The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: original series & films

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  • Posts: 1,859
    I was just checking the Fandango ticket sales page and they gave UNCLE a 5 Star rating...................................................Mission Impossible got 4.5
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,791
    delfloria wrote: »
    I don't know where you are coming from Chrisisall.
    I'm coming from a past (in the actual Sixties) where I loved the series and audio taped the music. Like I did with Mission Impossible.
    I will buy the series on DVD just to spite the film-makers in their dis of this iconic theme.
    Dorks.
  • edited August 2015 Posts: 12,837
    I'd completely forgotten about this, wasn't much for the first trailer but I think the ads I've seen on TV have won me over. It looks cheesey/hammy (both the leads seem to have really hammy accents), but it should be fun and I have faith in Guy Ritchie. I think I'll probably go and see it.
    Murdock wrote: »
    I see UNCLE doing way better than Kingsman. Kingsman was an average spoof. It was the appetizer before a bigger and better meal. UNCLE at least is trying to be it's own thing without boasting that it's got what Bond is or was apparently missing.

    Kingsman wasn't a spoof, it wasn't a comedy and it didn't take the piss. It was a homage. Personally I don't think UNCLE looks as good. Kingsman was a breath of fresh air. Refreshingly violent inventive and OTT, a refreshingly different protagonist, and solid inspirational themes (I was surprised at how many criticized it for being a right wing film, I didn't interpret it that way at all) backing up the fun colourful, Roger Moore esque plot. Kingsman took the classic Bond tropes and had fun pushing them to their extremes. UNCLE will be more of a standard action film (since it'll be 12a/pg 13), and it just has the classic Bond tropes but doesn't do anything with them, more of a generic spy movie. Fun but not as fresh as Kingsman, imo.

    UNCLE will likely do better box office (lower age rating, summer release date, and just a more easily marketable film) but will it be as well received as Kingsman was? I'm not so sure.
  • BondJasonBond006BondJasonBond006 on fb and ajb
    Posts: 9,020
    I also wonder with all those fun, over the top, colourful action loaded Spy movies that are now in style, if Spectre will not seem to be antiquated a bit. If it doesn't take itself too seriously it will not be a problem, but if it is like Skyfall then it could get awkward.
    The audience obviously doesn't want to see that kind of movie anymore. I think the Nolan-esque style (that Skyfall and maybe Spectre copies) has actually gotten out of style now.
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    I felt Kingsman was a black comedy of sorts. It did have some jokes in it and took the piss at times. It's just not a typical Bond spoof.
  • Posts: 725
    Uncle is not tracking well. It is supposed to open at $20m/then 60m total US BO. Even if over performs it's opening weekend, over performing from $20m ain't so hot. It is supposed to be good as there has been a lot of early previews, but even with good WOM, I don't think it can do as well as Kingsman. This link is to a good US tracking site (http://pro.boxoffice.com/statistics/release-calendar). They were very close to MI5's actual opening which was tracking all over the place, and it's usually pretty accurate for most films. Don't know what the trouble is. But then the film business is nuts, so who knows what can happen.
  • Posts: 709
    delfloria wrote: »
    I was just checking the Fandango ticket sales page and they gave UNCLE a 5 Star rating...................................................Mission Impossible got 4.5

    Uh-huh. From four people. (One of which is a three star review declaring it has a "so-so storyline", so I'm not sure how that math adds up). Mission Impossible is at 4 and a half stars after 4,120 ratings.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,791
    smitty wrote: »
    Don't know what the trouble is.
    Trouble IS, they didn't heavily use the ICONIC theme. A mistake ALL of the MI movies dodged.
  • Posts: 725
    chrisisall wrote: »
    smitty wrote: »
    Don't know what the trouble is.

    Trouble IS, they didn't heavily use the ICONIC theme. A mistake ALL of the MI movies dodged.

    But that's like saying SP will fail if Newman doesn't use the iconic Bond theme. I think there is something more that's causing this film to possible not do well. Maybe the stars are really not registering with the general audience, or maybe the younger audience doesn't know or care much about the TV show. If it's in trouble, it's more than the theme music.

