A nuclear scientist is kidnapped by Chinese communists in Hong Kong. A Japanese group of judo experts kidnaps him from the kidnappers, but before they can contact the American agent who has been assigned with overseeing the scientist's transfer back to the USA, the agent is killed. The American secret service send their top man to Hong Kong as his replacement, with the mission of locating the scientist. But there are TWO rival gangs of baddies who are also looking for the same target, so our hero has to assume a different identity to infiltrate them. "Desperate Mission" is not a bad entry in the Eurospy genre, however it goes on far too long at 115 minutes. There is enough action and exotic sightseeing, but not much urgency to the story. German Cobos makes a passable if a bit bland lead, while Milton Reid, who has appeared as a henchman in two separate James Bond films, plays another Oddjob-like figure here. The film is certainly not served very well by its current full-screen and murky-colored prints. ** out of 4.
4 Reviews
An Italo-Espagnola co-production that follows the style of the Euro-spy sub-genre , being well starred by good-looking German Cobos
ma-cortes3 December 2022
¨Agent Z-55 mission Hong Kong¨by Roberto Montero boasts an attractive cast with German Cobos , Yôko Tani , Gianni Rizzo , Francisco Sanz , Maria Luisa Rispoli . Ordinary and average Spanish/Italian Euro-spy movie with usual ingredients and nicely played by German Cobos . The story is a mess of spying while the regular undercover agent carrying out a complex investigation , resulting in confrontations with a lot of fights and shots . Engaging action-packed Italian spy movie with exotic setting , displaying ordinary trappings : thrills , noisy action , plot twists , several villain roles , bare fists fights , international locations with luxurious hotels , shootouts with high body-count , crosses and double-crosses, and being middlingly entertaining from start to finish . This first outing in adventures of Agent Z 55 concerning a series of incidents involving professor's kidnapping . As Professor Larsen (Francisco Sanz) has been rescued from his Chinese captors by a team of Japanese Kung-Fu experts, led by a one-handed man, and sequestered in secret on an island . Unfortunately, the operative sent to bring him home has turned his toes up unexpectedly , and Agent Z 55(German Cobos) is next in line for the detail. Investigation leads little by little to discover a heinous web of criminals whose boss results to be the most unexpected person. Finally , our hero attempts to rescue to the unfortunate professor and his atomic formula at a fireworks factory , happening a lot of destruction and explosion.
Eurospy movie with fairly bloody shootouts and violent fights usually seen in other films of the period , including similar genre fodder by having a often location in Hong Kong and the typical Italian or Spanish backdrops . A routine Euro-spy movie with thrills , action , car crashes , persecutions , twists , turns and amazing final. But a limited budget stretches to a limited geographical itinerary ; a quick stop-off in Barcelona and an extended stay in Hong Kong . This is a film packed with twisted incidents and near-death getaways with plenty of crossfire in the dark and covert meetings . A thrilling movie belonging to Euro-spy genre by imitating the European cinema to Terence Young's James Bond films specially ¨Doctor No¨, ¨From Russia with Love¨ and ¨Thunderball¨. Mediocre rendition about European spy subgenre , a prolific genre during the sixties , not taking any situation seriously . A fashion and run-of-the-mill spy film at the time, meaning it stuck to a lot of what was currently popular , but here including some embarrassing and non-sense scenes . Also, the production takes a pass on the 'gadget' element of the usual 'Guns, Girls and Gadgets' formula, leaving this a far more grounded production than many of its contemporaries . Stars German Cobos who is still at his most agile and deft style , in fact he performs his own stunts . He performs in his usual style an US agent , being followed by a sequel , ¨Agente Z 55: Secreto atomico¨ (1967) or ¨Tecnica per un massacro¨ that dealt with aircrafts belonging to NATO nations indicating a systematic sabotage , and agent Agent Z-55 or Danny O'Connor/German Cobos is assigned the dangerous mission , as he goes to Turkey to