I heard (third-hand) that it was “Technological Hierarchy for the Repression and Ultimate Subjugation of Humanity.” I must admit, I like that version better! 
Well, it couldn’t possibly be worse than the movie version of The Saint, which is now 18 years old! Yeesh.
MovieMogul: In contrast to the old George Sanders versions of The Saint – 1939 to 1941 – which were quite good. Sanders is such an absolute delight: he does the arch, droll, sophisticated, smug, “I know more than you do” bit to utter perfection.
Here is my Starship Troopers theory:
Script is picked up and it is decided the movie will be made.
Someone in legal says, “Hey, that script is similar to <insert movie or TV or book show here>. We need to pay for the rights or we’ll be sued for copyright violation.”
Producer and/or studio say, “Well if we’re paying for the rights, we might as well use the name recognition too.”
Writer might be hired to make new film more similar to original series/movie/book.
…
Profit
When I was 8 years old, The Man from UNCLE was my favorite TV show. I thought it was the coolest, most exciting thing ever: two suave super-spies traveling to exotic foreign locations to save the world!
When MeTV started showing it, I watched a few episodes and was stunned at how bad it was. It wasn’t just the cheesy scripts; the show looks terrible, with crummy sets and obvious backlot exteriors. Mission: Impossible also suffers from too much backlot shooting, but they handled it much more creatively than TMFU ever did. (By contrast, Route 66 was filmed on real locations all over the US and looks TERRIFIC today.)
Here’s a hilarious takedown of the show from the blog of TV writer Ken Levine. I agree with everything he says.
I’m mildly curious about the movie, but probably not curious enough to pay full price to see it now.
I’m quite fond of the abortive fourth season, where they tried to get back to a grittier, harsher, “Frederick Forsyth” style spy style. The loopy, goofy, flippant, “Get Smart” third season was…dumb.
But who’s to blame, really? Flippant shows like Batman did pretty well. Producers are paid to follow profitable trends. Let he who is without fault film the next trailer.
The plot of THE DEADLY GAMES AFFAIR sounds remarkably like that of the first episode of The New Avengers (1977):
I was around 11 when I became a fan of TMFU. It was on its first run on broadcast tv then. What I remember about it was its gadgetry. The communicator pen, the Walther short barreled P-38 with the silencer the size of a champagne cork, that THRUSH modified M-2 carbine with the active IR scope mounted on top, etc. And the UNCLE version of the Vulcan Nerve Pinch. Illya was cool because he had a Beatle haircut. And Napoleon was a hound; he’d screw a snake if he could find way to spread its legs.
But I don’t think the fantastic gadgetry in 1965 isn’t going to fly nowadays. We’re too sophisticated. The blatant sexism probably wouldn’t fly as much now either. It’s become too much of a cliche.
Oh, and I’ve managed to dig up and see some original episodes. Looking back, they weren’t as good as I remembered them. Just like the 1st season of SNL. Sure, there were bright spots, but there were lots of klinkers too. I think for a modern audience, they’ll just think of a new TMFU as a new version of MI, but with a 2 man team.
I thought the Theme from Man From UNCLE was pretty cool. They changed the instrumentation each season. I think the flute and bongos version was the best, guitar version 2nd. Never liked the brass version.
I saw the movie this afternoon, it was a lot of fun. The actors were charming (and gorgeous), everything was super stylish, there was good action but not a huge number of action sequences. Maybe see a matinee if you don’t wanna pay full price, but it’s a movie I’d recommend. I hope sequels get made.
I’ve not seen the original series, but Ilya in the movie isn’t a stupid Russian thug. He’s an imposing Russian giant, but he’s not shown as stupid. He does have trouble with his temper, but I don’t think he’s really portrayed as a thug. The two guys seem about equal in intelligence and charm, just with some different skill sets.
I just saw it too, and I agree - it was a lot of fun, and not in the campy way it easily could have been. The plot was a little weird at times, but so what? Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer got into the roles nicely, and so did Hugh Grant (damn, he got old fast). There are far worse ways to spend your money.
I enjoyed it. Having little knowledge of the original TV series, I thought it was fun and well-directed. It had a definite “60’s” vibe to it without (as previously said) being campy. And as far as I can tell, both characters’ personalities and histories match up pretty well with the originals. Plus, Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer were both very pleasant to look at for two hours.
I saw it today as well, and enjoyed it. Like some others, I have never seen the television series on which it’s based.
He seemed that way in the trailer I saw. Whether that’s representative of the movie is irrelevant. That’s the way the studio was framing the movie when I posted, which was three days before the movie opened.
I am posting with CHILDREN!
:dubious:
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Why remake the man from uncle:
Lets see, spies, guns and hot women.
What more do you need and you have to call it something, so, why not something that sounds familiar. It might suck in a few more bucks.
Yes to all of this. My husband and I thought it was very enjoyable. Besides everything already mentioned, it has killer period costumes & a great soundtrack. And Alicia Vikander (Ava the AI in Ex Machina), who is worth watching in anything.
We saw 3 movies over the weekend and 2 of them were remakes, both very good. The other remake was the excellent Brothers (Blood Against Blood), which was an Indian remake of the excellent Gavin O’Connor movie Warrior (with Nick Nolte, Tom Hardy & Joel Edgerton). Nobody bitches when India remakes Hollywood films because nobody cares, I guess. (Btw, 3rd movie was an indie called Diary of a Teenage Girl. I liked the 2 remakes best).
Remakes are not a problem whether they’re done well or not. The original is still there. I think U.N.C.L.E was done well, but it’s a shame it’s not doing well. I’d like to see sequels.
I wonder if they cast Armie Hammer because they had already decided that Ilya was a giant, or if they made him a giant because they had cast Armie.
Until this movie came out, I always thought this was a title for one of the old Bond movies
The movie could actually have been made in the 60’s - not only were the props and costumes and settings entirely within reach for that time, and would have fit right in, but so was the sensibility of it. It would have been so easy to move it into modern times, add some explosions, and wallow in gratuitous CGI, but they resisted the temptation and it worked.
The only incongruous thing was Ilya being more physical than intellectual. But that worked too, in the context of the story.