In the course of the investigation he soon discovers a secret island belonging to a beautiful doctor named "Dr. Tsu" (Nancy Kwan) who commands a select team of females that kidnap certain athletes for the purpose of harvesting their organs. The problem for Mike is that Dr. Tsu is well aware of his investigation and she intends to stop him at all costs. Anyway, rather than disclose the rest of the movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that this low-budget film definitely showed its limitations. Although Ross Hagen, Nancy Kwan and Sid Haig (as "Gregorious") all performed adequately, the rest of the cast was clearly second-rate and it showed. Additionally, some of the fight scenes were just plain awful. As a matter of fact, the best thing about this movie was the presence of some attractive women which included Roberta Collins (as "Laura"), Maria De Aragon ("Linda") and the aforementioned Nancy Kwan. So while this movie had its good moments I have a little difficulty rating it higher than I have. Slightly below average.
Insane mix of Doll Squad and Dr Moreau!
El-Stumpo5 October 2003
American insurance agent Mike Harber (Ross Hagen) is hot on the trail of missing athletes and musicians, and finds the answer in the Phillipine jungle lair of the cold but brilliant Dr Su (Nancy Kwan). With her squad of multi-racial superchicks, she sells the body parts to aging millionaires, but all hell breaks loose when her failed mutation experiments escape from the dungeons. Whacko Filipino actioner is more over-the- top than most of its breed, an insane mix of Doll Squad and Island Of Dr Moreau, which opens with a cheesy montage of the five superchicks in action, complete with big afros and fur bikinis. All your favourite Filipino comedy-relief regulars are here - chubby Vic Diaz plays the cycle-cab driver, and Sid Haig (with hair!) is Dr Su's accountant. Hagen was also producer, and in recent years appeared in Fred Olen Ray films with his other skidrow contemporaries. Once-popular Chinese-American actress Kwan had faded into obscurity by the late 60s, and was last seen on Australian TV advertising pearl cream.
BRAINSEX!
BandSAboutMovies9 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Dr. Tsu (Nancy Kwan, The World of Suzie Wong) and her army of women have captured 14 of the world's greatest athletes, selling their organs, body parts and even bodies to rich old men who want to live forever.
Mike Harber (Ross Hagen, The Hellcats) is the insurance investigator who stumbles in on her mostly nude, all female, all karate kicking army.
Roberta Collins (Unholy Rollers, Death Race 2000) is in this, which makes it worth watching. Shirley Washington, the first black Ms. America, is in this as well. She was also in Darktown Strutters. There's also Sid Haig, playing someone named Gregarious. And one of the girls is played by Maria De Aragon, who was Greedo. Yes. That's correct. And Vic Diaz! Oh man!
There are also cockfights and something called brainsex. Ah, the Philippines. May the movies that come off your island always be so strange.
This was directed by Robert Vincent O'Neill, who was also behind the first two Angel movies. He also wrote Deady Force and Vice Squad.
Mike Harber (Ross Hagen, The Hellcats) is the insurance investigator who stumbles in on her mostly nude, all female, all karate kicking army.
Roberta Collins (Unholy Rollers, Death Race 2000) is in this, which makes it worth watching. Shirley Washington, the first black Ms. America, is in this as well. She was also in Darktown Strutters. There's also Sid Haig, playing someone named Gregarious. And one of the girls is played by Maria De Aragon, who was Greedo. Yes. That's correct. And Vic Diaz! Oh man!
There are also cockfights and something called brainsex. Ah, the Philippines. May the movies that come off your island always be so strange.