investigate some clues . German Cobos was a good Spanish actor who played a lot of national and international co-productions. As he acted in Paella/Chorizo or Tortilla Westerns filmed in Spain , such as : ¨Hombre De La Diligencia¨ by Jose Maria Elorrieta¨, ¨Valor De Cobarde¨ by Leon Klimowsky , ¨Wanted¨ by Giorgo Ferroni , and ¨Blood calls to Blood¨ by Luigi Capuano and other genres as adventure as ¨El halcón de Castilla¨, ¨The Castilian¨ , ¨Fra Diavolo¨ , among others . Co-stars Yoko Tani who was born in Paris and began her career as a dancer before making her debut in a Japanese picture in 1949. Small roles followed in both French and Japanese productions until the late 1950s when she made her US debut in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 'The Quiet American' (1958). Her big break came that same year opposite Dirk Bogarde in British film 'The Wind Cannot Read' (1958), and she opened the following decade starring in the Polish science-fiction feature 'First Spaceship On Venus' (1960). She was the Eskimo heroine of Nicholas Ray's 'The Savage Innocents' (1960) with Anthony Quinn and tackled similar exotic roles in many European films, including 'The Death Ray of Dr Mabuse' (1964). There was also time for Italian Eurospys 'Goldsnake Anonima Killers' (1966) and 'The Spy Who Loved Flowers' (1966) plus British low-budget sci-fi 'Invasion' (1965). Special mention for the baddie Milton Reid , a wrestler by trade but parlayed his fearsome physique, bald head and vicious scowl into many 'heavy' roles on television and in the movies. He was a wrestler who possessed incredible strength and was arguably the successor to Harald Sakata as the archetypal Asian henchman . His acting is similar to Goldfinger's Harold Tanaka and the subsequent Professor Tanaka . He became a very recognisable screen presence , getting his first big break in Lewis Gilbert's weak adventure flick 'Ferry to Hong Kong' (1959) which starred Orson Welles and Sylvia Sims. Small roles followed in big-budget Hollywood production 'Swiss Family Robinson' (1960), Hammer studio's 'Terror of the Tongs' (1960) and Italian-U. S. fantasy 'The Wonders of Aladdin' (1960). One of his most notable roles was as the doomed mulatto in another Hammer production; the excellent historical adventure 'Captain Clegg' (1962) with Peter Cushing . Appropriately enough, there were also bits in the 'Bond' franchise; in 'Dr. No' (1962), the spoof 'Casino Royale' (1967) and 'The Spy Who Loved Me' (1977). There are also various Spanish/italian actors usual in the Sixties and Seventies co-productions , such as : Gianni Rizzo , Maria Luisa Rispoli, Giovanni Cianfriglia or Ken Wood , Carlos Otero , Francisco Sanz and José Calvo.
This is the typical European production shot in the sixties and it has more to do with the Euro-spy subgenre than the ordinary Italian/Spanish thriller . In fact, it has several peculiarities of Euro-spy such as several locations , spectacular fights , fun and a criminal plot being planned by a nasty criminal mastermind , explosive girls and something else. The motion picture was professional but uneven directed by Roberto B Montero with some failures, flaws and gaps . Montero used to sign his works with a number of aliases during his career . He worked in many popular genres , including Peplum , spaghetti westerns , action, and even Softcore , but it is his thrillers and Giallo mystery films which stand out and for which he is best remembered at which he developed an acceptable skill and mastery such as ¨L'occhio del ragno¨ or ¨The Eye of the Spider¨, ¨The Slasher ...is the Sex Maniac!¨, ¨The Sewer Rats¨ . And he made all kinds of genres , such as Eurospy : ¨Agent Z55 , atomic secret¨, ¨Mission Hong Kong¨ ; Adventure : ¨Thaurus , son of Athila¨, ¨Robin Hood¨ ; ¨Poliziottesco or Crime thriller : ¨Eye of spider¨, ¨An alibi per Morire¨ ; Mondo sexy documentary : ¨Sexy Follie¨ , ¨Africa sexy¨, ¨A fool's war¨, ¨Sexy nude¨ ,¨Mondo Infame¨ ; Historical/erotic : ¨Lucrecia Borgia¨, ¨The hot nights of Calígula¨ ; Gialli : "The Slasher ...is the Sex Maniac!" ; Western all'Italiana : ¨Oklahoma John¨ , ¨Durango is coming , pay or die¨ , ¨Thunder over El Paso¨, ¨Two sides of the dollar¨ ; and Wartime : ¨Rangers attack at hour x¨, ¨Damned platoon¨or ¨The battle of the damned¨ and "36 Ore all'inferno" also titled "36 Hours in Hell" or "Last Combat" . Rating : 5/10 . So-so Eurospy movie .
