Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (or simply Austin Powers[2]) is a 1997 American spycomedy film directed by Jay Roach. It is the first installment in the Austin Powers series. It stars franchise co-producer and writer Mike Myers, playing the roles of Austin Powers and his arch enemy Dr. Evil.[7][8] Supporting roles are played by Elizabeth Hurley, Robert Wagner, Seth Green, and Michael York. The film is a parody of the James Bond films and other popular culture from the 1960s,[9] centering on a flamboyant, promiscuous secret agent and a criminal mastermind arch-nemesis, who go into and come out of cryostasis at the same time as each other as their conflict spans decades.
The film, which cost $16.5 million to produce, was released on May 2, 1997. It received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $67 million worldwide. It is now regarded as one of the best comedy films of all time, ranking 42nd on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies of All Time" list. The film spawned two sequels, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002). In the years following Austin Powers in Goldmember, Myers has discussed the possibility of a fourth film, though as of 2025 nothing official has come to fruition.[10][11]
Plot
In 1967, Austin Powers is a flamboyant British spy, renowned for his charm, style, and embodiment of the era's free-spirited, hedonistic ethos. Unable to defeat Austin at this time, his nemesis Dr. Evil cryogenically freezes himself, intending to return when free love has waned, and greed and corruption dominate once more. Austin volunteers for cryostasis to counter Dr. Evil's eventual return.
In 1997, Dr. Evil is revived and discovers that many of the evil schemes he planned to commit, like damaging the ozone layer and fabricating a sexual scandal involving Prince Charles, had already occurred without his involvement. Meanwhile, his henchman, Number Two, has transformed Virtucon, the legitimate front of Evil's empire, into a multibillion-dollar corporation. Uninterested in business, Dr. Evil conspires to hold the world ransom with nuclear weapons for $1 million—only to learn this is now an insignificant sum—and increases his demand to $100 billion. He also meets his teenage son, Scott, conceived with his preserved sperm. Scott, angry at his father due to his absence, rejects Dr. Evil's attempts to bond. The British Ministry of Defence revives Austin and assigns agent Vanessa Kensington, daughter of his former partner Mrs. Kensington, to help him adjust to the 1990s. Unlike her mother, who shared an unspoken love with Austin, the no-nonsense Vanessa is unimpressed by his outdated attitude toward casual sex and relationships. However, his charm and romantic side eventually win her over.
Undercover as a married couple, Austin and Vanessa travel to Las Vegas to track Number Two and his secretary, Alotta Fagina. Austin infiltrates Alotta's penthouse and discovers Project Vulcan, Dr. Evil's plan to detonate a nuclear warhead at the Earth's core, triggering global volcanic eruptions. Alotta seduces Austin to learn his identity. Realizing Austin is closing in, Dr. Evil deploys fembots—irresistibly beautiful androids with machine guns concealed in their breasts. When Vanessa learns of Austin's encounter with Alotta, she scolds him for pursuing a relationship with her while being unfaithful, and warns that he will end up alone if he does not adapt to modern values. A reflective Austin contemplates his isolation, caused by the historic events he has missed, his friends who have died or outgrown him, and society's disdain for his archaic behavior.
Austin and Vanessa infiltrate Dr. Evil's lair at Virtucon headquarters but are captured by his henchman, Random Task. Despite the United Nations agreeing to Dr. Evil's demands, he continues with his plan. Austin and Vanessa escape and reconcile. While Vanessa summons reinforcements, Austin encounters the fembots and destroys them by overloading their systems with a striptease. British forces storm the lair as Austin disables Project Vulcan. He confronts Dr. Evil, who mocks Austin's outdated hippie ideals. Austin retorts that the core value of the 1960s was freedom—a principle that remains timeless. Activating the lair's self-destruct mechanism, Dr. Evil escapes in a rocket. Austin and Vanessa evacuate before the lair explodes. Three months later, Austin and Vanessa are married. During their honeymoon, Random Task attacks, but the couple subdues him and retreats to their balcony. Among the stars, Austin spots the cryogenic chamber containing Dr. Evil, who vows revenge.
