Episode 166: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

Don’t touch that dial! We’ve got another episode of “I Made From TV Love You!”, movies spawned by the small screen! Ah, the Cold War.  What riches it provided.  The space race. The arms race.  The Red Scare that turned neighbor against neighbor.  The looming fear of nuclear annihilation. And the good things to come out of it? Ummm . . . well, a whole bunch of 1960’s spy shows! “Secret Agent Man,” “The Avengers” (no, not those Avengers), “Mission: Impossible” and, as you might have guessed, “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” which brought us Napolean Solo (great-great-great-great-grandfather of Han. Don’t try to verify that) and Ilya Kuryakin.  Together, they fought for the U.N.C.L.E (“Unbelievably Nice Clowns Lifting Eggplants”) against the evil T.H.R.U.S.H. (“Terribly Hostile Ragamuffins Undermining Seattle Housing”).  I’m almost certain that’s what the acronyms stood for.  Anyway, 2015 brought us a big-screen version, with big, big-screen men Henry “Stop Calling Me Superman” Cavill and Arm-and-Hammer. No, wait, Armie Hammer, that’s it.  Also a rather small big-screen woman, Alicia “What Did My Agent Get Me Into” Vikkander.  Does this daring trio capture the suave, location-shot-based feel of the show? Give a listen and find out!

Poll question:  In a callback to our “what fictional character would you want to meet” question, what unusual or fantastic movie setting would you want to visit? Would you want to hang with the Navi on Pandora? Smoke a bowl with Bilbo in the Shire? [Thanks to Val for this question!]

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8 thoughts on “Episode 166: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)”

  1. Gee, guess I’d better answer this poll question, as I suggested it…
    There are so many worlds I’d love to visit. One of the planets of Star Wars is an obvious choice, and what prompted this suggestion. Disney did an amazing job at the theme parks. I could spend all day wandering through that area. I was watching Metropolis last night and thought that would be an amazing place to see up close, walk among all of those Art Deco buildings. The world of Blade Runner. Even Oz would be a fascinating destination, to see just the day to day workings of the city. Might also be fun to see the world we know but as if things like superheroes existed, walk down a New York street and have Spider Man swing overhead as if he’s just another subway, or see Batman drive by, maybe a couple of Ninja Turtles make the rounds.

    1. Thanks for the question! Saved our bacon, or peanuts or something. Seems you like cities a lot! All of them have something to offer, something different, though Blade Runner is more or less LA? Have sextuple BumpyBux!

  2. I saw this show at once when Leonard Nimoy was on it and that led to me getting a Man from U.N.C.L.E. model kit. Truth be told I never understood what people saw in it. (Why is Mission Impossible the poster image?)

    I would love to visit the plateau on “The Lost World” since I love dinosaurs or the then in Disney’s Pinocchio – though maybe I did as it was supposedly inspired by Prague which is one of my favourite places. I have always wondered what the world looked like on the ground in Kubric’s 2001, if space looked that amazing surely everyday life on earth did too1

    1. That’s a really nifty thought, Vince! Imagining PAST the screen and wanting to see the Earth that must exist in 2001! Thanks for the answer and the catch.

  3. I found an example where the music detracted from a movie! I saw Dune on the big screen last night, and the sound system was seriously overtuned. It’s a shame, because the music was actually decent–I just wound up slightly stunned by it. Overall, though, I suppose this is the audio equivalent of the movie being out of focus.

    1. Good call, Ned. And your being somewhat familiar with music (:D) means that you’re likely more attuned to such things. “Out of focus” indeed. I, too thought the music was cool, not entirely the usual thing at all. Thanks for the insight!

    2. I saw it as well and thought the music worked but was a little much at times. Honestly, most of the visuals were so strong that they didn’t need music.

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