Konterr Brilliant and touching

GarnettTeenage The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

xhidden99 I'm through S6. S5 and S6 could pass for Iranian propaganda. Is it? I have to wonder because in this world of spies and counter spies the only good pure and angelic people on the planet are the Iranians. Their motives are pure, they're always the victims and they're always victorious against the Satanic and dastardly forces of the evil Jew/Zionist/American/Crusader/Globalist machine. The only thing that stops the peaceful peace loving Persians of peace from being stomped out of existence is the well meaning if somewhat incompetent bumbling of MI-5. And of course the only terrorists on the planet are Israelis. No one else.Other than that, what started out as interesting and shocking with the sudden death or disappearance of key characters has sort of degenerated into random turnover. Harry's team is almost always shrinking and taking on new and inexperienced members which leaves the few older hands still alive to shoulder the entire workload of every episode.I'll likely watch it to the bitter end but if it descends into standard British far left genteel antisemitism perhaps not. And if they don't abate the churn of all the characters, it won't be all that interesting to follow.Also - can someone explain to me why the authentication scheme for the message boards is both broken (never authenticates) AND, it's the most complex thing I've ever seen for a board that doesn't sell goods and services. Seriously? Password, email, phone number, and a credit card? And the SMS part has NEVER worked? One would imagine that since IMDb is owned by Amazon they'd make it at least as usable AS Amazon. What next? Blood and urine samples? An FBI background check?

skyking-14 The good:It's a very good drama with excellent plots and very good acting. The writing makes for very good drama and the photography is top-notch! If you ignore the national labels and treat it like it's about a fictional planet it can be quite enjoyable. In particular the characters of Harry, Roz and Jo are very well developed and quite compelling.The bad:There is really, quite shockingly, a VERY PRONOUNCED anti-American bias in the writing... so much so that at times is appears to be socialist propaganda! There was even an episode (7.4) where they actually presented a senior Al Qaeda representative as if he were a "moderate" between Iran and the US! THAT is absolutely laughable nonsense propaganda... and specifically offensive to the victims of 9/11, as well as to those of us who were once stationed in that country as part of the US Armed Forces! This is an attitude which I personally knew was NOT the opinion of the British subjects with whom I associated during that treasured time in my military experience! One main character even refers to the CIA with "God defend me from my friends, from my enemies I can defend myself..." of course she shortly turns out to be a Soviet spy!Seriously, given that the BBC has recently been outed for hiding the sexual abuse of children by one of it's knighted hosts after bashing the Catholic Church for the same offense, this series, while dramatically enjoyable, leaves one with little option but to question the credibility of this once respected voice of "journalism"!

solpsizm If I could give this a 7.5 I would, but sans .5s I'll give it an 8 because when this series was good it was really good.For those of us in the states whose main exposure to espionage thrillers was 24, this series is different from that in 2 main ways: 1) the series doesn't revolve around one main character and so main characters do die and 2) the production values/budgets are not as high as 24, especially in the first few seasons, so as sometimes is the case suspense is generated in MI-5 in ways that derive more from actual espionage and cat and mouse games than gun battles or high-tech surveillance.At least in the first few seasons, which may be difficult for viewers accustomed to fast, perfectly synchronized and action packed 24 type entertainment. (Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of 24, especially the first 3 seasons, but after 9 seasons of one character having literally a 100 lives, one need something a bit more close to reality). Guns are used by the main characters only with absolute necessity, and I don't think they ever used anything above handguns. As the seasons progress though, this series incorporates more and more elements from a 24 template, from a more frenetic pace, prevalence of guns and especially bombs, explosions and big set-pieces, to stories that incorporate conspiracies within conspiracies. although thankfully the number of arcs dealing with corporations pulling the main strings were limited.The greatest source of suspense in this series is the fact that save for the possible exception of Harry Pearce, no character is safe from exile or death (mostly the latter). Because this series, at least for the majority of the first 8 seasons, is procedural, this is even more important, for in any one shot episode featuring a villain who will not appear again, almost any character can be killed or forced to leave MI-5.Not that this is a character-centered suspense series. Althoughh we get glimpses into the main characters personal lives for the first 8 seasons, for the most part the characters are seen only as in their importance as officers of MI-5. And the guest characters, mainly villains, are not portrayed as either instanly sympathetic or villainous, but mostly a combination of both. The lack of over-sentimentality is often seen in the officers' use of assets, ie. people who can serve the successful completion of their mission. They are often used and discarded by the MI-5 officers, often with minimal remorse.Around seasons 5, 6 and 7, this series becomes an amalgalm of its first 3 seasons and a 24 type entertainment. It is here that this series is at its best, where big set-pieces and vast but compelling conspiracies combined with the fact that we know any character can die at any moment create cool and satisfying suspense.2 things to note: 1) there is a heavy anti-American theme throughout the series that permeates even to the horrific and cringeworthy American accents employed by the English actors. (but to be fair, no one from the Russians to the own British government is safe from being villainous as well). 2) Seasons 9 and 10 are atrocious. Unnecessary and ridiculous backstories are created for the 2 most likable characters simply to generate shock value, and characters are made to do preposterous actions that make no sense either in their character arc or by logic. Despite this, this series overall is very entertaining, especially in its middle seasons, and is well worth a watch for anyone craving smart suspense that is not overly contrived.

TheLittleSongbird I love a good series, and especially one that grabs you in just from the word go and thrills you. Spooks does exactly that. I watched it right from the first episode, being intrigued by what it aimed for but not expecting it to be as good as it was, and I have been a faithful fan ever since.The acting is definitely a high point. Rupert Penry Jones, Hermione Norris(one of those actresses who brings everything to her roles no matter the overall outcome of the show/drama), Miranda Raison and Matthew McFadyen also gave wonderful performances. But as of late, the revelation has been Peter Firth, Harry is a very interesting character and as of now the heart of the series without dominating too much that we don't care for anyone else and much more of one than you'd think.Firth handles the brooding, gruff persona brilliantly. The cast are helped by a vast majority of things. The characters have depth and are actually intriguing, I see great characters who you identify with and keep identifying with, I see characters that are interesting to start with but lose something later on or I even see characters that are little more than cardboard cutouts. The characters of Spooks from start to finish, yes even in the secondary characters(which my previous point was mainly referring to), fit in the first category.The writing is also wonderful, the idea at the start was always an interesting angle and the writing explores this in an intelligent manner, without feeling formulaic. The story lines are always thrilling and well-constructed, while I also love the stylish filming, crisp editing, assured direction and authentic sound quality.All in all, an amazing series, one of my favourites. 10/10 Bethany Cox