Cambridge Spies (2003)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Audio Commentary-Tim Fywell (Dir), Peter Moffat (Writer) & Mark Shivas (Prod) Gallery-Photo
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	235:55 (Case: 240)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Tim Fywell
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Tom Hollander Samuel West Rupert Penry-Jones Toby Stephens
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$49.95	Music	John Lunn

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Based on actual events, this BBC miniseries is honestly spectacular. It documents the lives of four Cambridge graduates – Guy Burgess (Tom Hollander), Anthony Blunt (Samuel West), Kim Philby (Toby Stephens), and Donald MacLean (Rupert Penry-Jones) – who acquire a taste for Communism during their days of education, and then in turn agree to become spies and later double-agents for the Soviets. Across four parts, we see these characters change from idealistic youths to hardened and sometimes broken men as their dreams slowly fade.

    Here is a short summary of the episodes:

Disc 1

    Part One (59:30) -- We meet the four during their time at Cambridge as they come to fall in love with Communism as the only alternative to Fascism, and are recruited by Soviet agents in London.

    Part Two (57:54) -- The four have to disavow their ties to Communism and become part of the establishment in order to be trusted by Stalin. However, as they betray their beliefs, all are surprised and dismayed when Stalin signs a pact with Hitler.

Disc 2

    Part Three (58:10) -- When World War II erupts, the four find themselves fighting a war of intelligence and counter-intelligence, caught up in passions and personal alliances, knowing that they must not give up themselves for fear of betraying their best friends.

    Part Four (60:21) -- With the Cold War in full swing, Stalin must acquire nuclear technology or risk being destroyed by the West. But as the four advance the Soviet cause, the CIA is closing in.

    While at times this jumps years a little too haphazardly, and it might have done better being a six part rather than a four part series, it is still an undeniably masterful piece of work. It requires some knowledge of history and would be quite hard to follow otherwise, I imagine.

    However, the acting is excellent, sets and costumes flawless, direction is tight and skilful and the overall effect is decidedly haunting. Given the BBC has a fondness for costume period dramas based on the works of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen, it is refreshing to see something more modern with some real substance to it, rather than merely manners and decor.

    If you missed this during its recent airing on ABC on Sunday nights, now is the time to pick it up. For those who did see it first time around, it really does reward repeat viewing.

Video

    Presented in 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, this is the series’ original aspect ratio when it was broadcast here in July.

    The quality of the picture of this transfer is excellent, surpassing its presentation on broadcast TV.

    Details are generally crisp and clear, although not as nice as some of the recent transfers that have been made of movies coming out of Hollywood. It is a little grainy, but not overly so, and I think that much of the graininess is intentional. Colours are strong, with rich reds and leafy greens and the drab grey buildings of Cambridge and London looking very British.

    Shadow detail is for the most part very good, although I noticed shadowy shots were a little grainier than they were when presented on TV.

    While there are no glaring MPEG artefacts, there are a couple of film-to-video transfer problems. Mostly this was just the odd bit of aliasing in the background. One of the more obvious spots is on the brickwork of Cambridge at 5:88 during Part One. This is probably the worst instance. There is also some faint low-level noise in the background.

    There were very few film artefacts, and the few that were around were not distracting. The stock footage of MI5 at 47:46 during Part Two is very blurry and the colour is washed out.

    There is one set of English subtitles for the Hearing Impaired. They are yellow with a black border, easy to read, and convey the story quite accurately.

    The dual-layer pause is between the episodes on each disc and consequently not disruptive.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Unfortunately, there is no 5.1 Dolby Digital remix here, just the original English 2.0 Dolby Stereo track. This is nothing to be sneered at, however, as it is still quite a good stereo track.

    Dialogue is clear and easy to understand. I noticed only one audio sync problem at 18:45 in the background.

    The ambience is very good, with the excellent score by John Lunn reproduced with a great range.

    There was no real surround presence, aside from some good directional cues – people walking across the shot, vehicles, airplanes overhead.

    There was no subwoofer use.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menus

    All menus are presented in 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced. They are static with the theme playing in 2.0 Dolby Stereo.

Audio Commentary - Parts One & Four

    Presented in 2.0 Dolby Stereo, these audio commentary tracks are by director Tim Fywell, series writer Peter Moffat and the producer Mark Shivas. There are very few moments of silence in these tracks and they provide some very good information on the show and on the real life events on which the show was based. The only improvement I could suggests was if every episode had a commentary.

Photo Gallery (2:16)

    Presented in 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced, with a 2.0 Dolby Stereo soundtrack, this is a series of stills from the series.

    As yet, there is no R1 release of this disc.

    Cambridge Spies is one of the finest BBC productions I have seen in many years, a long shot from the Merchant Ivory style productions involving remakes of Jane Austen novels. This is intelligent, passionate and unusual stuff.

    The video is very good.

    The sound is the original 2.0 Dolby Stereo, and I think that this might have been a worthy title for a 5.1 Dolby Digital remix, but alas the studio has chosen otherwise.

    The audio commentaries are excellent, providing a wealth of information on the making of the film, and the divergences with real life in order to facilitate a dramatic interpretation.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall