The Man From UNCLE movie

[alexeberlin]

If it is of any corroborative value I loved it, and saw it again this morning with 6 uncle fans, 5 of whom loved it. The audience in general seemed to respond well.

 

[MikeKardec]

I liked it very much also. One of the few highly stylized films where I think all that super '60s gloss worked beautifully because it wasn't just great looking stuff, it was style the way it was done in the films of the time ... but tuned up for a modern budget and look.

SLIGHT SPOILER (for those with a glass "spoiler jaw") ...

Other than a sense that a bit of the beginning was about getting used to the accents, the only thing that put me off was the off road vehicle chase with two anachronistic vehicles, a sort of super dune buggy and a (vastly less problematic) Land Rover Defender slightly modified to vaguely resemble the Series version. It's unfortunate only in that I have no doubt that something equally good could have been done with vintage vehicles or more era appropriate custom vehicles. Scenes like this are often handed off to a second unit director but I can hardly imagine that the equipment wasn't vetted by all before they shot it.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I liked it very much also. One of the few highly stylized films where I think all that super '60s gloss worked beautifully because it wasn't just great looking stuff, it was style the way it was done in the films of the time ... but tuned up for a modern budget and look.

SLIGHT SPOILER (for those with a glass "spoiler jaw") ...

Other than a sense that a bit of the beginning was about getting used to the accents, the only thing that put me off was the off road vehicle chase with two anachronistic vehicles, a sort of super dune buggy and a (vastly less problematic) Land Rover Defender slightly modified to vaguely resemble the Series version. It's unfortunate only in that I have no doubt that something equally good could have been done with vintage vehicles or more era appropriate custom vehicles. Scenes like this are often handed off to a second unit director but I can hardly imagine that the equipment wasn't vetted by all before they shot it.

They had vintage vehicles in the East Berlin sequences, and I think in Italy as well. Yes, got to have that action sequence for the modern viewer (though if the original series had had a bigger budget, they could have had more such scenes too). But what I appreciated was that, at the climax, Solo and Illya defeated Victoria Vinciguerra, not just by brawn or better technology, but by outsmarting her.

 

[MikeKardec]

Yes. I liked that too. And the hot rod Trabant and ESPECIALLY the wondrous scene at the racetrack, kind of a first for a period film. There were great cars in all the street scenes too. I think all that's what made the off road chase so jarring. But just the sheer fun they had with the look of 99% of it and the way the composition, editing, and color treatment played with the look of the era. It was overdone but it was overdone in the way things were over done back then ... I think that was really the fun of it all. I could have spent a good deal more time in that entertainment reality, that's for certain.

 

[Worf]

Saw it last week... While I liked the various twists from the original and thought the cast was pretty good I never bought into it. I kept waiting for the hidden headquarters, triangular I.D.'s, funky phone rings and all the other cool gear that made UNCLE.... UNCLE!!!! I also saw it in a rundown theatre with no DD sound at all. Still I've paid more'n seen worse.

Worf

 

[Benzadmiral]

Saw it last week... While I liked the various twists from the original and thought the cast was pretty good I never bought into it. I kept waiting for the hidden headquarters, triangular I.D.'s, funky phone rings and all the other cool gear that made UNCLE.... UNCLE!!!! I also saw it in a rundown theatre with no DD sound at all. Still I've paid more'n seen worse.

Worf

Yeah, I missed those trappings too. But it had the style, the dialogue, the energy and trickiness of the best episodes. If we get a sequel, perhaps we'll have HQ, the badges, and the rest. Remember that it took two movies to get Star Trek off the ground as a top-notch series (and two pilots in the first place on TV). U.N.C.L.E., like ST, might be one of those formats that is hard to get right at the starting gate.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Sequel? The film's decidedly a flop, not close to making back its production cost (domestically) after nearly a month. I'd say its chances of getting a sequel are pretty slim.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=uncle.htm

 

[alexeberlin]

Sequel? The film's decidedly a flop, not close to making back its production cost (domestically) after nearly a month. I'd say its chances of getting a sequel are pretty slim.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=uncle.htm

it always astonishes me that some people have nothing better to do than post negativity about a movie that they haven't even seen

 

[Doctor Strange]

Just stating the facts, friend.

As I said much earlier in this thread, I would have liked to care enough to see this in theaters. I watched U.N.C.L.E. during its original run when I was a kid, but there was absolutely nothing about this movie that appealed to me. In particular, I hated Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes films, so why would I want to see him trash another set of characters I loved as a kid?

I'll definitely watch it when it hits cable, and I may be surprised and actually like it. Maybe.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I'd heard that the movie has more than made back its costs -- not a smash hit yet, not a film that made back 3x its cost, but still respectable.

"In particular, I hated Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes films, so why would I want to see him trash another set of characters I loved as a kid?"

I don't think Ritchie trashed the U.N.C.L.E. characters, though. The characters were given very different backgrounds (actually the original Solo and Illya were relatively mysterious -- we were told very little about their pasts), but they were cast correctly and the film had a just-plausible, high-energy tone that compared favorably to the show's best stories.

For those who do want to see a sequel, write Kevin Tsujihara, CEO, Warner Brothers, 4000 Warner Blvd, Burbank, CA 91522. Remember how a letter campaign helped save Star Trek!

 

[Doctor Strange]

BTW, I'm one of those original Star Trek fans who wrote a letter to NBC in 1968 to get another season.

