Matialth
Good concept, poorly executed.
Beystiman
It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
Alistair Olson
After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.
Guillelmina
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
michaelwmillwood
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
inu-qien-ankh
Overall, it is a fair, balanced movie. A couple of things. The man who attempted to poison Fidel Castro Ruz was NOT made to drink the poisoned concoction. In fact the packet which held the poison FROZE to the refrigeration pipes at the Hotel Habana Libre (formerly Havana Hilton-they only say "Libre" in the movie) before the hotel's restaurant worker had a chance to put it into Castro's 'milk shake' (batido). The G2 already new of the plan before hand. The restaurant worker's name was Santos de la Caridad Perez, and he was sentenced to a very long prison term, which he completed, and he was able to come to Miami, Florida,and there join his wife and 2 grown sons, who had been waiting for him in Caracas, Venezuela. Santos de la Caridad Perez was left to his own devices and wound up working minimum wage jobs in Miami, Florida, into his 80s. No compensation for his compromised mission, and his 14 years spent in Castro's prisons was ever paid. Thanks, 'Campanela' you a-hole!.Next, it was not prop-driven 'Sea Furies' which shot down the CIA contract pilots' B26s, but T33 JETS. To the best of my recollection, NO CIA Officers came ashore with Brigade 2506. It's a travesty that only a passing mention was made of the 117th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, Alabama Air National Guard pilots, who were contract employees, and disobeyed direct orders to lend air support to our Cuban allies. The names of these brave men were: Leo Baker, Wade Gray, Riley Shamburger, and Thomas "Pet" Ray. The B26s they flew had no tail guns so they could accommodate more fuel. They were easy prey for Castro's jets. Some of us will remember their sacrifice with eternal gratitude, respect, admiration, and will mourn them as long as we live. G_d rest them and comfort their surviving loved ones.Other than this, it was a pretty balanced movie, but I defer to those who may have first hand knowledge of what actually went down in the Hungarian uprising. G_d bless that nation's fallen martyrs and their survivors as well.
Brian Rokosz
Besides Band of Brothers, this is the best miniseries I've ever seen. When I picked this up at the video store I had no clue what it was about and wow was I impressed. I watched all 3 parts in one sitting without being bored atall...for me, act 3 is the best and Michael Keaton is without a doubt the best actor in it. Spanning decades and featuring twists I never saw coming I hope everyone picks this one up. Amazon is selling it for dirt cheap considering how great of a product this is so forget spending 6 bucks on the rental and just buy it, you will not be disappointed. I had a few problems with act 1's dialog, thinking it was kinda cheesy but all that was fixed after about 20 minutes...from then on it really makes you want to watch every spy movie you can get ur hands on...the book it was loosely based on is about as long as the Bible and my dad flew through it. This also makes a great Father's Day gift if ur dad likes anything from Bond to Godfather.
VeritasV
This is an excellent 3 part mini-series. I watched it in one sitting which took about 6 hours including a couple of quick breaks. The pacing is slow and the movie has an overall darkness in terms of color but the characters are so engaging that I remained fascinated from the first screen shot to the last. Chris O'Donnell, Michael Keaton, Alfred Molina and Alessandro Nivola all gave terrific performances. Actually all of the actors were excellent in their roles. The Russian accents were commendable.I liked this very much. While Molina's character says that the world is black and white, good guys and bad guys, O'Donnell's character illuminates the grays for us and ultimately this is what lingers long after the DVD is over. Buy it, rent it, but definitely see it.Robert Little wrote the original book of 900 pages on which this mini-series is based. The book and the DVD differ in some aspects. I've not read the book, but I plan to. Apparently he's written a number of cold war spy novels another of which was made into a movie, "The Amateur".