Eurospy movie with fairly bloody shootouts and violent fights usually seen in other films of the period , including similar genre fodder by having a often location in Hong Kong and the typical Italian or Spanish backdrops . A routine Euro-spy movie with thrills , action , car crashes , persecutions , twists , turns and amazing final. But a limited budget stretches to a limited geographical itinerary ; a quick stop-off in Barcelona and an extended stay in Hong Kong . This is a film packed with twisted incidents and near-death getaways with plenty of crossfire in the dark and covert meetings . A thrilling movie belonging to Euro-spy genre by imitating the European cinema to Terence Young's James Bond films specially ¨Doctor No¨, ¨From Russia with Love¨ and ¨Thunderball¨. Mediocre rendition about European spy subgenre , a prolific genre during the sixties , not taking any situation seriously . A fashion and run-of-the-mill spy film at the time, meaning it stuck to a lot of what was currently popular , but here including some embarrassing and non-sense scenes . Also, the production takes a pass on the 'gadget' element of the usual 'Guns, Girls and Gadgets' formula, leaving this a far more grounded production than many of its contemporaries . Stars German Cobos who is still at his most agile and deft style , in fact he performs his own stunts . He performs in his usual style an US agent , being followed by a sequel , ¨Agente Z 55: Secreto atomico¨ (1967) or ¨Tecnica per un massacro¨ that dealt with aircrafts belonging to NATO nations indicating a systematic sabotage , and agent Agent Z-55 or Danny O'Connor/German Cobos is assigned the dangerous mission , as he goes to Turkey to investigate some clues . German Cobos was a good Spanish actor who played a lot of national and international co-productions. As he acted in Paella/Chorizo or Tortilla Westerns filmed in Spain , such as : ¨Hombre De La Diligencia¨ by Jose Maria Elorrieta¨, ¨Valor De Cobarde¨ by Leon Klimowsky , ¨Wanted¨ by Giorgo Ferroni , and ¨Blood calls to Blood¨ by Luigi Capuano and other genres as adventure as ¨El halcón de Castilla¨, ¨The Castilian¨ , ¨Fra Diavolo¨ , among others . Co-stars Yoko Tani who was born in Paris and began her career as a dancer before making her debut in a Japanese picture in 1949. Small roles followed in both French and Japanese productions until the late 1950s when she made her US debut in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 'The Quiet American' (1958). Her big break came that same year opposite Dirk Bogarde in British film 'The Wind Cannot Read' (1958), and she opened the following decade starring in the Polish science-fiction feature 'First Spaceship On Venus' (1960). She was the Eskimo heroine of Nicholas Ray's 'The Savage Innocents' (1960) with Anthony Quinn and tackled similar exotic roles in many European films, including 'The Death Ray of Dr Mabuse' (1964). There was also time for Italian Eurospys 'Goldsnake Anonima Killers' (1966) and 'The Spy Who Loved Flowers' (1966) plus British low-budget sci-fi 'Invasion' (1965). Special mention for the baddie Milton Reid , a wrestler by trade but parlayed his fearsome physique, bald head and vicious scowl into many 'heavy' roles on television and in the movies. He was a wrestler who possessed incredible strength and was arguably the successor to Harald Sakata as the archetypal Asian henchman . His acting is similar to Goldfinger's Harold Tanaka and the subsequent Professor Tanaka . He became a very recognisable screen presence , getting his first big break in Lewis Gilbert's weak adventure flick 'Ferry to Hong Kong' (1959) which starred Orson Welles and Sylvia Sims. Small roles followed in big-budget Hollywood production 'Swiss Family Robinson' (1960), Hammer studio's 'Terror of the Tongs' (1960) and Italian-U. S. fantasy 'The Wonders of Aladdin' (1960). One of his most notable roles was as the doomed mulatto in another Hammer production; the excellent historical adventure 'Captain Clegg' (1962) with Peter Cushing . Appropriately enough, there were also bits in the 'Bond' franchise; in 'Dr. No' (1962), the spoof 'Casino Royale' (1967) and 'The Spy Who Loved Me' (1977). There are also various Spanish/italian actors usual in the Sixties and Seventies co-productions , such as : Gianni Rizzo , Maria Luisa Rispoli, Giovanni Cianfriglia or Ken Wood , Carlos Otero , Francisco Sanz and José Calvo.
