Prismark10 Operation CIA is an early film role for Burt Reynolds. We see a clean shaven Reynolds playing a young CIA agent dispatched as an university agriculture professor who is assigned to Saigon to stop a planned political assassination at the US Embassy.Reynolds went on to become a top box office star in the 1970s mainly for light action comedies but his reputation as an actor is rather maligned. Directors such as John Boorman who worked with him in Deliverance have noted that Reynolds is a good and clever actor, always thinking how to make his performance better.The film has extensive location shooting. The problem is, as my son exclaimed, 'Dad, dad, we've been there, its Bangkok!' Right from the beginning we see the iconic Wat Arun and then we see the Grand Palace. It certainly is not Saigon. Maybe in those days viewers will not have noticed as people were less extensively travelled.The film has a routine if silly plot but there are a lot of nasty deaths. People throwing bombs even at a group of children, people walking off a motorbike which is primed to go off. There is a grinning villain almost akin to Frank Gorshin's The Ridder.Its a B film, although I am sure the filmmakers had a great time in Bangkok. Reynolds shows sign of promise, he gets a love interest, we even see him wisecracking. A spy with his heart in the right place.

zardoz-13 Watching Christian Nyby's "Operation C.I.A." makes you wonder if he had anything to do with directing the classic chiller "The Thing From Another World." Whereas the latter horror thriller was agile, atmospheric, and audacious, "Operation C.I.A." is clumsy, amateurish, and downright boring. Could it be that the presence of Howard Hawk in the background had a salutary effect on the former editor? Little of his brilliance on the sci-fi saga filters through this lackluster espionage nail-biter about an attempt to assassinate state department officials. Burt Reynolds portrays a C.I.A. agent reluctantly sent into the Orient by his superior, Wells (John Hoyt of "Brute Force") with a little information. Our stalwart hero is constantly under scrutiny by the opposite side and occasionally gets into a scrap with them. Nothing memorable emerges from this muddled melodrama. Actually, you know something is wrong when the exotic locale and a talented cast are let down by a second-rate screenplay by "Strangler" scribe Bill S. Ballinger and "Nashville Girl" writer Peer J. Oppenheimer. "Operation C.I.A." qualifies as thoroughly forgettable. I must say, however, that the long shot that pans to follow an airliner into Hong Kong airport is scenic stuff. Oh, yes, "Operation C.I.A." was lensed in black & white is presented in standard full frame format.

drystyx This spy thriller isn't exactly a thriller, but it doesn't drag. It's not as action packed as 007, but not as plodding as some of the deliberately confusing espionage movies.The lead character helps, despite Burt Reynolds in the lead role. He later turned to straight man in comedy roles, his forte, because he wasn't what one would call a natural thespian.Still, he tries, and we get that feeling. He plays a likable character who does try. He has a few human faults, but his heart is in the right place. The character is very well written, and makes us care about the story. That already gives the movie an advantage over 90% of other action movies.The directing is superb, too. The fight scenes look very real, at least to people who have actually been in and around a lot of fights. Most action movies have goofy "choreographed" looks that street people laugh at, and that bubble boys swallow like a baited hook. "Operation C.I.A. looks like real people in real fights. What's more, after long chases scenes on foot, in long sleeves and hard shoes, they are actually fighting tired. Our director here was brave enough to risk showing "reality" as opposed to placating the bubble boys.One gets the feeling that the movie was meant for working class people, for people who have been outdoors a lot. It certainly isn't for the cubicle dweller of today, the one who fantasizes that he is a Hulk who can do ten marathons in one day.But that is because this was made in 1965, when most Americans did have a feel for the outdoors and reality.However, there are faults to this movie. The sound and the score are not very good. One woman looks like her lines are dubbed in very poorly. There are a few parts that drag. Overly long scenes in cars, on streets, in conversations. Granted, these are needed for the plot, but they aren't animated enough. Most stage play directors know how to deal with this, and we get the feeling that the director here had forgotten simple theatrical directing.In short, the action scenes are perfectly directed, but the dialog scenes leave much to be desired. Overall, more assets than detriments. Not a classic, but a decent movie. Figures to be rated 4-7, or 3-8. Any ratings of 1,2,9, or 10 would look suspiciously like some control freak trying to swing the vote for no reason. As of this review, most of the control freaks are trying to swing the vote toward the bottom, as is the case with the typical IMDb control freak towards movies made before 1960.

ZR RIFLE Actually, this movie isn't half bad. It's good to see a young Burt Reynolds kicking butt in the orient and making it with the cute Asian chicks. Definitely has that early-to-mid 60s feel, music and all. I recently purchased a very hard to find VHS copy of this movie from a collector, and I'm not gonna get rid of it! Operation CIA is one of them flicks to just kick off your shoes and sit back and relax. Worth checking out....