This was directed by Robert Vincent O'Neill, who was also behind the first two Angel movies. He also wrote Deady Force and Vice Squad.
mocked on rifftrax. so lame.
ksf-23 May 2019
Some groovy, jazzy 1970's music in this one whenever someone is running or chasing someone. and parodied in an episode of Rifftrax. Ross Hagen is "Harber"... seems to have landed on an island of women with super-powers. He would star with Nancy Kwan (plays the women's leader) in eight different films, three of which were directed by O'Neill. some REALLY cheesy "special effects", aka some pieces of plastic placed on their heads simultaneously. Lots of clear plastic uniforms and hats. meh. No wonder Rifftrax wanted to pick on this one... it's so lame! and girls fighting on cement for some reason. although it looks like they are just doing gymnastics, mostly hopping over each other. blond bombshells, lots of boob shots, caressing various things, like chess pieces. did I mention it's quite cheesy? One of only eight films directed by Robert O'Neill.
It's bad, but a fun bad!
Aaron13754 November 2020
I was not sure what to expect when I watched this film. I was thinking it would be something like Charlie's Angels, but it is more like a James Bond film in that the females are the bad guys and they have a leader and it is up to a suave agent to stop them! Well, it is actually an insurance investigator, but it is set in an exotic location! Well, it is set in the Phillipines, not exactly grandiose and beautiful, but it is interesting.
The story, a group of women are going around and shooting tranquilizers at people and kidnapping them! Their goal? To harvest the athletes organs to sell to old people! At least that is what I think was going on, as we also have strange monstrosities, brain sex and the most loyal taxi driver ever! On the trail of the sexy lady organ cult? Ross Hagen of Five the Hard Way fame and so many other B movies! Heck yeah, we are in for a good time as we get car chases and shootouts and a strangely long ending scene involving chess...
The film is quite bad, but it was also entertaining. Ross Hagen was not a great actor, but he held his own in front of the camera and he had lots of sexy costars for us to look at. I would have liked to have seen more shoot outs or something to fill in the areas that did not seem necessary like the overlong cockfight or the scenes where they were just kind of standing around doing nothing. Or maybe some more skin as the film had lots of scantily clad ladies, but not much in the way of nudity.
So, it was bad, I would be lying if I tried to say this was really good or something. However, as I also said it is a fun bad movie, the type you can watch and enjoy for the sheer silliness of it all. I find it strange they named this Wonder Women seeing as how they are the bad guys in this one, but I guess Insurance Investigator would not have been as cool of a title. They could of done Super Insurance Investigator I guess...no, I think Wonder Women is the best option.
The story, a group of women are going around and shooting tranquilizers at people and kidnapping them! Their goal? To harvest the athletes organs to sell to old people! At least that is what I think was going on, as we also have strange monstrosities, brain sex and the most loyal taxi driver ever! On the trail of the sexy lady organ cult? Ross Hagen of Five the Hard Way fame and so many other B movies! Heck yeah, we are in for a good time as we get car chases and shootouts and a strangely long ending scene involving chess...
The film is quite bad, but it was also entertaining. Ross Hagen was not a great actor, but he held his own in front of the camera and he had lots of sexy costars for us to look at. I would have liked to have seen more shoot outs or something to fill in the areas that did not seem necessary like the overlong cockfight or the scenes where they were just kind of standing around doing nothing. Or maybe some more skin as the film had lots of scantily clad ladies, but not much in the way of nudity.
So, it was bad, I would be lying if I tried to say this was really good or something. However, as I also said it is a fun bad movie, the type you can watch and enjoy for the sheer silliness of it all. I find it strange they named this Wonder Women seeing as how they are the bad guys in this one, but I guess Insurance Investigator would not have been as cool of a title. They could of done Super Insurance Investigator I guess...no, I think Wonder Women is the best option.
Wonderful early 1970s music, hair and clothing, what is there not to like here...?
paul_haakonsen8 April 2024
I stumbled upon the 1973 movie "Wonder Women" by random chance here in 2024. Even with it being a movie that is two years older than me, then I didn't hesitate to sit down and watch the movie. I had never heard about it, nor did I know about it existing, so I had no idea what I was in for here.
In that sense, then writers Lou Whitehill and Robert Vincent O'Neil, with the latter also directing the movie, had every opportunity to entertain me with their 1973 movie. I had zero expectations to the movie when I sat down to watch it.
