User reviews

Doctor Sir Leslie Colin Patterson KBE is one of the greatest comedy creations ever. Barry Humphries only rarely gives him an outing so it is a shame that this film is so average (or should that be everage ?). Perhaps he hoped for a greater appeal by including Dame Edna Everage but 'she' gets too much time. Nevertheless, this 'fillum' is still a very funny in places and is a must for all admirers of Sir Les.

Anyone who wants to see this character in full flow should track down the video or soundtrack of "Les Patterson has a stand-up" which was a live show in London in 1997. In 1985 Sir Les also wrote the funniest book ever - it's called "The Traveller's Tool".

Jeez. Where do you begin? Stupid overblown(i.e. not funny) plot, appalling garish 1980s-at-its-worst set design and general art direction, a script that needs major surgery and too much Dame Edna Everage. In its favour there is so little of the wonderful Sir Les Patterson on DVD that you have to take your pleasures where you can. He is up there with Ali G as one of the most un-PC comic characters ever created. To see him say, what so much of want to actually say - but have too much common sense to say, is a non-stop treat. If you do not like Sir Les Patterson then you will be better off sticking to a bumper edition of Friends.

The brilliant Australian comic genius Barry Humphries had a rare failure with this uneven, and occasionally distasteful comedy, which was snatched back from release after only a few days. Drunken, lecherous Australian diplomat Sir Les Patterson accidentally sets an Arab potentate on fire at the UN and is posted to his tiny country as punishment, arriving just as a palace coup puts a new leader (American soap star Thaao Penghlis) on the throne. Sir Les, with the reluctant help of Dame Edna Everage (Both played by Humphries) almost accidentally foils a scheme by the new leader to release a deadly, disgusting, AIDS-like virus on the Western World. Joan Rivers has a cameo as the female President of the United States, her desk plate reading "President Rivers"! Extreme bad taste mingles with slapstick and Humphries' usual scathing satire in a film which is more enjoyable in it's many funny parts, than taken together as a whole. Dame Edna's TV fans may be puzzled by the presence of a different Madge Allsop, sadly, one who lacks Emily Perry's wonderful drab comedy magic in the role. The film was written By Humphries & his third wife, Diane Millstead, and directed by the Mad Max man himself, George Miller. For die-hard Humphries fans like myself, essential. All others, beware.

I note with interest that one reviewer, Kmce, mentioned that this film was withdrawn shortly after release - this should make it all the more a collector's item and I'm glad I have a copy. Les Patterson is another fantastic satirical creation from Barry Humphries and fans will get plenty of him in this 98 minute movie. However, it appears that it was too ambitious of Humphries to make a Feature based on this character as the script needed radical reworking or rejection. Not that the individual gags aren't funny, because they are. In fact two years after the film when Humphries was back on stage, Sir Les Patterson made a reappearance as a 20 minute performance at the start of each show and was hilarious. This was released on video in the UK - as was the film - but they are probably both unavailable now. Us collectors must act fast!

Barry Humphries' infamous Australian diplomat Sir Les Patterson makes his film debut in this under-cooked and clumsy spy/comedy.

Comedies about incompetent spies like Archer or Maxwell Smart work because you think of secret agents of being highly skilled professionals (not incompetent boobs). But why bother putting Les in an adventure comedy as a bumbling secret agent when the scenes with him as a bumbling, corrupt politician are much funnier?

For those unfamiliar with the Sir Les Patterson character; Sir Les is a send-up of the boorish, foul-mouthed drunks that would occupy the boys-club of Australian politics in the 1970's. He was the direct opposite to Dame Edna's aspirational and gentle housewife character.

That's why it could have been great to see the anachronistic and boorish Patterson sleazing around in the world of Australian politics (one of the characters even point out that Patterson is out-of-date with the times). Humphires could of had a field day making commentary on the Hawke Government (I can just picture a scene with Patterson and Hawkie in a drinking contest).

But instead of a film continuing the character's satire of loutish Australian politicians; we get run-of-the-mill, fish-out-of-water farce with Patterson running around the world as James Bond trying to save the world from bio-chemical weapons (hooray for us).

Even the gross-out humour that Humphires pioneered in the Barry McKenzie films, isn't as wild or as funny as it could have been. Disappointing.

Arguably the most disgusting thing to come out of Australia since Vegemite... Predictably distasteful comedy with Barry Humphries in a dual role as boozy Australian diplomat Les Patterson and undercover agent Dame Edna! So many bodily function gags that even the Farrelly brothers would have been sick, and several gross-out moments, especially the effects of the horrible H.E.L.P. virus. Only for fans of extreme toilet humor. Oh, and that´s the "NeverEnding Story II", NOT the "Mad Max" George Miller, who directed... *½

This dreadful comedy has two of Barry Humphries characters get up to 'comic' japes somewhere in the Middle East. These comedy creations are of course Les Patterson the drunken diplomat and Dame Edna Everage. To be honest I find Les Patterson's boozy antics about as funny as a punch to the throat. He is a pretty disgusting character. And not in a good way. While the film in general is a toilet humour connoisseur's delight. Its story involves some sort of awful virus that is being spread over the world by villains by way of contaminated toilet seats. Witless gag after witless gag is rolled out before our eyes mercilessly. This is a film that makes the Police Academy movies seem sophisticated multi-layered complex works by comparison. I cannot recommend this rubbish.