This is the typical European production shot in the sixties and it has more to do with the Euro-spy subgenre than the ordinary Italian/Spanish thriller . In fact, it has several peculiarities of Euro-spy such as several locations , spectacular fights , fun and a criminal plot being planned by a nasty criminal mastermind , explosive girls and something else. The motion picture was professional but uneven directed by Roberto B Montero with some failures, flaws and gaps . Montero used to sign his works with a number of aliases during his career . He worked in many popular genres , including Peplum , spaghetti westerns , action, and even Softcore , but it is his thrillers and Giallo mystery films which stand out and for which he is best remembered at which he developed an acceptable skill and mastery such as ¨L'occhio del ragno¨ or ¨The Eye of the Spider¨, ¨The Slasher ...is the Sex Maniac!¨, ¨The Sewer Rats¨ . And he made all kinds of genres , such as Eurospy : ¨Agent Z55 , atomic secret¨, ¨Mission Hong Kong¨ ; Adventure : ¨Thaurus , son of Athila¨, ¨Robin Hood¨ ; ¨Poliziottesco or Crime thriller : ¨Eye of spider¨, ¨An alibi per Morire¨ ; Mondo sexy documentary : ¨Sexy Follie¨ , ¨Africa sexy¨, ¨A fool's war¨, ¨Sexy nude¨ ,¨Mondo Infame¨ ; Historical/erotic : ¨Lucrecia Borgia¨, ¨The hot nights of Calígula¨ ; Gialli : "The Slasher ...is the Sex Maniac!" ; Western all'Italiana : ¨Oklahoma John¨ , ¨Durango is coming , pay or die¨ , ¨Thunder over El Paso¨, ¨Two sides of the dollar¨ ; and Wartime : ¨Rangers attack at hour x¨, ¨Damned platoon¨or ¨The battle of the damned¨ and "36 Ore all'inferno" also titled "36 Hours in Hell" or "Last Combat" . Rating : 5/10 . So-so Eurospy movie .
RARE EURO-SPY ENTRY BUT WELL WORTH WATCHING
larryanderson17 March 2020
I have this very poor quality Spanish language version at 1:43. Unfortunately the color is very red and fuzzy. I looked on Y/T and there isn't any sign of it. I guess it has faded from cinema history.
German Cobos plays agent C-55 (or Z-55), who is sent to Hong Kong to replace a fallen comrade and complete his mission. As soon as he arrives at the airport he is chased by the police. First in the streets in a wild car chase and soon on a speed boat around the Hong Kong Harbor. When he finally escapes, a good 20 mins. has passed. The rest of the movie has all the leads just stand around and threaten each other. Liontine May is totally wasted, lost in a crowd.
The action picks up near the end when Z-55 fights with Giovanni Gianfiglia (Ken Wood), who ends up crushed in a large machine. C-55 escapes by setting a fire which ignites all the Fireworks stored there.
Watch it if you like Euro-Spy movies. If not, don't bother, as you aren't missing much.
