ShangLuda Admirable film.

Freaktana A Major Disappointment

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Marlburian A disappointing adaptation of a good book, with a key aspect of the latter (inter-departmental rivalry) being omitted. I located an on-line copy after the usual frustrations of working through links to Youtube that led to short clips, paid subscription copies and so on.With several jumps in the plot, I did wonder if the version I saw had been hacked around, but it was the 108 minutes stated here on IMDb. Christopher Jones was unconvincing and uninspiring as Leiser, his fight with Avery a prolonged interpolation and his scrabbling around to get under the wire in the dark protracted. And how lucky he was to come across an attractive girl and child (what happened to him?) in the middle of nowhere - and to bump into her again in a cafe.The best things were the wide, open European spaces and Anthony Hopkins' acting

wes-connors Knife-wielding seaman Christopher Jones (as Leiser) is recruited, by British spies, to sneak through the Iron Curtain, in Germany; there, he is to confirm suspicions the East German Communist are building missiles. Mr. Jones' mission is, at first, complimented by, but later, compromised by the urge to mate; especially after he encounters delicious Pia Degermark (as Anna). Writer/director Frank Pierson's adaptation of John Le Carré's Cold War novel is, in the end, disappointing; but, it has some strengths. Shirt-shedding Jones' Polish-French-English dubbing is very well done. Mr. Pierson's direction holds interest. Jones and Ms. Degermark are very beautiful; unfortunately, both would have short-lived starring careers. Another promising young performer, Anthony Hopkins (as Avery), makes a good impression; and, veterans Ralph Richardson and Paul Rogers give the picture some gravitas.***** The Looking Glass War (1969) Frank Pierson ~ Christopher Jones, Anthony Hopkins, Pia Degermark

whpratt1 This is a film that I had seemed to overlook and was very glad to have found a copy. The story is written by John Le Carre, who has written many espionage books and in this picture, Leiser,(Christopher Jones) plays the role of a Polish defector promised political asylum in England. However, he has to go back behind the Iron Curtain to investigate the possibilities that East Germany is building a rocket in violation of a disarmament pack. Leiser visits a girl friend, Susan, (Susan George),"Straw Dogs", who is having his child and then all of a sudden finds out things about what she has been doing and splits up the relationship. Leiser soon meets up with another gal, Pia Degermark who he falls in love, and is happy that she also has a very young son to make for a very happy marriage. They both decide to flee from all the espionage Leiser is caught up in and still has to deal with expert ruthless old men who use the both of them as decoys. Great film with great actors, all very young and starting out in their films careers.

djb896328 This is one of those rare film adaptations -- in fact, the rarest -- for here is a film that takes liberties with its source material yet still manages to equal (if not better) the original story by the master of realist spy fiction, John Le Carré.Masterfully written and directed by Frank Pierson (the current head of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) and superbly acted from everyone on screen, THE LOOKING GLASS WAR is a timeless classic just waiting to be rediscovered by a generation of film lovers thanks to the modern miracle of DVD. One must -- MUST -- see this film in crisp, clear widescreen format, for Pierson and cinematographer Austin Dempster managed to provide the viewer with some of the most stunning, innovative and emotionally evocative imagery of the period. The musical score by Angela Morley (a.k.a. Wally Stott) has that gorgeous, jazzy summer holiday feel about it, which is just perfect for a gloomy existential spy film!And as for the principal actors, Christopher Jones in particular, what can one say? Those who know what happened with Jones shortly after this film and his whereabouts today can not help but feel sad whenever watching this film. What a loss to world cinema? Jones left acting right at the cusp of the Great American Renaissance of the 1970s. The question is: What could have been? From the strength of his performance in THE LOOKING GLASS WAR as well as RYAN'S DAUGHTER, we can only painfully imagine. Then, in stark contrast, we have the other lead of the film: a young pre-international fame Anthony Hopkins. And here we see, of course, a superb actor growing with every performance. Fans of his must see this film for two things 1) Hopkins' youthful passion, delivering every line with unadulterated vigor, venomously spitting poison one second before whispering soothing words of solice the very next, and 2) witnessing perhaps the all-time greatest one-on-one, man-on-man, no-holds-barred, knock-down-slap-around fist fights ever captured on celluloid.But I must end this review by again emphasising that this film is brilliant because it was written that way. Pierson adapted a wonderful novel, kept the important plot elements but discarded and invented his own characterisations, created almost all his own sharp, witty dialogue and yet, still, after all the changes, managed to make a film that was still faithful in spirit to what Le Carré wrote. That's why this film is so good. Writing is everything!Pierson's adaptation of THE LOOKING GLASS WAR is a lesson for every student of film to see how great novels can be turned into great films.