Storing things at a cold temperature is often important so that they don't go bad. It is for this reason that the fridge was invented, so that food wouldn't go rotten when people stored it. Also, in some instances other things need to be kept cold such as gasses or chemicals so that they don't react badly to their surroundings and become dangerous. In this way, compressed gas cylinders and cryogenic cylinders are critical to the people who need them. However, sometimes people in film think up ridiculous ways to use such technology that isn't at all plausible in real life, now and even possibly in the future. For example, in the movie series Austin Powers the hero and main character, secret agent Austin Powers, is cryogenically frozen so that he doesn't get older and can always be around to battle his arch nemesis Dr. Evil.

The original Austin Powers movie, was created to lampoon the concept of James Bond. In other words, essentially, everything in the movie Austin Powers mocks, the universe of James Bond. The films are unique in that Canadian actor and comedian Mike Meyers not only wrote and directed the movie, but also starred in the film as both Austin and evil super villain Dr. Evil. Throughout the trilogy the two are almost never seen in the same shot at the same time and when they are it is down to tricky and painstaking editing rather than a different actor playing one of the characters.

There are many similarities between Austin Powers and James Bond, which of course is done on purpose to mock the concept of the super spy who gets all the girls and has so many wild assignments. One similarity is that in James Bond there is a villain who has a fluffy white cat that sits with him all the time. Dr. Evil also has a feline friend, except that since it was cryogenically frozen it lost all its hair and now looks like an ugly, furless rodent. Furthermore, in the Bond films there was an evil henchman who went by the name of Odd Job who throws a weighted hat to hurt his enemies during his evil doing. However, in Austin Powers the same character becomes Random Task, who throws his shoe at the targets of his evil deeds.

As far as the goings on the first film, Dr. Evil decides to try to take over the world but quickly discovers that after thirty years of being frozen, his methods of holding the world hostage and the money he demands in return are a bit out of date. For example, first Dr. Evil decides that he is going to ruin the throne of the United Kingdom by making it seem as though Prince Charles has has had an affair while married to Diana and will therefore have to abdicate rule, which his assistants tell him has already happened. Then the evil villain decides to try and hold the world hostage by using a laser gun to put a hole in some of the ozone layer, increasing the temperature on the planet and dooming civilization. Once again, his assistants tell him that in the time he was frozen this has already been an issue as well. The plot moves on as a hysterical game of cat and mouse between Dr. Evil and Austin who are two people out of their time period.

Although it has many fans across the globe, the James Bond series is filled with things that can be lampooned and Austin Powers is essentially the first series of movies that does just that.