Real-life figures from the Cold War era mix with a fictional story based on a group of CIA operatives and their counterparts in the KGB, MI6, and the Mossad.
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To me, this movie is perfection.
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Of course, an array of particulars were changed (as should be expected for a multitude of reasons). One should note, however, that this movie did in fact portray an even larger number of historically accurate details and/or information. This applies not only to simple global occurrences or events during the so called 'Cold War', but more so to the mannerisms, behaviors, operational methods and habits (both good AND bad / publicly accepted and not) of those patriots employed with or assigned to "The Company." This particularly applies to their relentless dedication, extreme attention to detail, as well as their impossible acceptance of the painstaking patience required in their work! Also, I felt as though the majority of the actor portrayals were "dead-on"... perhaps not the best choice of words for an espionage movie! ;-). In closing, one final thought... the overall GOOD in this movie (storyline, cinematography, overall accuracy... heck, the actors themselves) FAR out weighed whatever little bad that the few 'critics' would point out. That's why, for me at least, this movie was AWESOME!! Thank you. MWM
A good production, decent actors and a fairly tight script makes this an enjoyable watch! Fast-forwarding through decades of Cold War espionage is hardly a new idea, but this one does it with a nice balance of the real and the fictional. However this is all brought down by the overall script: The series must have been made for the US and UK audience only. My guess is they are the only ones willing to accept unquestioningly the Soviet operatives almost without fail being portrayed as stone-faced, leering fanatics. Whereas the Yanks and Brits are naturally, mostly just decent dudes, somewhat concerned with morality and generally "the good guys". A shame on an otherwise fairly good little series! (Have not read the book, so have no comments on that aspect.)
A Made-For-Cable Mini-Series that is a sprawling, stagy peek into the Espionage World of the Cold War. A Spy (CIA) vs Spy (KGB) bundle of nerves that went on for Decades and anyone intimately involved needed the "patience of a Saint" to endure.Many did last it out with failures and successes as the lines were constantly being blurred as to what was the right thing to do and what was not. It all seems like a lot of guesswork and best guesswork with a make it up as you go play-book. The consequences were Deadly and it was all in the hands of some barely stable People.But that's what there was and this long TV affair captures some of the dark and gloomy proceedings with some authentic feel, but some of it seems clunky and artificial. The Bay of Pigs and the Hungarian Revolution while providing the "Action" for the Series are the weakest parts and drag the thing down from what it does best and that is the up close and personal one on one matches and battles of Wits.Overall, worth a watch but it is an uneven Event that misfires as much as it doesn't and there is more Stagecraft than Trade Craft.
I live at Budapest and as a Hungarian person the revolutionary segment of this movie was so more interesting for me and as i watched it, the film was well realising the political atmosphere. The secret police terrorized the people and even someone was caught by the ÁVH, that person was taken to this building which "have" prison system at the vault: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Terror First that building was used by the Nazis, after the communists, and actually now, this is a museum. Notable that the members of the secret police of the Nazis after the World War2 became the members of the ÁVH so that was a very cruel time of this country.The other part of the film was also very notable, the East-West Berlin zone, the episode of Cuba, and the long information war between CIA and KGB spies. I advise this film to everybody who loves the history.