Synopsis

CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Cavill) rescues a young German girl (Vikander) in hopes of getting to her father who is building a nuclear bomb for an unknown rogue organization. He evades an almost super-human KGB agent in the attempt. The next day the same agent is introduced to Solo as his new partner Illya Kurayakin (Hammer). It seems the US and the USSR must work together to defend the world against this new threat. Using the girl as bait, they infiltrate the criminal’s lair but Solo is captured in the process. By the time Kurayakin rescues him the bomb is on its way to the target. Can our heroes prevent Armageddon before it’s too late?

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - Blu-Ray Movie Review

Specifications
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - Blu-Ray Movie Review
Warner Brothers
2015, Color, Rated PG-13, 1 Hr 56 mins
Dolby Atmos/TrueHD 7.1, 2.40:1 Aspect Ratio
Starring: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander
Directed by Guy Ritchie

Rating

Entertainment:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:

Violence: Yes
Sex: Implied
Language: No

Commentary

When James Bond made his debut in 1962’s Dr. No, it spawned the spy film genre and a whole host of imitators. One of the standouts was a TV series called The Man From U.N.C.L.E. This new film attempts to reboot that classic franchise and does a passable job but unfortunately fails to thrill. There is no shortage of entertainment here what with the terrifically choreographed action and fight scenes, not to mention dry wit and some well-conceived one-liners. But there isn’t anything that ties those elements together. The characters are interesting but far too wooden to really engage with. Henry Cavill does a decent impression of Robert Vaughn and Armie Hammer plays the blunt instrument very well. It’s just that it’s hard to either love or hate the two agents. They’re just there doing their thing and that’s all.

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The best part of the film is how well it recreates the look and feel of the 1960s Cold War era. Not only is the production design and costuming spot-on; some serious skills were applied in post-production to create the perfect color palette and textures. If the image weren’t so perfectly clean I’d swear I was watching something actually shot in 1964. And at the end, you get a perfect setup for future sequels that I believe have some promise. Now that the preliminaries are out of the way, another U.N.C.L.E. movie might be able to put a better plot together.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - Blu-Ray Movie Review

Technical

The image is reference-level with deep blacks, bright detailed highlights and a perfect retro-style color palette. You’ll swear you’re looking through a window back in time as the 1960s are created in stunning detail. Even though the movie is shot digitally, the look and feel of vintage film is there but without the scratches, dirt and softness.

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This Blu-ray continues to confirm my belief that a Dolby Atmos mix improves the quality of the standard TrueHD 7.1 presentation. Fidelity is at an extremely high level and regardless of how loud the action becomes (and it is often extremely so), there is never even the slightest hint of distortion or imbalance. Explosions and gunshots are extremely tight with tremendous bass that never bloats or overtakes the high-frequency details. The soundstage and surround envelope are enormous even in the 5.1 configuration I listened to. It doesn’t seem like it could get much better but who knows what the future holds?

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - Blu-Ray Movie Review

Extras

Bonus features total about 30 minutes and include two making-of featurettes, a short about the motorcycles used in the film, brief vignettes on the two principal actors and the director, and four quick takes of on-set production footage.