Barry Humphries will be remembered in my opinion as the greatest stage performing comedian of all time. As guests on talk shows Barry Edna and Les are also at their best with a live audience. I've seen his LIVE show 6 times and was always in awe of his genius.

This is a terrible film.

Essentially the Les Patterson and Edna characters cannot hold a film audience for 90 minutes but even if they could this script which never gets out of the toilet is an insult to all involved.

Producer and co writer Diane Millstead obviously had good intentions to make a film to rival the popularity of Crocodile Dundee.

The other George Miller was a capable director and apparently loved making this film , no doubt with all the talent involved.

The unfunny cameos of Graham Kennedy and John Clarke are such a disappointment and Paul Jennings doing a then Prime minister Bob Hawke impression is TV sketch comedy stuff 1987, it's not for a film.

Not all comedians can crack the film market, If you want to watch Barry Humphries the genius there's plenty of his material on You Tube. Zero stars.

I should add that with some very extreme editing the film could be made watchable but it needs about ten minutes trimmed especially from the appalling start.

Perhaps not our finest export, but definitely an 80s export, and ranking just ahead of Beavis and Butthead do America as my favorite dirty, gross-out movie of all time. This film is a rare little gem for all Patterson/Humphries fans, a must-have in the video cabinet of any collector. Humphries, true to his style, plays Australian diplomat and head of the Australian Cheese Board Sir Leslie Colin Patterson as well as the inimitable Dame Edna Everage, British Megastar. Involved is a plot to assassinate Sir Les, unleash a grotesque social disease with an even more grotesque name on the West by a Russian agent, and a coup in a financially and strategically important Middle Eastern country. Add Joan Rivers as the US President and you have the makings of a cult classic. But you need to be in the right mood! (Remember, Valium isn't a drug, it's a food, in tablet form!) I enjoyed the locations, filmed on location in Morocco and New York, giving the film an international feel even if it wasn't appreciated overseas. I guess you need to know Sir Les to appreciate this film, and likewise you have to like Sir Les to like it too.

Unfunny, unfunny, I found this, apart from a couple of things in it's starting. Les is just as repulsive and crass, and Dame Edna, is just cynical, biting, and narcississtic as usual, and their paths hardly ever cross at all. Also farts have never been deadlier. Pulled back into action, after a nasty farty tragic incident, this time in the thick of it in Istanbul, and narrowly escaping execution, he becomes a pawn in a terrorist take over. Enough said. I was shocked, and quite angered by how unfunny it was, taking a few years after cinema release, to reappear again, ready for VHS consumption. Pretty scenery at the start by hottie Sally Taylor, and the last fifteen minutes, involving one revolving tower spiraling control, lifts up the excitement and appeal, with a couple funny bits and lines. But in the words of the koala, "This really stinks". Hugh Keays Byrne- standout acting performance in this, and Szeps, really good, and the always reliable, never lacking Stephenson.

I don't know what the problem is with some of IMDb's viewers. Maybe their sense of humor is atrophied, or maybe they're just a bunch of prisses. "Les Patterson" is one of my all-time favorite comedies, and the title character, played by the comic genius Barry Humphries, is earthy, lusty, memorable, and larger than life -- laughing-out-loud funny and raunchy but also endearing and in a certain way almost inspiring, with elements of Rabelais, Falstaff, and R. Crumb. (I'm told, unaccountably, that Humphries himself is none too proud of this film today; if that's the case, I'm mystified. Maybe he hasn't seen it in a while.) Try this movie for around 15 minutes; if that doesn't convince you, well, switch it off and go watch a sitcom.

P. S. Writing this in midsummer 2022, I just watched this film for the third or fourth time. (To my surprise, it's available on YouTube.) Afterward, checking Wiki, I discovered that Humphries is now 88 years old. That's extremely depressing news; he's a unique presence, and I hate to think about losing him. However, it appears that, at least as of last spring, he's still appearing onstage -- which is cheering.

What I liked,

The fart scene at the beginning, and the headlines "Big Flareup at UN" or "Big Stink"

The typical suburb which had kangaroos, emus and wombats and other wildlife wandering around the streets. Apparently a common misconception by tourists

The official embassy car was a stretched FJ Holden with the Australian Coat of Arms on the side.

The OzCharge credit card which said: "Charge to: The Australian Taxpayer"

Paul Jennings who impersonates the PM Bob Hawke was saying "aww cripes" when dealing with Sir Les Patterson and sends him to an obscure country

Sir Les Patterson as all Brits know represents Australians perfectly, well he did before they all came down with a nasty dose of PC and lost their sense of humour.

A classic movie with Sir Les and Dame Edna at their best.

A very enjoyable watch, brought a smile to my face and made me long for simpler times.

You get what you expect with this movie, don't waste your time if your expecting a Bond style action movie, a fantastic price of cinematography, you will be surly disappointed as I'm sure some who have written here have and wasted my time reading their efforts, ffs it's Barry Humphries why would you expect anything other than hilarious toilet humour. I laughed my ass off.

