When "The ABC Movie of the Week" aired the very first "Six Million Dollar Man" movie, I really don't think they were looking to turn it into a TV series (though many of their movies were intended as pilots). However, the public loved the film and so they made another--with some new cast members and a few plot changes. In pretty much every way, "The Six Million Dollar Man: Wine, Women and War" was like the later TV series--with the same TV cast. So by the time "The Six Million Dollar Man: The Solid Gold Kidnapping" came along, the idea for the upcoming series was set...and the film looks an awful lot like an extended TV episode. This is no complaint...just telling you about what to expect from this and the previous film--with Richard Anderson playing the boss and Alan Oppenheimer playing Dr. Wells.
When the story begins, an international kidnapping syndicate (very much like Spectre in the Bond films) is trying kidnap yet another top US government official but it appears as if the OSI has out-thought them. 'Appears' is the right word...for soon after congratulating themselves on their cleverness, the man really is kidnapped! Naturally this calls for Steve Austin...but the problem is that they have no real leads. The only chance is doing a weird experiment where they inject a dead man's brain cells into a willing guinea pig. Dr. Erica Bergner (Liz Ashley) believes in the theory so much she elects to get the injection and they use fragmented memories she's recovering to look for the baddies (led, of course, by John Vernon who ALWAYS plays evil jerks!). The trail leads to Switzerland and Steve has to be careful...because this organization is NOT particularly nice!
There are some interesting guests in this episode including Maurice Evans (from the "Planet of the Apes" films and "Bewitched") as well as Leif Erickson (as the kidnapping victim). But the most interesting guest is Luciana Paluzzi who starred in "Thunderball" as Largo's sexy and murderous henchwoman. Considering the Bond-like qualities of the film, this is an interesting choice of guest stars.
Overall, very entertaining and worth seeing. I have not seen the regular episodes of the series since the 1970s and really cannot compare this film to them.
