PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Meme This series has to be one of the most well written TV series in my opinion, the dialogue is so well placed. I never felt a single character say something just for the sake of it or as a filler, everything to the looks that Smiley would give or smirks the actors would occasionally give each other is a part of the character role. It is a slow build up but you never feel it drag. This show is about character development done to its best, and the actors especially the sublime yet superb Alec Guinness and Beryl Reid give a beautiful and profound performance.The story line is well done too, you feel a part of the Cold War era and the spy machinations and the intrigue grip you. This is story writing and telling at its finest. I wish more shows could be made that placed emphasis on good story telling and actors who would invest in bringing characters to life.

Jackson Booth-Millard I knew about the British all star cast film, starring Gary Oldman, but I knew before I was going watch that I had to see the original and renowned TV miniseries, also with some very good names in the cast, based on the novel by John le Carré. Basically George Smiley (BAFTA winning Sir Alec Guinness), deputy head of the British Secret Intelligence Service, has spent a year in retirement following failed Czechoslovakia spy mission "Operation Testify", but is forced out when veteran British agent Jim Prideaux (Ian Bannen) has identified from a Czech general that a deep-cover Soviet spy has been planted in British Secret Intelligence Service organisation Circus, named because of its headquarters at Cambridge Circus in London. British chief spymaster Control (Alexander Knox) was disgraced, but his obsession with the Soviet mole has leaked to the British who believe that a mole working for "Moscow Centre" is passing highly classified information code-named "Operation Witchcraft". British agent Ricki Tarr (EastEnders' Hywel Bennett) revives the fear of a mole with evidence backing up Control's theory, and a list of suspects is narrowed down to four men - Roy Bland (Terence Rigby), nicknamed "Soldier", Toby Esterhase (Bernard Hepton), nicknamed "Poorman", Bill Haydon (Ian Richardson), nicknamed "Tailor", and Percy Alleline (Michael Jayston), nicknamed "Sailor". Under the instruction of civil servant Sir Oliver Lacon (Anthony Bate), Smiley secretly investigates the events surrounding Operation Testify, and uses it to help him identify the mole, whom he nicknames "Gerald", still-serving protégé Guillam helps him, and slowly he uncovers an ingenious plot, involving betrayal of country, of the service, and of friendship. Also starring George Sewell as Mendel, Alec Sabin as Fawn, Duncan Jones as Roach, Daniel Beecher as Spikely, John Wells as Headmaster, Frank Compton as Bryant, A Clockwork Orange's Warren Clarke as Alwyn, Worzel Gummidge's Thorley Walters as Tufty Thessinger, John Standing as Sam Collins, BAFA nominated Beryl Reid as Connie Sachs, Sir Patrick Stewart as Karla and Siân Phillips as Ann Smiley. Guinness is fantastic as the polite and silently clever British Intelligence officer following the clues to expose the guilty man, the supporting cast members are also great as they are put in the frame during the investigation to find the mole, I admit I did not understand all the political dialogue and some things going on, but I did not quit on it and it is a well put together piece of work, and the opening credits with the Russian dolls and end credit music were also highlights in each episode, a most interesting drama series. It won the BAFTA for Best Film Cameraman for Tony Pierce-Roberts, and it was nominated for Best Drama Series/Serial, Best Design, Best Costume Design, Best Graphics, Best Film Sound and Film Editor, and it was nominated the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Limited Series. Very good!

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.

nckeel this i an all time classic TV series but it certainly needs a couple of viewings if you really want to get into the story. i would certainly recommend reading the books as they give an insight into the TV series.of course Alec Guiness was superb as George Smiley and the entire series was stuffed full of British actors, including star trek's Patrick Stuart. this is a wonderful story which really brings the Cold War into vivid perspective, especially the situation with the Eastern Block. the plot was absolutely supreme and is a decent intellectual spy series which is so far from Ian Flemming's James Bond. this is certainly well worth watching if you enjoy being intellectually stretched, of which there is so little on TV at the moment. not all Drama has to be laid out on a plate and this certainly adheres to that. if you enjoy this series then you must watch the other one, Smiley's People. i would only say that the one drawback of this series is that as soon as the characters are given their code-names i simply can't remember what they are!