The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair (1983)

When THRUSH steals a nuclear weapon and demands a ransom delivered by Napoleon Solo, UNCLE recalls him and his partner to duty.

Director:

Ray Austin

Writers:

Sam Rolfe (developer: original series), Michael Sloan

Stars:

Robert Vaughn, David McCallum, Patrick Macnee

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Vaughn	...	Napoleon Solo
David McCallum	...	Illya Kuryakin
Patrick Macnee	...	Sir John Raleigh
Tom Mason	...	Benjamin Kowalski
Gayle Hunnicutt	...	Andrea Markovitch
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Janus
Anthony Zerbe	...	Justin Sepheran
Keenan Wynn	...	Piers Castillian
Simon Williams	...	Nigel Pennington-Smythe
John Harkins	...	Alexi Kemp
Jan Tríska	...	Vaselievich
Susan Woollen	...	Janice Friday
Carolyn Seymour	...	Actress
George Lazenby	...	J.B.
Judith Chapman	...	Z-65

Storyline

The criminal organization THRUSH steals the A-bomb H957 and demands $350,000,000 to be delivered within 72 hours by their former antagonist Solo. So U.N.C.L.E. has to reactivate the super agents Solo and Kuryakin after they were 15 years out of business. Equipped in the usual 007 fashion they start to seek the villains.

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Plot Keywords:

friendship | male protagonist | 1980s | psychotronic film | 555 phone number | 

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Taglines:

They're Back In An All-New Motion Picture! Once Again They Have To Save the World from THRUSH. Only Now It's 15 Years Later, And THRUSH is a Nuclear Power.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 April 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Fifteen Years Later Affair

Filming Locations:

Hoover Dam, Arizona-Nevada Border, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Richard Sloan Productions, Viacom Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (Glen Glenn Sound)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rather than build a set for the UNCLE headquarters, the production used the office building of the production company. This was to save money on building that would not get enough usage if the pilot did not 'go to series', which is exactly what did happen.

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Goofs

At the end of the opening gambling sequence, the guard grabs Andrea Markovitch, slaps her, then rears back to slap her again. Solo grabs his arm and gives the guard a little slap. This must be Hollywood's way of trying to reduce violence on TV because the original Napoleon Solo would have slugged the guard with his fist.

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Quotes

Nigel Pennington-Smythe: You must be an old hand at this.
Napoleon Solo: Actually, I'm new at this... again.

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Connections

References Bullitt (1968)

User Reviews

Everyone's favorite UNCLE

Back when the old Man From UNCLE series was going I thought it was a radical concept. Here we had as the top agents an American and a Russian in an agency run by a British man to the manor born all cooperating against a conspiracy to rule the world headed by some evil folks. Detente a generation ahead of its time.

Leo G. Carroll has passed on, but the United Network Command for Law Enforcement has another titled Britisher in Patrick MacNee heading it. A master criminal Anthony Zerbe has escaped and who better than the two guys who borough Zerbe in back in the day to get him.

So Robert Vaughn and David McCallum are recruited from the lives they now lead, Vaughn as Las Vegas gambler and McCallum as fashion kingpin. Zerbe has also stolen a thermonuclear bomb and plans to blow it up unless he gets a hefty sum of cash. UNCLE's nemesis THRUSH is back in action.

It was nice to see Vaughn and McCallum back in their old roles. Hard to believe that the kindly old medical examiner from NCIS was something of a teenage heartthrob back in those days, but The Man From UNCLE gave McCallum some short lived bubblegum popularity.

I can see why this version failed though, it tried for satire and fell on its face. No wonder this was not picked up to revive the series