Das Kommando der Frauen (1973)

Das Kommando der Frauen: Directed by Ted V. Mikels. With Michael Ansara, Francine York, Anthony Eisley, John Carter. Squad of beautiful government agents tries to catch saboteurs.

“MASTER PLAN: blow up rockets, get a microfilm and spread a bubonic plague – whew, the villain is busy in this one. Though a fan of seventies cinema, Iu0026#39;ve missed seeing this film until now and it really does seem like an earlier version of u0026quot;Charlieu0026#39;s Angels,u0026quot; beating the TV series to the screen by a few years. But, this is much more violent compared to that safe TV style; in fact, thereu0026#39;s also more of that seventies brutality here when comparing this to the James Bond films, the other franchise this movie sort of emulates. Neither side in this film, meaning the good gals and the bad guys, messes around. In an early sequence of scenes, the villain (Ansara) sends some assassins for a preemptive strike against the squad; one assassin shoots a squad member twice in the head at point blank range and still checks to make sure sheu0026#39;s dead. Meanwhile, the Dolls deal with the villainu0026#39;s guards by having them swallow pills which literally make them explode. The squadu0026#39;s leader avoids her own assassination in a particularly heated fashion. These babes are brutal, in that cheap thrill sort of way, and terming them as a u0026#39;Doll Squadu0026#39; is actually a bit insulting.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMost of the complaints about this film have to do with it being dull and, yes, there are a few slow spots, but, despite the obviously cheap quality of this Bond-wannabe, itu0026#39;s surprisingly entertaining. Just as in the first Flint film u0026quot;Our Man Flint,u0026quot; a computer selects the ideal agents for the mission, requested by a senator u0026amp; intelligence supervisor (Eisley); this also reminded me of the u0026quot;Mission:Impossibleu0026quot; TV series. There had been other female Bond films, such as u0026quot;Modesty Blaise;u0026quot; this one presents a whole team. Most of the plot involves their plans to raid the villainu0026#39;s stronghold where, in the tradition of villains with unlimited funds, he employs his own private army. The last third is the actual attack, and thereu0026#39;s much gunplay and karate chopping, not to mention explosions matted in optically (real explosions were probably too expensive, but thereu0026#39;s a certain charm to these FX). The squad leader (York) has a personal history with the villain, who delays killing her because of this. York is pretty good in the role, not just a talentless bimbo, while Ansara excelled in these melodramatic larger-than-life roles. This also features a unique film appearance by Satana, who became a cult star in u0026quot;Faster Pussycat..Kill!Kill!u0026quot; but appeared in very few movies afterward. The climax even resembled the climactic action of u0026quot;The Dirty Dozenu0026quot; – femme fatale style, of course. Heroines:6 Villain:6 Male Fatales:5 Henchmen:5 Fights:5 Stunts/Chases:4 Gadgets:3 Auto:3 Locations:3 Pace:4 overall:4+”