Man From U.N.C.L.E., The

Set against the backdrop of the early 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. centers on CIA Agent Solo and KGB Agent Kuryakin. Forced to put aside longstanding hostilities, the two team up on a joint mission to stop a mysterious international criminal organization, which is bent on destabilizing the fragile balance of power through the proliferation of nuclear weapons and technology. The duo's only lead is the daughter of a vanished German scientist, who is the key to infiltrating the criminal organization, and they must race against time to find him and prevent a worldwide catastrophe. Based on the 1960’s television series The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Gary Reber)

Special features include six featurettes: Spy Vision: Re-creating '60s Cool (HD 08:34), A Higher Class Of Hero (HD 07:13), Metisse Motorcycles: Proper—And Very British (HD 04:49), The Guys From U.N.C.L.E. (HD 04:57), A Man Of Extraordinary Talent (HD 03:16), and U.N.C.L.E.: On-Set Spy (HD 05:16); upfront previews; and an UltraViolet digital copy.

The 2.40:1 1080p AVC picture does not exhibit the full luster that the picture exhibited theatrically with digital projection.While photographed by veteran British cinematographer John Mathieson using primarily the Arri Alexa Plus camera, this transfer lacks the full color and dynamic character exhibited in theatres. The post-production 2K digital intermediate was the source for this 1080p transfer. The imagery exhibits visual extremes from dark to bright. Contrast is well balanced with deep blacks and revealing shadow delineation during night scenes. The color palette exhibits, during dark scenes, patches of bright accents, and bright scenes are impressively colorful. Fleshtones remain consistently natural and healthy throughout, regardless of the scene-to-scene extremes. Resolution is excellent, with fine detail exhibited in textures of architecture and objects, facial features, hair, and clothing. This is a wonderfully stylized and campy visual experience that varies often and engages the viewer. (Gary Reber)

The Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 7.1-channel soundtrack is nicely dynamic sounding. The music under the opening credits is wonderful and sets the excellent standard for high fidelity throughout the movie. As the action unfolds between Solo and Kuryakin, the sonics are quite holosonic®, with an aggressive surround presence in the four surround channels that complement the main frontal channels. During the action sequences there are effectively directionalized atmospherics and sound effects, such as gunfire, collisions, chases, and Foley, which enhances the excitement. In one scene, no sound is heard but for an Italian ballad, first heard on a radio but expanded to the entire soundfield. This technique is also used in other scenes quite effectively. Almost always the 7.1 channels are active with atmospherics, sound effects, and music. Deep bass in the .1 LFE channel is heightened during the action scenes and especially during the naval approach. Even this is intensified by the percussion-dominated music. This is a thoroughly engaging scene that is effectively enveloping. The height channels are most effective during an intense rainstorm that drenches the spherical soundfield. Dialogue is consistently intelligible and generally well integrated spatially. The highlight is definitely the dynamic and forward-sounding jazz-tinged music, with songs by artists Roberta Flack, Nina Simone, and Louis Prima. This is an exciting and engaging sonic adventure with superb fidelity and dynamics that is reference quality. (Gary Reber)