Der zweite Mann

This movie has been and will remain a favorite for many years to come. I loved how the plot leads you to the correct conclusion with all the subtle hints dropped throughout the movie, and was pleased by the "justice was served" ending. As he seeks the answers to why the CIA doesn't follow up on the killing, it is interesting to note that even though they gave him training and supplied him with the weaponry, he was a target, just the same.

As for the final outcome and the ending, it was interesting to find out just exactly who knew what about the whole affair. All in all, it was a really entertaining movie that I do and will recommend everyone seeing, being sure it will stir up the brain's capabilities to understand the subtle nuances in life.

(1981) The Amateur THRILLER

Based on a novel written by Robert Littell, which starts out with a shocking beginning, where some Chzech terrorists take control over a CIA office located in Germany for the purpose of an exchange of their lives for a release of one of their own, otherwise if their demands are not met within 1 hour then they will kill one hostage every 15 minutes. The higher ups think the terrorists are bluffing so they pick out a name at random out of a bunch of American passports and it happens to be this guys girlfriend, and she gets shot right on the head on front of tv stations and the German police authorities. The boyfriend who also happens to work for the CIA as well as a technician extracts revenge since the American gov't doesn't want to get involved about going for their capture. So decides to be a radical by becoming a vigilante by devising a plan to blackmail for the information for their whereabouts to do just that, but at the same time want to be professionally trained to do the job himself- hence the title "The Amateur" who is the star. Extremely dull thriller since the type casting is way off base but I manage to go through it by using the fast forward button on my remote control since if I were to sit through it- it would've bored me to hell. It is happens to be action-less using suspense instead which the fast forward button could handle as well. I agree with film critic Leonard Maltin review on the movie that the actors are typecasted and so forth... and that the acting is mediocre at best, but it's worth watching if you want to see something that has never been done before.

I have never been to the Czech Republic yet, but I hope that some day I will make it. This movie will certainly not influence my decision – but Czechs might like to watch it. Will they recognize their own country? I doubt it.

Basically this is a vigilante movie. Some terrorists (not oriental Muslims for once but German home grown nut cases) storm the American consulate in Munich, take all people hostage and ask for the release of some of their comrades. Otherwise they will kill a hostage every, say, half hour. For good measure they kill a young woman right after formulating their demands. As fate would have it, it's the fiancée of a CIA ciphers specialist who decides that he wants to go after the killers (who got away) and kill them in turn, cost it what it may.

The terrorist's area for occasional relaxation and training sessions is the Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia. So our hero has to go there and forces his employer to help him. Once there he discovers that they don't like him at the CIA and are after his hide. But among bad to brutish Czechs he finds good Czechs who will gladly risk their lives so that he can fulfill his (perfectly understandable) dreams of revenge.

Very often this movie is outright ridiculous. But there are a few very good and excellently filmed scenes. The highlight for me is the young yet very bald terrorist who takes a swim in a luxurious old Czech hotel, all on his own, only to get blown up by our hero with the help of plastics taped to the glass pane which separates the pool from the bar. The acting is so so but Christopher Plummer is simply brilliant as the sophisticated bad Czech. There seem to be no limits for this wonderful actor, he really is extremely versatile. The Czech outdoor scenes were partly filmed in Vienna, there are also a few great shots of 19th century Munich.

This is the movie that introduced me to international intrigue. For this, I owe it many things. It paved the way for me to appreciate several important historical points that have served me well in the ensuing years of my education.

What attracted me to this movie was the aspect of a complete amateur being caught up in the world of terrorism. His utter frustration is handled and eventual involvement is treated, without a lot of glitzy, unnecessary gadgets or gratuitous or cartoonish (and unbelievable) violence.

No, nothing of that is experienced in this movie. And thank goodness for that. The grittiness is real. There are no cardboard characters like Matt Damon and Tom Cruise battling European forces of evil. You feel for JOHN SAVAGE and his life. You care for him and his pain...you feel his frustrations and his victories.

Yes, this is intrigue at its most real depiction (within the framework of a commercial movie.) Human life is important, cherished and defended. You will come from this experience with the idea of what a more realistic exposition of events can be.

I recommend anyone who still loves intrigue done without a lot of CGI junk thrown in.

This spy/action/thriller concerns about a CIA computer analyst named Heller(John Savage) , when his girlfriend encounters traveling across Europe, she's suddenly kidnapped in an Embassy by a terrorist group , a Baader Mainhoff-alike, and is shot by the leader named Brewer (Nicholas Campbell). Then Heller seeks vengeance, and contacts to girlfriend's father(Jan Rubes). Later obligates his CIA superiors(Arthur Hill,George Coe), under threat blackmail(to publish it a journalist played by John Marley) , for becoming CIA camp agent trained by a veteran(Ed Lauter) and to send him to the Communist Bloc countries . In Czechoslovakia he unites forces to Cia agent(Marthe Keller) and is pursued by a contra-espionage chief(Christopher Plummer) in Praga. Meanwhile Heller investigates and aware a cobweb of lies underneath the company.

This exciting film gets tension, suspense, action ,mystery and a bit of violence, however sometimes in a little confused and embarrassing . Mediocre screenplay with some gaps by Robert Littell and based on his novel. The movie belongs to ¨Cold war genre¨ , whose maxim height were the John Le Carre novels and his various cinematic adaptations such as ¨The spy who came in freeze, The Kremlin letter and Russia House¨.Suspenseful musical score and colorful cinematography filmed in streets of Vienna(lookalike Praga) and interior scenarios shot in Canadian studios. The movie was a flop though is today better considered, in fact Leonard Matlin rated it as 'Bomb'. The motion picture is professionally directed by Charles Jarrot. He has an eclectic career as TV as cinema with a plethora of success(Anne of the thousands days, Mary of Scots) and failures at the box office(Condorman, Last flight of Noah's Ark, Amateur). Rating : Passable and acceptable.