Spy Hard

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

All the action. All the women. Half the intelligence.
--Tagline

Spy Hard (1996) is an action-comedy movie that marked the film debuts of Seltzer and Friedberg, spoofing spy and other action films. Leslie Nielsen stars as Dick Steele, Agent WD-40, opposite Nicolette Sheridan as his partner Veronique Ukrinsky, Agent 3.14, as the two try to stop the evil genius, General Rancor (Andy Griffith), from taking over the world.

The film was clearly aiming for the Zucker-Abrams-Zucker style of Rapid-Fire Comedy, but fell short and probably suffered from comparisons to the still-recent The Naked Gun films, the last of which was released just two years before this flick. Still, it has its moments; and it's Citizen Kane compared to the movies that Seltzer and Friedberg would go on to direct themselves. This makes a lot more sense when you consider it was Jason Friedberg's dad, Rick Friedberg, who both directed and wrote the final screenplay, proving the old adage that talent tends to skip a generation. (Not saying ol' Rick was a movie genius either).


Tropes used in Spy Hard include:


"But I wasn't in My Girl 2!"
"We don't care!"

"Arm me!"

  • Reality Is Unrealistic: That note that Weird Al sings that was edited to last for a ridiculously long amount of time? Nope. That was the plan, but Al found out he really could hold the note out that long.
  • Running Gag: A jogger is frequently injured during the film. Also the guy who keeps getting hit in the chest with arrows and knives.
  • She's Got Legs: Parodied.
  • Spiritual Successor: To The Naked Gun films.
  • Suicidal Gotcha: Steele escapes by jumping off a roof, only to appear again in a Harrier jump-jet, scaring off the pursuers. It is then revealed to be a prop being lifted by a helicopter for a billboard.
  • Take My Hand
  • The Tape Knew You Would Say That
  • This Page Will Self-Destruct: Steele leaves the tape recorder in the helicopter that he was being flown in.
  • Wafer-Thin Mint
  • Wag the Director: The final screenplay for the film was supposedly thrown together hastily by Leslie Nielsen, Rick Friedberg and another writer, after Nielsen had serious issues with the original screenplay that Jason Friedberg and Aaron Selzter had written. This probably accounts for the somewhat disjointed nature of the final product.
  • Viewers Are Goldfish: Parodied.
  • Your Head Asplode: Weird Al Yankovic, hitting the high note of doom.