7/10/06: Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (1998)Slash him and trash him, but this is a big summer for David Hasselhoff.
America’s Got Talent is doing fine in the ratings, and the man’s genuinely funny in
Click. Also, The Hoff has once again beat out competition on the superhero front. Nice try by Brandon Routh, but Hasselhoff remains the Best Actor To Ever Bring A Comic Book Character To Life.
We are, of course, talking about Hasselfhoff’s stellar turn in
Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. This humble FOX TV-movie didn’t just stomp all over the theatrical releases from the summer of ’98. It was also a fine political parody that put Warren Beatty’s
Bulworth to shame.
Both films were released in May of ’98, and both featured titular heroes obsessed with speaking frankly.
Bulworth, as a liberal fantasy, meant that Beatty could make racist jokes and be as immune as Joe Biden. Nick Fury wasn’t so lucky. In this adaptation, the Cold Warrior of Marvel Comics fame was already redundant in the wake of Reagan’s success.
It’s certainly believable that the Clinton administration would have forced Fury to resign as an outdated curio. Our hero drops out in style, too. He has to be literally dragged out of a cave when the bureaucrats come calling for help against H.Y.D.R.A.’s latest bid to create the Fourth Reich.
Despite being a creation of the ’60s, there’s nothing dated about this old soldier. Fury becomes a modern hero the moment he starts withholding information from the Clinton administration.
Nick Fury is a genuinely prescient film, and a sobering reminder of the men we needed as the network news wove a fantasy of peace and prosperity.
The film has its faults, of course. The low budget is reflected in everything from special effects to simple dubbing. There’s a fearlessly fun tone, though, and—as much as we wanted to—you can’t honestly goof on Hasselhoff’s performance. No matter how he embarrasses himself in the future, Hasselhoff will always have our respect as an agent of T.R.U.T.H.
Make it your own: As seen by the above graphic,
Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. was released theatrically in Europe, The movie still remains unavailable on any video format. You can easily find bootleg copies—but only because Nick Fury isn’t in charge of the FBI's anti-piracy division.
Nick Fury has also become part of the regular schedule at Fox Movie Channel. Unfortunately, it’s about the only film in their library that FMC doesn’t show eight times a week. Their website can at least keep you informed of
the next broadcast. If it's still summer, plan a barbeque around it.