I did it again later - to ABC about My So-Called Life in 1995 - but it didn't work that time!

 

[Fading Fast]

BTW, I'm one of those original Star Trek fans who wrote a letter to NBC in 1968 to get another season.

I did it again later - to ABC about My So-Called Life in 1995 - but it didn't work that time!

But now you can watch Claire Danes absolutely kill it in "Homeland," who, along with Mandy Patinkin (somebody I would have paid money not to see before this show - I was so wrong), have the show punching well above its weight class.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Yes, she's great in Homeland... but the series itself has been extremely uneven - sometimes amazingly great, sometimes seriously disappointing.

I think an even better series starring a former teen-dramedy star as a spy is The Americans on FX, where Keri Russell's giving a fierce performance as an "ordinary" 1980s Washington mom who's actually a Soviet sleeper agent. A real contender for the best drama series going, it has continuously improved each season as its story has deepened. It's whole "the big lies you tell as an undercover operative aren't so different from the little lies you tell in a marriage" original concept is brilliant. And in later seasons, as their teenage daughter who can't put her finger on what's really going on with her parents - even as they're being pressured by their handlers to recruit her to the cause - is a plot that's pushed the show into something really special. Honestly, I can't recommend The Americans enough.

And re Mandy Patinkin, I always liked him, ever since he first showed up in Ragtime. Yeah, he's a THEATUH ACTAW who sometimes goes too big, but he's very solid. Homeland wouldn't have made it this far without Saul as a foil for Carrie.

 

[Fading Fast]

Yes, she's great in Homeland... but the series itself has been extremely uneven - sometimes amazingly great, sometimes seriously disappointing.

I think an even better series starring a former teen-dramedy star as a spy is The Americans on FX, where Keri Russell's giving a fierce performance as an "ordinary" 1980s Washington mom who's actually a Soviet sleeper agent. A real contender for the best drama series going, it has continuously improved each season as its story has deepened. It's whole "the big lies you tell as an undercover operative aren't so different from the little lies you tell in a marriage" original concept is brilliant. And in later seasons, as their teenage daughter who can't put her finger on what's really going on with her parents - even as they're being pressured by their handlers to recruit her to the cause - is a plot that's pushed the show into something really special. Honestly, I can't recommend The Americans enough.

And re Mandy Patinkin, I always liked him, ever since he first showed up in Ragtime. Yeah, he's a THEATUH ACTAW who sometimes goes too big, but he's very solid. Homeland wouldn't have made it this far without Saul as a foil for Carrie.

Could not agree more with you about "The Americans," well written, well acted and with a really well thought out long term story line. And Keri Russell does a fantastic job.

Also agree, Saul as a foil for Carrie drives the show.

 

[Doctor Strange]

BTW, I just stumbled into watching Homeland. Apparently, Showtime 2 is doing a marathon of the entire first season today. It's the third or fourth episode. Boy, that was a long time ago, story-wise!

 

[Didof]

The costume design was really good in this movie.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Apparently the new movie is inspiring fan fiction just as the old series did. Here's a neat and respectful article about the original fandom, and the new: http://www.dailydot.com/geek/man-from-uncle-fandom-slash-history/?tu=gav

 

[Benzadmiral]

Watched the film again this weekend, the first time since seeing it in the theatre. It IS exciting -- a period piece, a good fun spy film without the comic-book implausibilities of that "Kingsman" movie, and a showcase for Armie Hammer. I dunno whether his Russian dialect was authentic, but it sounded right ("Perhaps you need bigger glass?"). He's an impressive actor.

Cavill made a good Solo. He seemed to be channeling Robert Vaughn's mannerisms in many scenes, but he's said he never watched the original series. Perhaps director Ritchie screened at least one for him -- or maybe Cavill is a good enough actor that he picked up on the flavor of the character from Ritchie's script?

The other thing I loved was Ritchie's use of the split-screen technique to make certain scenes move more quickly: Solo and Illya's night raid on the plant, and the assault on Vinciguerra Island at the climax. I've been trying to recall other films that used this or a similar technique, which was popular, I think, in the late Sixties. The Boston Strangler with Henry Fonda and Tony Curtis was one. Any others?

 

[Tiki Tom]

Apparently the new movie is inspiring fan fiction just as the old series did. Here's a neat and respectful article about the original fandom, and the new: http://www.dailydot.com/geek/man-from-uncle-fandom-slash-history/?tu=gav

I asked for, and was given, the DVD for Christmas. I enjoyed it thoroughly; the cold war background, the 60s fashion and style; the fun relationship between the main characters. All great. I do hope they make a sequel and bring in HQ and all the secret organization stuff. My only quibble: Why, oh why didn't they use the original Hugo Montenegro theme music?

My teenaged daughter, who is big into fandom, liked the movie very much. In fact, so much so that she had some friends over and they all watched it together. The ultimate thumbs up. I will forward this fandom article to her. Who knows? Maybe she'll join the next generation of 'Fans From U.N.C.L.E.' Thanks for the link!

 

[Benzadmiral]

Tiki Tom, there was a tiny, blink-and-you'll-miss-it snippet of the original theme music in the film. Watch the scene at the plant, with Solo in the truck. He punches first one radio button, then another, and on the third we get about 2 seconds of the original theme. Not much, but it was something!