The Man From U.N.C.L.E. 4K UHD Review

Arrow Video

4K UHD Release: Jul 30th, 2024

Video: 2.39:1/2160p/Color

Audio: English Dolby Atmos, English Dolby TrueHD 7.1

Subtitles: English SDH

Run Time: 116:28

Director: Guy Ritchie

The year is 1963, and Nazi sympathizers have captured a scientist, Dr. Udo Teller (Christian Berkel), with the hopes of building a nuclear weapon. In order to try and rescue him, CIA Agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) extracts his daughter, Gaby (Alicia Vikander) from East Berlin to West Berlin, but not without a ferocious pursuit by a KGB agent, Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer). Much to both Solo and Kuryakin's surprise, the next day they find out, through their respective agency handlers, that they'll actually be working together, with Gaby, in the hopes of stopping Victoria Vinciguerra (Elizabeth Debicki), the mastermind behind the kidnapping, from succeeding at her world-threatening goals.

I doubt there's a single everyday phrase in contemporary Hollywood more tiring than "intellectual property," an obsession that, despite numerous failures and apparent disinterest from audiences, remains a primary focus for every studio in town. Of course, there have been some genuinely well-liked outliers, both big (last year's $1b-grossing Barbie being an obvious example) and small, the latter category containing The Man From U.N.C.L.E., which flopped in theaters back in 2015 but has since gained an enthusiastic cult following (a rare instance where film fans desperate for original content might actually welcome a sequel). Of course, the vaunted "IP" isn't really the appeal here; like the Mission: Impossible film franchise, which will be marking its 30th (!) anniversary in 2026, love for the movie doesn't really seem to have anything to do with the 1960s TV show that inspired it (including my own, so, sorry in advance to anyone hoping to hear my thoughts on the movie as an adaptation). Instead, the charms of this contemporary adaptation stem from the finished product, which, after a lengthy development process, ended up with a perfect fit for the material in filmmaker Guy Ritchie.

Based on the finished film, Ritchie might seem like an odd fit for the slick, stylish approach of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. This is a high-gloss spy adventure where fashion plays almost as much of a part as high-tech gadgets, whereas Ritchie's famous crime capers tend to focus on scrappy underdogs trying to pull off quick crimes in the seedy back alleys and bars of working-class London -- even his Sherlock Holmes movies have a down-and-dirty grittiness to them. However, Ritchie (who was actually the adopted son of a Baroness) segues deftly into the high-class world of this film, with the tics of Snatch and RockNRolla being evident less in the story's milieu and more in the sharp dialogue and fun editing tricks. Ritchie packs U.N.C.L.E. with snazzy split-screens out of the original Thomas Crown Affair and hugely entertaining action sequences, such as the crackerjack car (and foot) chase that opens the movie, or an extended mid-movie break-in sequence at a high-security compound, which pays off with a dialogue-free sequence that might be the movie's droll comic peak. The glossy trappings and period setting also help distinguish the movie not just from Ritchie's other work but also the aforementioned M:I movies -- the two series could have continued apace without stepping on each others toes (although we may not have seen Cavill pop up in a major role in Fallout, had that happened).

Speaking of Cavill, while many lament that he never got the opportunities he might have deserved as Superman (eat your heart out, Brandon Routh), I'd make the case that Solo is one of his best performances. Cavill is absolutely perfect, with his over-the-top (but just short of cartoonish) American accent and unflappably casual wit, one can see overlap with the traditional Guy Ritchie hero...if they were given a Greek statue body and impeccable manners to that disguise his caddishness like a sly wink. That blend of class and crass also feels like it applies to Alicia Vikander, who seems to be having a ball with a character that is both outside her normal wheelhouse of Oscar bait, but also feels most like a character who would be at home in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, and it's refreshing for her to be given an opportunity where she can show off her natural charisma. Debicki has had more opportunities to play around, mixing serious dramas like Widows and The Burnt Orange Heresy with appearances in the MCU and Nolan's Tenet, but I could watch her vamp around as a high-class villain in any number of films (hey, free idea -- dye her hair, give her a different accent, and have her play a new villain in a U.N.C.L.E. sequel!).