Action-packed Italian spy caper with exotic setting
Leofwine_draca25 February 2015
Engaging Eurospy movie has the edge over similar genre fodder by having an unusual location (Hong Kong) as opposed to the typical Italian or Spanish backdrops, plus a wealth of violent and fairly bloody action not usually seen in other films of the period. This is a film packed with incident and near-death escapes with plenty of double-crosses, shoot-outs in the dark and covert meetings. Besides, you have to love a movie which opens with a gang of weirdly-masked assassins kidnapping a professor and causing a model car to roll and burn down a cliff!
Our hero here is German Cobos, playing super-cool spy Agent C (not Z!) 55. Cobos is your typically slick playboy hero Sean Connery imitation who has a way with the ladies and spends much time exchanging witty repartee with Italian and Chinese lovelies. Cobos doesn't get far (the airport in fact) before he finds himself on the run from the police for smuggling gemstones, embarking on a chase which involves vehicles, dockyards and a helicopter! Seems a bit over-the-top for a mere smuggler but there you go. He soon finds himself caught up in a world of shady, secret organisations, working for a gang of cut-throats and fearing for his life at every step. Of course, he still finds time to flirt with the ladies while all this is happening...
The main reason I enjoyed this film was the flair and excitement that director Roberto Bianchi Montero brought to it. The pacing is spot on and the action is generous, so that even the above-average run time just seems to fly by like the wind. There are also a number of unusual and imaginative sequences like a shoot-out behind a cinema screen where a body falls through the screen like in DEMONS, plus the requisite amount of bullets and explosions to satisfy even the most hardened fans.
The cast is a good one, with Cobos investing his character effortlessly with charm, and Yoko Tani (SAMSON AND THE 7 MIRACLES OF THE WORLD) supplying glamour as the fragile Chinese beauty. Acting honours go to the hulking actor who plays Cheng, a Tor Johnson-lookalike who seems and acts like a really nasty piece of work (and somebody you wouldn't like to be friends - let alone enemies - with!).
The genre trappings are present from the colourful, animated opening credits to the laidback jazzy score, and the film is mindless enough in its own way to be entertaining as a pure adventure yarn laced with excitement. It's a perfect opportunity to disengage the brain and sit back and enjoy without having to think about any underlying messages or subtlety. In-your-face action is what the film delivers and it does so well.
Our hero here is German Cobos, playing super-cool spy Agent C (not Z!) 55. Cobos is your typically slick playboy hero Sean Connery imitation who has a way with the ladies and spends much time exchanging witty repartee with Italian and Chinese lovelies. Cobos doesn't get far (the airport in fact) before he finds himself on the run from the police for smuggling gemstones, embarking on a chase which involves vehicles, dockyards and a helicopter! Seems a bit over-the-top for a mere smuggler but there you go. He soon finds himself caught up in a world of shady, secret organisations, working for a gang of cut-throats and fearing for his life at every step. Of course, he still finds time to flirt with the ladies while all this is happening...
The main reason I enjoyed this film was the flair and excitement that director Roberto Bianchi Montero brought to it. The pacing is spot on and the action is generous, so that even the above-average run time just seems to fly by like the wind. There are also a number of unusual and imaginative sequences like a shoot-out behind a cinema screen where a body falls through the screen like in DEMONS, plus the requisite amount of bullets and explosions to satisfy even the most hardened fans.
The cast is a good one, with Cobos investing his character effortlessly with charm, and Yoko Tani (SAMSON AND THE 7 MIRACLES OF THE WORLD) supplying glamour as the fragile Chinese beauty. Acting honours go to the hulking actor who plays Cheng, a Tor Johnson-lookalike who seems and acts like a really nasty piece of work (and somebody you wouldn't like to be friends - let alone enemies - with!).
The genre trappings are present from the colourful, animated opening credits to the laidback jazzy score, and the film is mindless enough in its own way to be entertaining as a pure adventure yarn laced with excitement. It's a perfect opportunity to disengage the brain and sit back and enjoy without having to think about any underlying messages or subtlety. In-your-face action is what the film delivers and it does so well.
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