Originally broadcast in 1983, this rather cumbersomely titled film (the full title is The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair) was one of several TV movie revivals of much-loved old shows in the decade of despair, and much like other rivals, served mostly as a reminder of how good the original shows were, while rather missing the point of what made them so good in the first place. Seen now, it’s not as bad as you might fear – its appearance on DVD does serve to highlight the sad absence of the original series - and the movies created from it – from the shelves.

Part of the problem with this movie is that it can’t quite decide what it wants to be. Shot at the height of American Eighties anti-Russian paranoia, it tries to mix straight-faced action with the tongue-in-cheek approach of the original show, and doesn’t quite succeed in either case, as our heroes battle both THRUSH and the KGB. Opening with THRUSH agents downing a military plane carrying a nuclear bomb, the film sees Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Ilya Kuryakin (David McCallum) brought out of retirement to tackle the resurgent enemy, whose leader has escaped from the world’s least secure jail (I mean – even the most open prison might be able to stop a helicopter flying into the yard and picking up a convict). THRUSH are planning to kidnap the one man in the world who can arm the bomb, and the two retired U.N.C.L.E. agents are the only people who can stop him – possibly because in the intervening years, U.N.C.L.E. seems to have only been employing oafish Noo Yoik stereotypes.

The problems here are manifold. It takes ages to bring the two stars together, and then the story sees them almost immediately separated – its less a reunion that a casual meeting. The story can’t seem to decide if Solo is still the playboy character of the Sixties or not (his embarrassed reaction to a topless model during a fashion show is decidedly out of character for such a cool character) and the humour struggles to break through. Early on, it seems that the film will be following the Eighties TV moral code by making it very clear that the bad guys are walking away from car wrecks unhurt – but then THRUSH agents are mown down like flies during the climax.

Guest appearances from Patrick Macnee (as the new U.N.C.L.E. head Sir John Waverleigh, replacing the dead Leo G. Carroll), Simon Williams (as Nigel Pennington-Smythe – presumably, the name Nigel British-Caricature was considered a little too on the nose) and Gayle Hunnicutt don’t add much to the film, though Geoffrey Lewis and Anthony Zerbe make decent enough villains. As for George Lazenby’s appearance as ‘JB’… well, it probably seemed a good idea at the time, but it doesn’t really work.

But… I can’t be too negative about this. It is what it is, and I found it an entirely inoffensive viewing experience. As a one-off revival, it has its place – if the optional follow-up series had been made, it might seem less agreeable. Viewers unfamiliar with the series shouldn’t bother with this, but fans might find it a passable substitute while we await the arrival of the real thing.

DAVID FLINT

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