Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Ortiz Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Robert J. Maxwell It's always interesting to see what race, nationality, or religion must bear the burden of the heavy in these kinds of movies. The traditional choice used to be Germany but World War II is slipping down the memory hole and one out of five of today's students think that Germany and the US fought Russia in World War II. The USSR was good for a while but with the dissolution of the Soviet Union it's gotten less common. There has been the occasional Israeli heavy ("Eye Witness") or the Irish nationalist ("The Devil's Own") but the villain usually represents some splinter group of renegade, so the Jews and the Irish shouldn't be upset.Albania makes a nice villainous place and provides plenty of opportunities for villainy. First of all there's no audience to be offended. Nobody can place Albania on a map. In fact, there may be no such place, even though in the underground classic, "Tune In Tomorrow," I was an Albanian protesting against a negative portrait of Albanians in the media, exactly like what we see in this production.Well, that's neither here nor there; don't bother saying it. This movie is about Michael Caine as Harry Palmer, a Brit working for one of those intelligence or counterespionage agencies that the Brits have so many of. A scientist kidnapped by a group that are apparently Albanians, although it's never made entirely clear. The British buy the scientist back but his memory has been erased.MI5 or MI6 or MI7 is determined to get to the bottom of this and Caine leads the way, at some cost to himself and his friends. Caine plays the agent as smooth and heterosexual. He's also half blind without his glasses. This was 1965 and by this time, the pluperfect James Bond character may have begun to seem mechanical rather than human. He had no weaknesses or vices. So Harry Palmer had to be invested with some recognizably hominid traits.It's really rather amusing at times, as it's meant to be. All of Caine's superiors have fixed expressions of disdain or irony. One of them, Guy Doleman, is rolling his shopping cart down a supermarket aisle while musak murmurs in the background. "Never cared for these American shopping habits," he remarks, and, examining a tin of Chef Boyardee, "Beefaroni -- extraordinary!" The photography is dark and Sidney Furie, the director, is trying to figure out how to be innovative with the camera. He fails because instead of Nouvelle Vague we get hide-and-seek. Many scenes are shot from floor level for no particular reason. And every other shot seems to be peeking over a lampshade or through a hole in the door of a prison cell. Sometimes an object hides most of the image and we don't know what the object is.The plot is nonsense from a psychological point of view but that doesn't matter. A new method of brainwashing is not so different from any of the gadgets that 007 carries around. If it's not taken seriously, and if you can get over the annoyance of looking up at someone sipping from a cup of tea from the perspective of his shoe laces, it's kind of fun. The droll dialog and Caine's balmy delivery make it an enjoyable diversion.

joeyblue-51953 I am a big fan of Michael Caine, but I do my best to rate and review his films fairly. I first saw this film on television, it was actually a recommendation, and I loved it. I loved the style of it, the pacing, the story and the acting, not to mention that excellent score from John Barry, the main title theme is unforgettable. The locations used in the film make for a unique viewing experience, as does the way that it is shot, it is very 60's, stylish yet dark and mysterious, whilst maintaining a sense of gritty realism, spoiler alert, if you can forgive the fairly dated torture scene, dated it may be, but tense and distressing it is. Having read reviews that suggest that The Ipcress File itself is dated, my argument is that it was a different era, films were different, fashion was different, acting was somewhat different, a slightly dated film should not effect your viewing experience. As I previously mentioned, I am a big fan of Michael Caine, and The Ipcress File would be my favourite Caine film, a classic.

Uriah43 After being caught black-marketing in Germany, an English soldier by the name of "Harry Powell" (Michael Caine) is essentially conscripted into becoming a spy for the British government. His immediate supervisor, "Colonel Ross" (Guy Doleman) then reassigns him to a subordinate named "Major Dalby" (Nigel Green) to work on a case involving a missing scientist. However, during the course of his investigation Harry soon finds that there is more to this case than meets the eye and the closer he comes to discovering the truth the more dangerous it gets for him. Now, rather than reveal any more of the story and risk ruining the movie for those who haven't seen it I will just say that those who enjoy a good spy caper will probably love this film. I especially liked the dry British humor along with the overall performance by Michael Caine. In short, although this film is a bit dated, I definitely recommend it to fans of the genre.

lathe-of-heaven Still one of the best. It's hard to imagine that this was Michael Caine's first big film; what a natural this guy was (is).There really isn't much that I can add to the comments here; many of them clearly state how excellent this film is. It's interesting the mood that the director Furie created for this movie. It isn't slick like the Bond films, but it isn't TOO gritty like the more sober spy films, such as 'THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD' (now, THERE is a real cheerful film {sarcasm intended}) But, it has just the perfect balance between an 'Everyman' type of spy, and yet at the same time the guy IS frigg'n cool because he is flipp'n MICHAEL CAINE!!! He makes a perfect anti-Bond hero.I also should add that the supporting cast is quite excellent. No one, and I mean NO ONE can do films quite like this like the British. I should add too that the cinematography is superb. We have seen a lot of stuff like this since then, but for the time, it was quite innovative. The soundtrack is also particularly well done. Very moody and perfectly suited to the film.And, as I state in my Summary, the Blu-ray is indeed breathtaking, especially considering the film is 50 years old!Of course, HIGHLY recommended!