The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair

Good for a reunion show that deserves special allowances for auld lang syne that otherwise would not fly for a regular show, a time to reminisce on the impossibility of twenty years flying by! and even worse another twenty since that yet again to 2006! Will someone quit turning the calendar instead of the second hand! Though McNee was truly good as Sir John, the sorrowful part was the loss fourteen years before, in '72, of inestimable and quite irreplaceable stellar veteran Leo G. Carroll/Mr. Waverly they were kind enough to acknowledge. What wasn't mentioned in other descriptions of the film was how Sir John's entrance into the fray was due to the death of Mr. Waverly whom he was replacing (I believe he was supposedly killed in a THRUSH attack, which while stretching the bonds of credibility that they only just now managed to kill him after so many years is still a well-deserved tribute to dear old Leo G.). As sharp as Carroll was, he deserved a larger role had the oversexed dolts of that age not been such abysmal failures at appreciating the treasure in their midst, though perhaps Vaughn & McCallum may have.

A fascinating connection most don't realize, including me, until today, thanks to the IMDb, is that in the '50s show Topper in which Carroll starred as Cosmo Topper, Robert Sterling played George Kerby, the debonair husband of the ghost couple that could be so frustrating for Cosmo, wife Anne Jeffreys playing Mrs. (Marion) Kerby, but Sterling also later played Captain Lee Craine in the Irwin Allen's movie, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, the part later taken by David Hedison in the TV version as Richard Baseheart took Walter Pigeon's place! Interesting connection: Man from UNCLE and Voyage to the Bottowm of the Sea by way of Topper! What Topper!

Reunion TV-movies based on old series rarely capture the spirit of the original, but Return of the Man from Uncle taps into the campiness of the series as if it never was off the air. The leads have fun acknowledging their age, and the whole thing neatly turns into a parody of spy films without becoming a parody of itself. I rated it a "9" not because it is great art but because compared to all other TV reunion movies it is head and shoulders above the rest!

Agents Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuriyakin are called back to UNCLE after fifteen years to do battle with THRUSH once more who are holding the United States to ransom with a stolen nuclear bomb.

Enjoyable revival movie with Robert Vaughn and David McCallam looking a bit older and a bit thicker around the middle, but still wonderful as Solo and Kuriyakin. The chemistry between them hasn't faded after so many years. Good supporting cast includes Anthony Zerbe as an evil THRUSH chief, Carolyn Seymour as a Russian ballerina who is blackmailed by THRUSH to do their bidding and Patrick Macnee (ex-Avengers) makes a satisfactory replacement for Leo G Carroll as the new UNCLE chief, the latter sadly died in 1972. The film is directed by Ray Austin who worked on The Avengers as initially stunt arranger and later as a director. Austin made his directorial debut on an episode from the latter entitled "All Done With Mirrors."

This was intended as the pilot for a new series, but sadly it never materialised. Interestingly, there has been rumours of a big budget movie of the series being made, probably like Mission Impossible, but as The Return Of The Man From UNCLE shows without Vaughn and McCallam it will be a disaster.

Ok. I may not have seen the movie itself but I do remember the Scene at Hoover Dam. Because I was with a friend going to Las Vegas and we took the route that took us around the Dam. What caught my eye was when I saw people in orange jumpsuits around the Dam and right away the first thing that came to my mind was that they were the bad guys from T.H.R.U.S.H. we had a cb radio at the time and we talked to someone going the oppisite direction and they confirmed that they were indeed filming a move based on The Show. I thought that was so cool

Not as bad as expected but both actors looked far too old to play their old characters especially Robert Vaughan. In common with the excellent original TV series this was a bit tongue in cheek but it didn't work as well in this film as it did in the TV series.

Many nods to James Bond, too many perhaps, in the sets and having James Bond in one sequence. The final fifteen minutes or so was 100% James Bond.

It's no wonder that this film failed to lead to a new TV series.

It's worth watching for oldies for nostalgia reasons as it is a bit of fun but a younger audience probably won't like it very much at all.