Please don't spend money on this.

Just so...so bad

Good idea lost in the noise

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Overall, it is a fair, balanced movie. A couple of things. The man who attempted to poison Fidel Castro Ruz was NOT made to drink the poisoned concoction. In fact the packet which held the poison FROZE to the refrigeration pipes at the Hotel Habana Libre (formerly Havana Hilton-they only say "Libre" in the movie) before the hotel's restaurant worker had a chance to put it into Castro's 'milk shake' (batido). The G2 already new of the plan before hand. The restaurant worker's name was Santos de la Caridad Perez, and he was sentenced to a very long prison term, which he completed, and he was able to come to Miami, Florida,and there join his wife and 2 grown sons, who had been waiting for him in Caracas, Venezuela. Santos de la Caridad Perez was left to his own devices and wound up working minimum wage jobs in Miami, Florida, into his 80s. No compensation for his compromised mission, and his 14 years spent in Castro's prisons was ever paid. Thanks, 'Campanela' you a-hole!.Next, it was not prop-driven 'Sea Furies' which shot down the CIA contract pilots' B26s, but T33 JETS. To the best of my recollection, NO CIA Officers came ashore with Brigade 2506. It's a travesty that only a passing mention was made of the 117th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, Alabama Air National Guard pilots, who were contract employees, and disobeyed direct orders to lend air support to our Cuban allies. The names of these brave men were: Leo Baker, Wade Gray, Riley Shamburger, and Thomas "Pet" Ray. The B26s they flew had no tail guns so they could accommodate more fuel. They were easy prey for Castro's jets. Some of us will remember their sacrifice with eternal gratitude, respect, admiration, and will mourn them as long as we live. G_d rest them and comfort their surviving loved ones.Other than this, it was a pretty balanced movie, but I defer to those who may have first hand knowledge of what actually went down in the Hungarian uprising. G_d bless that nation's fallen martyrs and their survivors as well.

This is a wonderful performance piece, for Cold-War, Tom Clancy/John Le Carré lovers alike. Spying was a dangerous, heart-breaking and lonely game, and the principle characters on both sides gave up much in the way of personal life - this slowly tumbles out as the story unfolds over 4 decades.I credit the Director with NOT revealing too much the first time you view it - I found myself wondering at certain points if the Script contained gaps -- not so. An example is the involvement of the notorious Kim Philby, a clever KGB double-agent. Everyone who has read 'Man Called Intrepid' knows who Philby is - if he breezed into this story as KIM PHILBY, we'd know what to expect. Cleverly, the character is not identified until the story is well-under way. By that time, you are as fooled as was his friend, the famous CIA counterespionage guru, James Angleton, played here with craft by Michael Keaton.Other performers shine, and the action scenes for Hungary, and the Bay of Pigs are startling. Part 3 packed a real punch as, again, we get treated to what the counterintelligence fellas had to go through to nail suspected double-agents.The second time through, I connected all the dots--so, the mini-series DVD has been well worth the investment. (Glad I missed it on TV with commercials).

I do regret that I have bought this series. I expected more action, more objective picture and more consistency. This is just a pure propaganda series, very dark, without any charm, or romanticism, it is just boredom itself. I find the actors work quite weak as well. O'Donnell might seem charming as Robin (with Batman), but in this picture he lacks any charm. Probably while he becomes older, he is loosing his childish charm but does not gain any charm of a grown up. It comes as no surprise, that it was not shown in a lot of countries and is being sold in the UK for 40% of the recommended price and was not even released in the Netherlands.

This is an excellent 3 part mini-series. I watched it in one sitting which took about 6 hours including a couple of quick breaks. The pacing is slow and the movie has an overall darkness in terms of color but the characters are so engaging that I remained fascinated from the first screen shot to the last. Chris O'Donnell, Michael Keaton, Alfred Molina and Alessandro Nivola all gave terrific performances. Actually all of the actors were excellent in their roles. The Russian accents were commendable.I liked this very much. While Molina's character says that the world is black and white, good guys and bad guys, O'Donnell's character illuminates the grays for us and ultimately this is what lingers long after the DVD is over. Buy it, rent it, but definitely see it.Robert Little wrote the original book of 900 pages on which this mini-series is based. The book and the DVD differ in some aspects. I've not read the book, but I plan to. Apparently he's written a number of cold war spy novels another of which was made into a movie, "The Amateur".