Austin Powers (film series)
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| Austin Powers | |
|---|---|
 Series logo |
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| Directed by | Jay Roach |
| Produced by | Mike Myers Demi Moore Jennifer Todd Suzanne Todd |
| Written by | Mike Myers Michael McCullers |
| Starring | Mike Myers Michael York Robert Wagner Mindy Sterling Seth Green Verne Troyer |
| Music by | George S. Clinton |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | 1997–2002 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $112,500,000 |
| Box office | $676,356,278 |
The Austin Powers series is a series of three action-comedy films – Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) – directed by Jay Roach, produced, written by and starring Mike Myers as both the title character and the main antagonist Dr. Evil, and distributed by New Line Cinema. The franchise parodies numerous James Bond, Derek Flint, Jason King, and Matt Helm films, characters, and video games, incorporates myriad other elements of popular culture as it follows the British spy's quest to bring his nemesis to justice.
The films poke fun at the outrageous plots, rampant sexual innuendo, and one-dimensional stock characters characteristically associated with 1960s spy films, as well as the cliché of the ultra-suave male superspy. Contrary to the handsome, super-smooth leading men of the James Bond genre, Austin Powers is not conventionally attractive (he is especially known for his bad teeth), although female characters in the films seem to find him irresistible.
The general theme of the films is that the arch-villain Dr. Evil plots to extort large sums of money from governments or international bodies but is constantly thwarted by Powers, and (to a degree) his own inexperience with life and culture in the 1990s. In the first film, Austin and Dr. Evil are awakened after being cryogenically frozen for 30 years. Continuing to incorporate cultural elements of the 1960s and 1970s, the second and third films feature time travel as a plot device and deliberately overlook inconsistencies.
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Development [edit]
Myers himself has stated in interviews that the idea for Austin Powers came to him one night while driving home from ice hockey practice. Hearing the song "The Look of Love" by Burt Bacharach on his car radio, he wondered "Where have all the swingers gone?", and conceived the character who would become Austin Powers. The first phrase he thought the character might say was "Do I make you horny?" which later did indeed become a catch phrase for the character. He has also disclosed that the character also draws on his recollections of former Radio Caroline DJ Simon Dee who hosted the first real TV chat show in the UK in 1967 which ended with his driving off in a sports car with a young blonde in the passenger seat.
Though he is a Canadian by birth, Myers' parents are natives of Liverpool, England, and Myers holds dual nationality. Although the films parody the plots and characters of 1960s spy movies, the humour is influenced by Myers' British heritage, particularly the Carry On films and the comedic works of Benny Hill and Peter Sellers, of the latter of whom Myers is a self-confessed fan (his favourite films being the Bond spoof Casino Royale and The Party).[citation needed] Influences from Sellers' films are apparent throughout the series; the character of Austin Powers reflects the inspiration of Seller's portrayal of the character Roger Danvers in the 1972 film There's a Girl in My Soup. Powers' dandyish appearance can also be shown to have been inspired by that of the fictional Jason King – the adventurous character from the ITV Spy-fi series Department S who was featured in the eponymous spin-off series. Other obviously-apparent influences are The Beatles films, The Monkees television series and the "cocktail party" skits from Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In.
Cast and characters [edit]
List indicator(s)
- A dark grey cell indicates the character did not appear in the film.
| Character | Film | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| International Man of Mystery | The Spy Who Shagged Me | Goldmember | |
| Austin Powers | Mike Myers | ||
| Doctor Evil | Mike Myers | ||
| Basil Exposition | Michael York | ||
| Number 2 | Robert Wagner | Robert Wagner / Rob Lowe (younger version) | |
| Frau Farbissina | Mindy Sterling | ||
| Scott Evil | Seth Green | ||
| Vanessa Kensington | Elizabeth Hurley | ||
| Mini-Me | Verne Troyer | ||
| Fat Bastard | Mike Myers | ||
| Mrs. Kensington | Mimi Rogers | ||
| Felicity Shagwell | Heather Graham | ||
| Foxxy Cleopatra | Beyoncé Knowles | ||
| Nigel Powers | Michael Caine | ||
| Number 3 | Fred Savage | ||
| Goldmember | Mike Myers | ||
Cars [edit]
The series featured two cars–number plates "SWINGER" and "SWINGER2" and collectively dubbed the "Shaguars"–that were portrayed by a 1961 Jaguar E Type and a 2001 XK8 convertible respectively. The Ministry of Defence creates two cars to transport Powers through time: a psychedelic-rainbow painted 1999 Volkswagen "New Beetle" convertible in the second film, and a purple 1975 Cadillac Eldorado Fleetwood "pimpmobile" (number plate "SWNGR 3") in the third. Additionally, Felicity Shagwell drives a 1965 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray with an American flag paint scheme in the second film and Nigel Powers has a 2001 Mini Cooper – able to travel underwater, and which bears the number plate "GR8SHAG" – in the third.
Reception [edit]
Box office performance [edit]
| Film | Release date | Box office revenue | Box office ranking | Budget | Reference | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Foreign | Worldwide | All time domestic | All time worldwide | ||||
| Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery | May 2, 1997 | $53,883,989 | $13,800,000 | $67,683,989 | #1,171 | $16,500,000 | [1] | |
| Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me | June 11, 1999 | $206,040,086 | $105,976,772 | $312,016,858 | #119 #152(A) |
#257 | $33,000,000 | [2] |
| Austin Powers in Goldmember | July 26, 2002 | $213,307,889 | $83,347,542 | $296,655,431 | #110 #188(A) |
#283 | $63,000,000 | [3] |
| Total | $473,231,964 | $203,124,314 | $676,356,278 | $112,500,000 | ||||
List indicator(s)
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Critical reaction [edit]
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|
| Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery | 70% (60 reviews)[4] | 51% (25 reviews)[5] |
| Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me | 51% (85 reviews)[6] | 59% (34 reviews)[7] |
| Austin Powers in Goldmember | 54% (182 reviews)[8] | 62% (34 reviews)[9] |
Media [edit]
Films [edit]
The series consists of three films:
- Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery released on May 2, 1997
- Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me released on June 11, 1999
- Austin Powers in Goldmember released on July 26, 2002
Games [edit]
- Video games
- Austin Powers: Oh, Behave! (Game Boy Color)
- Austin Powers: Welcome to My Underground Lair! (Game Boy Color)
- Austin Powers in Operation Trivia (PC and Macintosh)
- Austin Powers Pinball (PlayStation and PC)
- Other
Future [edit]
Fourth film [edit]
In March 2010, Jay Roach indicated to MTV that Myers is working on ideas for the film.[10][11]
References [edit]
- ^ "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
- ^ "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
- ^ "Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
- ^ "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
- ^ "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. 2012-09-17.
- ^ "Austin Powers: the Spy Who Shagged Me". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
- ^ "Austin Powers: the Spy Who Shagged Me". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
- ^ "Austin Powers in Goldmember". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
- ^ "Austin Powers in Goldmember". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
- ^ "Fourth 'Austin Powers' Movie Will Go 'Somewhere You Haven't Though Of,' Jay Roach Says". MTV. Retrieved 2010-10-14.
- ^ "Mike Myers Revives Dr. Evil". MTV. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
External links [edit]
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Austin Powers Trilogy |
- Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery at the Internet Movie Database
- Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me at the Internet Movie Database
- Austin Powers in Goldmember at the Internet Movie Database
- Austin Powers 4 at the Internet Movie Database (Rumoured for many years but never gone into production.)
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