For our first Film at 11 podcast episode of 2026, I introduce my son Thomas to Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Thomas has recently taken an interest in old Saturday Night Live sketches by way of “Best of” compilations, and this classic comedy from Mike Myers seemed like a sure winner.
Indeed, Thomas liked the movie. Unfortunately, during the recording of the podcast he was in full-on sulky ‘tween mode and had hardly anything to say. I’ve been informed that some of our viewers find it amusing when he does this, but as a parent actually trying to accomplish something with his son, that behavior aggravates me to no end.
| Title: | Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery |
| Year of Release: | 1997 |
| Director: | Jay Roach |
| Watched On: | Blu-ray |
| Also Available On: | Pluto TV Various VOD rental and purchase platforms |
The Blu-ray
Back in the late 1990s when it first hit home video, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery was considered one of the top “reference” titles for picture quality on the Laserdisc format. The simultaneous DVD was also well regarded for its time, but we’ve come a very long way since then and standards have risen considerably.
A Blu-ray followed in 2008, as part of an Austin Powers Collection box set packaged with the two sequels. The Blu-ray edition of International Man of Mystery includes only the film’s 89-minute American theatrical cut. I also own an old PAL DVD copy of the slightly-longer International Cut, which adds back a few cut gags and a small role for Rob Lowe, but honestly, none of those bits is particularly necessary and the tighter American version works better.
The Blu-ray was a fairly early release on the format, from a time when Warner Bros. had some enormously frustrating habits, such as authoring its discs to auto-play the movie with no main menu screen while also defaulting to a (completely irrelevant and unneeded) lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track even though the disc also included a lossless Dolby TrueHD track that can only be accessed after the movie has already started.
At the time of this writing in early 2026, Austin Powers has not yet hit 4K Ultra HD. I’d greatly welcome a remaster, as the Blu-ray hasn’t aged very well.
Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Blu-ray was sourced from the same video master originally created in 1997. The 2.35:1 image looks very dated in quality, with a light application of Edge Enhancement that makes film grain look noisy as hell. Some contrast boosting also causes bright highlights to clip. The movie’s photography is famous for its vibrant colors, which look adequate here but lack depth. A fresh scan of the film negative with HDR grading could go a long way for this movie.
Fortunately, once you realize it’s there and figure out how to access it, the TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack holds up better than the video. The mix spreads the fun musical score by George S. Clinton nicely and has some occasional bassy rumble. Surround channels are mostly utilized for envelopment rather than discrete effects, but fill the room effectively.
Bonus features are all legacy items carried over from prior video editions. These include an audio commentary by star Mike Myers and director Jay Roach, a handful of deleted scenes, and a trailer. Missing are a music video and a still gallery of storyboards, costume designs, and production photos.
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UK label Icon has a UHD for this. I believe International Cut. Maybe with the 30th anniversary around the corner, a domestic version will materialize. Hopefully all three movies. I’ve always favored the second movie the most but it’s been quite a long time since I’ve watched any of them.
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I feel pretty confident that the movie’s camera negative is conformed to the American theatrical cut, which would currently be owned by Warner Bros. A 4K transfer of the international cut would have to be scanned from a film element downstream of that. It’d probably look better than this old Blu-ray, but all the same, I think I’ll wait to see what turns up domestically.
I like Felicity Shagwell and of course Mini Me, but Spy Who Shagged Me is my least favorite of the three movies. I remember seeing it in the theater and hardly laughing at all. Most of the movie is just a rehash of the first one.
I think Myers and the other producers really missed the mark with how to make sequels to Austin Powers. If I’d had a crack at it, what I would have done is have Austin catch up with popular culture, but in chronological order, so he’s perpetually 30 years behind the times. The second movie should have been made in the early 2000s with Austin dressing and acting like he’s from the 1970s, and the third movie ten years after that with Austin just getting to the Miami Vice era. Sadly, I think too much time has passed for that to work now.
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Massive ‘Austin Powers’ fan! First one is the best. Funny you (Josh) consider ‘Spy Who Shagged Me’ the worst, I think ‘Goldmember’ is worse (prologue is epic, though). Might have something to do with the where and when. I was 15 when I first saw ‘Spy Who Shagged Me’, the perfect age for juvenile scatological humour. It was my VERY FIRST DVD ever, got it on 25 September 2000 (my 16th birthday). One does not forget his first Digital Versatile Disc. My friends and me quoted the silly movie non-stop while bored in school. To this day (I haven’t seen the movie for 10 years, I guess; have never updated to Blu), I can still giggle when thinking of ‘Whoop-dee-doo, what does it all mean, Basil?’, ‘It’s a bit nutty’, ‘The Alan Parsons Project’, ‘Oh no I’ve gone cross-eyed’ etc. I think I even use ‘And I want a toilet made out of solid gold, but it’s just not in cards now is it’ outside of movie conversations.
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