Setting aside his fall from grace and reinvention as a victim of cancel culture, the weakest link here is Hammer. He keeps pace with his cast members, but there's a flatness here that goes beyond what the character is supposed to be. Even when he's funny, one senses that the role could pack more of a comic punch than he does (both literally and figuratively; Hammer is a tall guy but doesn't seem nearly as imposing as the script tries to make him out to be); it's pretty easy to picture Ritchie casting his old buddy Jason Statham in the role had the film been made ten or fifteen years earlier, as the kind of actor who can play a heavy as a heavy and still inject it with some real charisma. Still, Hammer's wooden qualities don't particularly hurt the film; he's merely the weakest link in an ensemble (which also includes another hugely entertaining entry in the canon of freewheeling, late-career Hugh Grant performances) that is generally a bit livelier than he is.

Video

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. has been available in 4K UHD on digital services for some time, and now, thanks to Arrow, that same 4K UHD transfer is now available on disc. IMDb says the film was also largely shot in 2K, and I would be surprised if any scenes shot in 4K were re-exported in 4K for the purposes of this master, so all things considered, I imagine this is also an upscale. My guess is that most people will not see a significant uptick in fine detail or clarity from this transfer compared to the Warner Bros. Blu-ray, but the HDR grade is certainly gorgeous, taking a film that already has a beautiful, stylish appearance and giving it a little boost in the color department. Those who love the film like I do will also probably upgrade regardless of how much better it looks, so even a small upgrade is a plus.

Audio

The same Dolby Atmos track with a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 core that was included on the Warner disc is included here. As with the picture, this is a new movie and a contemporary mix, and I can't imagine there being anything to complain about. The end of the break-in sequence at the compound that I mentioned, which combines music that starts out diegetic and then expands, is a great example of the kind of aural pleasures to be had watching the film.

Extras

Warner Bros. gave The Man From U.N.C.L.E. a straightforward release back in 2015 when the film first arrived on home video. Arrow has upgraded their edition with some new interviews, while porting all of the material from the original release.

• Audio commentary by film critics Bryan Reeseman and Max Evry - The two speakers make for a good tag team, with the pair alternating their discussion from extensive notes about pretty much any subject one could want to know about the source material, the development of the film, the cast, the crew, or anything else that can be drawn from what's on screen. Although they're clearly speaking from prepared notes, they have a casual, amused approach that allows for a relaxing looseness (even interjecting with jokes occasionally when the other is speaking). For a single track, this arguably delivers the content of two.

• "The Hollywood Way Interview with producer Lionel Wigram (16:14) - Wigram explains his start in the film industry (including a brush with a different iconic 1960s spy franchise with Bond shoots at Pinewood Studios) climbing the ladder from low-budget films up to stuff like Sherlock Holmes with Ritchie, before arriving at U.N.C.L.E. He covers some other filmic inspirations, the challenge of pitching the studio on what the finished film will be like (including trying and failing to convince Warner Bros. to make Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels back in the mid-'90s), the style of the collaboration, touches on the film's development history, the casting process, and the film's legacy. Wigram is pleasant, but -- and this is nothing against him -- it's a shame that, of the producers, John Davis isn't interviewed, who could potentially discuss the 12-14 scripts that were developed before Ritchie finally made the film, including the time that Quentin Tarantino was attached, or the Steven Soderbergh version that almost happened with George Clooney and Emily Blunt (not to mention Ritchie's own buddy, Matthew Vaughn).

