The Man From U.N.C.L.E., 2015, is based on the NBC television series starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum which aired from September 22, 1964, to January 15, 1968. For some reason I always thought it was a British series like The Saint, The Prisoner, or Space 1999 but it was an American program. U.N.C.L.E. is an acronym for the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement.
U.N.C.L.E. director Guy Ritchie, former husband of Madonna, broke onto the scene in 1998 with his British Tarantino-style Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and has had success recently with his Sherlock Holmes movies starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. The Man From Uncle under performed at the box office bringing in $108,000,000 worldwide against a 75 million dollar budget. It came out in August 2015 and I remember Straight Out of Compton stole some of it’s thunder, which is a shame because I’d like to see more movies like this and it is unlikely there will be a sequel unless it does really well with DVD or Blu-ray sales.
It’s got a great soundtrack including Stelvio Cipriani and Ennio Morricone music from 60s or 70s Italian movies. Morricone’s “Il Colpo” from For a Few Dollars More is listed on the soundtrack but I recognized a tune not listed which is very similar to and obviously based on Morricone’s “Man with Harmonica” from Once Upon A Time in the West.
It’s a fun adventure movie with humor throughout and it moves at a good clip with no static scenes. The story is interesting but I wouldn’t say it was as compelling as it could have been. It held my attention but there wasn’t any overwhelming interplay between characters like in a David O. Russell movie that really tugs at you emotionally like an emotional roller coaster ride. It was, however, stylish and cool, retro, James Bond-ish and I recommend watching it.
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