# Spy Hard
**Spy Hard** is a 1996 American spy-movie parody starring [Leslie Nielsen](https://www.edgepedia.org/leslie-nielsen) as secret agent Dick Steele, codename Agent WD-40, who is called out of retirement to stop the evil General Rancor ([Andy Griffith](https://www.edgepedia.org/andy-griffith)) from destroying the world. It was directed by Rick Friedberg, produced by [Hollywood Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/hollywood-pictures), and released on May 24, 1996.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/60578) • [2](https://d23.com/a-to-z/spy-hard-film/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | May 24, 1996 (domestic, wide, by Walt Disney); 81 minutes; PG-13 for crude humor and sexual innuendo[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0117723/) • [4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Spy-Hard) |
| Director and writers | Rick Friedberg; screenplay by Rick Friedberg, Dick Chudnow, Jason Friedberg, and Aaron Seltzer[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/60578) |
| Lead cast | Leslie Nielsen (Dick Steele, "Agent WD-40"), Nicollette Sheridan (Veronique Ukrinsky, "Agent 3.14"), Andy Griffith (General Rancor), Charles Durning (The Director), Marcia Gay Harden (Miss Cheevus)[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/spy-hard/) |
| Box office | Domestic opening $10,448,420; domestic gross $26,960,191 against a $18,000,000 budget[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0117723/) |
| Critical reception | 7% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (42 reviews); Metascore 25, "Generally Unfavorable"[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spy_hard) • [7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/spy-hard/critic-reviews/) |
| Theme song | Performed by "Weird Al" Yankovic, spoofing Bond-style opening credits[8](https://d23.com/this-day/spy-hard-is-released/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
General Rancor, a megalomaniac presumed dead after losing two limbs in an explosive altercation with Steele fifteen years earlier, is alive and plotting world domination. He needs a computer circuit for the missile he plans to fire, a chip designed by Professor Ukrinsky, who is held hostage at Rancor's headquarters along with several other captives. Steele teams up with Veronique Ukrinsky (Agent 3.14), a KGB agent and the professor's daughter, and together they locate the mastermind's lair and thwart the scheme.[2](https://d23.com/a-to-z/spy-hard-film/) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spy_hard)
## Production
The film was a Hollywood Pictures production distributed by Buena Vista Pictures, shot by cinematographer John R. Leonetti, edited by Eric Sears, with production design by William Creber and music by [Bill Conti](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-conti). It was completely filmed in Los Angeles area locations.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/60578) • [2](https://d23.com/a-to-z/spy-hard-film/)
Director Rick Friedberg had previously worked with Nielsen on the "bad golf" videos and a series of Dollar Rent-A-Car commercials; the story came from his son Jason Friedberg and Jason's college roommate Aaron Seltzer.[9](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1996/05/24/spy-hard-007-reduced-to-zero/a8189924-8ab1-4091-a109-7ec63a38a6e8/) The supporting cast included [Barry Bostwick](https://www.edgepedia.org/barry-bostwick), John Ales, Elya Baskin, Ray Charles as a bus driver, [Hulk Hogan](https://www.edgepedia.org/hulk-hogan) as a tag-team member, and Roger Clinton as Agent Clinton.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/spy-hard/)
## Parody targets
The film spoofs the [James Bond](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-bond) films above all, but also individual movies of its era: [True Lies](https://www.edgepedia.org/true-lies), Speed, Jurassic Park, Pulp Fiction, Butch Cassidy and the [Sundance Kid](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-kid), Sister Act, and Home Alone.[8](https://d23.com/this-day/spy-hard-is-released/) • [10](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/spy-hard) Its most praised sequence is the opening credits, a Bondian parody with silhouetted figures and a bombastic theme song performed by "Weird Al" Yankovic, whose lyrics include "Facing death everyday is a tough job for any man, but his hours are flexible and he's got a great dental plan."[8](https://d23.com/this-day/spy-hard-is-released/) • [9](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1996/05/24/spy-hard-007-reduced-to-zero/a8189924-8ab1-4091-a109-7ec63a38a6e8/)