Mike Myers created the character of Austin Powers for the faux 1960s rock band Ming Tea that Myers started with Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs following his Saturday Night Live stint in the early 1990s.[12][13] Myers said that the movie and the character were inspired by the British films, music and comedy of the 1960s and 70s his father had introduced him to as a child. "After my dad died in 1991, I was taking stock of his influence on me as a person and his influence on me with comedy in general. So Austin Powers was a tribute to my father, who [introduced me to] James Bond, Peter Sellers, the Beatles, The Goodies, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore."[9] Myers also said hearing the Burt Bacharach song "The Look of Love" (itself from the Peter Sellers Bond parody film Casino Royale) on the radio led to him reminiscing about the 1960s, which helped inspire the movie.[14]Dana Carvey, Myers' collaborator on Saturday Night Live and on the Wayne's World movies, felt that the character of Dr. Evil was copied from Carvey's impression of long-time SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels and was unhappy about it.[15][16] Myers has denied that Michaels was the inspiration for Dr. Evil, but has said "[t]he Lorne of it is just a little tiny overlay."[17]
The film parodies many characters, lines, set pieces, and plot points of the James Bond films. Primarily these elements are drawn from the early 1960s Bond movies, but there are references to later films in the series as well. These allusions include:
Dr. No (1962): the shower sequence during the unfreeze sequence; Austin's and Vanessa's change of clothing and dinner with Dr. Evil; Dr. Evil's outfit and general surroundings during the climax; Vanessa's bikini identical to Honey Rider's.
Goldfinger (1964): Random Task's name, role and costume modelled on Oddjob; the dialogue "do you expect them to pay? - No, I expect them to die" based on "Do you expect me to talk? - No, I expect you to die"; Random Task/Odd Job chopping off the head of a statue; the final fight between Austin and Random Task against a wall modelled on fight between Bond and Odd Job against a wall inside Fort Knox; Powers stating to Random Task "Who throws a shoe, honestly?" (in Goldfinger, Oddjob kills by throwing his hat); the character Alotta Fagina modelled after the name of Auric Goldfinger's companion and partner in crime, Pussy Galore.
Thunderball (1965): Dr. Evil's headquarters, where he kills people around the table; the plot about stealing nuclear arms and holding the world to ransom; conversation about a swimming pool with sharks; Austin playing Black Jack with No 2.; No. 2 modelled on Emilio Largo; both Austin and Bond fighting with a bad-guy in drag—though the audience does not know that it is the bad-guy in drag until the fighting begins.
Casino Royale (1967): the song "The Look Of Love"; the rotating bed; psychedelic set during Dr. Evil's initial 1967 escape; No. 2 cheating at cards by having special glasses modelled on a similar sequence with Orson Welles. As this film was also a Bond spoof, it and Austin Powers have similar comedic beats.
You Only Live Twice (1967): the lines "this organization does not tolerate failure" and "in Japan men come first"; the scenes with the Jaguar and the video communication with Basil Exposition at the very beginning modelled on similar sequences with Bond, Aki and Tiger Tanaka; external shots of the Virtucon enterprise modelled on external shots of the Osato enterprise; interior of Alotta's apartment; bath tub sequence in Alotta's apartment; Austin's poetry similar to Tiger Tanaka's reading of poetry (actually written by Bond in the novel); Mr. Bigglesworth (Dr. Evil's cat) being a parody of Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld's white Persian, although it becomes hairless due to the cryostasis; interior of Dr. Evil's lair modelling interior of Blofeld's volcano lair; face and suit of Dr. Evil modelled on Blofeld.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969): the look and behaviour of Austin Powers modelled on Lazenby's Bond; Frau Farbissina modelled on Irma Bunt; the Fembots are based on Blofeld's angels of death.
Diamonds Are Forever (1971): Nevada and Las Vegas locations; Austin climbing through the window into Alotta Fagina's apartment modelled on how Bond enters Blofeld's apartment; double entendres by Austin and Vanessa modelled after those made by the two homosexual hitmen (i.e. "moving", "heartwarming" in the original film); No. 2 using a model of the US to explain the enterprise; Dr. Evil's global attack being counted down in similar style; final attack on Austin at the hotel modeled on similar final sequence on the Queen Elizabeth. During the final battle the man calmly announcing "two minutes and counting," etc., despite the mayhem going on around him, does so with the same accent and intonation as the countdown announcer on Blofeld's oil rig who likewise continues counting down despite a similar battle being under way.
Live and Let Die (1973): Dr. Evil's shark tank is an allusion to Kananga's shark tank. The villain with the pincer hand at Dr. Evil's boardroom table.
Moonraker (1979) Lois Chiles who played Dr. Goodhead in Moonraker also has a cameo role in a deleted scene as the wife of the security guard who is killed by Austin by the steamroller in the Virtucon compound.
For Your Eyes Only (1981) When Austin is captured by the fembots, the scene of him viewed from one of their two legs is reminiscent of For Your Eyes Only's poster.
