The Six Million Dollar Man: Wine, Women, and War

release year: 1973
genre: action/science-fiction
viewing setting: home DVD, 1/29/09 and home VHS, 2/22/05

synopsis: Bionic super-agent Steve Austin is growing restless with his work and his handlers, but ends up on a mission to stop an arms dealer's evil plot.

impressions: In his second TV movie/pilot/episode, Steve Austin is still playing a bionic James Bond in this, the third and last of the televised movie pilots that led to this becoming a regular series. There were numerous Bond-like moments, both in Steve's behavior and his choice of words. There was plenty of action, though (bionic and normal.) This was actually an interesting concept: a secret agent with superhuman abilities.

something this movie has that no other movie has: An arms dealer's underground missile showroom, complete with sliding hatches and tracks to display the missiles to prospective buyers. It's a pretty elaborate setup.

acting: Lee Majors takes a James Bond approach, and pulls it off fairly well; he's also believeable as far as how he doesn't like being jerked around by his bosses. Britt Ekland is the token romantic interest. David McCallum plays a Soviet spy and old friend of Steve's.

final word: Worth seeing, but still unlike most of the regular series.

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