  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    Isn't the theme used in the movie though? Just not in huge amounts?
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,791
    smitty wrote: »
    If it's in trouble, it's more than the theme music.
    Honestly, I loved Ritchie's work on Sherlock Holmes, no matter how untrue it was to the source material (Doyle)- but that's not the same as an iconic TV series rooted in pop culture. If he wanted to stay true to the series & NOT use the theme, okay. If he wanted to change dynamics a bit (like it seems) & pump the iconic theme (like the MI movies do), fine.
    But it seems like neither.

    [-(
  • PropertyOfALadyPropertyOfALady Colders Federation CEO
    Posts: 3,675
    Has anyone here played the online/mobile game "The Man from UNCLE: Mission Berlin. I can't find the sports car keys or the laser cutter. It only works in IE, though...

    http://www.manfromunclegame.com/
  • Posts: 1,859
    chrisisall, OK I get that you're a old fan of the series, same a me, but theres no way that UNCLE could be done the same way it was. One of the reasons is Kingsman and their blatant rip off of the basic trope of UNCLE. An international secret agency with a secret entrance through a tailor shop. Now that the public thinks that originated with Kingsman, time for UNCLE to reinvent itself.

    Regardless, Ritchie wanted to capture the "Tone" of UNCLE but at the same time start from scratch to give themselves the creative leeway to make it their own instead of an imitation of the series. That includes the theme, which is great but unrecognizable to most people. They tried putting it in the film and then in the end credits but it just didn't fit with the new feel of the film so they opted to cameo it in the middle of the film. At least they did that. Also "How to Steal The World" which was one of the original UNCLE movies did not have the Goldsmith theme in it at all. Even the original guys opted not to use the theme in one of their own movies. The first Star Trek films didn't feature the TV theme either.

    Speaking of the music, the score by Pemberton, while not copying the old series gives it a nod with a heavy dose of bongos and harpsichord.

    Ah Kingsman was more like a Flint film than Bond, in it's style and content. Those are two very different kinds of films. Bond is Bond and Flint is a humorous riff on Bond but does not have a solid unique identity at it's core.

  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    Exactly. Wrath of Khan didn't have the original series Star Trek theme in it and it's regarded as the best Star Trek film. The UNCLE movie looks pretty good. Judging a movie for a lack of it's theme is kinda silly. Besides you might like the film better than the series.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,791
    delfloria wrote: »
    Ritchie wanted to capture the "Tone" of UNCLE but at the same time start from scratch to give themselves the creative leeway to make it their own instead of an imitation of the series. That includes the theme, which is great but unrecognizable to most people.
    Unrecognizable?
    To long term fans it's a must.
    New viewers would find it as amazing as we ever did (Goldsmith was a musical genius).

