I remember reading a while back that "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." was finally going to see a DVD release, and thinking that I could finally retire the two laserdisc box sets I've had for years. I figured there would be complete season sets, but I wasn't expecting this.

Yeah, it's expensive, but that's a hefty number of discs. Only downside is that it's a Time-Life exclusive, so no discounts, but perhaps that exclusivity will only be for a limited period of time, and it will eventually be available through other online retailers.

Yeah, I don't even like THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. very much, and I'm considering getting this. Time-Life's GET SMART! set looks awesome too. If only I had the cash...

Which reminds me that Turner Classic Movies in November is airing (for the first time, IIRC) all of the MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. theatrical films that were made by splicing together two-part episodes and released overseas (and in the U.S.?). One of them is part of the Time-Life set, but for the others, you'll have to roll tape on TCM. I'm not positive, but I imagine the films have extra footage not seen in the TV episodes.

GET SMART was supposed to be available from other sources besides Time-Life a year or two after its initial release, which is why I was speculating as to a similar situation with U.N.C.L.E., but as far as I can tell Time-Life still seems to be the only source for GET SMART, aside from some Amazon Marketplace sellers who are charging a lot more for it than Time-Life is.

On the other hand, this GET SMART fan website states "The DVDs are only available through Time-Life. They will NOT be available in stores or through other on-line vendors for another year and there's NO guarantee that will actually take place."

Wow... I was paid handsomely to write liner notes for Anchor Bay's announced Season 1 box set of THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., which was then delayed for a year or so due to legal wrangling. I guess we won't be seeing that release now.

I'd pay even more for this set if the attache case fired a rubber dagger and included a camera that could turn into a pistol.

The first of the UNCLE films was shot in color, but was split up into two B&W episodes on TV. There was additional footage involved, and the TV version seemed hurried and skimpier in comparison.

I'd love to see the U.N.C.L.E movies again. The first two, TO TRAP A SPY and THE SPY WITH MY FACE, played at a neighborhood theater on a double bill sometime in 1965 or '66. Memory insists it was '66, because I remember seeing them around the time I saw OUR MAN FLINT at the same theater. If it was indeed '66, that would have been almost two years after the original episodes aired. These two were both expanded versions of single hour-long episodes. Patricia Crowley was in the first (which may have been the pilot episode) and Senta Berger and Sharon Farrell were in the second. I'd seen the original episode that made up THE SPY WITH MY FACE when it first aired. Both movies were in color.

In 1967, I saw ONE SPY TOO MANY, in which the villain was Rip Torn, on a double bill with HOMBRE. This one was originally a two-part episode.

Those may have been the only ones that played theatrically in New York, but there were definitely others.

If you have a multi-region DVD player, amazon.com.uk is offering a set of FIVE of the eight THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. feature films for 10 pounds, one third of its list price of 30.99 pounds.

It's a nice set that I have and highly recommend. Remember to use the Mobius link!

At least they're offering the whole series at once. These days you don't know if you'll live long enough to see the complete release of a series (MARRIED WITH CHILDREN) or even if they'll finish what they started if the sales figures don't live up to expectations (MARY TYLER MOORE).

I vaguely remember seeing a Saturday afternoon matinee of a Man From UNCLE double-feature on Long Island in my yute, so it would have to have been the same features Brain describes.

I remember thinking they looked familiar, but not exactly, which was very confusing to my 10 year old mind. Once I realized they were TV episodes spliced together I was a mite disappointed, but it was still cool to see the familiar characters on the big screen, and I would love to see them now.

Do they play at all well? Every "movie" assembled from TV show parts that I've seen is FUBAR from frame 1. I'm thinking mostly of the Kolchak do-overs like Demon and the Mummy, and The Gemini Man paste-o, Riding with Death.

And while I know that many on this board don't like MST3K, their Riding with Death episode is one of the very best.

Keeping mellow is what Ben Murphy is all about.

The U.N.C.L.E. movies that I've seen play okay, because I believe they were all intended from the beginning of production to play theatrically overseas. They aren't cheapjack cobble-together jobs like the PLANET OF THE APES or KOLCHAK "movies."

Open Channel D...iscount

Couldn't resist - just placed my order with the website, mostly because I got an email with a nice fat discount code.

On the 1st checkout page where you're asked for a coupon code, put in TLMBMS. I was afraid they might not take it on a pre-order, but they did and it saved 20%.

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