## Reception and box office
Spy Hard opened in 2,286 theaters on May 24, 1996, grossing $10,448,420 in its first weekend, 38.8 percent of its eventual domestic total. It ran for about 14 weeks, finishing with a domestic gross of $26,960,191 by [Box Office Mojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/box-office-mojo)'s count; The Numbers records the same run as $26,936,265. Both figures sit above the $18,000,000 production budget, and the film recorded no international gross.[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0117723/) • [4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Spy-Hard) A 1998 Los Angeles Times survey of the spoof genre grouped it with National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 as a parody that took in only about $26 million in North America.[11](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-jul-25-ca-6833-story.html)
Critics were largely negative. Rotten Tomatoes reports 7 percent on the Tomatometer from 42 reviews, with the consensus that Nielsen's comic gifts are undisputed but the lazy script and slapdash direction fail to take advantage of them; the audience Popcornmeter stands at 31 percent from more than 25,000 ratings.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spy_hard) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 25 based on 13 critic reviews, with 62 percent negative and none positive.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/spy-hard/critic-reviews/) Reviewers repeatedly compared the film unfavorably with the Zucker-Abrahams comedies that had made Nielsen's parody career: Variety wrote that it "sticks so closely to the 'Naked Gun' formula that one half-expects an O.J. Simpson cameo," and the Austin Chronicle called it "a truly desperate comedy" filled with stale jokes lifted from Airplane! and [The Naked Gun](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-naked-gun).[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/spy-hard/critic-reviews/) The New York Times' Stephen Holden described a "machine-gun approach to humor" that sprays comic bullets in all directions, hitting a few.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/spy-hard/critic-reviews/) Several critics reserved praise for the Yankovic opening credits; the Christian Science Monitor noted that most of the laughs come near the beginning.[7](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/spy-hard/critic-reviews/)
## Legacy
The film is remembered mainly as a post-Naked Gun vehicle for Nielsen, who was 69 when it was filmed, and as an early credit for [Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer](https://www.edgepedia.org/jason-friedberg-and-aaron-seltzer), who went on to write [Scary Movie](https://www.edgepedia.org/scary-movie) and a series of similar parody films.[12](https://www.laughingplace.com/w/articles/2021/10/17/touchstone-and-beyond-a-history-of-disneys-spy-hard/) • [10](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/spy-hard) Retrospective commentary has placed it among the "exaggerated" spy parodies of the 1990s, alongside the [Austin Powers](https://www.edgepedia.org/austin-powers) films that followed in 1997.[13](https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/32215/3/Watt_204033770_Thesis.pdf) The film became available for digital rental and purchase on Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, and Fandango At Home.[14](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/spy-hard)
## References
1. [Spy Hard (1996), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/60578)
2. [Spy Hard (film), D23](https://d23.com/a-to-z/spy-hard-film/)
3. [Spy Hard (1996), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0117723/)
4. [Spy Hard (1996), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Spy-Hard)
5. [Spy Hard, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/spy-hard/)
6. [Spy Hard, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spy_hard)
7. [Spy Hard critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/spy-hard/critic-reviews/)
8. [Spy Hard is Released, D23](https://d23.com/this-day/spy-hard-is-released/)
9. ['Spy Hard': 007 Reduced to Zero, The Washington Post (May 23, 1996)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1996/05/24/spy-hard-007-reduced-to-zero/a8189924-8ab1-4091-a109-7ec63a38a6e8/)
10. [Spy Hard Parents' Guide, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/spy-hard)
11. [What Keeps Spoofs From Being Box-Office Jokes?, Los Angeles Times (1998)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-jul-25-ca-6833-story.html)
12. [Touchstone and Beyond: A History of Disney's "Spy Hard", LaughingPlace](https://www.laughingplace.com/w/articles/2021/10/17/touchstone-and-beyond-a-history-of-disneys-spy-hard/)
13. [Watt, Secret Writing in Anglo-American Thrillers, PhD thesis](https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/32215/3/Watt_204033770_Thesis.pdf)
14. [Spy Hard streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/spy-hard)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 1995 to 1999 › Black and satirical comedies › Released 1995 to 1998*
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