The movie started out with a hilarious death scene of a security guard, where the actor just over-did the dying. It had me laughing so hard. And with that we were off to a glorious early 1970s foray of crime action.
The script was adequate, though a bit on the cheesy and campy side. I suppose it was that particular 1970s flavor to the movie. That being said, I am not saying that "Wonder Women" is a bad movie, because it definitely was a watchable movie, and entertaining enough for what it turned out to be. Though you must have a certain degree of interest in movies of this particular genre and era to fully enjoy the movie from director Robert Vincent O'Neil.
I was surprised to find the likes of Ross Hagen and Sid Haig on the cast list. They were, in fact, the only two performers that I were familiar with on the cast list. The acting performances in the movie were good, taking everything into consideration.
All in all, a fair enough movie that proved entertaining for a single viewing.
My rating of "Wonder Women" lands on a five out of ten stars.
In that sense, then writers Lou Whitehill and Robert Vincent O'Neil, with the latter also directing the movie, had every opportunity to entertain me with their 1973 movie. I had zero expectations to the movie when I sat down to watch it.
The movie started out with a hilarious death scene of a security guard, where the actor just over-did the dying. It had me laughing so hard. And with that we were off to a glorious early 1970s foray of crime action.
The script was adequate, though a bit on the cheesy and campy side. I suppose it was that particular 1970s flavor to the movie. That being said, I am not saying that "Wonder Women" is a bad movie, because it definitely was a watchable movie, and entertaining enough for what it turned out to be. Though you must have a certain degree of interest in movies of this particular genre and era to fully enjoy the movie from director Robert Vincent O'Neil.
I was surprised to find the likes of Ross Hagen and Sid Haig on the cast list. They were, in fact, the only two performers that I were familiar with on the cast list. The acting performances in the movie were good, taking everything into consideration.
All in all, a fair enough movie that proved entertaining for a single viewing.
My rating of "Wonder Women" lands on a five out of ten stars.
It becomes better as years pass upon it...
Artemis-928 January 1999
This spy satire, in which a nasty female "Dr. No" (Nancy Kwan) trains a number of women assassins to go out and win the world for her, is rather inane entertainment. However, having seen dozens like it, with better heroes than Ross Hagen, there are so many vivid scenes in my mind that it must be better than most! Cinematography and direction were certainly above medium, and Marilyn Joi and Maria de Aragon are wonderful bad girls.
A cheesy shining gem: Pure fun with poor trash.
Clarence Abernathy23 May 2000
Ever been bored by reviewing some James Bond/Roger Moore vehicles from the Seventies which you remembered to be entertaining? Then this is what you need: A proletarian, tongue-in-cheek Bond-like action flick (or ARE they possibly serious with this kinda stuff? We'll never know...). A movie garbage can overwhelmingly filled with cheesy sex, GWG (girls with guns, bra and thighs included), sleazy villain Ross Hagen as the hero, a bit of horror, some mutants, a lot of action, a bit of whatever you want. If you don't expect watching a Bergman movie. Real weird cheesy trash with lots of genuine seventies'"trashion", all deliciously and perfectly ripened through the years. A guilty please of mine. Great fun!
Funky Filipino fun.
BA_Harrison25 July 2015
After the mysterious disappearance of one of the biggest names in Jai alai (a variation of the sport pelota), insurance investigator Mike Harber (Ross Hagen) is hired to try and find the missing sportsman. Mike's search leads him to the heavily guarded island fortress of Dr. Tsu (Nancy Kwan), where the unscrupulous surgeon has been harvesting the bodies of athletes abducted by her all-female army and using their limbs and organs in illegal transplant operations for the super-rich.
