Project: Kill (1976)

An older secret agent (Nielsen) detects and finds himself hunted by a group of drug-fueled hit men from a super secret military group in the sleazy underbelly of the Philipines. Star: Leslie Nielsen, Gary Stockwell. A very one-dimensional plot line with little interest and very boring for the viewer to watch. The actors are truly wasted in this film. The roles are 'phoned-in' with no energy. The Philipine locations are also wasted and add nothing to the production quality. The film's ending is really no surprise. This film leaves you feeling like you want the time you wasted watching this film back in your life. A totally flat film with no entertainment value. What a waste of film production money. Did the stars want an all expense paid vacation in the Philipines and US federal tax deduction? The film has no obvious purpose or theme.

Oh, the horrid and lackluster road Nielson's career would have taken had he not participated in "Airplane!" a few years after this, a riotous comedy which gave him an entirely new lease on a career that had nearly come to a close. Here he is stuck in a horrible, low-budget mess in which he plays a government assassin who leaves his highly secretive organization (of which he was the head) and flees to the Philippines. His second-in-command Lockwood pursues him in order to either bring him back or eliminate him while the local police and local hoodlums are also on Nielson's tail. Somehow, he still finds time to meet and bed down Kwan, a lady staying at the same hotel as he is. Things start off inauspiciously with a group of men in those distinctly seventies workout suits watching a training movie about political killing. There seems to be an unspoken contest between Nielson and Lockwood as to who can unzip his top the furthest without looking too ridiculous. Since Nielson has a gold chain on under his, he wins by default. The film is alternately dull as dishwater and unintentionally hilarious. If a person has been waiting to see a knock-down kung fu battle between hired thugs and a man in a wheelchair, this is the film to grab. There's a fair amount of arm-wrenching and neck-breaking as is to be expected from a film called "Project: Kill", but it's more than a little laughable to see Nielson, and even Lockwood, performing these tasks, even if one considers that Nielson was taken fairly seriously at this stage of his career and that a solid career in comedy was yet to come around the bend. It must be noted, however, that in his shirtless scene, Nielson has remarkably toned abs for a man his age and for this time when working out was not a daily ritual for most people. Kwan's role couldn't be more thankless or insubstantial (or inconsequential!) Don't miss the scene in which Lockwood trashes a large section of a hotel lounge (not because of the resident singer, as one might expect!) and strides out without so much as a nod to the management and is then seen sitting in his room on the phone as if nothing happened. Maybe the place was just going to add the damage to his bill. Also, the said phone conversation appears to be with someone from "The Flintstones", so high-pitched and fast is the other voice on the line! Only those with an interest in obscure martial arts flicks (preferably bad ones!) or fans who feel the need to see Nielson's complete filmography should bother with this eternally average and amateurish movie.

It's a pretty heinous film that features a man in a wicker wheelchair, Leslie Neilson's scarred chest, plenty of very ugly Filipinos, horribly set up karate sequences, and people who look like they are waiting for others to finish their lines so they can begin.I think the plot is like this. Two guys, one being Leslie Neilson, are at odds since one wants out of this Project Control. Basically people are shooting up to become superstrong? Well Leslie Neilson gets mixed up with some Filipino gangs who don't like either one of the Americans. There is a side romance too. Makes little sense really.I'm sure Leslie would love for you to forget that he was in this one, but sadly like the movie says: "The only way out is DEATH."Watchability: 2 out of 10 MST3K quality: 7 out of 10

Interesting actioner from the late director of GRIZZLY, MANITOU and DAY OF THE ANIMALS. This features Leslie Nielsen as a Kung-fu expert/secret agent who wants out, but in his line of work, there is only one way out...DEATH. Nielsen goes on a run, his friend and fellow agent Gary Lockwood is hot on his trail. Nielsen battle local bad guy Vic Diaz as a second plotline. I don't know if this film got any theatrical booking, for it played a lot on CBS late night. The video print is dirty and looks like it was from a 16mm print. The film is not bad, and Nielsen does a real good job in the film. It's not recommended for most fans of Nielsen today will view this film as a comedy.