    meh

  • Posts: 725
    At the end of the year, it will be very interesting to see the post postmortems on all these spy films, and how Bond has influenced to a greater or lesser degree just about all of them. These spy films that lift from current and past Bonds are tough to out due for new Bond films because the ones that are doing the copying have tons more flexibility in how they copy the original Bond themes. They can pick and chose what ever Bond stuff works for them. Making SP a great film with all the pushing and pulling on making it current, but also satisfying the demands for it to be a REAL Bond film that still seems fresh and original when every new spy film is using you as a template has gotta be very, very tough. Someone noted that SF making 1b may not have done SP any favors. Making $700-$800m would have been a nice bump over CR and QOS, but now they have to try to meet the expectations in the press of another $1billion.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,791
    smitty wrote: »
    Someone noted that SF making 1b may not have done SP any favors.
    In my estimation, SP will be a vastly superior film to SF, and will therefore make less money.
  • Posts: 1,859
    Smitty, Of course there is a Bond like influence on UNCLE...............Ian Fleming helped create UNCLE TV series which was originally called "Solo" (something Bond recently lifted from UNCLE) and Fleming created the name Napoleon Solo.
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,791
    delfloria wrote: »
    Fleming created the name Napoleon Solo.
    He stole that from HAN Solo!
  • MurdockMurdock The minus world
    Posts: 16,351
    chrisisall wrote: »
    delfloria wrote: »
    Fleming created the name Napoleon Solo.
    He stole that from HAN Solo!
    Impossible, Han Solo died before Bond or UNCLE existed! =))
    HanIndy%202.jpg
  • chrisisallchrisisall Brosnan Defender Of The Realm
    Posts: 17,791
    HAhahahahaha :))
  • Posts: 709
    smitty wrote: »
    At the end of the year, it will be very interesting to see the post postmortems on all these spy films, and how Bond has influenced to a greater or lesser degree just about all of them. These spy films that lift from current and past Bonds are tough to out due for new Bond films because the ones that are doing the copying have tons more flexibility in how they copy the original Bond themes. They can pick and chose what ever Bond stuff works for them. Making SP a great film with all the pushing and pulling on making it current, but also satisfying the demands for it to be a REAL Bond film that still seems fresh and original when every new spy film is using you as a template has gotta be very, very tough. Someone noted that SF making 1b may not have done SP any favors. Making $700-$800m would have been a nice bump over CR and QOS, but now they have to try to meet the expectations in the press of another $1billion.

    Well the influence is that all of these movies were greenlit after Skyfall. There will always be occasional Bond wannabes showing up, but suddenly getting four spy films in one year? Every studio in town looked at those Skyfall numbers and immediately dusted off whatever spy property they had lying around, probably reasoning that if we can get just a third of what that Bond movie did, then we've got a hit. So we get Spy, Kingsman, and UNCLE all put into production and releasing at more or less the same time, as well as Grimsby delayed to next year (a 5th Mission Impossible was probably going to happen regardless, but Skyfall may have nudged Paramount and Cruise into striking while the iron was hot).
  • Posts: 1,859
    Without a doubt. Go where the money which is, what happen with the SPY CRAZE of the 60's.
  • PropertyOfALadyPropertyOfALady Colders Federation CEO
    Posts: 3,675
    I'll ask again:
    Has anyone here played the online/mobile game "The Man from UNCLE: Mission Berlin. I can't find the sports car keys or the laser cutter. It only works in IE, though...

    http://www.manfromunclegame.com/

  • Posts: 725
    chrisisall wrote: »
    smitty wrote: »
    Someone noted that SF making 1b may not have done SP any favors.

    In my estimation, SP will be a vastly superior film to SF, and will therefore make less money.

    Bet you are dead right.
  • Posts: 725
    dinovelvet wrote: »
    smitty wrote: »
    At the end of the year, it will be very interesting to see the post postmortems on all these spy films, and how Bond
    has influenced to a greater or lesser degree just about all of them. These spy films that lift from current and past Bonds are tough to out due for new Bond films because the ones that are doing the copying have tons more flexibility in how they copy the original Bond themes. They can pick and chose what ever Bond stuff works for them. Making SP a great film with all the pushing and pulling on making it current, but also satisfying the demands for it to be a REAL Bond film that still seems fresh and original when every new spy film is using you as a template has gotta be very, very tough. Someone noted that SF making 1b may not have done SP any favors. Making $700-$800m would have been a nice bump over CR and QOS, but now they have to try to meet the expectations in the press of another $1billion.

    Well the influence is that all of these movies were greenlit after Skyfall. There will always be occasional Bond wannabes showing up, but suddenly getting four spy films in one year? Every studio in town looked at those Skyfall numbers and immediately dusted off whatever spy property they had lying around, probably reasoning that if we can get just a third of what that Bond movie did, then we've got a hit. So we get Spy, Kingsman, and UNCLE all put into production and releasing at more or less the same time, as well as Grimsby delayed to next year (a 5th Mission Impossible was probably going to happen regardless, but Skyfall may have nudged Paramount and Cruise into striking while the iron was hot).

