The InsidePulse Man From UNCLE BluRay/DVD Review

- November 23, 2015

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is a “Thank You” to Guy Ritchie from Warner Bros. Much like the studio rewarded Zack Synder for the films 300 and Watchmen with allowing him to do his dream projectSucker Punch, Warner Bros. is thanking Ritchie for the success of the two Sherlock Holmes movies he did for the studio.

It has been a struggle to get the television property to the big screen; casting leads would come and go (George Clooney among others) as would filmmakers (Steven Soderbergh was the closest until he left over budget and casting concerns). But it is Ritchie and collaborator Lionel Wigram who have cracked the puzzle by creating an origin story for the Cold War-era TV series, which ran for four seasons on NBC (1964-1968) and presented a scenario where an American agent and a Russian agent cooperated in pursuit of justice under the pretense of an international organization.

The show itself was inspired by the recently launched James Bond film franchise, and Bond creator Ian Fleming partially developed The Man from U.N.C.L.E. by having American agent Napoleon Solo be a character in the novel Goldfinger. Instead, he would morph into James Bond for the small screen, possessing many of the same attributes (charm, efficiency and a weakness for beautiful women). But Solo is less intense and brutal than the famous English spy. Those characteristics better describe Russian operative Illya Kuryakin.

Set a year after the Cuban Missile Crisis, both the U.S. and the Soviet Union are in pursuit of a formula for enriched uranium that could benefit each world power immensely. Enter East Berlin car mechanic Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander), the prettiest grease-smeared chop shop girl you’re likely to see. She is sought by Solo and Kuryakin (Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer), top agents of the CIA and KGB respectively, for her familial ties in the development of an atomic bomb. Their distinct personalities, with Solo as the debonair one and Kuryakin as being temperamental, are matched by their rebellious nature. Playing like the spy versions of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, they meet in a great opening number as Solo tries to extract Gabby out of Berlin.

To read the complete review click here.