Review-”The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series”

“The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series”-Own it on DVD October 21, 2008

• Release Date: October 21, 2008
• Publisher: Warner Home Video
• Price: $139.99 on Amazon.com (Buy It)
• Rating: Not Rated
• Run Time: 5,620 minutes
• Features: 105 Episodes on 41 DVDs, Attache Case Packaging, 9 Featurettes and Hours of Other Special Features (listed below)
• Starring: Robert Vaughn, David McCallum, Leo G. Carroll
• Genre: Spy, Action

The Show: Since this show ended seventeen years before I was born, I obviously never saw it until I received this massive set in the mail for review. I’m not usually a huge fan of older shows but after going through most of the whopping 41 discs, I can definitely say this is a pretty good spy show. Add in a ton of bonus features, sweet packaging, and a fair price ($139.99 on Amazon.com) and this is a very nice collection.

“The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” was a spy show that aired from 1964 to 1968 on NBC. The show definitely borrowed from the James Bond films of the time, in fact Ian Fleming actually had a hand in the show’s creation. The show was about a two-man team of American Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Russian Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) who were part of a multi-national spy agency. This agency (named U.N.C.L.E. or the United Network Command for Law Enforcement) had agents from every country and strived to keep the world at peace. U.N.C.L.E. constantly fought against an organization named THRUSH that was trying to conquer the world.

While the show is rather old, only one of the seasons were in black and white and most fans think that was the show’s finest season. I’m not really a fan of black and white so I disagree, season two was better in my opinion (the show does drop off a bit in the final two seasons). The show is definitely well-written and the actors are great. Vaughn and McCallum aren’t quite as cool as Bond but very few characters are.

The show is rather light and witty but there are also some thrilling action sequences in almost all of the episodes. A good comparison would be the old Bond films, just in television form. If you like spy shows or movies, you’ll more than likely love this series. However, if you aren’t usually a fan of older shows or films, I would try to find a way to sample “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” before you drop over $100 on this set.

The Packaging: As you can see, the packaging looks like an attache case (it isn’t real, it’s actually made out of cardboard). While I’ve heard some bad reports about the packaging, I actually think it is pretty neat. The case is neat and much more functional than most complete series packages (I’m looking at you “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “Full House” houses and “The King of Queens” delivery truck).

The Bonus Features: I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a set with more bonus features than this. While I didn’t have time to watch them all (I struggled to even get the episodes done in time), the ones I watched were very well-produced and rather interesting.

The features are:

• “The Cloak and Swagger Affair: The Untold History of ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’”
• “Solo”-The original color pilot
• “U.N.C.L.E. V.I.P.S.”-4 Featurettes about each season’s guest stars
• “The Spy-Fi Tour: Archives, Art, and Artifacts”
• “One Spy Too Many”-The episodes “Alexander the Great Affair, Parts I and II” in theatrical form
• “Double Agents: The David McCallum and Robert Vaughn Reunion”-Interviews with the two stars
• “The Secret Tapes of Illya Kuryakin”-Home movies from the set of the show
• “MGM’s Secret Operations”-Behind-the-scenes featurette
• “Cold War, Hot Spies: U.N.C.L.E. and the Cold War”-A look at the political ramifications of the show
• “Guns, Gadgets, Gizmos, and Garb”-Pretty self-explanatory
• “Behind the Wheel: U.N.C.L.E.’s Piranha”-A feature on the show’s car.
• “Fandemonium”-A look at the show’s fans
• “The Music From U.N.C.L.E.”
• “The Girls From U.N.C.L.E.”-A feature on the hot female guest stars.
• Promos and Trailers
• Interviews with Writer Dean Hargrove, David McCallum, Director Richard Donner, Assistant Producer George Lehr, Director Joseph Sargent, and Robert Vaughn
• TV Appearances by the Stars
• Photo and Image Galleries

Since I’m sure nobody wants to read a paragraph description on each of these features I’ll leave it at this, if you like the show you’ll love these bonus features. There are hours and hours of extras and fans will probably love each and every one of them.

Recommendation: In conclusion, “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” is a very good older show. Most people should enjoy it but unless you are a huge fan of the spy genre or love old shows, I would probably find a way to sample the show before buying the whole series. Still, this set is highly recommended.