Freddie as FRO7 (Known in the United States as Freddie the Frog) was a... strange children's film produced in the UK in 1992.The basic plot: A young French prince (who, by the way, is also a wizard) is turned into a frog by his evil aunt. Then he grows into a human-sized, anthropomorphic frog. Then he becomes a secret agent.Then things get weird.The original and unedited UK version is now available on YouTube, here. The American cut is reviewed here.The chief differences between the UK and the US version is that in the US version, there was an attempt to make the plot more streamlined, although they also removed quite a bit dialogue that makes the film a least a little easier to follow. It also removes some strange sexual innuendo.
Affectionate Parody: Of James Bond via Word Of God. The movie is based on stories director Jon Acevski would tell his son about a secret agent frog.
Applied Phlebotinum: The magic crystal which absorbs the national energy of the monuments.
A-Team Firing: El Supremo's henchmen form a dozen man wide firing line, and open on full automatic fire on Freddie, Scotty, and Daffers. They somehow don't hit anything.
Award Bait Song: "I'll Keep Your Dreams Alive" by George Benson & Patti Austin.
Scotty pulls his gun out at one point, and Freddie tells him to put it away. So, Scotty throws it away over his shoulder, and it goes off and blows a hole in his hat.
Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: In the fight scene in the room with the gem and the monuments, the soldiers practically just stand there and take the beating. In the uncut version, they actually try, and still can't hit slow-moving targets. In contrast, the only three fighters defeat them hand to hand.
Mind Over Matter / Your Mind Makes It Real: Freddie, plotwise, tends to emphasize using his mind instead of guns. When he turns rifles into butterflies, one can see why.
Monumental Theft: The evil aunt's plan is to steal national monuments with a shrinking ray.
Nessie as well. "Ah hahve ta get hoome ta bonnie Scotland!"
New Powers as the Plot Demands: Freddie and his aunt both have vaguely defined magical powers which are used solely to advance the plot.
Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: A magic, telekinetic fairytale prince who was transformed into a giant frog and became a secret agent.
No Indoor Voice: El Supremo. When chewing out his henchmen for blowing their cover, the walkie-talkie is vibrating so much from the power of his voice that it jumps out of the henchman's hands. Might have something to do with being voiced by BRIAN BLESSED.
No Name Given: El Supremo is only ever referred to by his title.
Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Messina. Her accent, in human form, is a completely over the top French accent, whereas in Snake form, it's a little more subtle. When she's singing, the french accent drops altogether, because Grace Jones sings it in her place.
Stock Footage: When you use the same thirty seconds or so of animation of the King talking to Freddy over and over through the whole US version of the movie, the audience is eventually going to notice.
Stripperific: Duffers' outfit, if not just Duffers herself.
Stunt Casting: James Earl Jones re-records the narration in the American release, for little reason other than to get another big name for the poster.
The Unreveal: Freddie calling his Aunt out by name in such a dramatic fashion suggests that it was supposed to be a secret as to who she was, and she never actually speaks to the protagonists before this point, but who knows for sure.
Villain Ball: Messina could have killed Freddie any way she wanted, but she chose to turn him into frog so she could eat him in snake form, giving him an opportunity to escape.
There is a member of the British Secret Service who is constantly seen grinning and laughing evilly to himself, who is later viewed to be a spy for El Supremo. The American version removes this revelation, and he just seems to be an asshole.
What the Hell, Hero?: When Freddie discovers the latest targeted monument is Big Ben, he tells the Brigadier that the target is Windsor Castle so Big Ben would get taken, and he could infiltrate the enemy base. To prevent them from informing the Brigadier, he disabled their walkie-talkies. Scotty and Daffers are not pleased.
Freddie also lets Messina escape in the end, for whatever reason.
. The American cut is reviewed here
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