Opening with a scene in which several topless female swimmers are abducted by Dr. Tsu's sexy hench-women, this early 70s USA/Philippines production starts as it means to go on by being unashamedly exploitative trash. As his film unfolds, director Robert Vincent O'Neill (who also gave us the equally exploitative Angel and Avenging Angel) piles on the outlandishness, delivering a prolonged chase scene through the streets of Manila (which involves some particularly perilous looking stunts), some really bad fight scenes (his actresses clearly total strangers to the martial arts), lots of leggy babes in revealing outfits, and a very silly finale that sees a bunch of Dr. Tsu's failed experiments running amok on the island (the daft creatures including a half man/half ape and a guy who sports a glass cranium with an orange beacon inside). All of this is accompanied by a cool funky '70s soundtrack.
The movie's kitschy style also adds immensely to the fun factor: there are go-go boots and hot-pants aplenty, Dr. Tsu's operating theatre boasts cutting-edge psychedelic coloured lighting and swirly hypno-discs (while her PVC operating gown is the height of '70s surgical fashion), and Mike samples the delights of 'brain sex' via a silly high-tech headband covered with diodes.
Add supporting roles for cult favourites Vic Dias and Sid Haig, and what you have is a delightfully daft piece of nonsense—not great film-making by any stretch of the imagination—but highly entertaining nonetheless.
Opening with a scene in which several topless female swimmers are abducted by Dr. Tsu's sexy hench-women, this early 70s USA/Philippines production starts as it means to go on by being unashamedly exploitative trash. As his film unfolds, director Robert Vincent O'Neill (who also gave us the equally exploitative Angel and Avenging Angel) piles on the outlandishness, delivering a prolonged chase scene through the streets of Manila (which involves some particularly perilous looking stunts), some really bad fight scenes (his actresses clearly total strangers to the martial arts), lots of leggy babes in revealing outfits, and a very silly finale that sees a bunch of Dr. Tsu's failed experiments running amok on the island (the daft creatures including a half man/half ape and a guy who sports a glass cranium with an orange beacon inside). All of this is accompanied by a cool funky '70s soundtrack.
The movie's kitschy style also adds immensely to the fun factor: there are go-go boots and hot-pants aplenty, Dr. Tsu's operating theatre boasts cutting-edge psychedelic coloured lighting and swirly hypno-discs (while her PVC operating gown is the height of '70s surgical fashion), and Mike samples the delights of 'brain sex' via a silly high-tech headband covered with diodes.
Add supporting roles for cult favourites Vic Dias and Sid Haig, and what you have is a delightfully daft piece of nonsense—not great film-making by any stretch of the imagination—but highly entertaining nonetheless.
Late-night video intrigue
tim_813 April 1999
A multi-racial gang of ladies with skimpy clothes, big hair and bigger guns is running amok in Manila - kidnapping athletes and skinny-dippers left, right and centre. When they nick a Jai Alai player, hero Mike Harber (Hagen) is called in. Hooked up with a sidekick jeepney driver (denim-clad Vic Diaz), Harber winds up on the island lair of transplant artiste Dr Tsu (Nancy Kwan). "Her genius and her talent transcends the question of human morality," says her debonair sales manager (Sid Haig) and Tsu's brain transplant techniques and stock of body parts are the key to longevity. With a labload of flashing, bipping and swirling things, brain sex, a high-speed downtown jeepney chase and an army of Filipino warrior gals enthusiastically belting the crap out of people, Wonder Women is a load of fun. And that's before Dr Tsu's mutant test subjects escape their cells! The ending - Harber, a blonde and another all-female hit squad - is a reminder that Ross Hagen was the producer of this manic actioner.
"Lady, aren't you a little tired of playing God?"
bensonmum26 September 2009
Dr. Tsu (Nancy Kwan) has set up a secret research facility on an island where she has mastered various transplant techniques. She boasts she can transplant any part of the body - yes, that's right, ANY part. For a hefty sum of money, she offers the wealthy a chance for immortality by placing their brains into the body of a young, virile athlete. Her island fortress is guarded by an army of beautiful, but deadly women who also work to procure the doctor her healthy subjects. Her latest acquisition, a local jai-alai player, unwittingly draws the interest of an insurance investigator from Lloyd's of London who had a policy on the young man. In turn, he hires former CIA agent Mike Harber (Ross Hagen) to investigate. Before you can say "Ross Hagen produced this thing so you know he's going to come out looking good in the end", Harber is taken prisoner by Dr. Tsu and given the long, overly drawn out explanation of her work and her plans. In the end, Harber's powers of seduction have been enough to turn one of the women against Dr. Tsu and he escapes with the jai-alai player. The end.