Film peaks in first 10 minutes when Sir Les gives UN leaders precisely what they deserve. Overlong action scenes in Middle East seem incongruous and it needed more wit and less budget. Also more screen time to other Australian comedians - Graham Kennedy just has one scene. But still worth watching as the kind of film that wouldn't get past our baby fascist PC mentality in Australia today.

NOT "great art" by ANY means, but for belly laughs and a good time this is a movie worth picking up - Barry Humphries is hysterical anyway, and his Dame Edna character is just the icing on the cake.... politically incorrect? You betcha! Rude and sophomoric? Yes and yes again. Completely worth the time it takes to see it and (then) the bucks it costs to get a copy of your own for keeps? Absolutely! Australians have had Humphries in ALL his different guises to enjoy forever, but the Dame is the only one that got any serious exposure over here.... which I believe is fortuitous. This movie probably could've been made WITHOUT the scenes where folks covered in boils explode and all but dissolve, but then it'd just have been a "pleasure", and not a "guilty pleasure" (the very best kind). Omar Shariff did more than sit through it, he STARRED in it!

The scene in the revolving restaurant of the Sydney Tower comes a full ten years after The Goodies did it in the "Alternative Roots" episode (1977). Graeme Tim and Bill (in their ancestral guises of Celtic Kilty, County Cutie and Kinda Kinky) have been kidnapped by an unscrupulous tour leader who is taking them on a whirlwind tourist tour of London. He forces them up to the revolving restaurant of the Post Office tower (the same one that Twinkle the giant kitten famously toppled). The restaurant spins faster and faster until all the diners are stuck to the windows via centrifugal force. This scene is of course considerably shorter and less expensive than the one set in the Sydney Tower in Les Patterson Saves the World, but no doubt both sequences derive from a universal and visceral mistrust of revolving restaurants.

This is the rare merciful Australian comedy that doesn't star Paul Hogan or Yahoo Serious. Instead, it stars Barry Humphries, who was wonderful as Bert the game show host in the overlooked classic "Shock Treatment". This movie, however, is not a classic. As Australian comedies go, it's pretty embarrassing, and that's saying a lot (as anyone who's seen "Young Einstein" can attest).

Humphries plays the titular character, a repugnant, leathery, big toothed, eternally horny drunkard who starts off the movie by farting, which causes a man standing behind him to burst into flames. Usually I'm a big fan of flaming flatulence humor, like The Eternal Flame character in "Freaked", but here it left me cold. Don't get me wrong, the director was obviously passionate about the material, but here it falls flat.

Anyhoo, Patterson gets wrapped up in some obscure Middle Eastern plot to spread a virus by planting it on poisoned toilet seats. The virus causes it's victims to mutate into horrible, lumpy-faced monstrosities oozing puss.

Speaking of which, it should be noted that Joan Rivers is in this movie. She is one of the most horrifying actresses in show business. From her pointy voice to her hateful fashion views to her plastic face, she frightens me more than an army of Freddy Kreugers. Thank goodness her film credits are small and after her creepy cameo at the end of "Look Who's Talking" the producers had the good sense to replace her with Roseanne in the sequel (actually, that's kind of a lateral move).

Anyway, back to this movie. For some reason Dame Edna Everage (also played by Humphries) shows up, and compared to Rivers he/she's a Goddess. This movie has a lot of things going for it- exploding koalas, some animation, a character called Dr. Herpes- but unfortunately it's all tied into Patterson, a revolting character who at no time approached anything even remotely resembling likability. By the time you get to the finale at a revolving restaurant in which another man in drag shows up, you'll be longing for the quiet subtlety of "Reckless Kelly" (a movie I actually like- it's Yahoo Serious' "Laurence of Arabia).

As a major MST3K fan any film known for being one of the worst movies ever made interests me for laughs.

Take it from an MST3K fan, 'Les Patterson Saves The World' is far too horrible to even laugh at. Every last second is nails on a chalkboard!

The mere fact that it stars Dane Edna as the title character should be enough to scare you off from this film altogether.

The plot: (if you really want to know) revolves around a fat middle aged 24/7 drunkard who represents Australia at the UN where his fart literally incinerates an Arab ambassador.

American President Joan Rivers (that's the name of her character as well, there's another reason to avoid this film, or maybe Rivers counts as several reasons) orders Australia to assign Patterson to the country he's just insulted so they can torture him to death.

Patterson's arrival in the Middle East provides the perfect distraction for a coup and he is spared.

While at a bar Patterson meets a bio weapons scientist who's developed a horrific dieses for the KGB whom plan to distribute it to the Pentagon via toilet seats.

Patterson of course is far too drunk to understand anything happening, (the audience must envy him) and ends up teaming up with Dane Edna.

Do not see 'Les Patterson Saves The World!' Do not see 'Les Patterson Saves The World!' Do not see 'Les Patterson Saves The World!' No matter how bored you are or even if it's part of a drinking game. No amount of alcoholic can dull the pain of 'Les Patterson Saves The World!'