Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

omkar1984 I traversed to this series in a descending order - I saw the 2011 film adaptation and was impressed with the plot and the presentation. I went on to read(I rarely read novels) the novel and found it captivating. After years, I decided to watch this series. I couldn't help but compare this series with the film and the original book.The star cast is apt and the performances are solid. Except Roy Bland, I vividly recall every character and their countenances, personas. The bleak English climate, the somber and choking atmosphere in the Circus and the lives of the people involved, the no-nonsense portrayal of the events, a non-invasive background score are a perfect treat. One can actually feel the emotions and the tension e.g: when Control learns about the disaster, his face reflects 'All is lost'.The series does leave us desiring. While some techniques like checking for the 'baby sitters', delivering secret messages by hand etc. are depicted, how the spies evade surveillance, the transistor sound used by Smiley in the hotel(read this in the book) to avoid eavesdropping and so on could have been covered, even at the expense of adding another episode.To summarize, this is a series not to be missed, especially, if espionage is your interest.

blanche-2 Based on the novel by John LeCarre, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" is one of the great British miniseries, towering among many great British miniseries we in the U.S. have been privileged to see on public television.This one stars the great Alec Guinness as retired M16 operative George Smiley. After about a year out of the "Circus," the name of his outfit, he is recruited once again, this time to help ferret out a very highly placed mole within the organization.Since whomever the spy is can't know he's under suspicion, Smiley has to try and find him with no access to official files. He has to rely on a few old friends and his own observations and memories, shown in flashback, of past conversations and events.There's something very depressing about this story of isolated men and their secrets working in a dreary world in which they're but shadows, only half-existing, neither hot or cold. It's a dreary life these men have chosen. It makes for intelligent drama, with no special effects, not even a lot of action, just a subtext of secrets and a lot not said.Alec Guinness is fabulous as the cold, observant Smiley, continuously cheated on by his wife and now looking for someone close to him in the upper echelons who cheated on everyone for years. The rest of the cast is like a who's who of great actors of an earlier era: Alexander Knox, Ian Richardson, Hywel Bennett, Ian Bannen, Michael Jayston, Bernard Hepton, and many others.Great script, true to the original story, great acting, you can't ask for much more than that.

alcuinx As in the case of other reviewers, I had seen the original on PBC over thirty years ago and had despaired of seeing the series issued in DVD format in the US. After seeing the film version which was nice but one that pales in light of the original BBC series, I learned the series was available now and my copy arrived last week (along with Smiley's People) and I immediately watched them again to even, if possible, greater delight. As a rare bookseller, I have let valuable books remain uncataloged but this was nourishment that I needed and though I still read several books a week in my old age, this along with the Russian version of War and Peace remind me that one does not have to have lobotomy while viewing nonbook media.Richard Murian

nckeel this i an all time classic TV series but it certainly needs a couple of viewings if you really want to get into the story. i would certainly recommend reading the books as they give an insight into the TV series.of course Alec Guiness was superb as George Smiley and the entire series was stuffed full of British actors, including star trek's Patrick Stuart. this is a wonderful story which really brings the Cold War into vivid perspective, especially the situation with the Eastern Block. the plot was absolutely supreme and is a decent intellectual spy series which is so far from Ian Flemming's James Bond. this is certainly well worth watching if you enjoy being intellectually stretched, of which there is so little on TV at the moment. not all Drama has to be laid out on a plate and this certainly adheres to that. if you enjoy this series then you must watch the other one, Smiley's People. i would only say that the one drawback of this series is that as soon as the characters are given their code-names i simply can't remember what they are!