Really Surprised!

Memorable, crazy movie

Load of rubbish!!

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Quinn Martin was a noted TV producer who created shows such as "The Untouchables" and "Barnaby Jones". But in 1977, he aired a major stinker: "Code Name: Diamond Head". The plot (or whatever you call it) is a convoluted mess about someone trying to stop the theft of a deadly gas. No surprise that this failed pilot provided fodder for "Mystery Science Theater 3000", with Mike, Servo and Crow having lots of fun at the movie's expense. That's the only way to watch the movie and enjoy it. The only cast member whom I recognized was Ian McShane, who's probably spent the years since trying to forget that he participated in this.Is it the worst movie ever made? Dunno. I just know that you'll enjoy the movie if you watch MST3K's presentation. Either that or you could go to Hawaii to experience what the Aloha State really has to offer.

I saw this television pilot on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Not the worst thing they have ever riffed, but then again, I find that the stuff that is not completely horrible oftentimes makes for the better episodes. Someone commented that they should not have riffed this because it has good stars in it, but I say anything can be riffed. It does not have to be completely horrid and nearly impossible to watch for the gang to bring in the zingers at a torrid pace. That being said, I can see why this never became a hit series that instead of being riffed for its pilot episode, was in syndication. It was not that good. Sure it had some rather credible actors in it, Ian McShane being the main one; however, for the most part this was kind of dull at times if not for the riffs. There were a lot of shows going on at this time that put this one to shame as it seemed to be trying to do a bit of Hawaii Five-O with more of a spy slant to it, but like a lot of television shows during this time, all it managed to do was make it on television as a pilot episode. Not sure if it went beyond that. There were a number of television shows that I really enjoyed as a kid that never really got many episodes such as the live action Spider-man show. Heck, that one had good ratings, but the president of CBS yanked it because he did not want his station to cater to kids. These days that demographic is all they cater too. This show simply did not hook the audience and it would have faded into obscurity if not for the gang of the Satellite of Love.The story centers around an agent who is undercover in Hawaii. A man who is like some sort of criminal and really bad guy comes to town to steal some sort of chemical explosive or something. The agent must try to out think this man known as Tree...he really should've gave himself a cooler nickname. At the agent's disposal, this big dude, an Asian lady who does some stuff and a cranky old pirate looking dude who wants his 50 dollars! It has its moments here and there mainly due to Ian as Tree, but it has a lot of stupid stuff too, like the music. At one point the music suddenly sounded like it was from the science fiction ant film, Phase IV.As an episode of Mystery Science Theater it is becoming a favorite of mine. I was not as wild about it at first, but it continually grows on me and I laugh at the jokes which by today's wimp standards would probably offend some people. One of the reasons I fear the reincarnation of the show is going to be weak is the fact people are so easily offended so I just think the show is going to lack the edge it had back in the day.So, another show that failed to become a regular on the prime time schedule. Who knows? If things were different it may have survived as for reasons unknown a good deal of people seem to have enjoyed this show and do not like the fact that it was done by Mystery Science Theater, but realistically, most of them would have completely forgotten this thing if not for them. It's still always kind of cool to reenter the 70's though and watch a blast from the past!

Ahh, the dull t.v. shows and pilots that were slammed together in the 70's to make equally dull t.v. movies! Some examples would be Riding With Death(the most hysterically cheesy of the lot), Stranded in Space(confusing and uninteresting), San Francisco International(horribly dull and unbelievably confusing), and this turgid bit of Quinn Martin glamor. Shot in Hawaii(although you wouldn't know it from the outside shots), it's apparently a failed pilot for a lame spy show. The real problem is that you don;'t like most of the characters, including the drab main character Diamond Head, who seemed half asleep for the entire movie; his boss 'Aunt Mary', who had a really weird delivery of his lines and shellacked white hair as well as the a tan that looked like it had been stuccoed on; Diamnd Head's girlfriend/fellow agent(hell, I can't even remember her name) a skinny, wooden woman with a flat way of speaking that is just not sexy or interesting; and the singing sidekick Zulu(again, i can't remember his character's name)who wasn't bad in small doses. The most interesting person in the whole production was Ian McShane, who sucked as a bad guy but still proved his acting chops. Alothugh the make-up jobs this so-called 'chameleon' used to disguise himself were just laughable. I have absolutely no idea what he was doing or what he was trying to steal from the lab that caused him to dress as a South American Dictator cum American General. Nor do I care. The plot simply wasn't interesting enough to hold your attention for even ten minutes at a time, let alone the hour and a half or so it goes on. Just call this one - Hawaii Five No!

Another turgid action/adventure flick from the Quinn Martin Productions factory. Roy Thinnes plays undercover agent Diamond Head (Mr. Head, to you), working for his G-Man handler "Aunt Mary", looking for "Tree", who's on a mission to...well, just watch the movie. This one deserved and got the full MST3K sendup. As the boys and various reviewers have pointed out, the movie "Fargo" had more Hawaiian locations than this film. Apparently shot on a puny budget, this movie highlights Hawaii's broken-down dive shops, gas stations, and cheapo hotels. Zulu -- later to star as Kono in Hawaii-Five-O -- appears as Thinnes' lumpy, inept sidekick, while France Nguyen models the Jenny Craig diet gone horribly wrong. Others sharing the flickering screen include a drunken Richard Harris knockoff, a George Takai imitator, a not-so-smart hit-man with sprayed-on Sansabelt slacks, and the villain "Tree", sporting a veddy British accent. You can pretty much figure out the plot halfway through the opening credits, but relax--just enjoy the giddy mediocrity of this 70's movie-of-the-week.Whenever I think of this movie (and I think of this movie often), I catch myself humming the theme, written for flute and tuba...no one knows why. Trivia note--Diamond Head was directed by Jeannot Szwarc, one of three contract directors at Universal who would go on to make much bigger films, in his case Jaws 2. The others were John Badham (War Games), and a young fellow named Steven Spielberg...