• "A Lineage of Bad Guys" Interview with actor Luca Calvani (15:26) - Calvani, who plays the wife of Debicki's big bad, follows the same pattern as Wigram, discussing his years as a struggling actor with a second job, making his way up through television before landing the role in this movie. He discusses the collaborative aspect of the shoot, both with Ritchie and his fellow actors, the freedom to improve on the screenplay on the set, his impression of Richie as a jack of all trades, being blown away by Debicki at the table read, the globe-hopping nature of the shoot and playing host in Rome, Hugh Grant as the white whale of cast companions, the nature of his character, and the challenges of stunt driving and fight training.

• "Legacy of U.N.C.L.E." Featurette (28:38) - For those, like myself, who are unfamiliar with the original 1960s television show, this featurette sits down with author and film critic Vic Pratt, editor David Flint, and writer Helen McCarthy to discuss the source material. In doing so, the piece also provides bits and pieces of history of the entire spy genre in the 1960s, with references to James Bond (including Ian Fleming's major contribution to the original "Man From U.N.C.L.E."), "Mission: Impossible," In Like Flint, "Get Smart," and many more. The speakers discuss the development of the show, the influence of the "Batman" TV show on the tone of the program, its frequent use of "Star Trek" cast members (including both Shatner and Nimoy together in the same episode), the re-editing of the program for UK audiences as movies, ancillary materials (aka spin-offs, sequels, and novelizations), and finally, the movie itself, which they seem to have split opinions on.

• "Cockneys and Robbers" Featurette (25:13) - The second of the two new video essay-style pieces turns to Ritchie, seeking to contextualize U.N.C.L.E. among the director's filmography. Speakers in this one include critics Kat Hughes, Hannah Strong, and Josh Saco, executive director of the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies (a somewhat odd choice, given Ritchie has yet to make an out-and-out horror movie). The trio delve into Ritchie's upbringing and eventual breakout success with Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, examining why the movie hit at just the right moment in terms of trends in UK and world cinema. Snatch, Revolver (an underrated odd man out, in my personal opinion), and RockNRolla are briefly touched on, before they dive into his style and thematic interests, as well as his generally lighthearted approach to the projects that he picks. They trace his shift into big-budget Hollywood filmmaking with the Sherlock Holmes duology, before honing in on U.N.C.L.E. The piece wraps up with a brief overview of Ritchie's post-U.N.C.L.E. projects, and a summarization of his perceived strengths.

• "The Guys From U.N.C.L.E," "Spyvision: Recreating the '60s Cool," "A Higher Class of Hero," "Metisse Motorcycles: Proper - and Very British," A Man of Extraordinary Talents," and "U.N.C.L.E.: On-Set Spy" Featurettes (4:57, 8:34, 7:13, 4:49, 3:16, 5:16) - Ported from the 2015 Warner Bros. Blu-ray. Slickly produced and a little light on meat, but not completely disposable, either.

• Image Gallery - 33 images, most of which also appear as transitional images during the disc's various documentaries and interviews.

• Theatrical Trailer

For the purposes of review, Genre Grinder was sent check discs, but those who purchase this release in Limited Edition form will receive a single-disc release with a slipcover by Dare Creative, a reversible sleeve offering the new artwork and one of the film's original poster designs (of Cavill and Hammer in a stylized, high-contrast black-and-yellow motif), and, inside the case, a collector's booklet featuring new writing by Barry Forshaw, and a reprinted article from CODEX Magazine about the film's cinematography and a fold-out poster with the same two designs as the sleeve.

Conclusion

Although the failure of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. can't be blamed on the current disastrous administration at Warner Bros. -- release Coyote vs. Acme, you vultures! -- it is a tragedy that in this era of franchises and sequels, we can't get more of Cavill's Napoleon Solo and Vikander's Gaby Teller (and probably some replacement for Hammer's Illya Kuryakin -- hopefully with a bit more of his own charm). I can't call this new 4K UHD of the film an essential upgrade, as the transfer is presumably an upscale and the new extras lack participation from the heavy hitters involved with the movie, but my guess is that fans of this underrated winner have already ordered a copy.

The images on this page are taken from the Blu-ray edition of this release and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images.