World Enough and Time

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a made-for-TV movie from 1998. I have in my time watched rather a lot of cheaply-made TV movies based on comics - Generation X and Doctor Strange come to mind - and this was so far the worst I couldn't believe it.

I mean, it's Nick Fury. One of my greatest childhood crushes - who grew up to be James Bond. Of course I always love him. Right?

David Hasselhof manages to make Fury half-thug and half-idiot. Not a cliche is spared in the plot or script, but that might not have been so bad if Fury had shown any depth of personality or vestige of charisma. He can't even chew a cigar convincingly.



Dum Dum Dugan had no red hair, no bowler hat, and, worst of all, no mustache. This is not a Dum Dum Dugan I can recognize.

Lisa Rinna as Countess Valentina de Allegra Fontaine was maybe the best thing about the movie - which isn't saying much, but she was nicely personable. Baron Strucker and his Nazi offspring were silly and boring.

Really, the best thing in the movie was the outer shots of the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier in flight. Pretty cool. But then the interior shots were ghastly - shabby battleship interiors that made me think of the technology of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., made thirty-five years earlier.

I'm not Samuel Jackson's biggest fan, but his Nick Fury is a thousand times more interesting and admirable and believable.

And I still want to see Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the role.

The 30 Days of Marvel meme:

( Day #10: Your favourite costume. )

When I was aged about nine or ten, my favourite comic books was Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, subtitled, The War Comic for People Who Hate War Comics. That would be me.

I found someone else who was into the comic with this blog: 30 Reasons to Love Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos. Do I remember the stories well enough to remember the details she cites? No, except maybe for the tough and clever Nick Fury getting his clothes ripped off all the time.

( A typical cover... )

And I myself had a crush on Pamela Hawley. The author of that blog doesn't seem to have appreciated her. So it goes.

In time, Nick Fury became Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. with all that gorgeous Steranko art. And Fury is still around - more or less - and in two versions, too, the Ultimate version and the regular version. I see there was a movie made with David Hasselhoff - how'd I miss that? Was it really bad?