I saw this was on MGM On Demand so I thought I’d watch it. I was pleasantly surprised. Good performances from William Hurt, Brian Dennehy and Lee Marvin. A pretty involving plot about Cold War Russia and the Sable trade, which I thought was pretty interesting.
But the best part was playing “who’s that guy when he was younger” from the supporting cast. A really young Alexei Sayle. The main guy from Waking Ned Devine. Emperor Palpatine as a forensic skull-face-recreator. Even Harry Potter’s Muggle guardian had a small role.
I remember enjoying it; I thought it perfectly captured Martin Cruz Smith’s novel - bleak, frightening, a realistic-seeming portrait of life in the late-stage USSR.
MCS wrote four or five novels continuing the story, all pretty good, especially as they tracked the fall of Communism and the consequences of the USSR’s breakup. Recommended.
We were listening to the 1812 Overture the other night and I asked my husband if he’d seen it. I was about to describe the plot but decided I’d rather not spoil it for him. I’ve seen it a bunch of times; at one time it was one of about four VHS tapes I owned.