This DVD item from BBC Video was reviewed on 4-Nov-2008.
Cambridge Spies Reference DVD. Classifications : Espionage Action & Adventure Genres DVD Video General British Cinema By Country Art House & International Genres DVD Video General AAS British Cinema By Country Art House & International Genres DVD Vi . Click the following link to view the cover of Cambridge Spies. Related topics: 2003. Espionage. Action & Adventure. Genres. DVD. Video. General. British Cinema. By Country. Genres. DVD. requestid: 6d4c6a54-8bd8-46e0-99fe-1f1f3b25a253
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numberofitems: 2
packagedimensions: 6074030510
1) DVD DVD Cambridge Spies by BBC Video. I am a fan of British movies, especially BBC´s period movies. This is a historical movie, that exposed the "spying" of these Cambridge students, without England´s and USA´s knowing, until the harm was done. Very good actors, Toby, Tom, Rupert and Samuel. I recommend this movie to those who loves a little suspense and some comedy. College life in Cambridge at that time was exposed too. I just love to watch British movies, incomparable to American (typically brutal, mind boggling, & senseless movies).¤ 2) DVD DVD Cambridge Spies by BBC Video. Philby, Burgess, MacLean, Blunt.
The four names associated with one of the most embarrassing episodes in Western politics. Moles burrowed deeply within the political mechanisms of Great Britain and the British Secret Service.
This BBC mini-series dramatization captures the life and times of the spies through the 1930s to the Cold War. The tone is sympathetic - idealists waging war against fascism, but get snarled the web of a bigger game - but the programs capture the period and oftentimes strange political alliances that swirled as Europe dragged itself into what became a global war.
Actors Toby Stephens (Philby), Samuel West (Blunt), Rupert Penry-Jones (MacLean) and Tom Hollander (Burgess) provide outstanding portrayals of their characters. The vast 240 minutes spanning two discs include a documentary that aired on the History Channel which covers the foursome as traitors, hence there is some balance within a historical - not entertainment - context.
Whether viewed as villains or products of a shadowy period driven by perceptions of good versus evil, this is a fascinating gaze into the rise and fall of the secret servants.¤ 3) DVD DVD Cambridge Spies by BBC Video. Video was well done from Cambridge to the final exposure. Actors were superb and believable especially Toby Stephens and Tom Hollander. The one problem I had was with the spies never aging in a period of 20+ years. Even the porter at Cambridge aged when A. Blount returned looking as young as when he left. It was important for me to have the trailer with the actual video of A. Blount admission. I read Spycatcher by P. Wright after seeing this video; I´m amazed how much the British were able to accomplish in the Cold War with so many moles in their organization. John Le Carre´s MI-V this was not!¤ 4) DVD DVD Cambridge Spies by BBC Video. Brilliant! Leave it to the English to weave intrigue, romance, mystery & adventure with good solid drama. Not to mention a little bit of history. Casting on this movie coud not have been better and all the actors gave marvolous performances. If you likes Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, spy---you will like this one!¤ 5) DVD DVD Cambridge Spies by BBC Video. This fine BBC docudrama depicts the lives of the four Cambridge spies from their university days, when they were recruited to do espionage work for the Soviet Union, through the defections of two of the four some twenty years later. Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, Guy Burgess, and Donald Maclean were members of Britain´s upper class elite. From prominent, well connected families, they were educated at some of the best public schools and then Cambridge University. Their minds were as brilliant as their pedigrees, and they all seemed destined for the highest levels of diplomatic, social, and political careers.
Blunt and Philby, in public statements years after they were unmasked, all claimed that they became Communist spies in an attempt to better the world. You do see a little of this desire to make things better in an incident near the beginning of the film, when Burgess and Philby foment a strike by the waiters at their college, but overall the four don´t seem to have had much first hand knowledge of the people whose lives they claimed to want to improve through a Communist revolution. The film does make clear the interesting point that the four were able to go about their espionage efforts for many years precisely because they were priviledged, elite people who knew all the right things to say and had entree into the highest circles. The proverbial old boys club was hard at work for these four, and they knew it and used it.
At times the film seems to overglamourize the four, toning down the more sordid aspects of their lives (except in the case of the flamboyant and disreputable Guy Burgess) and barely acknowledging that they did real damage to Britain and the rest of the West through their espionage. But its a well depicted and beautifully acted dramatic reenactment of one episode in the Cold War. The extra material provided on the second DVD is interesting as well, including interviews with Blunt and Philby after their unmaskings, BBC obituaries for Philby and Maclean, and a bizarre excerpt from a film about the Queen´s Gallery in Buckingham Palace, made in the 1960s and partly narrated by Blunt himself. (There´s also a rather mediocre History Channel presentation about the Cambridge spies which provides a little more information about their lives and times.)¤ 6) DVD DVD Cambridge Spies by BBC Video. In 1934, four brilliant young men at Cambridge University are recruited to spy for Russia. Fueled by youthful idealism, a passion for social justice, a talent for lying and a hatred for fascism, the four take huge personal risks to pass Britain´s biggest secrets to Moscow. Starring four of Britain´s most talented young actors, this epic yet intimate drama brings one of the twentieth century´s most compelling true stories to exciting new life. DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Documentary:45 minute documentary "Great Spy Stories of the Twentieth Century: The Cambridge Spies"
Featurette:"A Cambridge Spies Historical Scrapbook" - a collection of rare interviews, news clips and other footage featuring the real Cambridge Spies.
Other:Trailers
¤7) DVD DVD Cambridge Spies by BBC Video. This moody BBC 2003 dramatization of the most notorious debacle in the history of the British Secret Service raises the specter of the treachery of Philby, Burgess, MacLean, and Blunt for a generation of viewers who can only imagine the shockwaves generated by their duplicity. Inevitably the story suffers from the basically repellent quality of its raw material. Determinedly nonjudgmental, it frequently stumbles along a precarious path between romantic eulogy and fact-based fable of the perils of idealism. For all the handsome casting, the characters have little charm to compensate for their deeds. Their motivations are sketched only vaguely. Even in moments of personal vulnerability, however poignant the performances, sympathy is at a premium. But it has its high points as an atmospheric soap opera: the recreation of a period that stretches from the radical aspects of 1930s university life at Cambridge to cold war London, dipping into the Spanish Civil War and the Washington diplomatic circle en route, is vivid. The acting, too, is fine. Tom Hollander´s rampantly dissolute Burgess verges constantly on parody. But Toby Stephens (Philby), Samuel West (a frosty Blunt), and Rupert Penry-Jones (an emotionally wrung-out MacLean) work wonders with Peter Moffat´s insubstantial script. --Piers Ford¤ Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 2-Dec-2008, 794051186324, FDB-A0B-D5B-KGB-BYB-80B-8 
Cambridge Spies, DVD, Image © BBC Video
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