Bravely exposing the menace posed by Vietnamese Commies just as Vietnam was becoming the setting of America's most disastrous war, Operation C.I.A. stars Burt Reynolds as a CIA agent assigned to Saigon to impersonate a professor. Arriving after a female agent's briefing, which is highlighted by some lighthearted sexual harassment, Reynolds finds that his visit is front-page news on what must be an extremely slow news day. After checking into a hotel that secretly serves as a hotbed of Communist trickery, Reynolds does what any good American abroad would do: He heads to the nearest massage parlor. Sadly, not even massage parlors are free from scurrilous Asian deception, which Reynolds learns the hard way after a pair of busty "masseuses" karate-chop him into submission, massage him against his will, and steal his money. Shirtless and infuriated, Reynolds demands justice, and doesn't respond well when a shifty, banana-eating local tries to placate him. "Siddown, ape-shape!" Reynolds yells threateningly, in an early illustration of the mastery of the English language that would become his screen trademark. But Vietnam's problems run deeper than the odd unscrupulous massage parlor, as he discovers when, during a leisurely boat ride, he encounters a bridge overrun by placard-carrying pinkos. His interest piqued, Reynolds turns to his buxom local guide, who says, with a notable air of frustration, "Oh, that's a student demonstration. It happens quite often in my country." Not one to quietly tolerate the peaceful expression of ideas, Reynolds replies brusquely, "Yeah. Too often." Still, subversive political beliefs are the least of the university's problems: Reynolds is soon left for dead following an unfortunate incident involving an ax, a poisonous cobra, and a giggling, effeminate Marxist professor. Rescued by children, Reynolds becomes a one-man Commie-hunting machine, foiling a massive conspiracy and, in the process, ensuring peace and prosperity in Vietnam for decades to come.
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