Directed by: Tomas Alfredson
Starring: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Mark Strong
Benedict Cumberbatch, David Dencik, Ciarán Hinds, Simon McBurney
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release date: March 20, 2012
MPAA Rating: R
Running time: 127 minutes
Film: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Extras: 3 out of 5 stars
I do not think I have been as confused during a movie as I was with “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”. I even found myself rewinding back to try and figure it out. I know the film was a spy picture with a lot of surprises but this was a little too much for me. It was not the worst movie I saw last year though, it packed some really fantastic performances. Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt really brought their A-game and really transformed into their characters.
This is the second film from director Tomas Alfredson, who previously directed the original Swedish horror film “Let the Right One In”. The film is a takes place in 1973 London during the height of the Cold War. It is also based on the best selling novel by John le Carre. It focuses on an attempt to capture a Russian mole inside Britain’s MI6 organization. It goes wrong and it is up to Smiley (Oldman) to get to the bottom of it. But who can be trusted?
The Blu-ray itself though is very impressive posting an really clear and sharp 1080p transfer with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is also impressive especially during the films action scenes. This release besides the Blu-ray disc, also comes packaged with a DVD of the film and an Ultraviolet digital copy. The Blu-ray also takes advantage of the following cool features: pocketBLU app and BD Live.
The special features are worth checking out despite enjoying the film or not. It is packed with great interviews from actors Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Tom Hardy, irector Tomas Alfredson and screenwriter Peter Straughan. Each interview runs about 7-8 minutes give or take. There are five deleted scenes, short and totally about 6 minutes. There are also four short featurettes, including “Smiley”, “Inside the Circus”, “Shadow World” and “John Le Carre”. Lastly there is also a photo gallery and teaser and full trailers included.