Review of Target: Harry

Target: Harry? Anything to do with British royalty in Afghanistan?

Nope. This is an ultra low-budget Roger Corman spy flick from the late-sixties, starring Vic Morrow and a rather young and dishy
Charlotte Rampling.

Vic who?

Morrow. Also known as Jennifer Jason Leigh's dad. He made his name in 60s squaddie show 'Combat!' and, sadly, was killed in one of Hollywood's most tragic on-set accidents in 1982. Look him up, that's what the Wikipedia is for. But he's not to be confused with Vic Armstrong, the sorta-famous movie stuntman and Harrison Ford-lookalike, who's very much alive and well. Silly people always get them confused.

Good quality DVD, then?

Hardly. This release from Freemantle Media is an affront to digital disc. The 4:3 transfer is horridly soft, like you've suddenly developed myopia (or you've just lost your specs if you already had it) and the print from which it's been minted is full of dirt, blemishes and even gashes. Yes gashes. It's in terrible nick, even for a 1969 vintage. And the two-channel mono, despite being encoded at 224kbps, is like listening to someone talking to you whilst you're underwater. There are, mercifully, no extras.

But it's a good film, right?

Wrong. It's typical Corman tat, derivative and contrived stuff - Bond knock-offs don't get much worse. Ropey script, animated cardboard cutouts where actors are supposed to be, stodgy, amateurish direction, and some of the sloppiest editing ever committed to film. But then some people might like that. They probably have entire movie nights dedicated to this kind of rubbish. But even the thickest pair of beer goggles will have a problem seeing anything attractive in this.