What a wild piece of 70s trash! While not good in any traditional sense, that's never stopped me from enjoying a movie. There are, however, three things you ought to know before watching The Deadly and the Beautiful (or Wonder Women as it's sometimes known): it's a cheaply made Filipino film, it's got a gaggle of scantily clad beauties, and it was produced by and stars Ross Hagen. The cheap/Filipino thing doesn't really bother me. It's probably part of what makes the movie so unique. And you've just got to love the 70s porn-inspired soundtrack. Too funny. The gaggle of scantily clad beauties - I'm not going to complain about that either. Though I must admit I did laugh out loud watching the army of women with every weapon imaginable set out into the jungle wearing what amounted to the most inappropriately imaginable short chiffon mini-nightgowns. I don't think nighties are standard issue for any other army in the world. And their style of hand-to-hand combat must be seen to be believed. I've heard of all sorts of styles or martial arts fighting, but nothing quite describes the gyrations performed by Roberta Collins. Finally, I'm left with Ross Hagen. The man just has a way of turning my stomach. He reminds me a bit of a B-movie version of Chad Everett with none of the acting ability. He spends the entire movie either looking half-asleep and disinterested or ogling the women he's supposed to be fighting. There is one brief scene with Hagen that's an absolute scream. He's following the Dr. Tsu down a staircase in what can only be described as full-on flounce mode. You know, ridiculous expression on his face, arms bent at the elbow and wrist, and legs doing sort of a trot - looks a bit like he's auditioning for a part in the Village People. Too funny. And then there's the scene where Ross gets to do something called "brain sex" with Nancy Kwan. Just about lost my lunch watching Ross' faux-orgasmic squirm on that vinyl seat. Yuck!
Oh yes, as for the movie - it is what it is - a cheap piece of 70s exploitation junk that's worth a watch if you're into that sort of thing. For me, I had a great time with it. It was also cool to see Sid Haig in a different sort of role (I just realized that I have no idea what happened to his character). For all the wrong reasons, I'll give The Deadly and the Beautiful a 7/10.
What a wild piece of 70s trash! While not good in any traditional sense, that's never stopped me from enjoying a movie. There are, however, three things you ought to know before watching The Deadly and the Beautiful (or Wonder Women as it's sometimes known): it's a cheaply made Filipino film, it's got a gaggle of scantily clad beauties, and it was produced by and stars Ross Hagen. The cheap/Filipino thing doesn't really bother me. It's probably part of what makes the movie so unique. And you've just got to love the 70s porn-inspired soundtrack. Too funny. The gaggle of scantily clad beauties - I'm not going to complain about that either. Though I must admit I did laugh out loud watching the army of women with every weapon imaginable set out into the jungle wearing what amounted to the most inappropriately imaginable short chiffon mini-nightgowns. I don't think nighties are standard issue for any other army in the world. And their style of hand-to-hand combat must be seen to be believed. I've heard of all sorts of styles or martial arts fighting, but nothing quite describes the gyrations performed by Roberta Collins. Finally, I'm left with Ross Hagen. The man just has a way of turning my stomach. He reminds me a bit of a B-movie version of Chad Everett with none of the acting ability. He spends the entire movie either looking half-asleep and disinterested or ogling the women he's supposed to be fighting. There is one brief scene with Hagen that's an absolute scream. He's following the Dr. Tsu down a staircase in what can only be described as full-on flounce mode. You know, ridiculous expression on his face, arms bent at the elbow and wrist, and legs doing sort of a trot - looks a bit like he's auditioning for a part in the Village People. Too funny. And then there's the scene where Ross gets to do something called "brain sex" with Nancy Kwan. Just about lost my lunch watching Ross' faux-orgasmic squirm on that vinyl seat. Yuck!
