Maidgethma Wonderfully offbeat film!

SunnyHello Nice effects though.

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

ScoobyWell Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

bsholley Gosh, I need more episodes. Did this really end this way? Is there going to be more? Please! I am still not sure who to trust. Thank heavens for Jane. I suppose the Ambassador (who is rather free to roam around and participate fully in life as a spy/ agent) will eventually get to Tampa and they will determine their future. The acting was terrific, some of the graphic details I thought were unnecessary, but added humanity to the account. I could have done without the execution itself. I am so proud of Jane for being sufficiently suspicious that she made copies. Go Jane.How complicit is the Secretary of Defense? She does seem to have issues. Is Gordon a fall guy or the true initiator? Who was the Middle Easterner on the plane? There seem to be so many points not resolved.

Christopher T. Chase Going into this six-part series, I have to admit that my interest at first was mostly prurient, thanks to a couple of well-placed clips on YouTube (and I'll let you guess which ones.) Rare is the occasion that my partner and I will put up with an entire series over the span of two nights, but we got so involved that we actually did it: Parts 1-3 one night; 4-6 on the following evening.And was it worth it! From the moment a British jetliner on the way back to London explodes over Washington, DC, THE STATE WITHIN literally grabs you by the throat and won't stop shaking you until the final episode. Now, fans of series like 24, CSI and THE UNIT should take note here: this is way out of the comfort zone of the 'casual' viewer. To their credit, writers Lizzie Mickery and Daniel Percival are not about to spoon-feed you one single detail, so mentally you'd better be 'on your toes' at all times and keeping up with all the espionage, double-dealing and a large and exceptional cast, because this train's not stopping to wait for anybody. Plus the kinetic directing styles of Michael Offer in the first three episodes and writer Percival taking the helm for the remainder, ensure that it stays moving and engaging, even when there's not a lot of things blowing up or people getting dispatched in the nastiest ways possible.The ensemble cast, led in an unusually heroic turn by Jason Isaacs is great, as everyone brings something to the table. If you are familiar with British and Canadian television, a few faces will definitely be familiar to you, especially FOREVER KNIGHT'S Nigel Bennett playing one of his most hissable brand of baddies, and Lennie James in a surprisingly sympathetic role as a death-row inmate. Ben Daniels and Noam Jenkins are standouts as two men who are essentially on opposite sides of the same coin (and so much more.) And definitely worth noting is Sharon Gless' performance as the steely Secretary of Defense who seems to be pulling all the strings and manipulating all the players in this nightmarish scenario, but wait! No one and nothing is as it seems in this piece, and though it feels like the first two episodes kind of leave you swinging in the wind, your patience will be richly rewarded as by Part Three, the pieces begin to fall into place. And if the story threads of WMD's, covert military operations, backroom deals and cold-blooded murder sounds a little too familiar, you better believe that it's intentional.In fact, it's a mark of Mickery and Percival's creative skills, that when I started watching the news shortly after finishing Part 6, I felt like I was still watching the movie! I recommend THE STATE WITHIN with extreme bias on my part. I love "thinking man's thrillers", and this is one of the best I've seen in a long time. American writers and producers should watch this and learn something....

17268 Thank you, BBC America, for bringing American audiences "The State Within." As Sharon Gless was quoted in one of the preceding reviews, you really won't know what is going on until the end of the mini-series.The plot is Byzantine is its endless twists and turns. The viewer is never sure who the heroes and villains are until the end-- several characters reverse themselves more than once. The relevancy to current and recent American, British, and Middle Eastern politics makes the action even more compelling.The writing is top-notch--the viewer must keep his eyes and ears open; "The State Within" isn't written for a large segment of today's TV/film audiences. What a joy to watch this mini-series unfold and present a challenge and a treat for the mind.Acting is uniformly excellent. American views will be most familiar with Sharon Gless, more-or-less playing Dick Cheney (you'll understand this when you see her) totally without vanity but with complete believability. Jason Isaacs is outstanding in the lead male role, which largely mirrors Tony Blair. Looming large--very large--over everything is a sinister global corporation accurately based (I think) on Halliburton.The production values are superb. I have no idea what the budget for the series was, but every dollar is on the screen. The unfolding of a terrorist plot in the opening minutes is exceptionally well-done, as are numerous other sequences throughout the plot. To sum up, the acting, writing, direction, and production values are on a par with virtually any major-studio production, unlike most television programming.I have deliberately skimped on plot details--the less you know going in, the more you'll enjoy waiting for all the riddles to be solved. And the ending is a provocative one. Margaret Mitchell would have approved!

pfgpowell This is something of a departure for British TV (being rather less in the clover than TV moguls Stateside) because the productions values are VERY high for UK homegrown produce. I imagine they are hoping (or were hoping) to sell it in the U.S. too. Whatever, it has set the yardstick high and so has set itself a lot to live up to. Will it do it. I have a sneaky suspicion it might (even though much of the excitement is just down to fancy editing). Somewhart trendy in its choice of subject matter, but then these days that"s the name of the game. But as I say, if they carry it off they carry it off. If they don't — well memories are short. So either way it's a sure bet.