    You're right. And even Spielberg wasn't immune to this Bond spy craze influence. He fairly recently changed the title of his film to Bridge of Spys using Spys in the title (which wasn't there before) and is opening it just before SP. He also hired Newman to write the score. Spielberg, no fool, also cut the trailer to look like an action film, which it isn't. Unless the film gets great reviews, I kind of think the general audience will hold off 2 weeks for SP.

    There are probably a dozen other spy films that have opened this year we could comb through that are also a product of the studio rush to cash in on the SF spy dollars. It's not that they are putting out tons of spy films, it's that they are all copying Bond to a greater or lesser degree which makes it very hard for Bond, coming at the end of the year, to look original and fresh. I still think that MI5 was shifted cleverly to July to avoid looking redundant to SP, now it could look as if Bond is redundant to MI5, which is kind of weird since it really means SP is copying MI5 which is really copying Bond. Many reviews noted MI5's similarities to Bond.
  • Posts: 11,119
    smitty wrote: »
    Uncle is not tracking well. It is supposed to open at $20m/then 60m total US BO. Even if over performs it's opening weekend, over performing from $20m ain't so hot. It is supposed to be good as there has been a lot of early previews, but even with good WOM, I don't think it can do as well as Kingsman. This link is to a good US tracking site (http://pro.boxoffice.com/statistics/release-calendar). They were very close to MI5's actual opening which was tracking all over the place, and it's usually pretty accurate for most films. Don't know what the trouble is. But then the film business is nuts, so who knows what can happen.

    That's not entirely true. Early tracking for "Rogue Nation" was very disappointing, with an opening weekend of $ 40 Million. Final figures were $ 15 Million more: $ 55 Million opening weekend total.
  • edited August 2015 Posts: 725
    You didn't read my post correctly. I was referring to the site I linked to which WAS entirely accurate. That site was tracking MI5 at 60 million and lowered the figure a few million just before it opened. It was correct. I was not referring to the Variety $40m tracking figure.
  • The North American Film Companies have been looking for years for a James Bond type franchise with a strong American central charater and UNCLE/SOLO could be it, some will say that Mission Impossible fits that bill, but that's more an ensemble piece and lets be honest how long will the franchise last once Cruise hangs up his Stunt Pads, plus in the next one could we not have the IMF/HUNT disavowed as that plot line's wearing a little thin.
    Going back to the music score, I've always thought that when making a movie taken from a popular TV show it's always better to bring existing fans along with you and to any real fan, the UNCLE theme is instantly recognisable and a vital part of the ethos as is the Uncle Special which does seem to have made into the movie at least in some form.
  • Posts: 11,119
    smitty wrote: »
    You didn't read my post correctly. I was referring to the site I linked to which WAS entirely accurate. That site was tracking MI5 at 60 million and lowered the figure a few million just before it opened. It was correct. I was not referring to the Variety $40m tracking figure.

    Ah sorry @Smitty ;-). Thanks for the clarification.
    The North American Film Companies have been looking for years for a James Bond type franchise with a strong American central charater and UNCLE/SOLO could be it, some will say that Mission Impossible fits that bill, but that's more an ensemble piece and lets be honest how long will the franchise last once Cruise hangs up his Stunt Pads, plus in the next one could we not have the IMF/HUNT disavowed as that plot line's wearing a little thin.

    Let's see. I am also curious why no journalists or editors asking Tom Cruise "When are you going to quit your role as secret agent Ethan Hunt-IMF?" Daniel Craig receives this question constantly, and he only did four films so far. It's more valid to scrutinize the "M:I"-franchise now instead of the 53-year old Bond franchise. Will someone else step into the titular character role of Ethan Hunt? Or will Hunt die, and Renner becomes the new lead as Brand? Moreover, the "M:I"-franchise works thanks to Cruise's role, but he's a producer too. So how does he see the future of "Mission: Impossible"? Will he try to avoid a post-Connery-backlash that the early Bond films had?
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