Oh yes, as for the movie - it is what it is - a cheap piece of 70s exploitation junk that's worth a watch if you're into that sort of thing. For me, I had a great time with it. It was also cool to see Sid Haig in a different sort of role (I just realized that I have no idea what happened to his character). For all the wrong reasons, I'll give The Deadly and the Beautiful a 7/10.
Immensely fun 70's drive-in movie blast
Woodyanders2 May 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Rugged insurance investigator Mike Harber (a charismatic and engaging performance by Ross Hagen, who also produced this film) gets an assignment investigating the mysterious disappearances of popular athletes in the Philippines. Harber stumbles across a remote island fortress run by the evil Dr. Tsu (well played with deliciously wicked relish by Nancy Kwan) and squares off against her lethal army of sexy distaff kung-fu killers. Director Robert Vincent O'Neil, who also co-wrote the compact and eventful script with Lou Whitehill, relates the hugely entertaining story at a swift pace, presents some funky local Manila color (yep, there's a cockfight at one point), handles the outrageous plot in a winning tongue-in-cheek manner, and stages the exciting action set pieces with rip-snorting brio (a lengthy car chase rates as the definite stirring highlight). This picture further benefits from a bevy of stunning exploitation cinema beauties: Ravishing redhead Maria De Aragon, fetching brunette Claire Polan (Hagen's real-life wife), foxy blonde Roberta Collins, black knockout Shirley Washington, and even the always sumptuous Marilyn Joi in an uncredited small part. Better yet, there are spot-on spirited turns by cult favorites Sid Haig as Tsu's suavely slimy business partner Gregorious and Vic Diaz as jolly cab driver Lapu-Lapu. Carson Whitsett's funky-throbbing score does the get-down groovy trick. Ricardo M. David's sunny cinematography provides an attractive bright look. A total grindhouse delight.
A good romp for late night fun
GOWBTW18 November 2018
Satires are always going to be a thing after a serious film gets made. For "Wonder Women" this is once farce I don't mind watching. You got these super chicks would can kick butt without effort. There's this female mad scientist(Nancy Kwan) who is a cross between Dr. No and Dr. Frankenstein, only more advanced. These women would kidnap athletes and use them for making older men more active. This is going too far. There's an insurance investigator(Ross Hagen) who would take the assignment to get the j'ai a'Lai player all in one piece from the scientist and her crew. The choreography in the film needed work. The fight scenes are a little light. Yet, very subtle. Why would they give this movie a 'PG' rating, when they have topless women in the beginning. Back in the 1970's, there was no 'PG-13' at the time. And it wasn't violent enough for an 'R' rating. I wasn't born in that time, and it was a first time for me to see this flick. I liked it though.
2 out of 5 stars
Judo Janes
purakek30 September 1998
What I remember about the film was the only known star was Nancy Kwan, which meant it was truly a low-budget effort. Set in the Philippines, Hagen stars as a private eye who's on the hunt for a group of women kidnappers. Hagen gets to fight one female; On second thought it wasn't much of a fight. Hagen gets tossed all over the room, ruining furniture and appliances in the process, but still survives(!), despite the strength of his genetically-engineered female foe. He wins her trust and she leads him to the lair of Nancy Kwan, the evil scientist (!!). Atrocious acting, some good fight scenes, lush Manila scenery, poor plot. Strictly for enthusiasts of apartment-style mixed wrestling.