A View to a Kill (1985): Vanessa knocking out Random Task by hitting him on the head with a bottle of champagne is a reference to Stacey Sutton knocking out one of Max Zorin's henchman by hitting him on the head with an urn containing her grandfather's ashes.[18][19][20] The bed onboard Austin's jet is an homage to Bond's onboard his personal submarine craft. The tub scene with Allota Fagina is similar to the scene Bond has with Pola Ivanova.
Additionally, Mike Myers has stated that Austin's thick chest hair is based on Sean Connery's.
The film also references the TV series Danger Man (a.k.a. Secret Agent) as its American theme song, "Secret Agent Man" plays during the final battle.
Casting
Myers sought Jim Carrey to play Dr. Evil, as his initial plan was not to play multiple characters in the series. Carrey was interested in the part, but had to turn the role down due to scheduling conflicts with Liar Liar.[21]
Since the 1960s had a big influence on his childhood, Myers cast Robert Wagner and Michael York, two household names from the late 1960s, in key supporting roles. The popularity of the film revived both Wagner's and York's careers. Myers has referred to Wagner as "the coolest guy I know" and York as "the classiest guy I know." Rhea Perlman was in talks to play Frau Farbissina, but had scheduling conflicts. She later expressed regret about turning the movie down.[citation needed]Colin Quinn turned down the role of Scott Evil and expressed regret for declining the part.[22]
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery opened on May 2, 1997, to $9.5 million in North American theaters,[25] coming in second that weekend to the thriller film Breakdown, a Paramount release which opened with $12.3 million.[26][27] In its second weekend, Austin Powers fell to $7 million.[27] Its overall take after it left theaters was $53.8 million domestically and $13.8 million overseas for a worldwide total of $67.8 million, four times the amount of its production budget.[27]
The low grosses in the UK have been partly attributed to the death of Princess Diana, which occurred in August 1997 just prior to the film's UK September release date.[9] The film grew a steady following due to strong word of mouth and its release on VHS and DVD.[27][9]
Critical reception
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery received positive reviews. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 73% of 71 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.5/10.The website's consensus reads: "A light and goofy comedy which provides laughs, largely due to performances and screenwriting by Myers."[28]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 51 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[29]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four, calling it "a funny movie that only gets funnier the more familiar you are with the James Bond movies, all the Bond clones and countless other 1960s films."[30]Time Out New York critic Andrew Johnston observed: "The film's greatest asset is its gentle tone: rejecting the smug cynicism of Naked Gun-style parodies, it never loses the earnest naiveté of the psychedelic era."[31]
Malcolm Johnson of the Hartford Courant praised Myers' turn in multiple roles, writing: "Myers, flashing his cruddy grin as Austin and doing implacable slow burns as Evil, again proves himself a gifted comic with a knack for transformation. But he needs to find a director who will spin out his best ideas and toss out the worst ones. With [Jay] Roach at the helm, 'Austin Powers' is less than groovy."[32]
There are two notable omissions: "Secret Agent Man", which is played during the attack on Dr. Evil's compound, and "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", which plays during the Fembot presentation.
Another CD featuring George S. Clinton's scores to the film and its sequel was later released in 2000.[33]
Home media
First released on VHS on October 21, 1997. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery was released to region 1double-sided DVD on October 22, 1997, by New Line Home Video, with widescreen and full-screen versions on opposing sides of the disc. It was one of the first movies to be released in the DVD market.[27][9] The widescreen transfer is unusual in that it is a modified version of the theatrical ratio: despite being filmed in 2.39:1 aspect ratio via Super 35, on DVD it is presented in a Univisium 2:1 ratio, "as specified by the director", according to the disc packaging. The film was featured in the correct theatrical aspect ratio for the first time when it was released on Blu-ray in the Austin Powers Collection.
All versions of the film released on home video (including VHS) have two alternate endings and a set of deleted scenes, which were then rare to include on VHS.[27] The DVD and Blu-ray versions also feature a commentary. However, all US versions of the film are the 89-minute PG-13 cut, with edits to sexual humor/language.[34] International versions are uncut and 94 minutes long (assuming the correct frame rate).
Legacy
Daniel Craig, who portrayed James Bond on screen from 2006 to 2021, credited the Austin Powers franchise with the relatively serious tone of later Bond films. In a 2014 interview, Craig said, "We had to destroy the myth because Mike Myers fucked us", making it "impossible" to do the gags of earlier Bond films which Austin Powers satirized.[35]
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