ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

mraculeated The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Walter Sloane Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

omkar1984 I traversed to this series in a descending order - I saw the 2011 film adaptation and was impressed with the plot and the presentation. I went on to read(I rarely read novels) the novel and found it captivating. After years, I decided to watch this series. I couldn't help but compare this series with the film and the original book.The star cast is apt and the performances are solid. Except Roy Bland, I vividly recall every character and their countenances, personas. The bleak English climate, the somber and choking atmosphere in the Circus and the lives of the people involved, the no-nonsense portrayal of the events, a non-invasive background score are a perfect treat. One can actually feel the emotions and the tension e.g: when Control learns about the disaster, his face reflects 'All is lost'.The series does leave us desiring. While some techniques like checking for the 'baby sitters', delivering secret messages by hand etc. are depicted, how the spies evade surveillance, the transistor sound used by Smiley in the hotel(read this in the book) to avoid eavesdropping and so on could have been covered, even at the expense of adding another episode.To summarize, this is a series not to be missed, especially, if espionage is your interest.

robertguttman The head of Soviet Intelligence has got a mole placed very top echelon of British Intelligence, so high up that the service can't be trusted to ferret him out. The only man capable of uncovering his identity is George Smiley, the now-retired, one-time Chief of Operations of British Intelligence. In fact, this unlike-sounding premise is actually based upon a true story.Although "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" is ostensibly a spy-thriller, it is really the unlimited detective story. Alec Guinness surpasses himself in the role of George Smiley. The creator of a vast array of colorful characters, Guinness plays Smiley a quiet, thoughtful, thorough man. Smiley is a man who stays inside himself, who asks questions but gives very little away. He is not, in fact, the cloak-and-dagger soy type, but the ultimate detective. And it takes the ultimate detective to sort out the complicated and secretive web of people and intrigues surrounding the betrayal of British Intelligence. His job is to get the truth out of smart people, people who not only know how to lie but who have been trained to lie. Those expecting car chases, gun battles, tricky gadgets, beautiful femmes fatales and massive explosions are going to be disappointed with "Ticker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy". This is definitely NOT a James Bond film. However, those desiring a thoughtful, intricate and thoroughly adult spy thriller need look no further. Herein they will find one of the best.

Prismark10 I re-watched this after two decades. I have never read the novel so I am not in a position to appraise the adaptation from book to screen.This was a prestige BBC adaptation and a lot of money was spent on getting Alec Guinness star as Smiley and some location set pieces. However once you get over such trappings the production values are still very much interior settings. Briefings in rooms and what not.Guinness is all stillness, lettings others to do the talking and revealing themselves a little too much. Just as Karla did the same to him some years ago. Only Nigel Stock manages to ruffle his feathers.This gives other actors such as Hywel Bennett, Ian Richardson, Joss Ackland, Beryl Reid a chance to shine whilst Guinness looks on.The drama demands concentration from the viewer, it is dense, a lot of chatter regarding the world of spooks. The Circus does look a lot like the old public school network. Whereas even in those days the secret service had enough of the shifters and drifters as shown in other spy novels.Hywel Bennett as Ricki Tarr, Michael Jayston as Peter Guillam and Ian Bannen as Jim Prideaux shows how dangerous, mean and ruthless such spies can be. Tarr has told so many lies that the truth is so hard to tell without adding some shade.At the Circus Ian Richardson punctures the pompous atmosphere as he displays undercurrents of rebellion. Patrick Stewart makes a silent cameo and right at the end Mrs Smiley makes an appearance, a person we hear so much about throughout the series.

siderite I have to admit that at first I was a bit disappointed. Old men talking a lot about spying, low budget sets, slow pace, no added drama. I thought it was going to be boring. And perhaps, if I were action minded, it would have been. Instead the series drew me in not by playing my emotional chords, not by special effects and not by adding superfluous problems to the story to give it extra oomph, but by presenting the story, step by step, as the rather cerebral character played by Alec Guinness peels the layers of the onion.So take what I told you as a warning. The series is excellent, but you will have to think about what everybody means when they say something, about why sometimes they just ask a lot of questions without seeming to be interested in the answers, which are not coming anyway and about how the game of cat and mouse is played.Bottom line: great, but slow paced spy thriller, aimed at the intellectual in you. It all involves the hunt for a mole in the highest ranks of MI6 during the Cold War, the villain mastermind being the uncredited Patrick Stewart as Karla, with Alec Guinness being its British opponent. It is rather low budget, and feels like a BBC play. Take your time and enjoy the show.