Duly entertaining outlandish genre romp
I_Ailurophile19 May 2022
This is such a curious movie, and the premise is just the start of it. Of course there are airs of not just sexism but sexploitation, and the tired trope of pitting a heroic man against a bevy of evil, beautiful women. Beyond that, the film is dated with dialogue that references the then prominent criminal trend of hijacking airplanes, or the draft for the United States' war in Vietnam. There's a regrettable passing line with ableist sentiments, and we also get a scene that's set during a cockfight. For all that, the narrative also plays with a classic sci-fi concept, as the chief villain is basically the archetypal mad scientist, and the hero is hired and set on his path by that terrible devil of our capitalist hell, an insurance company. And even though Dr. Tsu and her army of women are distinctly the villains, they're inherently more sympathetic as characters than the male protagonist. There's a lot going on here, and of course to top it all off the feature comes across as rather low budget. It will hardly appeal to wide audiences, and the fact that it was skewered by RiffTrax says much, but 'Wonder women' is still a cheeky bit of ridiculous fun.
It's a minor delight that most of this was filmed on location in the Philippines, and in addition to some sights and sounds from Manila, we're greeted with some nice set design and decoration, and ham-handed but notable costume design, and hair and makeup work. Stunts and action scenes aren't the most robustly invigorating of cinema, but they serve their purpose. And that rather goes for much of the production as a whole, from sound design and cinematography, to direction and editing, and so on. There are some unexpected familiar names in the cast, including Nancy Kwan, and Sid Haig, and Maria De Aragon provides an unlikely 'Star Wars' connection, and all give performances with just enough personality and nuance to make this little romp complete.
Meanwhile, the screenplay devised between Lou Whitehill and director Robert Vincent O'Neil is pretty swell, I think. There are some oddities or indelicacies in the dialogue, sure, and a genre picture like 'Wonder women' hardly requires complex characterizations, but these aspects are suitable as they are. The narrative may be unremarkable in the grand scheme of things, but it's tighter and stronger than I would have anticipated, and scene writing bears like capacity and is sufficiently varied so the movie never drags or loses steam. I'm not entirely sure that the plot is the best it could have been, as the climax kind of depends on a contrivance of storytelling, but there are also dashes of cleverness peppered throughout.
I don't think there's any risk of this movie being confused for an essential viewing experience, but I can't say I didn't enjoy myself in watching it - and it's not like 'Wonder women' carries any pretenses about itself. Carson Whitsett's music is fairly typical of 70s soundtracks, but is still pretty great such as it is. If not outright predictable, there are no major surprises, but the narrative is cohesive and satisfying. There's no particular reason why it's likely to be remembered years from now, but what else would one expect of titles of this nature? When all is said and done 'Wonder women' ably provided soft entertainment for 80 minutes, and that's all the more it aimed to be. I won't say one needs to go out of their way for it, but if you have the chance to watch it, it's easy to just kick back, relax, and soak in the silliness.
It's a minor delight that most of this was filmed on location in the Philippines, and in addition to some sights and sounds from Manila, we're greeted with some nice set design and decoration, and ham-handed but notable costume design, and hair and makeup work. Stunts and action scenes aren't the most robustly invigorating of cinema, but they serve their purpose. And that rather goes for much of the production as a whole, from sound design and cinematography, to direction and editing, and so on. There are some unexpected familiar names in the cast, including Nancy Kwan, and Sid Haig, and Maria De Aragon provides an unlikely 'Star Wars' connection, and all give performances with just enough personality and nuance to make this little romp complete.
Meanwhile, the screenplay devised between Lou Whitehill and director Robert Vincent O'Neil is pretty swell, I think. There are some oddities or indelicacies in the dialogue, sure, and a genre picture like 'Wonder women' hardly requires complex characterizations, but these aspects are suitable as they are. The narrative may be unremarkable in the grand scheme of things, but it's tighter and stronger than I would have anticipated, and scene writing bears like capacity and is sufficiently varied so the movie never drags or loses steam. I'm not entirely sure that the plot is the best it could have been, as the climax kind of depends on a contrivance of storytelling, but there are also dashes of cleverness peppered throughout.
I don't think there's any risk of this movie being confused for an essential viewing experience, but I can't say I didn't enjoy myself in watching it - and it's not like 'Wonder women' carries any pretenses about itself. Carson Whitsett's music is fairly typical of 70s soundtracks, but is still pretty great such as it is. If not outright predictable, there are no major surprises, but the narrative is cohesive and satisfying. There's no particular reason why it's likely to be remembered years from now, but what else would one expect of titles of this nature? When all is said and done 'Wonder women' ably provided soft entertainment for 80 minutes, and that's all the more it aimed to be. I won't say one needs to go out of their way for it, but if you have the chance to watch it, it's easy to just kick back, relax, and soak in the silliness.
Beautiful, Well Armed bad women shot down by the hero!
directorgene11 March 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I loved this movie because is was mostly a change from the all too common army of boring guys in baggy fatigues. Here you had an army of women and they were dressed ultra feminine and dressed sexy too. These gorgeous cute satin micro mini-dresses and holding machine guns. These sexy women may have been well armed, but they were no match for the well trained hero (Hagen). So during the running gun battle near the end of the movie, these women are dropping dead like flies as his machine gun speaks. It not vicious or gory movie. Most of the kills are nice, clean, and neat. Ross Hagen is great as Mr. Harbor, a wise cracking investigator and secret agent.
Entertaining Exploitation Picture
Michael_Elliott28 August 2018
Wonder Women (1973)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Mike Harber (Ross Hagen) is a Los Angeles detective who finds himself trapped in the Philippines. An insurance agent wants him to track down a missing person, which Harber reluctantly agrees to. Before long he learns about a strange doctor doing bizarre experiments on people as well as her gang of female fighters.
WONDER WOMEN kicks off with the MPAA sticker announcing that the picture is rated PG. From here we get a scene of some topless women swimming and throughout the 82-minute running time we are greeted with more nudity as well as some sleazy violence. This here has to be one of the dirtier exploitation movies from this era that didn't carry a R-rating.
With that being said, is the movie any good? It's certainly not a masterpiece or a "good" movie but at the same time it is an entertaining picture. As I stated above, the film contains a fair amount of nudity as well as some violence and this certainly helps keep the film moving. The nice mix of sleaze is a bonus with the various action and martial art scenes.
Another plus is that we've got a lot of familiar faces in the cast. Hagen does a very good job in the lead role as he pretty much plays a James Bond type. I thought the actor was a lot of fun in the role and helped keep the film moving. You also get other exploitation favorites like Roberta Collins, Marilyn Joi, Nancy Kwan and Maria de Aragon.
The story to WONDER WOMEN isn't the most original and there's no doubt that there are a few pacing issues. With that said, I thought the film was entertaining enough to make it worth watching.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Mike Harber (Ross Hagen) is a Los Angeles detective who finds himself trapped in the Philippines. An insurance agent wants him to track down a missing person, which Harber reluctantly agrees to. Before long he learns about a strange doctor doing bizarre experiments on people as well as her gang of female fighters.
WONDER WOMEN kicks off with the MPAA sticker announcing that the picture is rated PG. From here we get a scene of some topless women swimming and throughout the 82-minute running time we are greeted with more nudity as well as some sleazy violence. This here has to be one of the dirtier exploitation movies from this era that didn't carry a R-rating.
With that being said, is the movie any good? It's certainly not a masterpiece or a "good" movie but at the same time it is an entertaining picture. As I stated above, the film contains a fair amount of nudity as well as some violence and this certainly helps keep the film moving. The nice mix of sleaze is a bonus with the various action and martial art scenes.
Another plus is that we've got a lot of familiar faces in the cast. Hagen does a very good job in the lead role as he pretty much plays a James Bond type. I thought the actor was a lot of fun in the role and helped keep the film moving. You also get other exploitation favorites like Roberta Collins, Marilyn Joi, Nancy Kwan and Maria de Aragon.
The story to WONDER WOMEN isn't the most original and there's no doubt that there are a few pacing issues. With that said, I thought the film was entertaining enough to make it worth watching.
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